Hey folks, I’ve been on a hiatus from the forums for some time now and stepped back into lurking mode really. A lot has happened in my personal life over the past 6 months that’s kept me away from being involved here in the community and sharing what I’ve been working on, but I’ve still been learning and playing guitar consistency and loving it more and more every day (not to mention that it’s helped me deal with a lot of the difficult times I’ve been through along with lots of support from my family and my Jiu-jitsu training and community which I’m extremely grateful for).
I’ve strayed away from the structured path here at JG after reaching the later parts of Grade 2, but I still refer to Justin’s lessons either from the various courses here or on his Youtube channel because they’re always invaluable to me (especially his song lessons) and I use the Practice Assistant daily. I’ve also dipped into some focused courses on other learning platforms and have been working with a personal guitar teacher since Nov. on a weekly basis or so to immerse myself in the blues (both rhythm and soloing).
I’ve even started jamming with a friend of mine a few weeks ago for the first time in my guitar journey (we’ve had 2 jam sessions so far), he plays a digital piano and his wife sings, which gave me the chance to revisit some of the songs I’ve learned here and to play them in different ways with him which is an amazing experience (I’ve learned and played 4 Non Blondes with him, both the rhythm and lead parts as well as the rhythm parts of the Cranberries’ Zombie). I hope to keep this jam practice going with him in between both of our respective family responsibilities at least every few weeks or month or so if possible.
As for my guitar learning progress, I’ve learned a few more songs mentioned above but haven’t recorded them. Most of my practice was learning to play blues rhythm, solos and started a bit of improvisation so most of my recordings are to track my progress and to review improve my playing techniques.
That being said, I thought I’d update my journal here with the few things I did record so here goes (I was inspired to do so by @Allaxxor 's question to me in this older thread so thanks for that 
) …
2023-11-11 - B. B. King - The Thrill is Gone - Intro Solo
(linking this one again just for comparison with my later play-through recordings below)
2024-02-09 - Firas - Blues Riffs & Licks
2024-04-09 - BBKing - The Thrill is Gone - Solo 1
2024-04-14-BBKing-Thrill-Rhythm
2024-04-14-BBKing-Thrill-Improv