G’day all, my name is Tony and I live on the New South Wales South Coast. I first picked up a guitar in February of this year (2023) and started Justin’s Beginner Course at the same time.
I have completed watching all of Grade 1, 2 and 3 and now trying to consolidate by going back over topics I didn’t spend as much time on as I should have. I am also up to Module 6.2 in Music Theory and started Blues Lead 1.
My music taste varies greatly but mainly interested in Aussie Rock with current favorites including Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, Beaches, Geld, CLAMM, HTRK, Hugo Race, Rowland S. Howard, Grace Cummins etc. etc. My repertoire currently consists of easy songs by Pink Floyd, Paul Kelly, Church, Rolling Stones, Pearl Jam, Rowland S. Howard, Nirvana, Neil Young. Now working on easy songs from Cramps, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Cold Chisel, Died Pretty and Midnight Oil.
The main thing I am currently really struggling with is Ear Training/Transcribing. Can’t even seem to get the simple riffs and open chords correct. Also, still not really comfortable with changing to the C Chord and barre chords are getting there very slowly.
I started learning on a Squier Bullet Stratocaster which has been great. I recently bought an acoustic and a Fender Jazzmaster. The acoustic is a lot harder to play, guess I just need to put in some more time with it.
Welcome to the group. The acoustic will always be a little more difficult to play, but having a knowledgeable luthier do a setup on it can make a big difference in playability.
It is a new Maton, I would have thought that it would come setup straight out of the factory. The fret board is slightly wider (a couple of mm) than what I have been used to e.g. I am finding it hard to hit the C Chord and mute the 6th string which I can do on my electrics. I might have a chat to the local music shop, thanks.
I have only had a couple of hours on it, so maybe just need to get used to it.
Nice one Tony, plenty of us around the Aus, NZ, Asia area now Certainly sounds like you’re full steam ahead well done on achieving so much great range of musical interests too
A Maton is a quality guitar, but small things can make a big difference. I took my Taylor to a luthier, and he found that the nut slots for the 5 and 6 strings were just a bit too shallow. He cut them to the proper depth and the difference was noticeable. It’s worth having it looked at.
Awesome, we need more Tonys here! We need them everywhere! I live in the far north part of the Northern Rivers area of NSW.
Welcome to the community. Hang in there with the barre chords, they are definitely worth it, when I started it took about 4 months until the F started to sound good. They are a real gateway drug to all sorts of goodnesses.
Welcome Tony. Ear training is hard and takes a long time, but the pay off is worth it. If you stick at it you will slowly improve. I’ve been chipping away at this for several months now and sometimes it feels like I’m not getting anywhere, but looking back I’m a lot better than I was. Sometimes hearing open chords can be difficult - there’s a lot of notes going on there, and I find it difficult to isolate the bass (which is typically where the root lies). Riffs / melodies are easier places to start.
Keep at it, it’s worth the effort!
Cheers
Paul.
Certainly sounds like you’re full steam ahead well done on achieving so much 
