I’m a little late to the party, but I guess that has kind of always been my style. I actually got started playing guitar back around March of this year - made some beginner gains and finished Grade 1 and Strumming Fundamentals, then kind of lost steam somewhere along the Beginner Grade 2 course.
So now to hold myself accountable, I’m not only going to keep practicing daily, but I thought it’d be a good idea to keep an actual log of my progress. That way I can look back when I inevitably get into a rut and see how far I’ve really come. Plus, it’ll be that much easier to justify any future gear purchases if I can prove to myself that I’ll actually use it. (I’ve got my eye on a Yamaha Pacifica 612VIIX and a Spark cabinet!)
About a month ago I decided to dive back in and pick up where I left off. I’m having a blast playing as much as I can now, can somewhat play a few recognizable songs, and am exploring different strumming patterns. But even better, I’m now consistently, but not always, pulling off a respectable F barre chord! That chord had me stuck for what felt like months where I would always end up with unwanted muted strings. So here’s to progress!
Hi GhostBunny! Great first entry to your LL, you made a few good points for how a Log is going to be beneficial for your guitar journey. There are different approaches on how updating a LL by different people, have a look around, if you haven’t already. Keep your updates coming!
P.s. : for your F Chord! All the effort you put into practicing gives its fruit soon or later (often later in my experience )
GhostBunny, First of all, what a great name! Keep working on that F chord, because you’ll start to play it consistently and that will open up many more songs and more barre chords, which will all be immensely satisfying.
The government shutdown is over and I’m back to work, so quite a bit less free time to practice and jam. But I’m still working through Module 10 and going through the included practice routine daily, as well as supplementing with some additional songs and material. This week has really driven home the point that I need to start consistently practicing with a metronome!
An unexpected wave of nostalgia hit me hard in the middle of the week and I thought it would be a great idea to attempt the guitar portion of a classic anime intro from my childhood (Rock the Dragon from the dubbed version of DBZ). It has hammer-ons and pull-offs, and also a pretty cool passage that requires alternate picking so I decided to give it a try. Well, turns out it’s actually tremolo picking so that’s a brand new technique to learn! Overall, it’s fairly simple, but I need to work on building up my speed for that shredding section! I might not have it down just yet, but it is a lot of fun to practice and it sounds really cool!
…::Current Songs::… Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana Through the Glass by Stonesour Rock the Dragon by Jeremy Sweet
…::Resources::… Online Course: JustinGuitar Online Course: TrueFire - Hybrid Picking Video Series: Absolutely Understand Guitar Book: Heavy Metal Lead Guitar by Troy Stetina Apps: JustinGuitar Note Trainer and Music Theory
The longer you are playing the more often you will start having these moments. Its hella cool. Music, video games, Movie soundtracks, TV shows, you will find our you can start playing these and it’s really cool. Do it. Figure it out. These are the short little things I do when I feel my self wavering on bigger projects.
That first lesson in module 8 is crazy important, so many song use those. Alos the world opens up with the movable F chord (E shaped barr chord) uhg. it does take a while to get it solid but lots of work arounds. Then if you can do those the metal power chords will be a breeze.
You are going to totally dig Grade 3 cause you will sudden be able to play so much. I am totally stoked for you ghostbunny, keep up the shreading.
12.18.2025
Thank you so much! Been a rough month and I haven’t been as disciplined as I should be, but your post served as a reminder to keep showing up and practicing! Punk’s not dead!
Despite the craziness of the season, I’ve managed to regularly sneak in at least a 30 minute session on most days. It’s hard to make a lot of progress on so little time, but I’m sticking with it. I can definitely tell I’m beginning to get calluses on the fingers of my picking hand now that I’m practicing hybrid picking. And although I’m landing respectable barre chords, I’m still struggling to transition to/from them.
I took a step back from learning songs for now until I can dedicate more time to my daily practice. But as a result, I’ve been focusing on technique and am slowly getting better at muting, both with my fretting hand and palm-muting. My playing sounds much clearer and I’m digging the dynamic of it.
Something I’ve had to remind myself of recently is that, unlike some games, guitar isn’t pay to win. Buying new gear isn’t going to make me a better player so despite a growing wishlist of gear and plugins, I’m committed to growing my skills before I grow my collection.
Here’s to some big hopes and even bigger progress in the new year!
for your F Chord! All the effort you put into practicing gives its fruit soon or later (often later in my experience 
)
