Claudio Heckler here, hailing from Brazil …
Been a member of this great community for a little over two years now, but haven’t started a learning log, but wishing I did; will give it a try now, and see if I manage the discipline keep it more or less up to date.
So, by way of recounting how I got here: I’ve had my first guitar since my teens, a nylon classical, but never studied and hence never learned much beyond a few simple open chords and some simple riffs. Life brought many distractions and the guitar stayed quiet for many years.
Fast-forward to the end of 2021, my kids are older (but not yet out of the house) and I’ve got more time, so decide to try and finally learn it.
Equipment selection and prep work
I decided that I wanted to learn on an electric guitar, as it fitted better the type of music and playing I’m interested in; ended-up acquiring a cheap strat used, figuring that for the first few years my fingers would not be capable of telling it from more expensive equipment. Had it properly setup on a luthier who fixed intonation, string relief, etc.
I did not get an amp initially, as I live in an apartment and practice at night. I’ve opted for a multi-effects box, which can be used with headphones, and doubles as an audio interface for recording.
So, all set equipment-wise, I started some research on reputable learning resources: Justin came highly recommended, and that’s where I headed next.
Going through Grade 1 (Sep’21 → May’22)
I started Grade 1 around September 2021; it starts off with the A and D chords and some simple strumming, but Justin wastes no time in already giving you some suggestions for songs you can play along to with just those two chords. I vividly remember the sensation of joy when I put up “Dance The Night Away” and was able to play along; that early success cemented my decision to stick with the program.
So going through grade 1 was a very systematic process of going through the videos for each module, setting up a practice routine in the website, and complementing it with the JustinGuitar app for song playback (never used the app for lessons, I still prefer the website for that.)
Around March 2022 I was already at the end of Grade 1, at least content wise, and going back to review some of the material; at that point I had only recorded material for my own evaluation and progress tracking, but no AVOYP – to be perfectly honest, I was dreading the moment of putting it “out there” for others to listen to. So, as my “grade 1 passing criteria”, one of the goals I set to myself was to post an AVOYP, which I did here: Grade 1 Exam: two songs - Chocolate Jesus and Mad World
With that I “finished” Grade 1 around May 2022, translating to about 8 months total.
Grade 2 (Jun’22 → ongoing)
Second grade starts of immediately with more “advanced” techniques, and some of the stuff from each of the modules took me longer to get passably good at. As a result, I spent more time on each module before moving along.
Some of the hardest things for me where the full F barre chord, 16th note strumming (especially the more “sparse” patterns used in some songs, where there are more than a few silent ups and downs) and the scale improvisation exercises (not because the scales themselves where hard, mostly the challenge of getting “creative” over a backing track).
Also on Grade 2, the “songwriting module” (module 11) was just not for me, not at this point at least; but that’s ok that it is not, I may give it another try in the future.
So far on this part of the course, the most fun I had was on Module 12, Power Chords: there is just so much rock/punk/metal songs I like that this part of the course was a treat, and I’ve spent quite some time just exploring the repertoire - and incidentally, my last AOVYP was on power chords.
Where am I now (Oct’24)
I’m currently in module 13, which is an intro to blues concepts – open 7th chords, blues shuffle and progressions, improv, etc. This one has not fully “clicked” for me yet, as while I can manage the exercises, I found the songs suggested a bit hard to jump into, I may have to look at starting with simpler material first and move my way up.
Also, after two years of JG, I’ve decided to complement it with mentoring from a local (in person) teacher, to help me progress faster and correct any mistakes accrued. That is yet to start (next week, although I already had a “get to know each other” session and liked it). Starting with these lessons was one catalyst to starting this learning log to force myself to track it.
