Thanks for pointing that out. I still have to get my final Grade 1 song recorded - which is hopefully soon - and then I will be “officially” dealing with module eight.
Stuck 3 & 4 chords won’t be a too big issue, nor will the scale or 8th not strumming. I have had a sneak peak at all of that… But “Wish you were here”… I tried and it gives me the creeps already. Normally I would be very prone to say “does not work, can’t do it… Next”. So, maybe all it will take is really patience and resilience and keeping that song on the practice schedule until it will flow from start to finish.
Yeah that songs feels daunting at first, but I think you’ll pick it up faster than you expect. I’d say start just connecting the riff to the chords without incorporating the strumming and things will flow from there. It’s the main challenge in module 8 for sure.
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Quick note for my future self:
Opeth - Harvest seems to be a nice song to learn when I get to the point of practing barre chords and exploring more of the fretboard.
Edit: adding a video lesson for future reference
I think I’ll pass myself to module 9 now. I can play most songs by memory first try now, which is good (though I keep mixing the chords progressions for Heroes and Times Like These) and Wonderwall and Wish Your Were Here are still not perfect but not so bad I can’t play them for my girlfriend. Also I’v ebeen excited to revisit the F chord ever since restarting the Beginner Course so let’s go! I’ll add Far From Any road to my practice songs because it’s one I love and I want to play it for my mother when I see her again.
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I will try to play that Opeth song in the future as well, such a great tune! But very challenging.
Hope you can play songs for your mother soon, that’s a really nice goal to have. Keep it up!
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Great reading your LL for song recommendations alone. Gothic country and Swedish progressive metal… Great songs 
Nice idea learning a song for your mother 
Have fun in module 9!
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Glad to hear that! I always love talking about music. If anyone here has a last.fm feel free to add me there!
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The big F chord is coming nicely as I expected but man, some of the F cheat changes are kicking my ass! I’m really feeling my thenar muscles getting tired, which I honestly didn’t expect. I figured lifting weights for years would spare me from that kind of suffering lol.
My main song for this module is U2’s One, which I’m performing with the Fmaj7/C shape. Californication is my “mini F” song of choice and I’ll wait until next module to put the big F to use.
Every other practice item is going well!
Completed a week practing module 9 every day. I’m getting somewhat bored of a few items but I still don’t feel confident to move on to module 10. The main hurdle right now is playing One fluently enough. The D to Fmaj7/C change is not smooth yet. I’ll be reducing the time spend on Californication, which is feeling easy enough right now.
I made a small change on the big F practice. I’m already making it sound all right most of the time, so I’m practing the bar chord in random frets now. That’s a step up in challenge but I feel it’s been worthwhile.
Adding another song for the future here:
Car Seat Headrest - Drunk drivers (killer whales) has easy open chords most of the song but has G-D-A-F# power chords part that will be good for practice when the time comes.
I’ll move on to module 10. D to Fmaj7/C is not perfect yet but every other pratice item was feeling a bit boring by now. I’ll keep refinin it during song practice. My main songs for this module will probably be The Drugs Don’t Work and Far From Any road so I can practice weak finger G - which I honestly find harder than barre chords. I’m not even sure if I have an anatomy that will really make laerning this worth it for me because it just feels so awkward and unfomfortable, but probably with pratice it will come around.
Also I’ve been practicing Drunk Drivers (Killer Whales) outside of my module practice even though I’m not in the power chords module yet. I just love the song and I’m having a blast trying to play and sing it. It also features a G and an A chord which will be relevant for this module.
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Eh I’ve made a mistake. The Drugs Don’t Work does not feature the chord changes I thought it did. I’ll look for another one. Meanwhile I can use Wish You Were Here to practice C to G.
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Forgot to update the log when moving on to module 11. I believe this will be a quick module to complete. Focused on two songs here: Porcupine Tree’s Nine Catas (for sus chords and F changes) and House of the Rising Sun for fingerstyle. Got them down pretty much on the first try. The main challenge right now is playing Happy Birthday fluently, which is harder than it has any right to be! Still, I see tangible progress every day.
I should add I stopped practicing the big F in isolation, and now I’m prioritizing just using it in songs. Sometimes I’m noodling around with the A major shape barre chord which is honestly a pain, but I hope it will pay off soon.
Hey Joao,
You are making great progress . You are taking the process of making music seriously, making really nice sounds on your guitar, and wow , you’re even posting your progress, which is such a brilliant thing to do.
Now, I reckon the next time we see you post, you are going to be having some real fun,and ultimately, that’s what it’s all about
cheers
Ruaridh
Thank you for the encouraging words, Ruaridh!
I’ve been meaning to upload another video of me playing, but my academic life has been hectic so I keep postponing it.
On the topic of making music, since watching Justin’s first lesson on songwriting I started searching for videos on the subject on youtube and I’ve been really enjoying Signals Music Studio. I still don’t have the the depth of repertoire and I don’t fully grasp how to use scales and modes, but seeing it being applied is so fun and makes me excited to learn more theory. I had a blast seeing Jake compose in multiple genres with a single scale (https://youtu.be/Bz_q96JhSOg?si=1ZgRkl_UWN7E2iHw).
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Moved on to Module 12. I really can’t estimate how long I’ll spend in this module. On one hand, I’ve been doing power chords already so I got the shape down and crossing strings is almost where I want it to be, so the main hurdle will probably be putting the songs together fluently. However, learning power chords open up the possibility of playing so many songs it’s almost a downside to me. It’s easy to get lost trying dozens of new songs and not perfect any.
So for my practice I’ll be trying to play well Basket Case and Cocaine (including the lick). Since Basket Case features a B chord, I’ll probably start practicing the A major barre chord shape, which I’ve honestly have tried a few times outside my practice schedule. Maybe I’m trying to do something out of my league but I don’t think there are many downsides to this single thing.
The riff for Enter Sandman will also be an interesting challenge. It’s super stretchy compared to what I’ve been doing so far and it’s very hard to not mute other strings with my pinky. I’m finding it very difficult, but I’m trying to see it as an oportunity to grow and develop new skills.
I’m also excited to get back to the pentatonic scale. Can’t wait to put it to use!
I just wish I had an electric guitar. This module would be so much cooler.
Haven’t posted in a while. Went through modules 13 and 14. While learning the blues basics was fun, taking the songs to the next level felt out of my league, so I moved forward. Now I’m pretty much a Grade 2 graduate and I should probably think about my consolidation routine. I guess what moves me the most is learning new stuff, new chords etc. I’ll probably focus on learning Grade 2 songs I haven’t tried yet and try to develop some new skills while trying to refine what I already know. Maybe focus on songs that go well with a simple fingerstyle pattern, since that’s what I find the most exciting with my nylon guitar? Thinking about Hallelujah and Can’t Help Falling In Love. Anyways, life is extremely busy right now and my practice will probably just be noodling around for a week or two for the moment.
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I’ve been really slacking with my updates, but I did not stop playing!
I took 3-4 weeks for consolidation after finishing grade 2. I ended up not really having a structured routine. Just noodling, learning songs and playing what I already knew. I did however watch a LOT of videos on guitar theory and trying to play stuff by ear and I really feel that benefited me. That made me really eager to just go on to grade 3, develop my skills and learn new practical stuff, which made me take less time consolidating than Justin recommended, but I’m really having fun with the guitar right now.
Went quickly through grade 3’s first module, started working on chord melody and even started to write a little arrangement of Baroness’s Bullhead Psalm. I should post it when I can play it fluently enough.
Between grades 2 and 3 I decided to really work on by A shaped barre chords and, boy, was that worth it! I feel like I’ve unlocked so much freedom across the fretboard, and I feel confident trying so many new songs now. If you like Nirvana you definitely should give a try, even if it’s only shown later in Justin’s course. I definitely do not regret it. I should probably learn the C shaped chord some time soon too.
Right now I’m in module 17. Targeting strings while strumming is being a challenge, but I feel it’s really paying off and making me grow as a guitarrist. For my thumb + finger strumming, I’m trying a simplified version of Luiz Gonzaga’s A Morte do Vaqueiro (A Cowboy’s Death, translated freely) and Sufjan Steven’s Casimir Pulasky Day.
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Enjoyed your update and recordings, João Pedro
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