Im consolidating what I have learned so far at the moment. I think it will be a few weeks before I move on as I only really have 1 song under my belt and would like to have a few more. The nice thing is that I am actually seeing progress and improvement all the time.
With the scales I practice them at a speed that I am comfortable with and the last run I play really slowly making sure that I hit every note correctly and fretted properly.
A lot has happened since the last update here…
Approximately 12 days ago I had that random melody in my ears that developed into a construction site of an idea of a song. I was so fascinated with putting chords to my lyrics that I fastly wrote a second verse and improvised some dummy melody for the verses. Recorded the whole thing and uploaded it here without thinking really. Had I taken the time to think at all about what I was doing, I would have never done that. After I had had the time to think a bit, I had wanted to delete the song from this forum, but then there already were reactions. So I had to live with the consequences of my spontaneous act.
And I was showered with so much kind feedback. I have no words to express how thankful I feel to each and everyone who took their time to leave a comment 
After this day, 12 days ago, my vacation continued. Similarly did I try my best to forget about my silly song and continued with my usual Beginner Grade 1 consolidation practice
Back to work it was then. The heatwave in Finland continued and each and every day we were on the edge of a thunderstorm that finally took place yesterday and cleared the air a bit. Work has been unbelievably slow. Just the agony of suffering through full work days with next to nothing to do (aka my personal hell at work) and the strange weather had me totally exhausted at the end of every work day. And yes, confessedly, I was so tired that I didn’t touch any of my three guitars between Monday and Friday.
Full speed ahead it was back to practicing yesterday. While I have most chord changes between 50 and 60 and certain easier ones at 80 to 90, I am not happy with the quality of the sound such fast changes produce. I will have to invest more time into correcting my finger placement and slow down the speed to concentrate on slower chord changes, which actually sound acceptable. Similarly, I will have to work on muting the thick E-string when fretting C. I can do that in chord perfect exercises quite reliably, but I doubt that I am placing my fingers well enough for that in actual songs.
What else?
I fell in love with 6/8 strumming, which I have never done before (many many years ago I had only been able to play simple 6/8 fingerstyle). So far I have only mastered the 6 downstrums version. But I seriously just love the feeling of playing those six downstrums with clear accents on beat one and beat 4 create.
There is this one 6/8 song in the app David Gray’s “Next year’s love”. I didn’t know the song but I enjoyer playing around with it. Between yesterday my playing along from 70 % to 100% while reliably keeping up the 6/8 rhythm and emphasizing beat 1 and 4. The chords do not always sound good, however. I am also able to play the song at full speed in 6/8 fingerstyle. That’s brutal though, since fingerstyle will reliably reveal bad finger placement. Again more reasons to invest time in more mindful finger placement
Finally - for the first time ever - today I played around with picking the 6/8 fingerstyle pattern with a pick. Well … let’s say, it will take time learning this and I am not able to do this at 100 % speed. Something to be more patient with
Last but not least, I finally set criteria for when I will consider myself having graduated Beginner Grade 1:
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I will have to have memorized five different songs. Four in 4/4 and one in 6/8.
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I will need to be able to play each of these songs reliably with a different strumming pattern. Meaning song A gets assigned strumming pattern A, song B gets assigned strumming pattern B etc.
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Ideally I will have to be able to play these songs comfortably enough so that I will be able to concentrate more on the quality of my singing as well.
I won’t have anymore time for guitar practice today since it’s festival day today and I’ll have to be on my way to Helsinki soon. Festival day, of course means bad weather: Rain, thunderstorms, temperatures below +20 degree C. But hey, at least I won’t have to suffer through less than - 5 degree C today 
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Almost another week has passed, and again I did not manage to touch my guitar on any work day. It’s summertime and work is slow, so slow that it’s some kind of torture for me mentally, meaning even when I have not done much objectively, I am mentally exhausted when I come home. My guitars are in sight and ready to be grabbed, but on days like these they don’t tempt me at all.
I will have to remedy that, since with my current habit of playing a lot on weekends and during vacation only, I will not be getting anywhere soon.
Today, however I have learned my first complete song by heart. An easy strumming pattern of course, not in any way close to the original, and decidedly not aspiring to be. Plus: The lyrics are easy to remember since they are almost the same during the whole of the song.
But yes, first song memorized in its easy beginner shape entirely. I randomly chose a guitar, the strings are old and should be changed, the chord fretting accuracy should be better, the timing should be better… And the singing. Lots of room for improvement… and I tend to get carried away. Lots to work on.
But it is a milestone… And it is so much fun playing REM’s “The one I love”. Thus I will upload the video to this Learning Log as a milestone and something to look back at with such slight shudder of horror in the future.
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That’s a big accomplishment. One to look back on fondly.
Exactly the way Justin prescribes. Start of with simplified version, don’t jump straight in at the deep end. Then build it up further as you progress through the course.
You’re making great progress Nicole. Just try to pick that guitar up every day for at least 5 minutes. On days where your mentally exhausted find a song, riff or an exercise even if its strumming on muted strings thinking of the ocean (as @SDKissFan would put it) that takes you away to a relaxing place.
Or check out this https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/mindful-listening-for-guitar-players-bg-1506
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Thank you . I was pondering some time at the end of the week if I should take my acoustic to work to silently practice finger picking patterns or dry strumming… My colleague always has headphones on anyway, so it might or might not disturb her. Maybe worth testing
Thanks for the link. I have watched the video and it’s fascinating. I apparently did such “mindful listening” exercises very often when I was listening to the radio late at night as a teenager. Then I would concentrate e.g. only on what the bass does in a song or what the drums were doing . Might be worth taking up that habit again…
Hi Nicole I took a look through your learning log and enjoyed some of your reflections. Interesting to see how mood and workday affects our relationship with learning and enjoyment of playing guitar. I also saw your pictures of the little adventure your guitar had in your hometown of Porvoo, Finland. How cool is that?! I love this community because there are people all over the world living in very different places but having very similar experiences within the guitar learning environment.
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I’m very proud of you for accomplishing memorizing a song. I still have a hard time with doing that. Way to go !
Thanks
Yes, I know that this comes up again and again in my Log… - and it really annoys me. I remember how Trond wrote that after such stressful or exhausting day, he really enjoys playing guitar. I am not there and I wonder if I’ll ever be.
That was a fun day out… the first real spring day… and the first time I didn’t feel like a total fraud carrying my guitar around.
I agree with what you say about this community. People coming from so many different places and being at so many different stages in their learning journeys - and all connected by their love for music and guitar. I got my Epiphone in autumn 2017 and I remember that I watched Justin Guitar videos back then already and also saw that there is a forum. Back then I thought, the people there must all be so good at playing guitar, I have no business joining. Well… if I would have known back then, what I know right now
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This one was a beat of a cheat though with the lyrics of verses and chorus mainly repeating
Hi Nicole, really enjoyed reading you learning log updates and listening to the REM cover, well done on learning it by heart! Your progress is coming along so well, keep at it! 
I hear you about the after work issue… can be really tough some nights to find motivation… All I can suggest is think of one song you find fun to play and just go play that one song. Tell yourself that, “all I’m going to do is play that song”. And if that’s all you do, then cool, you’ve played that one more time, but chances are you’ll do more than that and feel better as well.
Good luck and all the best! 
Thank you That might just work and it goes hand in hand with @Socio 's five minutes advice. I will try to do that starting on Monday
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Hi Nicole, Well done on your first complete song. I agree with the 5 minutes a day. It is not a lot of time, but it really seems to add up.
First complete song played entirely from memory I would like to add . Yes, I will have to get motivation through that just one song, just like Jeff said. So far, I have only tried to do some exercises when I came back home, like simple fingerstyle patterns or chord perfect… - and that wasn’t very motivating on such workdays that tortured me with boredom.
But may maybe Jeff’s idea of that “just one song” will do the trick . And I hear you and James with the five minutes idea.
I wil try to muster some discipline from somewhere starting tomorrow
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Hi again Nicole, I thought I should add to my suggestion above, as I realised tonight that that’s not exactly the whole story… I forgot that what I actually do, and which works the best for me, including tonight when I really didn’t feel like playing (draining workday, freezing cold in the middle of winter!), is to sit down in front of the tv and watch YouTube clips about music, guitar & guitar-related content. What happens is that after a while of doing that I get inspired and find the energy to go grab my guitar and play. It’s at that point I say, “come on, just go play one song”, and it gets me up off the couch. I hope that’s somewhat useful, but for now that’s enough from me in your thread! 
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Thank you so much!!! I really, really appreciate your input, so I would be delighted if you could continue sharing your ideas 
Right, it’s winter over there. I should remember with my sister living in Australia for a bit more than 15 years already. The one time I visited her and her family there was in Australian winter. I was amazed how cold it got at night, but that’s probably mainly an issue of the windows not being made for “real” winter 
Interesting that you say that, because indeed, the only evening when I picked up my guitar on a workday last week, was after I had read an E-book about easy fingerstyle to keep my entertained, when there was absolutely nothing else to do at work… And you are right, when I came home this evening, I picked up my guitar and wanted to see whether I had remembered something
If something similar works for you l, then I will definitely give that a go.
Have some summer sun from Finland:sun_with_face:
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Thanks Nicole! I feel warmer already! 
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Hi Nicole, I really love reading through your log updates! I like the way you write about your daily impressions and how you wear your heart on your sleeve!
It’s not always easy to practice on exhausting days, but I tend very much to the 5 minutes or one song approach. Thanks god, I don’t have lacks of motivation very often, only when I’m a little discouraged, but mostly those 5 minute session turn into some longer practice.
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Thank you It’s maybe a bit excessive for some, but I find that it really helps me putting down my thoughts.
Okay, I will try the 5 min, stimulating my guitar brain, one song per day idea.
I am so happy that I joined this great community, and I very much appreciate all the valuable feedback given. Without it, I guess, I would be lost at this stage.
So once again a huge heartfelt thank you to you, @TonyHS , @socio and @nzmetal 
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Nicole this was a big accomplishment to have your first song memorised and what a classic song to have in your kit bag. There are always things to improve for everyone so whilst it’s obviously good to know what those things are, do not let them get in the way of being proud of what you have achieved!
I’ll echo James’ comments above that even a handful of minutes each day makes a difference to add to the work you do at the weekend. Either way, things are clearly going well, bravo!
Thank you . Yes, things are going well in that sense at least that I am trying to manage my impatience and I am trying to give myself time. The old me would have long since been stuck in module 9 and would have decided to give up after endless full Barre F- chord frustrations.
Not this time though. This has become too precious to me and that’s for a big part due to this respectful and knowledgeable community
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