Thanks for the good advice Shane @sclay . I’ll try that 
You are a good blues player, I remember you were always first in the BLIM medley haha
Thank you Silvia @Silvia80 I’m learning a chord melody version of Jingle Bells from youtube right now, hopefully it will be as cool as yours.
[quote="math07, post:21, topic:402684”]
I’m learning a chord melody version of Jingle Bells from youtube right now,
[/quote]
for the next OM ?
Sound good Matthieu! Some familiar licks there. I’ve been trying to break out into G, will give D a go!
@sclay Bb is a good idea. I’ve only tried it when I feel like playing the JBG intro again for fun!
I’m sure it’ll be way cooler Mathieu, just for the fact that you’re probably learning from an arrangement made by a pro while my stuff is…ehm…“homemade” 
…well homemade with love 
@GrumpyMac If you make a Christmas thread like last year, I’ll be happy to share a recording there — it was a lot of fun! I’d say the arrangement feels like a grade 5 song, but my nerves would probably be way too high for a open mic live performance. It’s a little out of my league, but I’m making good progress.
Thanks Ashu @Beatup6String . I’m happy you recognized some BLIM licks Yeah, G is another fun key to play
@Silvia80 Yes that’s the special ingredient !!!
Oh yes ! I will open a new Christmas songs thread this year too
thanks for reminding me
I think I ll open it at the start of the advent so the first day of december and people will be able to share their songs throughout december
I’m about to finish my first year of consolidation after the 6 months Blues Immersion course. 
My strategy for the second year of consolidation is simple: break my barriers by trying a new lesson every week — not mastering it, just giving it a real shot. 
Some weekly lessons, like this one, push me further out of my comfort zone than others.
Time will tell if this try-something-new-every-week approach really works.
But for now, my comfort zone does seem to be slowly stretching, and it seems to be helping my memory improve when it comes to learning new things.
As an added bonus, here’s last week’s lesson. It’s not an original song like the previous post, but I’m actually quite surprised I learned half of the song in a few days. 
I might learn the second chorus this week, it’s even cooler.
really good and pleasant to listen to
Mathieu, you have really learned a lot from your blues immersion and that blues solo demonstrates that. It was fun to listen to and well played.
Matthieu, another nice solo. Your playing is both smooth and cleanly done, but with a blues tone.
I took on Justin’s challenge to consolidate my BLIM knowledge for the next year. I’m proud of the progress I made during 18 months of BLIM in total. Now it is time for me to move on to another project
This is a complete change since my last LL update. My initial plan was to continue consolidating BLIM for another year. But when Justin announced Rock Immersion for 2027, I realized I would be postponing my other goals for at least another 2 to 3 years.
Therefore, my new goal for 2026 is to develop my Solo Blues Guitar skills, the art of playing rhythm and lead on the same guitar. It can be done on electric or acoustic, with either fingerstyle or a pick.
I updated my avatar for the occasion to get into the right mood.
My six-month program involves learning 2 songs each month, one by Justin and one by another artist.
Twelve grade 4 or grade 5 songs in six months is a significant commitment, probably similar in time to BLIM. I plan to study them with a similar approach. I will work on the two new songs each month without trying to make them perfect. I will move on at the end of the month even if they are not finished, and revisit them later during the consolidation period.
Hopefully, there will still be some time to revisit my BLIM repertoire from time to time to avoid forgetting it. But, I feel like I will be pretty busy with the new stuff.
| Month | Solo Blues with MatchMySound | Song from another artist |
|---|---|---|
| January | Hooker Vibe Blues | Monthly Choice |
| February | Target 3rd Blues | Monthly Choice |
| March | Six Low & Slow Blues | Monthly Choice |
| April | Gospel Primer | Monthly Choice |
| May | Gospel Blues | Monthly Choice |
| June | Contrary Blues | Monthly Choice |
Looks like a fun packed and productive plan for 2026. Don’t forget to leave some space in your schedule for when CAS hits you 
Oh James, 
2025 was definitely a year of CAS for me. Maybe 2026 will be a year of GAS. I was thinking that I might deserve a new acoustic guitar after completing the 6 months program.
By July, I’ll have a few pieces ready to try out on a guitar at the music store. Oh well… 
Good luck with acoustic Blues Mathieu! You’ve given yourself a nice challenge with 2 songs each month! I love the new imagery!
I thought about it again, and you’re right, I should leave some space for fun and CAS.
I do not like it when things are too structured.
So the first song of the month will be a Justin Solo Blues piece, and the other one will be whatever I feel like learning that month.
ok what is CAS ?
Great question, Deborah! It’s like how we guitarists love to acquire new gear, which leads to GAS, Gear Acquisition Syndrom. And after BLIM, James and I kind of bought a bunch of blues courses on sale that we haven’t had time to finish yet, so we jokingly called it CAS, Course Acquisition Syndrome. 
Hi Mathieu, you clearly know where you want to go in 2026! I much like your choice of Blues Solo…you’ll have great fun with it!
I love your new avatar!
Had the same question… but as we had chatted a few times, it only took me very short time to figure out by myself what CAS would stand for!
Congratulations! I’m happy to see your nice plan!
Mine is not finished yet, but a good deal written down happily.
The 2 songs per month sound courageous, but I’m confident too - let’s keep us motivated!
PS. Great avatar! It may be a tad dark in its small icon form, but mine is, too.
February 2026
I had planned to learn two fingerstyle songs each month, but things didn’t go as planned because I started doing overtime at work and got pretty tired. I basically didn’t touch my guitar for two months.
Now the overtime period is over, so I should be less tired in the evenings and on weekends. Tueday night, I put brand new strings on my acoustic to start fresh. Luckily, before the overtime started, I had a few really productive weekends where I learned most of Hooker Vibes and Target 3rd Blues, so I’m still in the loop.
When using MatchMySound, I noticed that my timing score is really good when I play along with Justin’s backing track, but it becomes problematic when I play only with the metronome click. I tend to speed up or slow down at the middle of the performance.
So I’m going to stick to learning one of Justin’s songs per month and focus more on playing with the metronome instead of the full backing track. I also think I could use the exercise from my other course where we try a new fingerpicking pattern every day for 365 days. If I practice the daily exercise with the metronome, I guess it will eventually become second nature. The good thing is that it’s a short daily exercise that only takes a few minutes, so it’s perfect for someone who’s trying to get back into a regular practice routine.
Last but not least, I could take that overtime money, about 2000$ CAD, and buy a new acoustic guitar. Maybe this summer I could go to the city and visit a few stores ?
