Continuing to play every day. Trying to make sure I get time on both acoustic and electric guitar. I don’t think I’ve missed a day yet in 2025. Some days it’s only 10-15 minutes, other days it’s an hour+
My electric guitar practice is largely via Yousician. Lately I’ve been playing simplified versions of American Idiot by Green Day (almost there with that), Born to be Wild by Steppenwolf and Back in Black by AC/DC. At some point my plan with one or two of these is to take away Yousician and play over the original recording but I don’t know the songs well enough yet.
With acoustic I’m starting to explore barre chords a bit more. I can play an F chord but that’s about all. I’ve been looking at Creep by Radiohead which will force me to move a barre chord up and down the neck. Needing to refine the position of my hand once I get up to the 7th and 8th frets to avoid accidentally muting notes. Think it’s going to take a while until I can play a whole song using barre chords both in terms of having them sound good and having the stamina in my hand to do it. Just like when I learned to play F, I’m just giving this a couple of minutes at a time before moving onto something else which I find to be more effective than hammering away at one thing
More of the same in terms of practice but I can now play the Yousician simplified version of American Idiot. I know the pattern of the song now so this evening was the first time I’ve experimented playing it against the original recording with my amp and a distortion pedal rather than through the app. It went pretty well really, was able to play along in time, mostly just a bit of practice required to mute some of the additional (unwanted) noise when playing with distortion. I’ll try and doing a recording soon of that.
Continuing with those barre chords for Creep, a few minutes at a time, a few times a day. I can play them but more practice is required to make the chord changes both quick and clean. Maybe I’ll record this too. Definitely won’t be a full version of the song, more just a demo of where I’m currently at.
There’s 2 variations of the same riff in the song plus a fairly simple chorus. The challenges are being able to play the riff back to back and remembering which of the 2 riff endings to use each time. It’s power chords all the way really with just a couple of single notes at the end of the riff
It’s much easier than the level 5 version of Back in Black which has more sections to learn and then join together.
You need to be able to move a power chord shape around in a little triangle at the 4th and 6th frets, moving between the E & A and A & D strings reasonably quickly but that’s all really. The chorus is a different pattern but it’s much easier as the changes are slower
This is a short clip of me playing a section of American Idiot through my amp. It’s a simplified version taken from Yousician but now I’ve taken away the app and playing it unprompted.
The video is only intended as a marker for me to compare against in a week or two.
A couple of notes…
I don’t practice standing up so I’ve added to the difficulty for myself here by standing but that’s how X-shape guitars should be played I also haven’t played through my amp much with distortion so I’m still working on taming that.
Finally the song lyrics include an F-bomb, if that offends you then please don’t watch it
I can play all parts of the song just not consistently in a single take. My aim for the coming days/weeks is to do a better, full version with better accuracy and control over the gain
Update - YouTube tells me my video is blocked in Russia and Belarus so if you’re in those places you won’t be able to watch (you’re not missing much although it’s a shame such BS exists)
Have added a full play through of American Idiot with my Hils HN5. No major mistakes, think the timing is improved since the previous video, there’s always room for a little less string noise and getting some of the chords a little crisper but I’m happy with how this is progressing
Love this update—you’re smashing it! Super smart move to pause and focus on nailing a few songs instead of rushing through modules. That kind of patience pays off big time. Your song choices are awesome too—nice mix of challenge and fun. And yeah, singing while playing is a whole new beast, but it’ll come once the muscle memory kicks in. Keep at it, you’re making solid progress!
@netahnpaul86 it’s a little while since I wrote that particular update but interesting to reflect on it. Overall the approach has served me well. There’s been a few times when I’ve picked songs that have been a little beyond my ability at the time and maybe should have paused them sooner but that’s all learning. For example I’ve not touched the acoustic version of Everlong in many months now so might be interesting to see how that goes now. The time spent getting that first batch of songs right has really paid off in terms of my strumming on acoustic guitar.
Really good when you can see yourself progressing. Nice. I’m thinking of starting a learning log now as it would be useful to go back from time to time and see where I was a few months back.
Hey Matt, just looked back in your learner log and saw that you ride a bike (Triumph Speed Triple or Street triple by the looks of things). I have a Tiger 900. Nice to see those photos. I grew up in Yorkshire but have only ever ridden in the uk when I went back last summer to reconnect with my cousin who I’d lost contact with for a long time. We spent several days riding around the Peak District in Derbyshire ( me in a Trident and him on his Ducati MS).
I’m a biker for the last 30 years, but one great thing about starting guitar almost 2 years ago is that it’s a lot more comfortable in the winter than riding a bike!!!
Yes it’s a Street Triple RS. I’ve had a bike for about 20 years, my current bike is my 4th Triumph in a row. I used to ride all year around but I don’t ride in winter anymore either. I’d rather be playing guitar also when it’s cold and dark outside! I’ve ridden across Europe a couple of times but in recent years my bike either gets used on my commute or for rides around the Yorkshire Dales or to the coast
It’s a great bike. Love triples !! My Tiger is my 5th Triumph. I also have a 1995 Triumph Thunderbird 900 (cream and red) - 30 years old in a couple of months time - also a triple.
I bought the Tiger mainly for touring in Europe. Before that, we (me and my wife) toured on a Tiger 800 and then an Explorer. All triples too.
I’d also rather be playing guitar than riding in the winter, that’s for sure.
I would have been tempted to call you a couple of soft woosies but then have to admit to being a winter storage biker as well - for the last 15 years or so !! But as a MAG member back in the UK we did do the odd winter ride out Fred Hill Runs for example.
The two bikes I’ve had since setting up over here always get mothballed once the mercury drops. Enjoy your Trumpets !
I can’t keep my hands warm… I say warm, I mean not freezing and painful. Have tried various options without success
My bike is pristine and the fastest way to ruin it is riding on salty roads. Life is too short to spend ages washing it down after every ride
I had a Tiger 800 in the middle of 3 Street Triples. I looked at an Explorer, too heavy for me. I rode to Vienna and back on the Autobahns on my first Street Triple. Much like you can play almost any style of music on any guitar if you’re determined enough, the same can be said about touring on an unfaired Street Triple!
I also haven’t played through my amp much with distortion so I’m still working on taming that.
