I’m creating this thread to share my post-BLIM journey and to keep a record of my progress.
It’s now been 14 months since I started taking guitar seriously, and I hope I’ll still be at it for many years to come. First of all, a huge thank you to Justin and the whole team for putting together such well-designed courses that have given me a steady sense of progress so far. I’d also like to thank this amazing community, especially my fellow BLIM 4 classmates, with whom I’ve shared both the successes and the struggles along the way.
So, here it is. Nothing fancy, no big claims… just a place to share my journey.
Here’s what the next stage of my journey looks like.
Up to now, I haven’t really learned any songs from start to finish. My goal now is to work on complete songs, including both the rhythm parts and the solos.
To help me stay organized, I put together a little roadmap for myself.
Thanks for posting your learning log. I always like to read the logs and listen to the videos.
You have a very ambitious learning program. Given that you say you can’t really play a full song yet, your list includes quite a few songs that are very challenging. Just a suggestion, but It may be more satisfying to learn some easier songs first, and then go onto the more didficult stuff after you have mastered a good repertoire of easier songs.
In that way, with technically easier songs, you can focus on things like getting the timing right, playing with different strumming patterns and the dynamics, which are all important.
I’m no expert - just a beginner - so it’s only a suggestion.
Thanks for the advice! Don’t worry, I’ve given myself a year to work through this list, in facts there’s no deadline at all. It’s simply a personal goal. Once I can play all of these songs cleanly, I’ll feel like I’ve truly earned the right to call myself a guitarist.
I’ve already spent a year doing exercises. Now it’s time to have some fun and actually play music.
Hi Richard - looks like you are making some good progress so far, I look forward to seeing where you take this.
In the videos with the electric guitar, I immediately noticed your right hand. Everyone has their own picking style, that’s just natural, but you might want to check out this video:
I mention this because you listed speed as a challenge. I struggled with that for years until a teacher finally convinced me I needed to pay attention to my right hand and actually practice picking. I’m still no shredder, but paying attention to mechanics and adding picking exercises to my practice had some immediate pay offs.
Thanks! The Wish You Were Here challenge was really well designed, with several levels of progression.
And just to reassure you, those weren’t really six “true” months. I’d actually picked up the guitar about 20 years earlier… and quickly gave up. I guess that probably still counts for something.
And, to be honest, it was also a lot of time and hard work. Nothing extraordinary… unfortunately.
I made my first recording of Hells Bells today, but I’m not particularly proud of the result…
At least I can get through the solo in time now, but it’ll still take quite a while before I’m really happy with it.
I made the mistake of practicing on my Strat and then recording on my Les Paul. The different feel caught me out, and I ended up putting my fingers in the wrong place every now and then.
I’ll share the video if you’d like to see a work in progress.
In the meantime, I’m starting Back in Black. I’ll keep Hells Bells on the back burner and continue working on it in parallel until it naturally comes together.
