Weekend over… Didnt get to pick up the Les Paul as its still at the luthier 
Worked my way through module 4 & 5, so far been a good refresher and intro, fun practice and learned a few tips already.
Fingers are moving much better now so thats good to see 
2 more modules to go and grade 1 is done, looking at grade 2 should go similarly then I’ll be slowing down a lot I feel
Welcome to learning logs, Rob.
Obligatory new guitar? I missed that day. I guess I have to go shopping before I go any further.
Looking forward to hearing those beautiful guitars!
Cheers,
Vinnie
Thanks Vinnie, I’m blaming @batwoman as a bad influence on the new guitar front.
Is it wrong for me to be looking at other acoustics too? 
Since I seem to have been appointed to help you spend your money on buying guitars … go for it Rob!
You know you will have to play every one of these beauties for us now, don’t you?
Haha oh for sure! Still want to get a little more practice in before I record anything…
Also the 2 guitars I have really need some work 
The Crafters built in pre-amp must have a dodgy wire somewhere as putting a 9v battery in the light flickers a bit but isnt working much, so I’ll have to pull that and see if I can fix or replace it (dont have a decent mic to record that way).
The hohner les paul copy works but the electronics needs either a clean or replace after sitting so long unused, the pickup switch is scratchy and the volume knobs are not working right, both pickups and max 10/10 on vol works mostly. I’m OK to do this lot myself I dont mind simple electronics etc
It also could do with a setup I think, bridge has shifted over time and I am sure the neck/truss rod will need a tweak, and strings replacing (a few are tricky to tune and not staying well). Not sure I can do some of this bit myself, dont have any correct luthier gap measuring tools etc.
I’ll sort that out when I have the new Les Paul!
As for recording I’ll have to look into some software, currently using amplitube (which seems to be able to record even on the free one) and Positive grid Bias amp 2, which doesnt (?) also doesnt have a built in tuner but Bias FX2 does (and its better than the amplitube one I think).
As for a new acoustic, I’ll wait. So many beautiful guitars but I have to find one that fits a need the Crafter doesnt fill and I am not quite sure what that will be!
I can appreciate that, Rob, I’d just encourage you not to allow yourself to allow this to be delayed by a desire to achieve something that is flawless or by being too conservative in determining “good enough”
Hi David,
Oh I wont be shy, somewhat past that these days and am used to putting my creativity and art out there already via my photography!
Ice Cold by Rob Dickinson, on Flickr
Akaroa Aurora by Rob Dickinson, on Flickr
Out of Place, Out of Time by Rob Dickinson, on Flickr
On a Knife Edge by Rob Dickinson, on Flickr
So completed grade 1 last night… on the acoustic so my fingers hurt today…
Mostly revision and waking up my memory on this stuff but its nice to have my fingers shifting between basic chords and getting the strumming going.
A peek at grade 2 and I am going to have to work at it a fair bit more than grade 1, and put in some solid practice!
Question - does the app continue with lessons past grade 2?
Well done! I am ready to declare myself a graduate of Grade 1 as well. It’s taken me a long time due to life, reasons, etc., but I think I’m ready to “officially” say I have passed Grade 1. About to start a learning log entry this evening.
Grade 2 looks a bit intimidating because the skills are more difficult. I’ve already started dabbling with the “stuck 3&4 chords” and the dreaded F chord.
Oh well done!
I’d be months off if I hadnt played a lot when younger, those ancient memories are not going to hold up much longer…
Not sure I would label it as intimidating , more liberating, more techniques, more chords, more knowledge allows you more freedom to play and create.
I didnt have that great a guitar education before so looking forward to a solid footing to leap from haha!
Wow Rob, those pictures are stunning. They look like maybe HDR images to me?
Bravo on progress through Grade 1!
Hi Rob,
It’s your log ,as long as you don’t start with “dear diary Robs learning log” every day 
It’s good that you have picked up playing music again, and that you are now tackling it in a much structured way … in any case you are going like a spear … wish you a lot of fun.
Greetings ,Rogier
Well done on completing Grade 1. With regards to your question the app currently does not continue past Grade 2. In the FAQ on the app it states that the topic of adding the content of Grade 3 will be discussed with Justin in the future when the demand rises.
If this is the standard of artistic quality you look for before sharing, we might be waiting a while (unless you continue zooming through the course at last week’s rate) 
Enjoyed the whirlwind so far.
Hope you get your guitar back soon
Thanks! None of those are hdr, the astro is a blend of 3 exposures for technical reasons the rest single frame edits!
Ha I was sharing images a long time before I had any real skills, I’m not shy…
It’s quite a similar journey to guitar playing I think, I ended up teaching photography for a while which is excellent for bedding in you’re own knowledge.
As for zooming through its been more a refresher, I’ll be slowing down a lot now I think
Thanks, that’s OK I’ll just have to mix the app and website use up some then
So no lessons last night, got a new place to perch as the office chair isnt really that comfortable for playing (wife is knitting a cushion cover for it now), spent a good hour strumming away putting patterns and chords together with a little link up etc some of it even sounded close to music…
Really nice juts to be able to sit there and strum away some time, tho an hour and my arm/fingers is done its good progression!
