Many thanks Jason. Appreciate the feedback.
Cheers, Shane
Shane
Sounding good. Nice use of arpeggios and hitting those chord tones. Phrasing was good and a nice balance of space letting it breath. Definitely the right approach.
Cheers
Toby
Thanks Toby. Appreciate the feedback. Lookin very forward to seein you guys rock on Sunday morning (my time). Gonna be an awesome show.
Cheers Shane.
2 Likes
That was great Shane, sounded really musical.
Your method certainly is working, hope to hear more.
Wow, Shane - you really looked and sounded comfortable, natural, and in a groove the whole time. That’s what it is supposed to look and feel like. I can’t give you any technical feedback at all, but just as a spectator I can tell you are on the right track.
Thought it was time for a general update. Might end up longish.
Overall things are moving along pretty well, and pretty happy with where I’m at presently with the guitar journey.
Practice still consists of 1 hr day structured, focused practice. I make each weeks routine up on a Sunday night for the following week. Has been working well for a while now.
Routine structure has been the same for some time now.
WARMUP - usually major scale runs at the moment, straight, 3rds etc
TECHNIQUE - 15 minutes ( 3x 5 min drills) - eg. finger gym, bends, muting, string skipping, hammers, pulloffs etc. Rotate these around, depending on progress and songwork.
KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS - (3x 10min) - ie. scales, triads, arpeggios, barre chords, quick changes, improvising, ear training. Rotate these around
SONGS - 15 mins - although this always goes over 
I always choose a key for each week to focus on, and do most of my structured practice in that key. I find it’s been a good way of seeing new connections across different areas, and consolidating knowledge.
Am finding at the moment that improvising has me hooked in the last few months, and I’ll sometimes replace the song practice with more improvising. I can then do the song practice later on the lounge with the acoustic where its more comfortable. Improvising is great fun, and I’m finding it a great teaching tool for the mind, the fingers, and the ears. Trying to work in triads and arpeggios along with the relevant scale framework.
Been playing triads a lot still, both as an exercise, and trying to work them into songs and improvising. These are real gems on the guitar. Pretty much got all the major and minors down across all strings sets now to a reasonable level. Just trying to ingrain them more effectively, get more fluent in using them, and being mindful of my hand/thumb positioning. This can be frustrating at times. Those root position majors on the lower strings are still a bit of a hassle, but getting there. You can use them in so many ways, and they have been a terrific teaching tool for me so far. It’s not surprising to me now why so many great songs make extensive use of them.
Started working on arpeggios since the last update. Have found that my work on triads has segued perfectly into learning these arpeggios. Starting to find out just how useful these can be. Just getting down the E and A major and minor shapes, working on accuracy and speed, and trying to utilise them in some improvisation. Have been dabbling in the C G and D shapes a bit, as I found a great little exercise that does arpeggio runs around the fretboard, linking them all together. When I first heard the word ‘arpeggio’, I always imagined some exotic, obscure technique on guitar that I’d never be bothered about
Scalewise, I’m focusing on developing the major and minor pentatonics at the moment. Thanks to Justins great instruction in his theory course, and his teaching of the Major scale as central, it’s allowed me to process these pentatonic scales fairly rapidly. Those endless hours on the Major scale are now starting to pay some dividends in many, many areas. I am now starting to get a glimpse of the real significance of this teaching, and feel fortunate to have been introduced to it all in this way. Whenever confusion reigns, I just go back to the Major scale, and start working it out from there.
Songwise, I’m starting to now build a reasonable repertoire of songs I can play from memory, and a smaller subset that I can sing as well from memory. Working on the following at the moment to sing and play fairly soon.
Still The Same - Bob Seger
Flame Trees - Cold Chisel
Some longer term projects.
Developer Songs
Baby I Love Your Way - Peter Frampton - a tricky, but very beautiful song. Have the basic song down - working on techniques like string attack, muting, and dynamics, which are such a big part of the song. Be a little while yet I think before I can nail this one.
Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd - great teaching song. Been at this one for a while. Got a fair bit of this one down to an OK level, including some of the licks and riffs, but still much work to be done here.
Listen To The Music - The Doobie Brothers - another cracking tune. Recent addition. Working on chord progression and rhythm.
One of my Dreamers
Sultans of Swing - an all-time cracking tune, which brings back a lot of memories from my youthful excesses. Revisit it now and then. Have the basic chord progression going OK, but its all the other cool stuff I’m after. In the future somewhere.
Outside of actual practice, I’m continuing along with Justin’s lessons, (Intermediate Foundation2) plus the practical theory (Grade 6), albeit at reduced pace this year. I feel I’ve covered a lot of ground in a bit less than 2 years, as I’ve been fortunate with time, so this year is about consolidating to a deeper level, and improving technique. ( And of course, learning songs,songs,songs). I’m more often revisiting completed lessons from both the main and theory courses this year. Also playing more songs, and having a bit of fun with it all. It’s often at these times that those aha! moments happen.
And of course, I’ve just done my first vocal AVOYP, a bit of milestone which I’m feeling good about. Keen to move ahead with this singing and see how it goes. Will be making my OM debut in the next one in May, so a bit of both nerves and excitement starting to creep up on me.
Well, that’s about it. Thanks to you all for your inspiration, knowledge, support, and friendship. It’s a privilege to be part of this wonderful community.
Cheers,
Shane
4 Likes
Fantastic update Shane. You are progressing wonderfully. I like very much how you practice routines are structured and focused. That is something that I am trying to do. I’m looking forward to hearing more of the songs you’ve been working on. I came across this video on YouTube that may be of interest to you. Keep on doing what you’re doing, it’s working really well mate.
Thanks mate for the comments. Yep, watched that video a few months back, (and a few times since). Nothin like hearing about a song from the guy who gave it life. 
Cheers,
Shane
Your such an inspiration, Shane … focused, disciplined, persistent … and it shines through when ever you share a recording in AVOYP.
Keep on rocking in the land down under
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Much appreciated and most kind comments, thanks David. All being made possible by Justin’s brilliant tuition, and through the guidance and mentoring of community members like yourself. Both of whom I shall be forever grateful.
Cheers,
Shane 
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Good write up Shane, you seem to be very well organised and have a plan that will keep moving you forward. There are a few things I am glad you mentioned, as I’ve gone static again despite a focused start to to the year but just part of life’s ups and down.
Looking forward to some more recordings !
Cheers
Toby
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You pushed ALL my guilt buttons with that one, mate 
But listening to you progress, inspires me to get my act together soon and focus on learning how to play better (as opposed to just having a ball with what I’ve learned so far 
)
Good on ya!
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Putting us all to shame with your super organised approach Shane. Well done.
Oh Gordon! Organised on the outside. Sometimes a circus on the inside.
Good to hear from you mate. Hope all is well.
Cheers,
Shane
Really interesting reading your guitar journey thanks! One of the great things about this community is the opportunity to see what different paths others have taken and use that to shape one’s own journey so you’ve given me lots of ideas thanks. 
I enjoyed listening to the tunes and improvisations as well thanks! 
Well Shane,
I started back at the first post today … apparently I hadn’t read anything here yet… That was a long sit 
but I enjoyed it , good to see how you clearly map out your learning path every time… …if only I was half structured like this…I always do a lot ,…of everything that comes to mind(and it`s busy there 
), but because of that I also miss a lot of things that I don’t practice for weeks (months) …you are really doing a great job
Greetings ,Rogier
Thanks Al. Glad you got some ideas from it - ideas I most likely got from Justin and the great people this community.
All the best
Cheers,
Shane
Thanks Roger for having a (long) read. I enjoy reading the personal logs - fleshes things out a bit, see different approaches, and often get some good ideas.
I’ve always needed to build structure in most things I do - probably to compensate for the circus between the ears
All the best
Cheers,
Shane
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Hey Guys,
Here’s an attempted improv over a 145 blues in A.
Been hammering away at the pentatonic scales for a little while now; have them reasonably well under the fingers across the fretboard. More recently been getting into arpeggios as well, concentrating on the E and A shapes for the moment.
The long, term ultimate aim is to be able to see those arpeggio shapes superimposed over the scale in real time, and be able to target both those 1357 chord tones, and surrounding scale notes, in a melodic way. Been having a go also at sliding into the Major 3rd and 5th from the minor 3rd and b5 to get more of that bluesy sound. All easy to say. Not so easy to do. 
The improv is a culmination of some the above endeavours. Not a lot of bends, as concentrating on the above, but looks like I threw a few in there. Relatively early days still, with some flubs and inconsistencies. Under no illusion that this sort of stuff is years in the making, but having a lot of fun, and feel like I’m making some good progress. Appreciate any feedback and tips.
Cheers,
Shane
5 Likes
I’m so glad I check out all Learning Log posts as well as AVOYPs, Shane. Those that don’t are missing out. You are developing a fine ear and feel for the blues. That sounded the the business to me, really enjoyed and need to slow you down so I can study and learn from your play.