Should I start a learning log?

So, this is the question.
Iā€™m finally going home at the end of the month and gonna have more time for guitar, definitely gonna record more songs and such.
And during my time in the community I noticed that almost every active member has a learning log. Obviously, itā€™s a quick and easy way to find all recordings and quite often theyā€™re just interesting to read.
And I wanna ask log owners about their experience, does it help you in any way, are there other benefits besides containing all your recordings?

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I think, start one if you want. Donā€™t do it if it will be a chore.

I donā€™t think thereā€™s a benefit to progress. I gave up on using mine to link all my recordings. I mainly use mine to tell stories of where Iā€™m at and share my thoughts. I find those kind of logs the most interesting to read.

Personally I find the logs that just document what people are practising quite dull so donā€™t read those.

But I love the ones that share an insight into someoneā€™s life and personality.

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Definitely worth a try! (I couldnā€™t do it, but I know many people who had very good results)

Hello Artem, keeping a LLog has many benefits, the more meaningful one in my experience is that while you have to think what to write you have to reflect on your learning process and observe your self; good teachers observe students and understand their individual learning needs; weā€™re self-taught, we need to read our own experience to try to make the most out of our practice time. Having a Log requires time, but itā€™s always well spent. Second benefit: people might relate to your feelings or struggles or victoriesā€¦ or simply praise a video and that feels great: sharing is great in so many respects! Benefit number three (in my experience): it gives me discipline and structure, you can decide how frequently you want to update it, for me itā€™s once a month with some extra post when enthusiasm for something seems to explode :joy: And in the update I try to analyse my learning experience and see what worked or notā€¦ enoughā€¦now I canā€™t wait to read the othersā€™ comments and all the benefits that I forgot!

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What @JK said :point_up_2:
The LL is unlikely to help you with your guitar playing, although it might make you feel closer to the community.
Iā€™m a curious person and find most people have interesting stories. I donā€™t mind sharing personal stuff with strangers- every now and again you get a comment that someone enjoyed it.
Do it if you want to.

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If you want to do one then do. I do one once a year which allows me to think what I have done, how I have progressed and what I will be doing in the coming year. Some do these monthly and daily, although personally I think that is too often.

I keep a learning plan and schedule on a piece of paper with a pencil and review/revise it once a week. It seems to me way too much time to catalogue on the computer every exercise I do, how long, how fast, how many minutes, etc. I can tell what I need to work on (a sizeable list) and if Iā€™m improving well enough without a formal learning log. To each his/her own.

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Isnā€™t that a practise schedule and not a learning log? To me these are different things.

Have a look at some of the learning logs out there and maybe consider what you might want to get out of it.

My approach has become to post an update approx once a week. I put what Iā€™m working on, how itā€™s going and note any particular problems Iā€™m encountering. My thinking is that in the future when Iā€™m struggling with some technique Iā€™ll be able to look back at my log as a reminder of how far Iā€™ve come and how Iā€™ve got past hurdles that seemed impossible. I probably should post more recordings on my log than I do

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I guess the log is rattling around in my mind.

Learning Logs are a great asset of the community. They give people their own individual space and place within the community.
As you say, most active members have a LL.
If more people had a log then maybe they would feel more a part of the community and engage with it more.

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Obviously, no forum topic is gonna make you a better player. Though I think it can be beneficial in terms of giving some structure and additional discipline like Silvia mentioned.

For sure. Though I donā€™t really feel like I have anything to tell or worth telling, but who knows, I havenā€™t even tried.

I needed someone to say that, now I can share this video here. :laughing:

Thatā€™s certainly something I need. I think you just sold me LLā€™s with this single sentence.

Yeah, unfortunately I donā€™t see how making a log can force me to play with a metronome and do more exercises. But feeling closer to the community is still a pretty good thing.

Thanks for the advice, I think Iā€™m gonna do exactly that.

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No use in keeping a log if you donā€™t plot your long, mid and short term GOALS

Try to write these down in a hierarchical matter and keep track how far you progressed towards these.

The log should be a progress meter of your progress in the RIGHT direct, not just A direction

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Thatā€™s exactly what I need. Thanks for the great advice.

short : getting better
mid : getting better
long : getting even better

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Hmmā€¦.Iā€™m struggling to agree with you there @LievenDV
Okay, so your method may be well suited for some people but I find it far too formal and rigid for myself.
To say there is no point having a log if you donā€™t do it a certain way is ridiculous.

My log is a building story of me learning to play guitar by following Justinā€™s lessons. I havenā€™t stated any short, medium or long term goals - I probably wouldnā€™t achieve them anyway! And then Iā€™d probably be disheartened!
My ā€goalsā€ stay in my head where they can remain private and can be changedā€¦as is my whim!

My log is just a story of my experience and it gives me a place in this community where we are all different.
Allow us to create our logs in our own way.

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Iā€™m not gonna tell you what to do :stuck_out_tongue:
Goals can change along the way and nobody urges you to be a publicist of goals either.
I suppose everybody has a north star as main direction while goals change along the way; that healthy. In my Live Clubs I explained how these can move as your insights, tastes and skill grow and change.

If you donā€™t feel liek you have a ā€œgeneral directionā€ or North star, you have a higher risk to suffer ā€˜guitar burn outā€™, loss of motivation and not enough drive to work on something to progress.
As logn as you are moving forward, thatā€™s all cool though.

If recording your guitar journey is part of your goals, your serving a goal.

A bit nuanced, the advice would be:
If it is not doing anything for your journey now, make sure your logs actually serve A purpose some day. Otherwise it is a waste of time.
If they have value for you later, as sentimental value or you use them to recap your progress, detect inefficient paths or strange jumps, then they serve a purpose

If you approach it like my 14yo son currently think heā€™s ā€œdoing 10 minutes of homeworkā€ by logging it and taking 10 minutes to log it, youā€™re only wasting time :smiley:

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Now guysā€¦what an interesting discussion over here, with very different points of view! In the end @metramaks WHY should you start a Learning Log?

Ask why, find your good reasons and if theyā€™re good enough start one! Never stop questioning!

Personally the LL is an amazing Learning tool and having one is very beneficial to me and my progressā€¦onlyā€¦it needs time and dedication to be an effective tool; nevertheless I understand someone can do well enough without it, weā€™re all different after all.

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I use My Learning log sparingly and as a free space. Live your best lives, my friends! :heart_hands:

I like updating mine when I can, oft times Iā€™m venting my frustration about some guitar thing thatā€™s bugging me and others step in to help. So I will keep doing it.

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