Great update and three wonderful recordings, loved the last one !
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Hi @SILVIA I love your learning log and have started dabbling in classical guitar since my lesson in Spain last month using the Christopher Parkening method books my teacher gave me. I don’t yet own a classical guitar but I am getting one from a friend whom I am visiting for Christmas.
It’s left me in a quandary about how much to stick to Justin’s course vs how much time to spend on classical (I have started learning to use standard musical notation) and whether to find a classical guitar teacher. Do you have any advice for me from your experience?
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@Helen0609 @Socio @sairfingers @glpguitar @TheMadman_tobyjenner thank you all so much for sharing this journey with me and always have kind words 
Sadly enough the approach is quite different in upper grades and teachers are mostly centered in their own single subjects without starting from the direct experience that the children have of the world 
and ask them to work on abstract or meaningless things 
thanks god they’re not all like this but I can observe it so often with my colleagues from primary school 
Cinderella first …a dream is a wish your heart makes 
la lala la la , then Elsa…because well, yes, that is a pretty nice tune 
Absolutely! The moment he started singing I was like 
just couldn’t believe that!
Arghh, putting the clips together in a hurry and I realised afterwards, it was already uploaded on YouTube!
Thanks Toby, that’s the one I love the most as well…also @roger_holland preferred it to the other clips I guess 
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Replying to you soon Kim…I’m very happy you embarked on the Classical journey!
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The last one is simply heart-melting 
Greets
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Not to my credit hahaha…Greetings
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@KimR Hi Kim, I’m not sure my advices will be good for you, they come from my own experience and you need to read through the lines and take what makes sense to you and what you think might fit with your individual experience.
This depends on your interests and inclinations, which might not be so clear at the moment, it’s ok, it’ll feel great to find out along the way! My advice is to keep working at anything from Justin’s course that regards time e.g. working the patterns with the metronome and most of all all his Food for Thought articles and videos, they’ll help you to draw “the big picture”, they’ve been and are essential to me; take with you his suggestions for effective practice, I rely on those for my Classical Guitar learning and I wouldn’t have been able to progress without.
I skipped most of the riffs lessons and Power Chords as well…just skip the specific things you’re not interested in at the moment and concentrate on what makes you build the fundamental skills…don’t skip strumming if you can, because of time feeling which is necessary for Classical Guitar as well.
Working both on acoustic and classical means to me that my progress is slowier, just accept that, and think that there are tons of pros in slow progress!
Ear training, it was damn difficult for me at the beginning, but it’s something you really need to persist with, no matter what… also learning melodies will hugely help.
I don’t know the Method book you mentioned, is it complemented with video tutorials? Mine is but nevertheless the teacher suggests that an in-person teacher is required to study the book, I personally prefer to do without (that’s why the video tutorials are so important for me to have). If you chose to have in-person lessons just make sure you find a teacher who must be not only qualified but also one who cares about your development as a classical guitarist and is able to start from YOUR learning needs always. I need to say that Justin’s teachings help me a lot to be a self-taught and independent learner. If you haven’t already do go and have a look at the Food for Thought section over the website…but do allow your self the time to digest things, that’s really a lot and it will take time.
Hopefully I haven’t been excessvely long and confused you. Let me know if something is not clear, sometimes my english doesn’t help!
@SILVIA thank you so much for taking the time to give me such a well thought out response.
Your points about video lessons for classical are good, there’s no video with the method book so I may have to try a different method or get a teacher. I also haven’t spent much time on Justin’s food for thought section so I will go and have a look. You have also given me a push to go and do some more ear training (which I am not enjoying so keep avoiding).
I get my Classical Guitar in less than two weeks and went and bought some new strings for it today and ordered a foot stool. While I was in the shop, I tried an electric guitar as I had never so much as held one before. I was not particularly impressed (albeit it was a cheap beginner guitar) but it really confirmed that actually my interests lie with acoustic and classical.
Thanks again for taking the time to answer my questions - and your English is very good by the way 
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Casa Pentagramma lacks some furniture …maybe some paintings on the walls 
Thanks for lovely update Silvia! I really enjoy this snippets of your music life. The sound of the your guitar is deep and rich, hopefully one day I’ll get my classical instrument. Sync with the strumming came out perfectly and it sounds like kids are really enjoying singing 
.
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A belated thank you Radek for your feedback! I’m very happy you enjoyed my update
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Last update of the year, I said I I would make a talky video following Toby and Jeff examples, then circumstances made me do this short clip instead, which is meant to be nothing but a reminder to my own self of what learning to play the guitar really is to me and a big thank you to all who are sharing the ups and downs of the journey with me! 
Best wishes for a wonderful 2024 full of…
…guitar playing 
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Best wishes for 2024 to you too Silvia!
I have no doubt that you will continue your excellent progress in the new year and for many years to come.
Have a good one! 
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Hi Silvia,
what a lovely little clip that majorly shows one thing to me: playing guitar means joy for you, that’s what your expression tells me. That’s probably the one thing we all here have in common and it’s so good to see it that obvious, though.
I always enjoy reading your log updates, thanks so much for sharing your path with us!
Wish you all the best for 2024, too! May it be a joyful year full of love, fun and guitars! 
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Always smiling when playing !! Teach me how to do that oh wise one !
Wishing you a happy new year.
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I loved the video, such wonderful guitar playing and visuals taking us through the journey of your other recordings You’ve got such a positive vibe Silvia.
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Lovely montage, playing and smile.
Best wishes for 2024.
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Hello Silvia! I’m just now jumping into your learning log. I read your first post and will scan through the rest and keep up from there. I can tell you already that you are FAR more organized than I am! I will take your organization as inspiration!
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@BurnsRhythm Thank you David…making progress, that’s the goal!
@TheMadman_tobyjenner Toby…
…I still need to teach myself! Hahaha…but if you want something to start off with: fake …no really, not joking…and somehow it’ll work to become genuine! Well at least the mussels in your face will be prompt 
I think it’ll be useful for me that I made this collection of “guitar smiles”…I must confess I sometimes feel very much the challenge and I try my best to keep things as easy as possible and go super slow so that I don’t feel it like struggling… but yes then I struggle too…I guess we all do…trying to smile helps so much and screenshoting my own smiles kind of makes it a tangible thing I can rely on…being able to relax and smile
@jkahn thank you Jk, I’m very happy to read you liked the playing as well, the Malaguenas has been and still is one of the most challenging pieces for me to play and I still need to work a lot on technique before I can feel confident to play it without making mistakes.
Please read what I wrote to Lisa just above: it is all actually looked for and aimed to…my attitude might be natural but the outcome is not, the smiles are also aimed to… they’re genuine though I must admit that learning to trust the process is my best achievement insofar!
@Alan_1970 thank you really and best wishes to you too 
@WonderMonkey
Hello Michael and thank you for your feedback. If you haven’t already check Justin’s lesson on Time Boxing, it’ll help you a lot to keep yourself organised and focused on your learning…I wouldn’t be able to do much without! I’m not able to link from the website 
but here’s the link of the lesson on YouTube
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Best wishes to you too Silvia, let your New Year will be plenty of new (or classical) music! 
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