Hey @alexisduprey not sure if you are aware but Justin has a full module of lessons on the Katana amp and using the Tone Studio along with patches he’s created for particular songs. I’ve spent this afternoon starting to go through them.
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I’ve looked at Justin’s patches but not the course on tone studio, thanks!
Thanks for the incredible detailed practice I should be doing . Been away for 2.5 months and and missed a lot of practice . Back home now and I’ll be rewinding back to lesson one and starting again. I’m not going to be Justine’s worst failure
I haven’t played electric enough either.
Nice new amp. Incidentally, if you don’t know already, Katana (刀) means “sword” in Japanese, specifically a Samurai sword.
My Vox amp is connected to my computer, and I’ve spent some time exploring the Toneroom program to begin to get some idea about how various effects affect the sound. It’s a rabbit hole, so if you spend some time exploring your new amp, you’ll end up playing your electric more often. Enjoy!
Thanks Jonathan. I’ve had it connected to the laptop that last couple of days exploring the tone studio. You are definitely rights, it’s a rabbit hole but one worth taking the time to explore and understand all the settings. It’s certainly made me pick up and play the electric every day since I got it.
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September 2022: One Year Anniversary
So at the start of September 2021 I ordered a Yamaha APX600, downloaded the JustinGuitar Song and Lesson Application and began my journey of learning to play the guitar. It took me a couple of months of an hour a day practice to be able to play anything recognisable at a good tempo. What kept me going through those first few months were the small improvements being achieved each practice session.
I recognised early in the learning process that I needed to adapt my practice routine from the standard module routines prescribed by Justin to work more on my feel for rhythm and strumming. Therefore, I purchased Justin’s Strumming Techniques course in October 2021 and slowly worked my way through Part 1 of the course building a good friendship with my metronome.
By the end of February 2022 I had completed Beginners Grade 1 and felt reasonably comfortable playing songs with 8 essential beginner chords with the strumming patterns taught in Part 1 of the strumming techniques course. My feel for rhythm had improved and I could change chords smoothly and on time whilst ensuring the notes were ringing out clearly and strings not played were muted.
As I commenced Beginners Grade 2 I transitioned from using the JustinGuitar Song and Lesson Application as my main learning tool to using the content on the website including the Practical Music Theory Course. This was a big game changer for me as it resulted in improved learning and increased my capability in learning and memorising songs.
After following the AVOYPs being posted by the community members I took the plunge and posted a few myself; Bad Moon Rising, Sweet Home Alabama and Three Little Birds. It was a very eye opening experience, something that I would never have envisaged doing when I started in September 2021. I learned a great deal from that experience.
I continued to make steady progress with Grade 2 with a few bumps along the way. That mini F Chord and one finger A chord were real thorns on my side but having overcome other obstacles such as the Dm Chord I knew that with perseverance they would eventually fall into place even if it took until the consolidation period to do so.
By June 2022 I had completed the Beginner’s Grade 2 lessons and commenced the consolidation period. I’ve spent the last three months consolidating what I have learned but at the same time I have continued the learning process dipping into the classic course for additional material as well as commencing some additional supplementary courses.
I now find myself entering the last phase of my consolidation plan and that is focusing on rock techniques which I couldn’t have been timed more perfectly with the addition of the Boss Katana 100 MkII to my list of gear owned.
Little did I think when I first decided to learn the guitar that I would develop a case of GAS. Over the course of a year I’ve collected an Epiphone Hummingbird, Epiphone ES-335, Cort Gold A6, Digitech Trio Plus, Boss RC-500, Boss DB-90, Boss WL-20, Boss Katana Mini , Boss Katana 100 MkII and a Scarlett 2i2 Studio Recording Package.
I’ve also installed a fair amount of guitar related software this year including Guitar Pro 8, Neck Diagrams 2, Reaper, OBS and RipX DeepRemix which I have found myself using quite often especially now that I prepare my chord book, scale diagrams, tabs, and lyric and song sheets as I have moved away from the JustinGuitar Song and Lesson Application.
Key points:
- I’ve learned that there is a difference between practicing and playing.
- I’ve learned to practice slowly and correctly as practice makes permanent.
- I’ve learned rhythm is king.
- I’ve learned with practice and perseverence you can overcome the trickiest of chords etc.
- I’ve started to listen to music differently. Now when I watch music videos I pay closer attention to the player’s techniques and the equipment they are using.
- I’ve found a great community to share experiences with and learn from one another. The support of the community really motivated me through this year.
Goals for Year 2:
- Complete Beginners Grade 3 and Intermediate Grade 4.
- Complete Part 2 of the Strumming Techniques Course.
- Complete Grades 3 and 4 of the Practical Music Theory Course.
- Complete the Ear Training Course.
- Complete the Discover Your Voice Course.
- Complete the Supplementary Beginner and Intermediate Courses for Fingerstyle.
- Explore and develop blues rhythm and lead further including acoustic blues.
- Record and share a few more AVOYPs.
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Happy guitarversary James, and what a year! Just looking at that list of accomplishments should make you proud. It’s crazy how much learning can happen in a relatively short amount and also just how much more is possible in the future. Good luck on another year making your guitar sing!
P.S. wow that’s a lot of gear! I have a similarly large pile of guitars and guitar related accessories that I’ve bought. I’m afraid to list them all and assess the damage, lol
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Happy anniversary and long may you run 
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Great update James. You’ve come a long way and collected a lot of gear in a year! 
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Happy first JGversary, James. And over and above all the guitar practice and playing, gear acquisition, you are also an ever present member of the Community, always helping members out and offering support and encouragement.
I wish you many more years of learning, practicing, and playing and dare I say it … look forward to more AVOYPs 
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@alexisduprey Thanks Alexis. Yes it’s been some year and as always when you’re having fun it flies by.
@Jozsef Thanks József. Hopefully, I continue to run in the right direction
@sairfingers Thanks Gordon. Yes, an now I have a long way to go next year to make full use of all that gear
@DavidP Thanks David. It’s really good to see you about the community again. I try my best to follow in the footsteps of you and the other regulars in the community. Well you won’t be disappointed then as I have a couple of AVOYPs in the pipeline including an acoustic blues solo.
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Hi James, congratulations on your year of guitar playing and learning. I’m sure your next year will be just as successful. And you’ll no doubt be affected by more attacks of “I need more gear”!! There is a cure you know…!
Looking forward to seeing your next year of progress.
🎸 David
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Congratulations for how far you’ve come! Hope you enjoy the next year of practice. I agree with your key points! 
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Congrats James. Great that you’re still enjoying it a year in. To many more years of guitar playing and exploration!
It’s been a while since your last AVOYP, hoping to see something new soon. Ever thought about playing at a JG Open Mic?
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@BurnsRhythm Thanks David. No space left in the house for more gear. So I will have to make do with what I’ve got until I either consider myself an intermediate player and deem myself worthy of upgrading to a high end guitar and that will be some time away.
@suzieq Thanks Suzie. It’s amazing how much stuff you learn over Grades 1 and 2.
@jkahn Thanks, JK. Yes, its been quite a while since I did an AVOYP. I’ve got a few lined up to do before I move on from the consolidation period. I have thought about playing at one of the JG Open Mics but will probably wait until I move house and have a dedicated space for playing as right now I’m practicing on the sofa in the living room and constantly getting interrupted by the dogs.
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Hey James, that’s a great update for your anniversary-
In fact, you might think of asking one of the mods to pop a link for it in your first post. It’s the kind of thing that folk like to read and can get lost in the middle of the thread.
I just went back and had another listen to your Mar/Apr AVOYPs and they are really good for that short amount of time. Keep up the good work.
As @DavidP mentions, you’ve been one of the ‘new Community’ staunch positive regulars and hopefully you get as much out of that as you give to others.
Cheers
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Hi James, happy first guitar anniversary. Good progress with as I can see good judgment of when to move on to next phase.
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@brianlarsen Thanks Brian. That’s a good point, I’ve been meaning to tidy up the first post. Thanks for the listen and feedback. Let’s hope this years AVOYPs show some sign of improvement. To be honest I get more out of it helping others out and giving my support and encouragement.
@dobleA Thanks Andrés. Better to move on over prepared than under prepared is the way I look at it.
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Year #2 Week #1
Well this new year has started off promising. I posted two AVOYPs, The Circle - Ocean Colour Scene Cover and Justin's Acoustic Solo Blues. When uploading them I noticed that it had been 5 months since I last posted an AVOYP. It’s amazing to see the progress that has been made over those 5 months. I’ve promised myself that I’m not going to wait another 5 months before posting another AVOYP. So I will definitely post the stuff I have been working on during the consolidation period to be able to look back at when I reach Year #2 to see the progress I have made over the course of a year. Consolidation is going really well, I’m more or less done with the blues, just have to close out the blues lead I’ve been working on. I just need to work more on consolidating the rock techniques which I’ve also added riffs to my practice sessions like Don’t Fear the Reaper. So I’m getting the benefit of working on my left and right hand techniques whilst learning some really cool songs along the way.
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That time has come. Well I’d already watched the Practice Effectively Lesson and added the Finger Gym into my practice schedule and a couple of the Grade 3 Modules Lessons are covered by the Classic Course. So as from tomorrow I will start to add one lesson at a time into my practice schedule starting with the D Chord Explorer lesson whilst I round off Grade 2 Consolidation.
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