Thank you @kimlodrodawa .
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I should point out, playing with others was not my idea! It was a challenge given to me by my friend when he gave me a guitar in January 
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And you rose to that challenge and are now reaping the rewards. Keep up the good work and you’ll be trading solos with him.
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Week 18 Review
28 May 2023
Another great week. I have a new guitar case and a new amplifier. Today I was at the last practice session with my friend Clint getting ready for my debut (now 3 songs!) in a fortnights time. Today was the first time that I have played in front of an audience, our wives, and it went better than I hoped. The one thing we did find was that my Katana 50 mk2 amplifier just didn’t give the sound that we wanted so I have now got a Katana 100 mk2. We tried it out against his Fender amp and it held it’s own. As he was about to sell the Katana on Ebay, I said that I would buy it off him. He offered to just lend it to me, but the sound was so much better that I want to keep it I know there is a ‘Guitar Acquisition day’ I wonder if there is an ‘Amp Acquisition Day’’?
I have finally decided to adjust my practice routines from the one’s that Justin recommends. I have finally cottoned on to Richard’s saying of “learn songs, learn songs and then learn more songs’, sorry Richard it has taken me so long.
I now have the technical practice of the chords I use in songs (perfect chords 4 times in a row and 1 minute perfect chord changes A-D C-G C-D) and also anything that is included in the lesson that I am learning. However the chords in a lesson are only practiced for a week or so and then they are dropped unless they are in a song I am learning or playing.
My practice session now is 2/3rds playing songs. There are ones that I play to get the chords right and songs that I really enjoy and are part of my repertoire. The songs I have included with my practice at the moment are:-
Brown Eyed Girl (3/4 chords)
Old Time Rock and Roll (D C G chords)
And the following songs for A D & E chords:
Further Up the Road, Lay down Sally, Willy and the hand jive and That’s alright Mama.
My strumming is still quite mechanical, although better than it was, so I will be concentrating on that a lot more.
The other thing I forgot to add, is that I have done away with the metronome. I have now downloaded from YouTube a selection drum tracks at different BPM and use those as my metronome. They sound better than the click…click…click etc. and I get used to listening for the drum beat.
Well, that’s it for now. Onwards and Upwards.
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Well I did it. My challenge was to learn 3 chords in 5 months and go and back up my friend at a Rock and Roll rally we were running. I did it., My stage name was ‘Tone Deaf’. The first 2 songs I had practiced a lot, but that afternoon he said to me “by the way, you will also be backing me up in Johnny B Goode. After all it only has the same three chords and you know the song like the back of your hand anyway”. We had a test run that afternoon (1 take) and then I played it in the evening. I never thought I would do that, but it was great fun.
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Congratulations on your first gig! 
All your practice definitely paid off, and you got the folks dancing with the one you hadn’t even practiced before. Well done!
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@southpaw6 Thanks, but to be honest it wasn’t me who got them dancing it was the lead guitarist, Clint.
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Watching the video back a couple of times, ignoring the first song to a certain extent as I was just getting over the first time nerves, was that compared to the last song, where basically I was just jamming along to what I was hearing, the 1st two songs were over thought out. In this I mean, the hand movements etc were far more stilted as I was trying to play to how I learnt it rather than how it felt on the night, This is something that I need to work on. Learn the fundamentals of the song and then just ‘jam’ along to it. This is probably easier to say than do
Week 21 review and future goals
13 June 2023
It has been a few weeks since the last review as not a lot has gone on with the learning side of things. The last couple of weeks have concentrated on preparing for playing at a Rock and Roll rally that we ran.
Now that I have completed my 6 month goal ( a month early), I have to decide what my next goal is to be. I now have more idea on what I enjoy so it is easier to chose a goal. By December I would like to have achieved the following.
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Play the chords C, F and G without thinking about them so that I can easily jam along to songs with those chords as easily as I can do with A D & E chords now.
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Consolidate the A D and E chords so that they sound good 95% of the time without muting the high E string!
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Start to get appreciation of Blues playing and strumming.
So, now it is back to learning and practicing again. This week and possible the next couple of weeks will be getting the F chord and it’s cheats nailed down. I have finally found an advantage of my stubby hands and strong grip. The full F chord is achievable! I still cannot change to it easily, but that will come. The 2 new songs that I want to master are ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ using the 3/4 chords and ‘House of the Rising Sun’ for Am, C, D, E and mini F chords. This song handles most of the chords that I need to practice so that’s good. The other song that I will be perfecting is ‘Old time Rock and Roll’ which is C, D & G chords.
Well, that should keep me amused for the next couple of weeks, so onwards and upwards.
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Hi Tony, congratulations. You did very well on your debut. Your friend’s lead guitar and vocals had a very good accompanying rhythm guitar. I think that the extra time you spent being sure you had those three chords nailed and working on a steady rhythm gave you a lot of reassurance that you were ready for the presentation.
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@dobleA Thank you. As you say by the time the day came, most things were on auto-pilot as I had done them many many times. This allowed me to enjoy the moment.
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Already giggin’ 
great stuff 
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Hi Tony, congratulations on your debut gig. You provided a steady rhythm support for the lead and thats a great accomplishment for where you are in your guitar journey. I can tell you are having fun.
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I do sometimes wonder what I am thinking of! Justin in the online guitar group has given us a challenge (not as hard as the ones my friend Clint gives me) of recording playing a song from start to finish and posting it in the guitar group. Personally I find that easy as I have done this several times.
So I thought I would add to the challenge ( remember my middle name is MUG!). I have decided to learn a new song and post it before the 30 June deadline.
Easy… no… I have chosen the Beatles number ‘Get Back’ which is a fast song and I have to master playing 4 different chords A,G,D,A in 2 seconds. Not once but about a dozen times in the song.
Stupid or what… It should be fun though
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Not the piece I planned on for the monthly challenge, but holiday got in the way of practicing. So, jamming along to a recording of my friend playing Johhny B Goode. The rhythm guitar has been mixed slightly loud so that I can hear what’s going on. I noticed that I am still hitting the lower E string when strumming the A chord. Also I nearly lost the pick halfway through, but managed to get it back in place without dropping it.
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Excellent work on that one, Tony! That rhythm was nice and solid, keeping your arm moving steadily and completely in the groove. Well done, sir! 
In case, you’re still going for “Get back” - good luck with that one, I love that tune and would really like to see you master it. You can do it! You’re on a very good way from all I can see/read in your Log. 
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Hi @Lisa_S , thanks. Yes ‘Get Back’ is still work in progress. I will post a video once it’s done.
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