07/01/26
Hello & here is my first log of 2026 from getting a new guitar and amp as I said in my intro. Hows it been going? I am shocked as I cant practice as much as I like, life just gets in the way eh.
Started Grade 1 on the 4th Jan 2026 just got past the anchored finger for D to A. I recorded this in my notes and wow I am so surprised tbh.
Day 1 chord changes D-A = 15
Day 2 06/01/26 = 21
Day 3 07/01/26 = 65!!!
Now I have no idea how that happened I have not picked the guitar up since last night. The only thing I have done tonight was 30 minute practice and my routine isā¦ 10 minute warm up so fretting each note up and down the neck in rows of 4 and so on. (note I am reading the notes also like E,F,G, A,B,C,D etc) I read do this to learn the fretboard.
Then I have 10 minutes learning chords C,A,G,E,D. I know theres a system abouth those notes, dont know what it is yet but I thought learn them.
Then I have 10 mins practicing the Am Pentatonic. I learnt this the other day and thought it looked quite easy, how wrong I was haha.
Anyway I am still struggling with finger placment its getting there but its not perfect I would say on average say 75-80% are great the other well lets say my fingers are in knots going all ways I never thought a finger could go 
Then I do the 1 minute chord challenge what happened tonight has blown me away honestly!
So there it is my routine for now Grade 1 I want to pass though I have no idea if you have to send a video or not if so Im going to be about 12 months before I have the courage to do that marlarkey 
Oh I forgot to mention I have chosen a song I wish to learn which is BOC āDont Fear The Reaperā Loved that song for years upon years if I can master that I know Iām on my way to being able to play better & better.
10/01/26
Two days rest and I had a go this afternoon for forty minutes. Didnāt really practice I was watching the grade one videos just reminding myself of what goes where.
Now Iām guessing that when it comes to updates on this log you cannot add a new section so in essence itās an all in one. Shame as Iād like to have different reference dates with new updates.
What I am trying to do is make a practice plan so far itās finger fretting each fret. I changed this up a tad by using my index & middle then ring and pinky. I find this extremely challenging than just doing four in a row. Hopefully I can develop finger independence a little bit quicker.
Surprisingly enough my fingers are not to far away from the fret board, unlike I have seen where fingers are pointing away on some videos. Thatās part one. Part two (all 10 minutes btw) is the D & A chord changes.
Then I have the Am pentatonic. I have added an extra 10 minutes for my chosen song of dont fear the reaper for the rhythm part. I placed the metronome on to see how fast I was and Iām currently 35bpm on the picking and chord changes.
According to the tab itās 141bpm 
I have a long road ahead but itās great fun. I really am tempted to hit that distortion on my amp and play about with the tone exchange, but whatās the point I canāt play anything yet 
11/01/26
Downloaded the app. Now I am learning so much to do on here and you cannot move on until the app says its correct. Great feature to make sure you are fretting correctly with no buzz, lots of practice on this then I feel. What have I learnt today?
2 Day streak thats ok level 7 on the app score is 210 of 320 chuufed with that on grade one.
So 4 minutes learning, 10 minutes practice, 4 minutes playing songs one strum at a time & 9 songs played. Is that good sure feels like it on my fingers. Plus I had my 30 minute routine of fretting, D-A in a minute and the pentatonic along with my song as well. (Still no faster )
Quite a day and I loved every minute of it. I have stumbled on a song by pure accident and that song is the intro to Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Blue. I remember this when the film came out when I was a kid. I think the chords are D-A-G well thats what I was playing and strumming. It was ok not perfect but I knew the tune.
I want to keep going but I am forcing myself to stop. Life is great!!
12/01/26
Missed day 11 due to shifts at work so today I have been on the app on learning and practice. i have completed Grade 1 lessons and now need to fine tune all the chords and challenges so i am confident to move onto Grade 2. Now I am still trying to find out how I clear Grade 1 I know Justin says make sure everything is in good working order befroe I do move so be it. Finger tips are painfull as I am still learning the pressure I need to fret. Big night just want to sleep now after a 14hr shift meh 
16/01/26
Grade one oops misunderstood 
I done Module 1 & still doing it. I will be moving onto module 2 what a plum
Now I have only missed one day which was Tueday as I was late home from work. Other than that every night. I thought no point saying the same thing over & over again as reality is I am still getting my two notes down. They are however getting much much better.
I have still been doing my song choice of learning but I am still incredibly slow at it. I have made a change in my finger choice & am I hoping its ok? So the chords are A-G-F-G repeated my choice of fingers are for the A middle and ring for the G i use middle & ring then for the F I use index & ring.
Itās hard Iām not going to lie & that is why I am so slow as I am I guess retraing my fingers I dont know but it sure feels like it. No rush slowly does it. I also have been playing the Am pentatonic, I want to look deeper into this as I understand ther are 5 positions and they all inter link.
I am starting on the the E sting G then counting five down and moving up two and counting another five and two down. It sounds terrible if I hit the wrong note so a little more reading and understanding here for me. Other than that its same old same old just keep going slowly bit by bit until it all fits together, Yes I am still enjoying it. I want to practice longer but as I have read and poeple advise 30 minutes a day is fine. I may push this to an hour if I have the time.
Oh I forgot to add I bought new stings as the original sounded pants tbh and they are DāAddario 9-46 nickel wound. Not bad at all may I say & I aslo learnt how to restring and retune with a floating bridge Iām pretty please with myself as everything stays in tune even if I hit the whammy chuffed 