The graphic I made for this post might just say all that needs to be said.
My goal is to be at a mid-50 range on my Guitar Ability Scale by the end of Year 5. At the end of year two I might not be as far along as I hoped for, but I’ve almost doubled my standing from the end of year one, so, I’m going to take that as a victory.
We need to celebrate the small steps we take on our journeys.
Sure, I’d love to say I reached a 20 by now, but realistically I know I don’t have the natural ability or the time practice to have that type of progression. I’m OK with that.
In year one and through the beginning of year 2, I continued practicing every day, alternating between the acoustic and electric guitar. I don’t recall when I made the switch to almost exclusively practicing acoustic, but it was likely somewhere around month five or six of year two. I made the switch because I had a specific goal of playing a song for my wife’s birthday near the end of year 2. Also, I find acoustic to be satisfying, from a progress perspective, especially given my maximum one hour a day capacity limit.
I worked hard for the last few months to become proficient at fingerpicking the song I wrote for my wife. I’m not that good at it yet, but I’m happy with where I am versus how hard I found it when I first started.
I kept playing my regular acoustic songs, House of the Rising Son, Norwegian Wood, Blowin in the Wind, Wish you Were Here, as well as a few others. I introduced If You Could Read My Mind, and as well as trying a few Springsteen songs. I continue to write short little parts of songs that I’ll come back to later. I must have at least thirty or so.
The recording of the song I wrote for my wife was a climax for year two. Once I played the video for her I kind of slowed down. I took a week off without playing and only played three or four times per week for a few weeks. I’m just now trying to get back to playing every day.
I hope to reach 20 to 22 by the end of year three. I hope to accomplish that by introducing a few more songs in my repertoire and becoming more proficient in my playing skills. If I can accomplish this, I’ll be well on my way to reaching my goal of being in the 50-55 playing ability range at the end of year five.
I do love playing the guitar. I can sense the improvement in my play.
You can view the video of the song I wrote and performed for my wife’s birthday, You Make Me Feel Like I Belong.
Here’s the intro post to this Guitar Journey Series
Here’s the end of year one update to the series: Commitment Pays Off
