Day 1: How It All Began
It all starts as a happy accident on Saturday 13th March 2021. I grabbed my kid’s 3/4 size right-handed guitar and turned it around to get a feel for how a beginner (with bigger fingers) might feel picking the guitar up for the very first time.
Week 1: The First 6 Days
The first 6 days are an adventure of discovery into how difficult learning guitar from scratch actually is. The A chord is much harder than I thought. I don’t like anchor fingers so much. It all starts off excruciatingly difficult, but progress is quicker than expected.
Week 2: Days 7 to 13
So, this is where the adventure officially begins. This is where I decide to officially learn guitar again, from scratch, left-handed.
This is also the period where I start to document my process and progress.
Week 3: Days 14 to 20
Yey! New guitar.
But there’s a 17-day delay!
However, I resume my quest for left-handed guitar stardom. The week starts great but dwindles over Friday and the weekend.
Week 4: Days 21 to 27
Aw Man!
This was not a good week.
Only managed a small amount of practice, but learned a lot about the challenges of finding time to learn guitar as a busy adult.
Week 5: Days 28 to 34
And we’re back on track!
This week was a really good one, and I managed to clock up over 3 hours of practice time 🙂
I’ve also decided to really commit to using the plectrum, but it’s messing with the quality of my chords.
Week 6: Days 35 to 41
I stuck to my promise and practised with the pick all week.
I’m not feeling as much progress as I’d like though, which temporarily draws me down a path of technical exercises – this didn’t work out very well for me.
A decent practice week though, racking up a total of 2 hours of guitar time.
Week 7: Days 42 to 48
This week felt a little strange. My motivation seems to be withering along with my perceived lack of progress and practice.
The week finishes pretty poorly with only 1 day of practice out of 4.
Week 8: Days 49 to 55
This week, I just tried to power through my motivation dip.
I practised for a total of 2 hours and found some progress with my new chord-changing/strumming learning idea, which was motivating.
Week 9: Days 56 to 62
Oooooosh! This is my worst week yet. My motivation dip seems to be getting deeper, and deeper.
I only managed two days of practice and didn’t really enjoy it.
Not good!
Week 10: Days 63 to 69
Things needed a drastic shake-up, so I shook them up. I changed my mindset from “Progress” to “Process”!
I practised every single day, making this week my most consistent week to date.
And the best bit, I enjoyed it.
Week 11: Days 70 to 76
WOWZER! Another full house!
7 days of practice, although it’s not really feeling like practice anymore. Things feel really good.
Week 12: Days 77 to 83
Another full week of practice! I’m on a roll.
Just continuing on with the same chords through a number of different tunes.
Week 13: Days 84 to 90
My practice run finally ends at 20 days, but I still had a solid week of guitar playing.
I’m also starting to see the finish line with this Campfire Guitar Start stage of my journey and set myself a target!
Week 14: Days 91 to 97
Another standard 5-day practice week in the bag. Things feel good, and improvement is small but steady.
26 days left until I reach the Big 100!
Just going to keep going.
Week 15: Days 98 to 104
Not the best of practice weeks really.
I think I’ve been a little too focused on the 100 Days of Learning objective and need to reevaluate my priorities.
Still, everything is coming along nicely, except for the dreaded F chord! This is my last level Boss!
Week 16: Days 105 to 111
Another decent practice week under my belt and lots of practice on the F chord.
Progress is very incremental, but I’m plugging away at it.
Just got to keep going!
Week 17: Days 112 to 118
F Chord! F Chord! F Chord! F Chord! F Chord! F Chord! F Chord! F Chord! F Chord! F Chord! F Chord! F Chord!
Still working on this one, but it’s a tough nut to crack.
This week, I start to add a few little extra open chord workouts for the left hand to try to speed up the process.
Week 18: Days 119 to 125
Categorically my worst practice week to date.
The Summer Holiday period has cropped up a challenging time.
My guitar was on holiday taking a break.
Week 19: Days 126 to 132
Ok, so got a bit of momentum back this week, where I found myself back into technical exercise territory.
Positive results!
Week 20: Days 133 to 139
A non-existent week in terms of guitar practice. The summer holidays are hectic, work is busy, and I’m away on a family adventure from Friday to Sunday.
Week 21: Days 140 to 146
Slightly back on track this week, and so the countdown to 101 days of practice begins!
4 x 1-hour practice sessions take me up to 98 days of current practice!
3 practice sessions left!
Week 22 and 23: Days 147 to 160
Game officially paused for two weeks whilst I spend two full weeks on holiday with my family 🙂
Week 24: Days 161 to 167
The Summer Holidays end, the kids are back in school and a sense of normality resumes!
I have 3 practice sessions left before I finally reach my goal of 101 Days of Practice.
Can I do it?
Yes I can! 🙂
A 2022 Update!
So for the past year, I’ve been testing the learning methods that I discovered from my Guitar From Scratch experience on my students (new and current).
Here’s the update.