Week 14: Days 91 to 97

Day 91: Monday, June 28th 2021

Practice Time – 20 mins

Looking at my diary this week, I’ve hardly written down any details of my practice sessions in terms of what I’m practising and how I’m feeling. I think this is because all of the sessions are now starting to look and feel the same. 

I’m deliberately sticking with the same open chords that I’ve been learning throughout this experience because I do believe that focussing more energy on fewer things is the way forward. 

I feel improvement bit by bit, which is always a really nice feeling. I also enjoy strumming through my current batch of songs every time I pick my guitar up. So all is good. 

Today, I spent 20 minutes running through my current batch of songs with a prime focus on the F chord.

Day 92: Tuesday, June 29th 2021

Practice Time – 20 mins

An exact replica of yesterdays session. Most of my energy is going into the F chord. It’s getting better, but it’s slow. In fact, it’s very enlightening to see how slow these things take. 

Day 93: Wednesday, June 30th 2021

Practice Time – 0

No practice today.

Day 94: Thursday, July 1st 2021

Practice Time – 20 mins

Another replica of Monday and Tuesday. 

Nothing feels different, other than a very tiny amount of improvement. And it is very tiny.

Day 95: Friday, July 2nd 2021

Practice Time – 20 mins

Same again today. 20 mins on all songs with the prime focus on the F chord!

Day 96: Saturday, July 3rd 2021

Practice Time – 10 mins

Got a cheeky 10-minute strum in today. Same drill as all of my other sessions this week.

Day 97: Sunday, July 4th 2021

Practice Time –  0

No practice today

Weekly Round Up

Total Days Practiced: 5

Monday – 20 mins

Tuesday – 20 mins

Wednesday – 0 mins

Thursday – 20 mins

Friday – 20 mins

Saturday – 10 mins

Sunday – 0 mins

Total Weekly Minutes Practiced:

1 hour and 30 mins

End of Week Thoughts: 

The Same 

My practice sessions are all starting to feel the same now. I feel like I’m making small amounts of progress and I enjoy myself every time I pick the guitar up. So from here, it’s just a matter of sticking with it until the movements become more solid.

Sometimes I don’t Feel Like Practicing…But?

Sometimes I just don’t feel like playing any left-handed guitar, but I tell myself to just do 5 mins. This works really for me because it takes hardly any willpower to do 5 mins, so I’m happy to pick the guitar up.

What follows is the best part:

Once I start playing, I really enjoy it, so I always end up playing and practising for longer. Generally around 15 minutes.

So on days where I might not fancy it, but know that I should get a little something done, the key for me is to focus on just picking the guitar up.

“Just Start” as they say. Do 5 mins, and see what follows.

Grading My Chords?

If I was to grade my chords from 1 to 10 right-handed, I’d give them all a 10. I’ve been playing the guitar (right-handed) for 23 years though, so that makes total sense. 

But if I were to grade my chords left-handed, I’d give myself:

A – 6

C – 7

D – 7

E – 7

F – 6

G – 7

Cadd9 – 7

Em – 9

Am – 7

Writing out a score for each of these chords like this was a really interesting exercise. I now find myself asking the question, how high do I need to get each chord to be satisfied. Well, I think an 8 is a good solid level. Not at all perfect, but good enough. 

So going forward, I’m going to be focussing on my F and A as these chords are my weakest right now, as well as continuing onwards with all of the other chords. 

74 Days Out Of 100!

Looking at my diary, I’ve now practised for a total of 74 days, so I’m coming into the last quarter of this 100-day adventure. 

26 practice days to go.

Let’s do it!