Some recordings I've made along the way

One of the things I really love about the guitar is the absolute joy you get when you've been practising something over and over and eventually you get it. A couple of weeks after initially picking up the guitar I downloaded the tabs for 'Stand by me'. It took me a couple of hours to get the melody, it was really frustrating at first, but when I got it I felt like a virtuoso. I recorded myself playing it on the iphone because I was so impressed with myself. Listening to it now it's really awful, but that's what's great about recording yourself, you can get a really good idea of how you are improving. My goal is to be proud on Monday but cringe on Friday :)

I really love Paulo Nuitini, so I found a relatively easy lesson on youtube for Candy and started learning it early October. The chord progression is Am, Em, G and D7. I found this really tough to begin with but gradually got the hang of it. I made a recording in November and another in December, I'm happy with the minor improvement the vids show. I can play it pretty smoothly now (still struggle singing along though).

Right now I'm working on scales, and reading up on music theory and how scales work etc. My left hand is becoming really strong and my fingers are starting to stretch. Practising scales is really good for dexterity and stretching the fingers. I'm noticing my ability in terms of reaching frets improving almost daily.