What's been your latest accomplishment?

[AGA]

Awesome thread!
I've been playing for fun and enjoyment more often, singing and playing with my brother whenever possible, taking my guitar outside and playing by myself in nature. That has been very uplifting to the spirit!
Recently my uncle picked up the guitar again and he has been coming to me for help. It's been really special to share that with him. It's a sort of full circle moment cause back when I first started playing I would go to him for help. He was the one who gave me my first guitar and my first amplifier.

Finally, I've stuck with my original goals from the beginning of the year and I'm glad to say they are coming along nicely!
I'm building a set list of songs cause I want to perform live next year, and I am releasing a song at the end of this year!
I hope to find more time to upload new progress videos here, it's been quite busy but I try to pop in every once in a while.
Lovely to see you all!

 

[Jason Dunbar]

Hey guys, hope you guys are doing well! I remember seeing a similar post a while ago and it had some awesome replies. The accomplishment can be anything. Have you dedicated some time in the past few weeks to music theory and you feel like you're making some progress? I'd like to hear about it! Finally gotten the hand of that awesome lick/riff that has been bugging you for a while? Have you dialed in a guitar tone that you really like and has been inspiring you to play more? Finally pick up your guitar for the first time in a while and you really enjoyed it? I'd like to hear about those too! Big or small, difficult or not, I'd like to hear about it and I'm sure there are others here who'd like to hear about it too.

Myself, I've been feeling like I've been in a plateau the last 2 or so months. I've found myself not attempting to learn anything new and I've been sticking with my go to riffs that I've got mostly memorized by this point. As well as just not picking the guitar up as much lately. That's absolutely fine if you're currently experiencing that. Everybody goes through it. But I've been kind of frustrated with it. That being said, recently Neural DSP released Tim Henson's (from Polyphia) own signature amp sims. I've recently been getting more into them lately. I've also been really fascinated by Tim's guitar tones and having a hard time emulating myself. Luckily Neural DSP has a 14 day free trial to try it out and I've been loving it so far. If you're not familiar with Polyphia, they're a progressive rock/math rock band that mixes jazz, prog, some metal, and most notably hip hop/trap into their own music. They don't regularly use hi gain amps for their work. Mostly relying on clean/crunch/vintage hi gain for their tones. That's been forcing me to play a bit more out of my element and inspiring me to pick up my guitar more. I also just had the pickups replaced in my first guitar on Tuesday along with a whole new wiring setup in it for different tones. More specifically split coil tones which are also pretty new to me and helping me try out new things.

Anyway, before I ramble on even further I'll cut it there. I hope you guys are having a good day/night! Thanks for reading.

I feel like I’ve had a lot of wins over the last few weeks:

1. Got to the point where I can play Holy Wars at full speed (still needs some cleanup) which I’m really excited about.
2. Been working on fretboard memorization more which I’m starting to see impact my improvisation. Rather than just playing scale shapes I’m thinking of the notes instead, which ones are sharp/flat, etc.
3. My sweep picking is getting better, which opening up more arpeggios.
   
   Lots of exciting stuff!

 

[Donovan Etue]

I feel like I’ve had a lot of wins over the last few weeks:

1. Got to the point where I can play Holy Wars at full speed (still needs some cleanup) which I’m really excited about.
2. Been working on fretboard memorization more which I’m starting to see impact my improvisation. Rather than just playing scale shapes I’m thinking of the notes instead, which ones are sharp/flat, etc.
3. My sweep picking is getting better, which opening up more arpeggios.
   
   Lots of exciting stuff!

Hell yeah man! Sounds like you're making a lot of awesome progress! That's a hell of a feat getting to the point where you can play Holy Wars at full speed. As well as the fret board memorization. I've been meaning to do that but every time I do so I end up taking a small break, playing one of my go to riffs which leads into another riff, which leads me to a riff/song I want to learn, which makes me forget about what I was working on earlier haha. Sweep picking is tough man. That's cool that you're getting better with it!

Thanks for chiming in Jason!

 

[Donovan Etue]

Awesome thread!
I've been playing for fun and enjoyment more often, singing and playing with my brother whenever possible, taking my guitar outside and playing by myself in nature. That has been very uplifting to the spirit!
Recently my uncle picked up the guitar again and he has been coming to me for help. It's been really special to share that with him. It's a sort of full circle moment cause back when I first started playing I would go to him for help. He was the one who gave me my first guitar and my first amplifier.

Finally, I've stuck with my original goals from the beginning of the year and I'm glad to say they are coming along nicely!
I'm building a set list of songs cause I want to perform live next year, and I am releasing a song at the end of this year!
I hope to find more time to upload new progress videos here, it's been quite busy but I try to pop in every once in a while.
Lovely to see you all!

Could've sworn I posted my reply, but I guess not. So, sorry about that!

That's awesome to hear! That sounds incredibly relaxing/fulfilling. Sitting outside, listening to the breeze, to your guitar, and letting your mind wander. That's a cool feeling having someone who was there when you first began playing and helping steer you in the right direction is now asking you about it.

Funnily enough my Uncle was the same way. He's been around guitars a lot from back when he was a roadie/roommates with a few guys who were in a metal band back in the early 90's in Seattle. Went to the gigs, played tech for the bassist/guitarist. Been in the studio helping record demo's and background vocals. As well as playing part time security/photographer haha. Some of the stories he's told be from back in the day are always cool to hear. From shooting hoops for a part of an afternoon with part of the Soundgarden crew, to getting spit on by Courtney Love (probably because my uncle made a sarcastic remark that she probably didn't care for), and more. It was on that guitar setup up with high action for slide playing that I learned my first two short licks/riffs/whatever on it. Now that I'm a few years into playing and quite a bit more knowledgeable about things now. He's asked me some (mostly gear related) questions about the stuff I own. As well as talking more specifically about certain guitarist. What makes them that good. Holy shit that guy's tone is phenomal. That dude's overrated and this guy should be brought up more. It feels nice finally being at the point where I have a firm grasp of knowledge on something interesting that I can have conversations with him about. After years of him teaching me/introducing me to knew things that I'm unfamiliar with. We can share our mutual annoyance with restringing/setting up Floyd Rose's haha.

Anyway, I went onto too long of a tangent there, sorry about that. That's cool to hear that things have come full circle.

That's cool to hear that you're sticking to your goals and that they're coming along nicely! Such a fulfilling feeling when you do so. Looking forward to hearing the song! We'll be here when you do find the time to share some progress footage.

Glad to see you back again!

 

[AGA]

Anyway, I went onto too long of a tangent there, sorry about that. That's cool to hear that things have come full circle.

Not at all! It's really awesome to read those stories! And thanks, looking forward to sharing.