Hey everyone, Taking a page (or 5 more likely) from @Brad Simon 's book here to evaluate my journey last year. It will be a huge chunk of text, so feel free to ignore it ;-) I am mostly posting this for myself and maybe there is some helpful feedback or there is something that someone else can learn something from this. Thanks! Ivo My Guitar Journey in 2025 The Good ---- **Overall** The best thing is: I have most certainly improved! While I really think I am still a bit away from what I would personally call an Intermediate Guitar Player, I do not feel I am really a beginner anymore. Above all, I feel more confident. There is still no chance in hell I would play in front of people, but if my partner walks in the room I won't stop out of shame. **My playing** Purely looking back at some earlier recordings for the VIP community -- I wish I had made more! --, I am less 'stiff'. It actually sounds like music every once in a while. I pick up new songs and techniques faster than I did at the start of the year. Also, I played pretty much every day for 20+ minutes on average. Sometimes even 2+ hours in a row. So finding time is not a challenge. **Technique** Me and barre chords have been a bit of a love/hate relationship for the year. At first Bm was my easy go-to, then it was F and Bm was just the worst and now I am at a point where I hit them well more than 90% of the time. And, being less stiff (dare I say 'musical' in playing) helps hide some of the potential flaws, giving you time to adjust. Sure, it is not perfect, but it is perfectly listenable. Most of the time. Playing scales / solos is slowly getting there too, my fingers feel less and less like weird hotdogs with a mind of their own and more "nimble". Playing (improvising?) pentatonic scales to a backing track at 70-80 BPM is going pretty decent. **Scales & Fretboard Knowledge** It feels way less intimidating to look at the neck. I am starting to "see" spots (like the root notes / octaves) and I think I understand CAGED properly.

Don’t you find it inspiring how he was just playing in a pub and was discovered and suddenly in a year he’s opened for Ed, Lewis Capaldi and Sam fender it’s wild!

Lowkey I think the mathematics tour setup was much better the new tour looks clunky and on videos the crane bridge makes a lot of squeaky noise

It’s like the results at uni are capped lowkey very frustrating, like anything I do well I get 72 on and the feedback just says how great it is.. but where are the other 28 marks going every 72 if everything’s perfect. But the my production work they rip into and now I’m chasing to keep my 70 average over the year. Advanced Musicianship Skills • Session Musicianship: 72 • 1–1: 72 • Ensemble Musicianship: 71.4 Composition • Composition: 72 • Score: 75 Production • 2 track mix: 59 • Overdub: 66 Like I’m just chasing a first even though all my work has been really well reviewed apart from my production work

I just watched this video of Cory Wong writing a song with Stephen Day, and I noticed some things throughout the video that stood out to me, and I wanted to write and down and maybe inspire some of you. 1. Everybody in the studio and session was happy to be there. This wasn't just another "day at work" for them, but they came with exited energy and had fun while they were in the studio. This is a must because you don't wanna be he person bringing down the session. Being excited, can also lead to creativity. Jon Bellion says whenever God, or the Logos, or whatever creative force it is, enters the room, that's when creativity happens and when the best work is produced. I believe this video shows us what that force Jon is talking about is. 2. Don't be so attached to the demo version of your song, especially when youre planning on collaborating. Notice how when Stephen comes to Cory's home studio I'm supposing, there's a point where Cory is literally just setting on the coach doing nothing, just so Stephen can take a stab at how he hears the song. This song is much better after Stephen works on it. 3. This ties in to the last one, but collaboration is super important. It opens up the stage for different outcomes and thought process of the song. 4. Story is EVERTHING. This might be my favorite part of the whole video. Stephen is riffing and he starts out this idea of a nervous guy getting tongue tied. After he expresses this to Cory, Cory does the BEST thing he could have done, and this is completely new to me. Cory starts asking him more about the story. He asks is this guy alone, are his friends hyping him up to chase this girl, and other questions to lean into the plot which gives you clear sturcture on your lyrics. I really enjoyed this video, and if you guys have the time, it's really entertaining.