After my One on One lesson with @Nate Savage Friday, Nate set a Smart Goal for me of playing the Beck song "Lost Cause" by December 31, 2020. Nate emailed me a specific practice routine, which I started that day, and continued both Saturday and Sunday. I cut and paste the email, date each one, and edit with notes on my practice. I then move the email to Folder titled "Guitar Practice " in my Gmail. I'll share the last two days with the Guitarfam community below. Nate's instructions are on top, and my notes below in italics. I can say this with 100% honesty: this was the BEST three days of practice in my two plus years of playing guitar. It felt ultra organized, working methodically towards a specific goal. And doing it within the body of a song made it easier to note my strong and weak points. It was also more fun. Thank you Nate!

Saturday Oct 24, 2020

SMART Goal #1 - Lost Cause main theme in time by December 31st

Practice Point 1 - Fingerpicking patterns on their own only

No problem with pattern, fingerpicking with chords on.

Practice Point 2 - Individual chords on their own

Opening Verse, Fmaj7, C, G/B.  10 minutes, getting better!

Practice Point 3 - Switching between chords (2 at a time)

G/B to Fmaj7 needs more work.  15 min

Practice Point 4 - Put everything together with no metronome

High E getting muted on F, D on G/B 10 min

Practice Point 5 - Play along to jam track slowly and then speed it up or play along with the original track.

Metronome at 80 bpm, ultimate goal of 120 bpm. 10 minutes, see above issues mentioned.

Sunday Oct 25, 2020

SMART Goal #1 - Lost Cause main theme in time by December 31st

Practice Point 1 - Fingerpicking patterns on their own only

Pretty solid on patterns, minimal practice on their own, more during practice points 4 and 5.

Practice Point 2 - Individual chords on their own.

On and off with Am and E7, 10 minutes.  E7 brand new chord, will need more practice.  Will work on more during TV just on the couch putting chord on and off without playing. 

Practice Point 3 - Switching between chords (2 at a time)

Switching between Am and E7, (needs work due to learning curve) and intro Fmaj7 to C to G/B- better here, still some thumb muting on Fmaj7, and need to get index finger more behind fret on C note when playing C chord.  15 minutes

Practice Point 4 - Put everything together with no metronome.

Third day of playing Intro, getting more comfortable, especially

 switch from C back to Fmaj7.. First day practicing verse, Am to E7.  Needs work, will monitor progress over next few days. 10-15 minutes

Practice Point 5 - Play along to jam track slowly and then speed it up or play along with the original track. 

Metronome at 80, goal is to 120 bpm.  The Am chord doesn't sound great after switch from G/B.  Will work on smoothing that transition.  10 minutes.