Planting a marker

I've been thinking about my guitar playing and how far I've come since I decided to get back into playing last March. That was when I traded in my old Charvel (which I still miss from time to time) for my new Strat and decided to take my playing more seriously. I wanted to see how far I've come when I realized something:

I had no idea.

I know I've gotten better at playing, and I know I know more stuff now than I did before. But I never quantified it. I never made a note as to where I was a year ago, so I don't know how far I've come. That's why, today, May 1, 2010, I'm planting a marker. On May 1, 2011, I'm going to compare where I am now to where I will be and see how far I've come.

To accomplish this, I'm going to write down where I am. It's going to be a tedious pain in the butt, but I'm going to write down my perceived skill level. I'm going to list the number of songs I know (complete songs, solo and all), the scales I know, the chord types I know, the speed in beats per minute that I can run through my exercises cleanly, and I'm going to rate what I think my skill level is (excellent, good, fair, or poor) in theory, improvisation, and technique and specific places where I need improvement.

If, after a year, I don't see any real progress, I'll probably cry a little, but I will take more drastic steps to improve my playing. This is the year where I will prove whether or not I can do this on my own or if I need help from a teacher or some other method of learning. Maybe with a real goal, I can actually get over this hump I've been on for the last 20 years or so and become the guitarist I want to be.