This is the most difficult bar position to be dealt with in "Romance". The bar is held at the 7th fret, while the pinky must reach to the 11th fret, and the right hand stay relaxed enough to play! 

John looks pretty good here, but let me make a few suggestions. While it is difficult to be surgically precise without sitting in front of someone, I will venture a few points. 

1. From the position of the index, as well as the pinky, it may indicate a bit of "pulling" on the neck with the whole arm (a common fault doing bars, the arm pulls the neck toward the body in an attempt to add pressure to the stings.)
   

2. Notice how my index is NOT bent at the joint in the middle of the finger, rather, the finger is kept straight. Along with this, my whole hand is more "up, out and around". Also, notice how my pinky is more extended. Check your position, and work with it according to what you see here. Check for any "pulling" originating from the shoulder, and let that shoulder go! (This may be the answer to the trouble you reported with this measure in your Practice Log.)
   

3. The pressure of the index during a bar should not just be "straight down" onto the strings, but rather, a degree of "leaning" of the finger toward the head of the guitar. Doing this actually brings into play a muscle in the hand called "the first dorsal interossei" which more effectively adds pressure to the strings. (To get a feel for this, simply hold out your left hand in front of you, and move the index away from the middle. That is the dorsal interossei. Use a bit of it when you bar.).  I can't be 100% sure, but from the picture it looks like John might need a little of this side pressure. 
   

4. The separation between the index and middle is good. Watch the pinky. Being on the side of the tip may work, just don't let it come too far away from that 11th fret, or you'll buzz. You may want to try using the pinky in a more extended fashion, as I am in the picture. 

Jamie doing Bar, measure 10
(notice pinky extension, and hand up and around)

Measure 7

This 5th position A minor chord looks good also. Just make sure that middle finger is not leaning (even tending to lean) toward the index. Doing so is usually accompanied by shoulder tension. 

In this, as in all other bar positions (which Principled Players know are "stress points", we must use Posing and No Tempo Practice consistently as part of our approach, followed by the rest of the Basic Practice Approach as we build speed based on relaxed control. 

John has done a good job at what he was supposed to do during the first stages of practice: he has "gotten his hands around the music", that is, he has gotten familiar with the notes, the fingers to use, and how to go about making the various moves required. Normally, this all must be worked out by the player, I have done this for you in the Romance Practice Secrets. Even so, it takes a considerable amount of concentrated focus to get it all into one's head!

There are two main things John has accomplished in Week 1: he has established a smooth tempo throughout the first section, and by doing so, and having the discipline to make this recording, he has identified the problem areas so that they can be worked on with correct practice. This is what I call "getting the piece in focus". John has put himself to the test by just playing through the thing, and letting the notes fall where they may. This must be done periodically during the practice process, and is often NOT done by students, because they don't want to hear their mistakes, and that is because they don't know what to do about them anyway! Of course, that isn't the case here. 

Here is what I hear in the recording: 

A slight pause on the 2nd beat of measure 4--No big deal, probably a little left shoulder tension due to the transition to the Floating Arm. The upper arm is a little tense, so the 1st finger had  little trouble positioning itself on the G note. In The Principles, I mention that the transition from Heavy Arm to Floating Arm is always a stress point, and this is an example. No Tempo practice, Posing, and intense focus on maintaining relaxation in that area is the answer. 

A slight increase in tempo during measures 7 & 8--This is interesting, because it is very common and very overlooked. The slight increase in tempo is due to placing the bar, which causes a rise in the level of sympathetic tension throughout the body The extra tension in the muscles "pushes" the player to play faster. Great awareness is required here to maintain tempo and physical relaxation. John's ability to deal with this will increase as long as correct practice is being done consistently. 

A little trouble with the bars in measure 9 & 10--again, no big deal, and to be expected. All of the above applies, and I know John knows what to do here.

Missed basses in measures 14 and 15-- Again, to be expected, since these are very difficult measures. What I want to point out is the significance of the missed basses. This is due to right arm tension resulting from dealing with the difficult left hand parts, in other words, Sympathetic Tension. This tension shows itself most often and most obviously as tension in the thumb. The missing bass notes are evidence of this tension, and I advise John to look for this during No Tempo practice. Even when you make the notes, the tension is present, waiting to get you at a higher tempo, so look for it. 

The "Thumb Up" exercise from The Principles is designed for this purpose, and should be adapted and used to deal with this. As we will see in the mp3 of week 2, John knows how to deal with this, and there is a great improvement.  

MP3 First Half, Week 2  

This recording is incontrovertible proof of the power of correct practice! John has improved everything, and gotten the tempo up as well. Here are the details:

Measure 4--the slight pause is fixed, so the stress point concerning the transition to the Floating Arm has been properly worked on. 

Measures 9 & 10--a substantial improvement in this very difficult passage. All the notes of the bar are clearer, the whole passage is smoother. It should be kept in mind that the improvements to John's technique being gained here are FUNDAMENTAL IMPROVEMENTS, meaning, real Vertical Growth.  John's ability to handle ALL bar passages are being improved, and he will see that in all his playing. 

Measures 13 -15-- major improvement here as well, again, evidence of correct practice. There is much more thumb control, which we know from the fact that those missing bass notes have appeared! 

All in all, John is on the right track, and it is just a matter of continuing on. John mentioned that he is working now on increasing right hand speed. That is a good idea. The right hand should be worked on separately, on open strings or a simple chord. A careful study should be given to the video of me doing the Gradual Pressure Technique on the basic movement of the right hand used in Romance. John should work this movement up with the metronome, and determine his top speed while using right hand alone. Then, he should use the Basic Practice Approach on selected measures or sections of the piece, and work toward that top speed. It will be easy to approach top speed on the measures which are easy for the left hand, and more difficult on the bar passages, due to Sympathetic Tension developing in the right hand, but over time, these measures will become easy as well.  On to Part Two of "Spanish Romance"....