It’s official, I am committed to guitar for this inquiry. I was having a tough time trying to balance guitar and saxophone, and guitar won out for this for a couple reasons: I can play the guitar a lot more quietly and it’s a lot simpler to take it out to play. Saxophone might have to wait for now. Guitar practice I am trying to get at least 10 minutes per day, just to continue conditioning my fingers to the strings. Some days I miss practicing, and some days I end up playing a little longer. I am enjoying the process of learning to play, and am making sure I take it slow enough that I remember the basic cords before moving on too quickly.
A big challenge for me so far is transitioning between chords quickly and smoothly. Right now my description of my transitions would be slow and choppy, but I guess it is slowly getting better. I will post more recordings that include strumming, but for now I find it easier to hear the difference between attempts at picking.
My most recent song that I was working on is “Ooh La La” by Rod Stewart. It included a new strumming style that I saw on the youtube instructional videos I follow, where you pick an individual string and then strum, pick an individual string then strum (for this song it is D Major and E minor chords). It sounds pretty cool when done properly, and I will include a recording of that for next time after I’ve had some more practice. For now, I will attach recordings of my attempts at the more recognizable picking that comes from this song (you still might have to listen to the real song first to hear what it’s supposed to sound like). The 3rd attempt I was happy to have the speed be a little better, and I will keep working away at it.
Attempt 1
Attempt 2
Attempt 3
March 25, 2021 at 9:24 am
I think it’s interesting that you made a point of allowing yourself to take it a little slower…you seem to be much more patient than most people, or at least than I am! No wonder you’re such a good golfer!
I’m sure you’ve tried this, but one thing that always helped me with difficult chord transitions was to just focus on one transition at a time, and switch between the two back and forth until my hands developed a level of muscle memory with it.
GREAT song choice. It’s good to have a few “bangers” under your belt when you learn songs on the guitar. And I can totally hear some ease and improvement between the first and third attempts. Great job!
March 30, 2021 at 3:38 pm
Your attempts sound great Blake! Practice makes progress and you can really hear that even within the three attempts that you posted. It’s nice to have the option to play the saxophone too, I hear you when it comes to noise! That can be difficult when living with neighbours.