Stupid C

My most hated chord of the week is C.  I have no problems making it, but going from something else to it, and back again, is a total pain in the butt.  Stretchiness doesn't bother me at all, it's just moving my fingers to the correct positions, and finding the strings.  *sigh*

I'm getting better all the time, though - I can kind-of-sort-of play Hey Ya now - but sllllooooowwww.....  My basic practice routine is:

• Finger exercises, going up the fret-board as far as I can - ~5 min
• Random chords - just pick a chord, make it, if I screw it up then fix it and do the strum-pluck-each-string-strum-again thing, but if I get it right, just move to the next - 5 min (sometimes 10, if I feel like it)
• 1 minute changes - ~6-7 minutes
• Play Hey-Ya at 80 bpm - 5 min
• Play Peggy Sue at 180 bpm - yes, that's right, at 2.5 times the tempo of Hey Ya - note that it does not contain the C chord - 5  min

All in all, it works out to about a half hour.

My fingers continue to mutate in weird ways - I had a hangie bit today that has been catching underneath strings for the past few days, so I cut it off.  Ungh.  Pretty gross.

And my strings - my poor, pitiful strings.  Yep, I suddenly realized yesterday that the guitar is sounding like crap - and it's the strings, not me.  I once heard someone say "the gunk makes the funk" in regards to strings - this appears to be a viscous pack of lies.  The gunk makes the instrument sound like crap.  I'll keep playing them for a week or two, then look at getting them replaced.

All in all, doing ok, but still hating C.  And I hate it enough that I'm not watching any new lessons, just going to wait until I can do C relatively easily, then move on.

Also, I feel like my progress is slowing down - I'm still moving forward, but starting to wonder if I'm going to plateau soon.

Busy week

My past week has been completely mental.  Haven't had time to blog, and I'm down to practicing only once per day, though I *have* made a point to keep up at that level, at least.  And, I'm hoping to get back to twice per day after today.

Stuff that's happened recently:  Friday, the electric guitar came.  It's awesome.  I just got it hooked up to my computer today to actually hear it for the first time, (I didn't have cables until last night, and didn't get a chance to check it) and everything seems to work.  The action was a little high, so I adjusted it a few times (at first I adjusted it way too low, and was getting fret buzz, and I've been fine tuning ever since).  So, that's a slice of fried gold.

Because my practice schedule has been pranged for the past week, I haven't really progressed that much.  Not struggling with C or G chords, but not doing changes between them very well, for a couple of reasons:

1. my fingers need training
2. I have to think before I make the chord - "hmmm...  G....  index finger there, middle finger there, and ring finger..  ungh...  there"

So, it may be a week or two until I can just do it, like I can with A, E, D, and the minor chords.  Shame, that, since my new song needs both of those chords.  I tried it today, at 60 bpm, and couldn't handle it.  :(  The new song is Hey Ya by Outkast.  G, C, D, A.  Has some weird strumming and some quick changes (D-A-G is 2-4 time instead of 4-4 time).  Anyways, I tried it without the weird strumming pattern, just trying to get the chord changes right, and it was less than pathetic.  But, it was my first swing at it - I'll try again in a couple of days, and hopefully I'll have improved somewhat in chord changes for G and C.

So, not much progress to report.  Working on the new song, getting better all the time at the ones I have, but can't seem to change between G, C, and other chords.  I can do a perfect G chord - no problem.  I can do a perfect C chord - no problem.  Change from one to any other chord and back - problem.  Just need practice, I guess.

Lots to report today

So, I had planned to wait until my electric guitar came in to make any report, but too much has happened.

Let's see...

My fingers have continued to mutate.  I'm starting to think guitar strings are radioactive, ala Peter Parker's spider.

Added the G chord today.  Didn't have any problems with it, but haven't really changed from it to anything else yet, just done it on it's own.

Also, my dirty little secret - I've been trying F.  Not a crappy half-ass F, mind you, but the big, bad, bar-chord F.  I know it, but can't play it yet.  Sure, if zombie nazis busted into our place and said I needed to play it or they would eat our brains, I could probably get out a strangled version of it, given enough time, but I can't play it yet.  It's not on the list for another couple of weeks, so I plan to try it a couple of times a day, every day, just to try to get used to making that shape, and hopefully make learning to actually play it easier.  And less frustrating, considering I won't be spending a week doing it and nothing but with no other progress.

Electric guitar in transit - it had a "exception" on Monday.  I have heard that "Exception" is FedEx code for "We dropped it and ran over it with a golf cart, and want to delay it for a bit until we can make it look less mangled".  I have no idea if that is true, but will find out tomorrow.  It was apparently only delayed by about an hour, so hopefully it's nothing.  The description said it was about paperwork, but if it were me, and I wanted to delay for a while to make it look less pranged, that's probably what I would say - "paperwork needed to be looked at(fix fix fix)".

And, the big news - I made music today.  I was getting sick of butchering Bob Marley, so I did a bunch of things - I switched songs to "Peggy Sue", watched Justin's video that details the strum pattern and wrote it down, and ramped up the metronome to 120 BPM - 30 BPM faster than I've ever played before.  Or, if you prefer, a 33% speed increase since last night.

The result was a slow, but easily recognizable, version of Peggy Sue.  Was it perfect?  No.  Would it get me booed off stage?  Probably, but not right away.  It was musical, and not terrible.  It was an awesome breakthrough.  I didn't think I could do it at that tempo, but lo and behold...

Again, there were some flubbed chord transitions, but for the most part it was pretty good.  I'm chalking this up in the "win" column.

Weekends, I am doing less than during the week

I still practice every day, but weekends I am only doing one session per day.  It looks like it may stay like that, too.  But perhaps that's not a bad thing - just what my practice schedule is.

Well, I've finally broken the 60 chord change per minute barrier - E-D.  Yay!  And D-min is coming along - I still flub it a fair bit, but I'm getting better at finding the strings.

Now for the weird - since I started, my fingertips have felt... weird.  Like I'm growing callouses beneath a layer of healthy skin.  I was happy about this, because I need the callouses to play, and having some nice healthy skin growing over top means it doesn't really affect my life in any other way.  It was like a hidden superpower - go-go-gadget GUITAR-FINGERS!  This was the case until this morning.  Callouses broke the surface, and my fingertips are flaky and weird looking now.  I'm a little shocked that this change occurred overnight - it's freaky to think that your body can change like that in 24 hours.

I'm also making friends with the Metronome.  He basically tells me that my sense of rhythm really sucks.  :(  I'll start playing, and be fine for the first few bars, do some chord changes, then suddenly notice that, while I'm on the right chord, my timing is waaaay off.  Like, by a whole tick of the metronome.  My gal was helping me stay on track over the weekend - it was really great.  She'd touch my arm when I needed to strum - which was really helpful.  And this morning, I went through it myself, and was a lot more aware of the metronome, and keeping in better time with it.  Had to correct myself a few times, but didn't get totally out of sync with it like I was on Saturday.

So, progress.  My playing is getting better, though it still sounds pretty far from "music".  I am slowly approaching that point, though.  I made it through 3 little birds 3 times (so, I guess, the entire song) this morning without any glaring stupidity.  Flubbed the first strum of some of the chords a few times, but that's as bad as it got.  That was at 90 strums per minute.  Hope to get up to 120/minute at some point in the next month.  I think I'm gonna just start adding 5 bpm per day, and see how I do.

Back on schedule, and doing well

Getting better with my chord changes, and quicker at... well...  everything.  Still at 6 chords, which I think is what I had last time, but I'm doing much better at them and changing between them.  Except D minor.  D minor is currently my nemesis.  It's not the stretching across 3 frets - that's really, really not the problem.  It's hitting the right strings with the right fingers.

Again, it comes down to muscle memory.  All the other chords, I use my index finger to anchor on the third string, and maybe adjust somewhat - A, E, and D I just leave it there, Amin and Emin I use it to anchor my other fingers, and adjust after my other fingers are in place (Emin, I anchor, put the other fingers in place, and lift the index finger, where Amin I do an E chord, then move my entire hand down one string).  This doesn't work with Dmin, where my index finger needs to be on the first string.  It totally screws me up.  But I'm getting better - I can switch from Emin to Dmin 25 times in a minute, which isn't so bad.  Not as good as my D-E, though - which I can do almost once per second - 59 times per minute.  I was freaking MAD when I missed it by one freaking chord.  But there's always later tonight, or tomorrow - I'll get there.

I can probably move on to more chords (next set include G and C), but I think I'm going to hold off for a week, so I can improve with the ones I have.  Especially Dmin.  I did this last time, and found that, while it slows me down in immediate progress, I seem to just be able to DO stuff better.  The first 3 chords I learned, I don't really need to think about now - I can just do them.  I want these last 3 to be the same before I move on - at least somewhat like that.  Again, I don't expect to be awesome immediately, I don't care how quickly I progress, as long as I progress.  Besides - I know 6 chords now, which is at least 2 more than the Ramones, and they've been playing for upwards of 3 decades!  I've only been learning for 3 weeks!  Better watch out, Clapton - I'm coming for you!

And, I just bought my first electric guitar.  Should probably be waiting for it, but the dollar is at par, and I bought it from the states through rondo music.  It should be interesting.  Got a bottom-of-the-line Agile AL 2000.  People quite like them, and compare them to high end Epiphone.  The better ones typically get compared to Gibson, and usually quite favorably.  Should be here in a week or two.  I expect that when it comes, I'll probably check it out, make sure nothing is wrong with it, then stick it in a corner, at least until I have conquered the F chord.  I want to continue learning on the acoustic, as that will make me a better player.

Learning, learning, learning

So, there's good news & bad news:

Good news is that I have 6 chords I know now.  A, E, D, Amin, Emin, Dmin.  One of the exercises Jusin says to do is to switch between chords as many times as you can per minute - so far, I haven't done any of that with the minor chords, though that starts tomorrow.

My speed between A, E, and D hasn't increased at all since last time, but they seem to be getting smoother - a little less PLUNKing.  And on 3 little birds, it's quicker and with less of a Herculean effort.  I'm finding myself watching my strumming hand more than my fret hand, to make sure I hit/miss the correct strings with each chord.  I think that means my fret hand is mostly doing the right thing - ish.

No new songs - I tried out Peggy Sue yesterday, and it was a disaster.  It has a really quick tempo, and totally screwed me up.  I'll try it again in a few days, and hopefully I can get it sorted.

The bad news is that I have missed a few practice sessions - last night's and the night before.  Feel bad about that - I'm really trying, and am practicing every day, and I feel guilty when I miss a practice session.  I'm probably going to be missing another one tonight, too, since we're leaving town for the afternoon to visit my family.  I shouldn't kick myself for that too hard, since I *am* still practicing every day.

Almost bought my electric guitar yesterday - the site I'm going to buy it from had a B-stock item with a minor finish flaw.  Wasn't the guitar I wanted, it was, like, 4 steps up from the one I wanted.  Same price as the one I was looking at.  I probably should have just bought it, but I let it slide.  I think I'm going to keep watch for B-stock items, and if something like that one comes up in the next few weeks, I'll get it, and if not, if I start worrying about the dollar dropping, I'll get the one I've had my eye on.

Improvement & Frustration

So, I've done the first course with this Justin guy, and I'm starting on his second .  I've learned 3 chords, A, E, and D, and how to transition between them.  I'm even making something approaching music.  It's far from a wonderful, beautiful, sound...  I generally hear a  PLUNK sound about 1 time in 4 when I go to strum, but I absolutely see improvement every day.

I guess at this point, I should start talking about me - that's what this whole blogging thing is about, no?  IT'S ALL ABOUT ME!

Anyways, if you're reading this, the big thing people are probably wondering about is why.  35 years old and just picking up the guitar for the first time?  Why in god's name would you do that to yourself?  Well, I guess I'm a glutton for punishment.  Actually, I've always wanted to be able to play - when I was a kid, there was this guy I used to hang out with, and he could play.  Not well, mind you - at least, not at first (he was learning) - but well enough to sit around a campfire with a bunch of guys, having some beers, and make pleasing enough music.  Always kind of envied him for that.  Richard Spearin - if you read this, you're part of the reason I'm taking up guitar.

Another thing I find appealing is that I think it's something I'll never stop learning.  There will always be new songs, and new techniques.

Finally, my gal.  When I told her I wanted to learn guitar, she said that was a great idea.  Before we put money into it, she asked me something very reasonable - would this birthday gift end up like the last one she gave me, at the bottom of a drawer, unused for a year...  To which, I gave her the only answer I could:  I didn't want it to, but couldn't guarantee that.  That question out of the way, she's been really supportive from minute one.  I practice twice a day:  Once in the morning after she goes to work, and once in the evening.  She sits and hears the terrible noises that come from the damn thing, and tells me that I'm improving, and encourages me - like she always does.

So, back to progress:
A, E, D - got 'em, can transition between them reasonably well.  Can do >30 transitions each, and from E - D I can get >40.

Songs: 3 Little Birds by Bob Marley.  Not well, mind you, but I can sorta kinda play it.

Fingers: Don't really hurt any more, though they feel...  DIFFERENT.  More sensitive?  They don't look much different, except maybe my index finger  - the fingerprint seems to be getting worn off.

Strings: Still in reasonably good shape.  Should be fine for another couple of weeks - maybe longer.  Yes, I find chunks of DNA on them.  Ick.  I'm reminded of the movie "Gataca".

Just learned the A Minor chord today.  Seems simple enough, except I have to move my index finger to a different string to do it.  That will make transitioning to different chords interesting.  So far, with the fingering I've learned, my index finger stays put (or slides up & down a chord), and the others all move.  This makes things a might more interesting.

Getting better.  Long way to go yet.  Keep looking at the electric guitar I want - and will be buying from the states eventually.  The Canadian dollar is at par with the US, and the site I'm buying from is in the states, so I'm watching our dollar like a hawk at the moment.  Part of me thinks I'm being stupid and jumping the gun by being so into this, especially at this early stage, but I can save a ton of money if I buy now, as opposed to 3 months from now, when the dollar could be back at $0.75.  That would add, like, $80 to the price of the guitar I want.  Then the whole "you've been doing this for 2 weeks now - what's your hurry??!?" thinking kicks in.