6 months with Justin: First Song (Enter Sandman) and an extra riff

Hello all, I am in my mid-40s and picked up guitar for the first time on June 15. I am currently completing Beginner 2. I am ready to move on to Theory 5 and have also taken 3 out of 4 parts of the old strumming course. I have roughly 230-250 hours of actual playing practice total over these 6 months. I did not learn in full any of the earlier songs, went for Enter Sandman as my first one. Obviously, there is no solo here from me. I changed Riff 8 to single notes because I cannot do the barre grip in anything resembling decent time even for a solo guitar w/o drums.

The sound did not come out quite as I would have liked so I had to take 10dB off the bass. Otherwise, there was zero editing. I recorded via Boss GT into Audacity. I am developing carpal tunnel symptoms so I am not re-recording this soon. I am also dropping practice to 20 min/day for the next several days, at least.

But I also include a VERY SHORT sample of the opening of Van Halen’s Ain’t Talking Bout Love because I really like how the sound came out there. It is on time (240 bpm) though one of the last notes is a little off.

Enter Sandman, full song per Justin video but limited number of riff repetitions. Using volume control to partially clean up for the ‘clean’ parts:

Aint Talking Bout Love, just 14 seconds:

Criticism is welcome, don’t worry about my feelings or the like, lol :slight_smile:

Thanks,
Steve

6 Likes

Steve, firstly congrats on sharing your first AVOYP. Sounds like great progress for 6 months in. I’ve been playing a bit longer than you (started October last year), so the memories of not even being able to hit the string I wanted are fresh in my mind. And still happens plenty as well…

I did notice quite a few timing issues. Slow downs, speed ups, etc. I’d really encourage you to play with a backing track, metronome or drum beat as playing in time has a huge impact on how your playing sounds. It is much easier to do with simpler songs than what you’re playing as well.

Congrats on your progress and keep at it!

2 Likes

Hey Steve. Congratulations on your first AVOYP. Some very good progress there for 6 months in. Plenty to be proud of.

I’d concur with @jkahn re some timing issues. Listening to the originals, playing over a backing track, slowing it right down at first etc, are all good practice items to lock into the rhythm.

Cheers, Shane

3 Likes

Well done Steve, congrats on posting your first AVOYP. Some great progress being made there and you’re doing well for 6 months in. :+1:

3 Likes

Super impressed with what you’ve achieved in 6 months.

1 Like

Welcome congrats at 1st avoyp. You will get a lot of great feedback here.
:+1:

1 Like

Thanks everybody.

Yes, I definitely have to work on timing. For the EVH riff, it is on time. For Enter Sandman, that has not yet been the goal but I agree that it should become (I play for myself solo but why not learn it fully?).

Now I am giving my hands rest and bracing them at night so I will keep working on what I have learned and not do any new material until I figure out how to balance practice time with hand health. Seems like a good opportunity to consolidate and work on timing. I am also using this forced slowdown to 30 min per day to push into Theory 5.

Nice job! It takes courage to put your first recordings up, and you found that courage a lot quicker than I did. :blush: You have made great progress in a short time! I hope you’re not in too big of a hurry with the course. Although it takes a little extra time, I found it very helpful to learn some full songs early on. Each song I learned targeted a different chord sequence. If you play some songs with those tricky barre chords, you’ll probably find they get much easier. Anyway, you’ve made a great start by playing all those riffs in Enter Sandman. :star_struck: :clap: :clap:

1 Like

Well done really good job for 6 months only! I suggest following up on what JK said about the timing and I am sure you will clean it all up in no time :wink: all the best!

1 Like

Hi Steve, and congratulations to your first AVOYP :clap::+1::smiley:.
Although, there is no Video of you playing, I can feel the enthusiasm you’re playing with :star_struck::guitar::fire:.
Great stuff - particularly for being only 6 months on this journey :smiley:.

I hope, you’re aching hand will be fine soon.

1 Like