I decided to create my own topic with AVOYP, so I can see my own progress and also get a feedback from you guys.
At the moment I am at grade 2 lesson 10, struggling with F chord
However, the song is from grade 1. It is “Hey Joe” by Jimi Hendrix, of course in a very basic version. I added some “solo” in the end
I am sorry for the sound quality, it is not the best one, but I hope it is acceptable.
I used the backup track, to stay in the rhythm and in the end it gone quite ok.
Any feedback about strumming, chord changes, picking hand and posture is really welcome. And also any tip how you are recording your AVOYP will be helpful.
I asked my lovely wife to help me to record this very first video and I hope you will enjoy it
I’m not in a position to offer advice on your strumming etc, because my chord work isn’t very good. One thing you can do with Hendrix style Hey joe is to play the chords with triads just on the DGB strings, so for example the C chord would be fret 5 on those 3 strings. Then the G chord would be fret 5 on D string, 4 on the G string, 3 on the B string etc. Then you do exactly the same for the D and A chords but 2 frets higher. For the E chord you can just hit hard the full chord in the open position. I find this voicing gives a bit more variety to the sound, and later, when you want to add fills, you’re in a good position to do this. Of course you can mix this up with the voicing you’re playing.
One suggestion may be keeping your strumming hand moving during the breaks, might help you keep time better once your playing without the backing track. But sounding good in any case.
Nice pacifica! I used this song as one of my Grade 1 songs to move on. You played it much better than I did. Really great chord changes and I liked your strumming approach. Awesome solo part too.
Great ! Solid rhythm. Good chord changes. Great first AVOYP man ! Brothers of arms. I’m also beginner, grade 2, module 10… and struggling with F chord. Keep on !
Good job Arek and well done for your first AVOYP posting. The advice on keeping your strumming hand moving is very good and worth practicing. The changes were solid throughout so much to be pleased about there. Bravo!
Congratz on your first video in AVOYP Arek, lots to celebrate here! You did really well, I could tell that some strumming patterns were above G1 here clearly which should hopefully reassure you about the state of your play. As Dave suggested keep this strumming hand moving in order to eliminate any moments where you might have hesitated. Other than that great job and keep them coming!
Thanks for all the nice comments.
Just one thing to clarify, in case some beginners from grade 1 will read this. It is a second take of this song, the first one was not so good
I finished grade 1 two months ago and since then I am practicing this song in almost every practice session.
So, to anyone who is struggling in grade 1, do not give up, at some point your fingers will follow your lead and your guitars will sound cool
So, my idea was to put here a video/audio of me playing every month, to check my progress… As you can see that didn’t happen …
At the moment I’m finishing beginner Grade 2 level and I’m still struggling with my F chord…
However, when I approached a lesson about Home Recording, I decided to buy a simple jack-usb cable and start recording myself using Audacity.
And to finish grade 2 in style, I decided to record a couple of songs to check how I am going and to start building my own repertoire, as Justin suggests.
So, this is it
My cover of another classic, U2 - One, recorded in Audacity with two mono tracks (one for a rythmic part and one for a little solo in the end)
I hope that anyone listening to this piece will enjoy it, at least that much as I did while recording. It was a great fun
Congrats on the first AVOYP. You’re doing awesome. Very nice transition from rhythm to the solo part too.
The loose strumming tip that people gave is great. Justin mentions it at some point in the course. I wish I learned about it sooner. It will also help you improve the control of the dynamics - how soft or hard you hit.
Great job on the second AVOYP too. The fact that you are starting to record in better quality will give you many benefits. Two tips regarding the recording technique:
Your input signal might be too strong. When you start to strum harder, it starts to distort a bit.
It sounds like you are recording a direct sound - exactly the sound that guitar pickups capture. You can improve the tone by using a plugin that simulates the sound captured by a microphone from a guitar amp and speaker. Perhaps try a free trial of Tone King Imperial MKII - Neural DSP to get an idea of what a great simulation can sound like. There are cheaper and even free alternatives that sound good too.
Best of luck in your guitar journey, and I’m looking forward to checking how you progress in the future.
That’s true, my setup for recording is very simple at the moment. I have only a USB - jack cable which I plug into PC directly or through amplifier, and on the PC I have only Audacity at the moment. I am thinking about buying something more specific for recordings (maybe Focusrite) because recording yourself is a really great fun
Another month, another song. I’m practicing power chords in Lenny Kravitz - Fly Away. I was thinking about recording it with Audacity, but it sounds a bit crappy… Like @kamkor suggests, I have to choose something more fancy for my recordings.
So, here it is, just a video of me practicing Fly Away. I must say that it is going better and better. I have a strap and a foot rest and guitar feels a lot more stable this way.
…
You’re doing awesome. Very nice transition from rhythm to the solo part too. 
