Happy New Moon, everyone! I know I’m technically a couple nights late with that, but I needed to bide my time before posting. Either way. New starts, yay!
I’m not really sure how often I’ll be updating this log, but I’ll be trying maybe for once a week. I’m terrible at remembering to do these things usually. Will probably be something simple most weeks like ‘here’s where I’m at’, though if there’s nothing to show I’m not sure I’ll post. I guess we’ll see what happens. /shrug
Right now I’m working on The Calling’s song “Wherever You Will Go”—I’ve got the riff down preeeetty well in general, though I am still working on the playing-without-looking-at-the-strings part because a couple of the cord changes are still slow thanks to my short fingers, which means I occasionally miss the string. Sometimes I have to remind myself to slow down because I can’t play those parts at the pace I can the rest of the riff. It’s…pretty aggravating sometimes, actually, but it is an issue I needed to work on with multiple things in life, so a lesson in patience is here as well, it seems. Plod along and gently build up as I can.
I’m also using this song to learn tabs and how to adapt songs to your play style, since transcribing’s something I want to do and I find it intriguing how others will change chords to suit what they feel sounds best or suits their play style more. Justin mentions in the video tutorial for “Wherever You Will Go” that he’s changed some of the chords to some he prefers the sound of for strumming, so I’m not sure I’ll follow his tutorial 100%—my plan right now is to use his lesson as a basis and go from there. There’s an acoustic performance of the song by Alex on YouTube that seems like it’ll be pretty good to study when I feel more comfortable moving on to what version I actually want in my repertoire.
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I’m gonna be updating my gear list here, too, when I actually acquire some new gear. xD; Right now it’s gonna remain pretty static (still jobless…), though maybe I’ll get into some more DIY stuff.
Gear:
Yamaha Eterna EF-31 + case
flimsy homemade cardboard guitar picks x2
Taylor 1.21mm abalone guitar pick
“Rusty” guitar pick that seems about the same mm as the Taylor, but its tip is more curved and it feels like there’s a concave bit on one side, which makes it incredibly comfortable to hold (I don’t remember where I got this from (@__@; ) Looks like a band one, maybe?)
pencils and elastics (i.e. DIY capo stuff)
Fender guitar strap I keep forgetting about (came with the guitar)
Related:
Guitar Chords: 150 Essectial Guitar Chords by Ted Fuller & Julian Hayman (2019) (technically my partner’s, and 100% the reason I know more chords than I’ve learnt from Justin’s course yet)
JustinGuitar (obviously )
my collection of guitar picks from people like Al Pitrelli I may or may not use for strumming unless I have to (might use the dups, I don’t know)
Future gear (maybe):
Kramer Focus VT-211S in Teal
Kramer Nightswan in Jet Black Metallic
'80s Kramer Pacer or Baretta, ideally in red
(will take a current Baretta in Jumper Red if I could get it, though)
'90s Ibanez (unsure of model)
Ibanez Prestige (waaaay down the line xD unsure of model for this one as well, since I liked so many of them last I looked at them)
At some point I’d like to get a bass as well. But, I’m not gonna reach for the stars on that—I’d need to get my guitars first. At least one electric. The bass will be shelved for later. (And will probably also be red.)
Congratulations in deciding to do a log on your guitar journey. In learning to combine the chord changes and the riff, its always a good idea to start slow, and use a metronome, and keep the beat. And one small suggestion as regards
That would work for a classical guitar, but not for your country guitar because of the neck curvature. Perhaps you will need to do a little shaping on your pencil to match the curvature, or better still invest in a real capo, as the pressure afforded by elastic bands may not be enough for a steel stringed instrument, I am sure that you’ll find an affordable one.
But the important thing is, keep at the playing and share your progress. You are bound to get support here.
Thanks for the support! I’m usually quite shy about these things, so this is a big step for me…
Shaping the pencil was something I had wondered about, so I’m glad you mentioned it, too. I had also wondered about using one of my old, broken French barrettes—one of the large hair bow kinds—but I’m not sure the metal would be quite strong enough to hold up to it (or if I’d even be able to find them anymore—I might have left them at my parents’ place in the last move by accident with a few of the other things that didn’t make it over). They were pretty sturdy, though, and I’ve got other stuff I could use for padding so it’s not just metal-on-metal…
The elastic bands I have are mainly thicker ones used for produce, so they’re a lot stronger than standard household ones (they’re 4mm wide and 1mm thick if I remember right, though I can’t remember the length). Worked well enough to make the pencil curve somewhat around the fret last I tried it, though the sound went a bit sharp.
I’d love to get an actual capo. It’s just… The money situation really won’t let it happen yet. I had been hoping to have some sort of income by now, but it just hasn’t happened yet. Even an approx. $10CAD Kyser Pro/Am is out of reach. Right now I’m just using what I have. Elastic bands and hopes and dreams.
Hi Asher. Good you started your learning log. It is a good place to receive advice and encouragement specific for your learning path. Hopefully things improve on the economic side. The same way that is possible to practice with an electric guitar without an amplifier the practice you are doing using the available resources you have can still allow you to progress. There’s a story about a Colombian pianist and singer (Colombia is my homeland), not a mega star but he has been successful, who when he got the opportunity to study piano in a conservatory had to practice in a cardboard piano he made because he didn’t have access to a real one at home. He is now eighty-four and retiring from the scenarios.
Thanks so much for the support. That’s an amazing story—practising on a cardboard piano?! When you gotta make do you either make do or give up trying, it seems… That’s amazing commitment right there. Thanks for sharing about it.
Sooooo, update: Apparently I forgot to take one of my cardboard guitar picks out of my camping shirt’s pocket before throwing it to put in the wash. Means I’m down one cardboard pick… (At least there’s more of that material lying around if I want to make a new one.)
I had to take a break from C and Fmaj7 chord changes recently because I could feel my wrist and hand getting strained, so now certain changes involving them are much, much slower again… Good news is there’s no discomfort when I play those chords now, so I’m hoping I’ve headed off a worse injury by taking the break I did. Just gotta grind a bit extra to get those changes to where they had been before, albeit more slowly than last time.
Well, so. Apparently I completely missed my ‘once-a-week’ update goal. Didn’t even realise the time had passed!
I’ve been slacking off on my practise a lot recently… Dunno what it’s been linked to, only know I’ve gotten my first proper practise session in today and haven’t really gotten it in for the past… I don’t know how long, a week or so? Eesh. Not like me. (But very much like my ADHD, so maybe that had something to do with it.)
Wasn’t quite as rusty as I was worried about being, but I was definitely rusty still. Need to get back up to speed again. Slowly. But up to speed. It’s been like my hands just haven’t worked properly recently… Well, other things in life have been going along decently, at least – barring a few annoying things – so I’m not going to complain too much. Silver linings, right? Keep on keepin’ on.
I’m glad you weren’t as rusty as you feared. Sometimes life gets in the way of things like guitar practice. If you can find a silver lining, it really helps.
)
I’m usually quite shy about these things, so this is a big step for me…
Need to get back up to speed again. Slowly. But up to speed. It’s been like my hands just haven’t worked properly recently… Well, other things in life have been going along decently, at least – barring a few annoying things – so I’m not going to complain too much. Silver linings, right? Keep on keepin’ on. 