Alberto, that was very tasty. Nicely played.
Yes, we are never happy with what we put out, we are to self-critical but I thought it was great.
Some great advice from @jkahn though. That should help to mix it up a bit.
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Good attempt, especially as you have cracked the playing and singing at the same time, well done.
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Hello Alberto, congratulations to your first AVOYP 
. It sounds really good, and from my perspective, that’s no easy song.
Oh, you’re definitely not alone with that. I suffer from RLS as well 
. But @Socio tipp to make recordings on a regular basis, sounds really good and worth giving it a try.
I’m looking forward to hear more from you 
.
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Hello all! This is my first video and first attempt at going somewhat public with my progress. I started in December last year with my journey. I practice daily and have no idea how many hours I’ve put in but I’ve enjoyed them all. I didn’t know if I’d ever master strumming and singing but persistence has got me on the way.
I’m a few years away from 50 so I have to catch up for all the years I wish I was learning to play…but it’s never too late to find something new to enjoy.
Thanks for reading this and thank you more if you make it through the video. Any feedback would be a treat. An honest review would be very cool or if you just want to say something nice that’s fine too.
Thanks again!
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That was great RJ. Well done on posting your first performance. It’s a huge step putting yourself out there for the first time but you have now jumped that hurdle. Your playing was nice and smooth and confident, as were the vocals. Looking forward to hearing more from you in the future.
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Thanks Eddie! I appreciate the feedback. It helps keep the motivation for sure.
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Terrific stuff RJ and kudos to you for taking the step to post yourself. You did a great job, really good consistent strumming and you looked nice and relaxed throughout. Also terrific to not be fixed looking at the neck and you’re fretting, a good sign of the hours you’ve already put in. I look forward to your next share!
And get you with the little lick at the end!
Damn nice guitar too sir
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Thanks so much Mark! All this feedback is really great.
I’m glad I did share it here now, makes me wanna play even more.
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Then go grab the guitar and play now my friend (if you’re not already 
)!
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done!
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Hi RJ that was great well done on your first recording! Your chord changes were spot on and clearly you had lots of fun recording this and that’s the main - thing to enjoy and sound good!
If you are after some advice I would focus a bit on strumming - clearly you are heading into the right direction but I feel you could improve your strumming pattern on this song and make it a bit more consistent. Your pattern for most parts (except where only a couple of times you lost a strum or two ) is going like this (where - is intentionally missed strum, in case below upstrum):
D-DUDUDUDU
I suggest trying to first practice playing without singing with pattern like below, then once it becomes automatic and you don’t have to even think about it start singing 
D-DU-UDU over and over again
Hope this makes sense but if not let me know and I can make a quick recording if needed all the best and again well done RJ!
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Bravo, RJ, my Community Friends have already said all that I was thinking as I enjoyed your debut.
What I will see is that had I not been sitting in a meeting room with two colleagues before we get into the day, I’d have been singing along with you. Your performance was that engaging to me.
Keep doing what you are doing!
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@Crossroads96 RE: Country Roads
Bravo RJ, that was terrific.
You were obviously in the groove and having a lot of fun.
Your chords, your strumming your whole body was moving smoothly and in time.
For all your were perched (seemingly) in a secure position on the very front edge of your sofa, I suggest that soft cushioned seating is not a good place to sit for playing guitar. It has the potential to push you to poor posture and then having to adjust your shoulders, arms, wrists, hands and fingers in awkward ways to make the chords and play them.
In Justin’s lesson on this song he addresses strumming options and dynamic choices to give variety and rise / fall of energy between verses and chorus etc much as @adi_mrok spells out. Check it out from after 5 minutes.
All good.
Bravo and keep at it.
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@Crossroads96
Congratulations RJ that was a great debut. You summed it up nicely yourself “I’m doing well”, you certainly are buddy. There was a lot to like in your first recording; nice clean chords, awareness of positive finger placement, smooth chord changes, steady strumming and rhythm. You’ve had some good tips from community that will help take the song to the next level. Keep up the good work.
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Nicely done, you’re having fun, engaging with the camera and not looking at your hands all the time, seems like you’re hitting all the chords cleanly and I loved the little twiddle at the end
My thought, only because it’s something I’m working on myself at the moment, is that you could make the strumming more interesting by varying the dynamics e.g. stronger strum on beats 1 and 3, lighter strum on 2 and 4 (or vice versa, or accenting the ‘and’ after beat 2 or whatever sounds best for that part of the song) Might be fun to try.
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Singing and playing at the same time is a great skill, congrats! You were really good at looking the camera and not the fretboard all the time.
The thing that you could improve now in this song is the strumming, making it more fluid and dynamic
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Thank you.
I agree, I have much more interesting strumming when I’m not signing. You’re right about that, and that’s an area I’d like to improve.
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Awesome critique, and thank you!
For me, my strumming does get sidetracked when I try to sing. Just opening my mouth used to stop the strumming before, haha. I am going to take your advice and keep that as a future focus.
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Great first video. You look like you were having fun and not nervous. Can’t wait to see more. Cheers
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Thank you Richard!
I should stick with a better posture. I do try to incorporate a variety of positions from standing to a solid wooden chair etc. in my practice routine. Your advice will make me more conscious of that now. It’s easy to get lazy about the details when comfort is involved haha.
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