Congratulations on your first AVOYP posting Hilary. One of the hardest things to do, in my opinion. You did a great job with the song as well. Steady strumming, mixing it up when it came to the chorus. Your chords sounded nice and clean and you were tapping your food in time with the music. Really well done.
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Congrats to you also on your first AVOYP posting Thomas. That was pretty sweet. Clean changes and good strumming. It was great when you started on those 8th, I guess you were really starting to find the songs groove.
I see you have a fan already as well. 
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Thank you for such in depth and constructive feedback. I wish I had had time to reply sooner, but I definitely took it to heart for the next song I’ve been working on. Appreciate it!
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Thank you! It was definitely a learning experience.
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Thank you, Todd, for posting this. You were great. This is also my first song I am currently learning. As I had never heard it before I started with Justin Guitar in January, I literally have to learn it by singing along with it. So oddly, I think my singing with it is okay but so my counting the beat/strumming is suffering. According to the stats I only have 2.5 hours practicing it so I think I want a little more practice before I attempt to record myself. You have given me the courage to give it a try.
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I’ve been learning since September and it’s long overdue that I took a brave pill and uploaded something for comments. I’ve actually put a couple of videos onto YouTube today. In both cases I’m using Justin’s songs app to accompany me.
The first one is Honky Tonk Women. It’s just one that I’ve been playing for a couple of days, chords with Justin’s old faithful strumming pattern. There’s no way I could have managed this even at the start of 2023 so while I’m sure it can be a lot better, I’m thrilled that I’ve picked it up quickly. I’m even managing a 4 finger G chord!!!
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The second one is Johnny Cash’s cover of Hurt (actually just the first half of the song). I’ve been practicing it since the start of the year, it’s been the song that’s been my reason for learning the F chord. I still need to practice F quite a bit more. I can get it if I concentrate. In this video some of the F’s are better than others!
Thanks for watching
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You are most welcome! If you are wanting to get to the point of playing it and singing it together, Justin has a lesson on that specifically, which helped me quite a bit. If you want to check that out, here it is: https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/singing-playing-at-the-same-time-bg-2003
The big points from that lesson are:
- Listen to the song, a lot, at least 10 times; we learn music via listening.
- Practice singing the song, by itself.
- Practice playing the song, by itself, until it feels automatic, or nearly so.
- Then, combine them together.
- Singing practice, playing practice, and combined practice can often be helped by playing/singing/both along with the original recording.
After using that lesson, I recorded this song a second time, and I think it really helped. You can see the result here: "Three Little Birds" - My Second Performance
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Hey Matt, well done for posting up your first videos! A big step to take and you’ve done a great job on both tracks! That’s some good progress for playing for around 6 months, your changes are looking good and quick and strumming is pretty smooth with old faithful.
A couple of small tips / advice if you don’t mind. On Hurt I’d have a bit more faith in your C to D change and let the C ring out for longer, it’s a little bit choppy but you’ve got everything there to let it go a bit. The second is a bit more general and I’d advise against too much playing on the sofa, it’s not a great position and might end up hurting your back with that posture. If that’s just been for these recordings then fair enough, but worth keeping in mind if not.
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Thank you. All observations are welcome. I probably need to watch my own recording again and look at the C to D change. Maybe some time with the metronome might be required because I have no reason for rushing it as C to D is a change that doesn’t worry me.
It’s also fair comment about posture. I don’t always play on the sofa but even when I do play on a stool I do tend to peer over my guitar which isn’t great. I suppose it’s mostly a confidence thing but isn’t necessary because I can do most of my chord changes without looking at my fretting hand
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Hello Matt @mattswain , congratulations on your first AVOYPs! These are two great recordings 
. With ‘Hurt’ you have given you a big challenge - alternating bass notes and F chord 
. Wow, you really did well on both songs. You can be very proud of you 
.
The only thing, I’d like to suggest, is to hold your guitar more straight up. You’ll still be able to watch the fret board, and for your fretting hand things will become easier 
.
Keep up the good work 
.
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Thank you for watching and for your feedback. With “Hurt”, I watched a Paul Davids video on YouTube and decided that I had to learn it. I’ve been dabbling with since the start of this year. Picking the notes on the chords was something new but it’s the F chord that’s taken the bulk of the time, the combination of making it sound right and getting it up to speed. Still more practice required but each day it gets a little easier 
You’re so right about the angle of my guitar. I need to get it vertical, especially if I ever hope to stand and play. It’s just a bad habit that’s crept in because I can play the standard beginner chords without looking. It’s definitely something to tackle right away before it becomes permanent. Thanks again
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I find myself singing this song constantly, doing housework, walking the dogs, pretty much know it by heart including the chords, Unfortunately, my chords seem to become sloppy while singing so I’ve got to work on perfecting those some more. Thanks for the links. I watched your 2nd video, so much improved already!
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Hi Matthew, @mattswain
Congratulations on your first videos 
… an important milestone, which I would definitely place a link to in your LL, because you will look back on this with great pleasure
Greetings,Rogier
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Thank you, I will do that. I’m really happy that I’ve been able to do it because just reaching that stage where I’m comfortable with putting a video of me playing into the world is a big step, both in terms of my guitar playing but also in letting go of the perfectionism that has been like a plague on my life (I’ve talked about this on other threads). I’m now at a place where I’m happy with what I have achieved rather than hating myself for the occasional duff chord or mis-timed note
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This is another great benefit of recording yourself Matthew, the self assessment. All of those flubs, missed notes, muted strings etc that are so clear to you when playing actually blend on or go past so quickly as a listener that you don’t actually notice them. Not all the time but certainly a high proportion. Recording yourself like this and most importantly listening back to them will help you realise this.
Nothings ever perfect, in fact it’s the little imperfections that make a song rendition yours.
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@mattswain
Bravo, Matt. Big step to record and share, a milstone to celebrate.
You are making execllent progress, showcased in both recordings.
In addition to other comments already made about the guitar angle, you’d also find that it has a negative influence on your strumming. The more vertical the guitar, the more natural and relaxed the strumming motion will be.
Recording has a tendency to raise the heart rate and induce tension. The only way to overcome that is to keep on recording.
From a chord changes perspective, you may find it helpful towards developing a more relaxed feel-good vibe if you slow the tempo down a little initially. It is generally recommended to slow down enough that you can make the changes smoothly without the speed inducing tension. You can keep working your One Minute Changes to increase your speed.
Well done and look forward to your next!
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Thank you David.
I know what you mean about tempo and tension. There’s definitely a tempo at which things start to get strained and then the basics fall apart as well. I’d not really considered that guitar angle might affect strumming but it does make sense and I will work on it. I think I’m more prone to angling my guitar with my acoustic rather than electric which is probably to do with the extra depth of the instrument
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Well played, such a beautiful yet simple song.
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Matt, congratulations on your first AVOYP postings. A great job with both songs. Your strumming in steady and consistent, your chord changes smooth and ringing clearly, F chord sounds good too. Also very nice picking on Hurt. A lot to be proud of there.
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