@drake congrats on your first post. You are making good progress and doing well to be able to sing along at this stage of your learning. I noticed some increase in volume during the pre-chorus, which is a good thing to be working on already. So keep doing what you are doing.
And remember as you continue to work on grade 2 to keep working on this and other songs that make use of what you learned in grade 1. And when ready you can extend your range of songs to learn as you learn the new chords and become proficient with shaping and changing to the chords
@pozz congrats, Alberto, that was an excellent first recording. Thereās a lot going on in that song, what with moving up the neck, picking and strumming, the change up in the chorus, and you did really well throughout, include the F chord. Nothing more to add to what was already shared. Keep doing what you are doing!
Hello Alberto, congratulations to your first AVOYP . It sounds really good, and from my perspective, thatās no easy song.
Oh, youāre 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.
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 Iāve put in but Iāve enjoyed them all. I didnāt know if Iād ever master strumming and singing but persistence has got me on the way.
Iām a few years away from 50 so I have to catch up for all the years I wish I was learning to playā¦but itās 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 thatās fine too.
That was great RJ. Well done on posting your first performance. Itās 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.
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 youāre fretting, a good sign of the hours youāve already put in. I look forward to your next share!
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 thatās 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 donāt 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!
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, Iād have been singing along with you. Your performance was that engaging to me.
@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 Justinās 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.
@Crossroads96
Congratulations RJ that was a great debut. You summed it up nicely yourself āIām doing wellā, 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. Youāve had some good tips from community that will help take the song to the next level. Keep up the good work.
Nicely done, youāre having fun, engaging with the camera and not looking at your hands all the time, seems like youāre hitting all the chords cleanly and I loved the little twiddle at the end
My thought, only because itās something Iām 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 āandā after beat 2 or whatever sounds best for that part of the song) Might be fun to try.
. It sounds really good, and from my perspective, thatās no easy song.
. But 
.
)!