Beginner's safe space

Community Recordings Audio-Video Of You Playing
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This is sound advice here.

This is primarily aimed at swashata Dont know if my rudimentary forums skills are able to pick out DavidPs’ response in a quote. We will see.

I learned the chords initially in my late teens and had no issues since then, doing them. Even after 30 years off i am able to finger them without fretbuzz and mute appropriate base notes with thumb when needed.

What i lack is the sustained strumming effort and timely chord changes for a 3 min effort. I can strum for 3 min. That is not a problem. My issue is keeping it in time for the whole effort and keeping hold of the pick.

Grade 1 without the song app to play along with got boring really quickly and i moved up to grade 2 out of boredom only to be told by my own playing that i was not ready to move up yet. I was not able to strum consistently enough to warrant a move up in grade. I only moved up cos i thought i was, arrogantly, above the grade 1 since i am able to finger chords perfectly and know how to fret the chords by heart ect.

Playing music is more than just being able to finger the chords without fretbuzz ect. We have to be able to play consistently over a longer time period with nearly no gaps in time or loss of sound on chord changes.

I do have the song app, and the metronome app, now so i will start all over again even if i am able to pass many sections of the white grade that pertain to how to fret certain chords. I had previously given not much effort to the songs in grade 1 cos i am “better” than a 1 downstrum on 4 beats in a bar Three little birds song. How wrong i was. How can i expect to keep time and consistent effort in woderwall if i am not even willing to commit to the basic skills needed to to strum all downstrums on an easier song?

Moving up to grade two out of boredom and not having the song app to help was a SERIOUSLY humbling experience. Yeah, you are not as good as you think you are kind of experience.

Dont be in a rush to leave white grade is what i am trying to say.

EDIT…i have to edit this and post the part of DavidPs’ response that i was commenting on since the quote did nor for some reason
This what he wrote:

Your practice routines sound just right, so keep on keeping on. I’d just guard against rushing through the lessons of each module too fast, developing a “let me finish this lesson, so I can get to the next one” mindset. Make sure that you are solid on each module, able to complete the practice routines and meet the suggested criteria of each module. This is the foundation on which everything is built.

Start building up your repertoire of songs. Perhaps record a few more of the songs suggested in the modules.

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Thank you @DavidP. I will keep on practicing on the electric for now.

Thank you pinkyisbroken for sharing your journey with me. I understand what you’re saying. I do play at-least 1 song every module and if I like another song, I play it too. You’re absolutely right, at first I had lots of trouble staying in sync (I still do, if I haven’t practiced the song for 3-4 days) and changing the chords for a long time. But yes, practice is indeed needed. So I will stick to the routine.

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Swashata- all I can say is WOW!
I’ve now been playing for 1 week and I hope that I will be playing as well as you after 2 months.

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Hi @Angel1, I am really glad to have inspired you. I have received loads of feedback and help from this forum. People here are amazing and just ask when you’re in any trouble. Just practice and play for 30 mins to 1hr a day and I am sure you’ll play far better than me very soon. I will be waiting for your video here.

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Ok, so this is my first ever recording of me and the guitar. I had no idea how nerve racking this would actually be but as they say " in for a penny, in for a pound".
Looking back at the video I see plenty of mistakes and things I need to work on but I would like to hear from the community as to your thoughts and advice going forward.

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That sounded great Peter and thanks for posting! your first AVOYP done. Strumming looked pretty clean to me. Your strumming hand keeps going regardless so that’s good. Backing track could have been a little louder so we could hear it. That C chord looks like it’s causing you a few problems but everything else looks good. Nice tapping of the foot to keep with the rhythm.

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@prbushe

:clap: :clap: :clap:

That was great Peter. You are well on your way and lots to be pleased about, to smile about. Chords clean, smooth changes, kept your hand moving, keeping time with the leg. No obvious issues, just a slight hesitations, less clean moments. Quite normal.

Just keep practicing and playing, the more you do so and the more you record the more relaxed and comfortable you will get.

Bravo

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@prbushe That’s a solid start Peter. The rhythm, chords and chord changes all hung together pretty well. Bravo on your first. :slight_smile:

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Well done Peter, a great start to posting videos of yourself playing!
Your strumming is good and chord changes pretty decent, but as said your change to C seemed a bit hesitant, not really a problem at your stage practice will cure that!
Keep it up and you will soon see results.

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Well done for posting your first AVoYP Peter. You’re on your way!
Keep it up and I look forward to more from you.

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If you want to learn more about your Katana and how to use it, I recommend The Studio Rats channel on YouTube.

They have a bunch of tutorial videos on the Katana and how to use it, and they have a regular live stream on Fridays about the Katana where you can ask questions in the chat.

Cheers,

Keith

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Great stuff Pete you did great well done on your first recording!

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That’s a solid first AVOYP @prbushe! Well done mate.

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You’ve dived in, kept afloat and now you’re swimming in the ocean of possibilities Peter. Well done.

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Hey Pete,

Well done on your first post. Sounded pretty good to me. Good rhythm with the strumming which is crucial. The chord changes/clarity will just improve with practice. Goin well mate.

Cheers, Shane

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So here is my first ever recording. I tried on my phone, but ended up using an old laptop. It was definitely nerve racking and I know I can see the errors, I tried not to stop, rather smile and continue. Anyway here it is I welcome your comments as I know they will make me better. YouTube highlighted a copyright claim, so it must be recognizable

Cheers

Phil
House of the Rising Sun - First ever recording

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Hi Phil, well done on your first recording, it probably went a lot better than you personally think! :slight_smile: good things: you kept the time pretty much consistent, solid strumming, some dynamics were introduced which means you feel the music and your changes are good.

Things to work on - playing along to a song would be a good idea to practice keeping the time. Slow it down, even if you are listening on youtube you are able to do so, and just follow the song this will keep your timing in line, alternatively use a metronome.

As you probably are aware some changes weren’t super clean - they were okay but just some not clean which comes down to more practice, One minute changes, perfect chord changes and learning songs. More you practice the better it will become :slight_smile: I see you are using one of the mini Fs, I think in few instances the e string was muted which means you just didn’t put enough pressure. Again I will be repeating myself here again - just do it over and over again until it clicks :slight_smile: not sure where you are in your journey but I guess you are approaching soon the dreaded F chord - this was actually the first song I learnt using the F chord and let me tell you it wasn’t easy!

Once you start learning full F I suggest just perfect chord changes and training higher up the neck before you do it on the first fret, especially on the acoustic first challenge is to make it ringing nicely and second challenge is to arpeggiate this bloody song on the F chord, ouf I still have nightmares when I think of it! :scream:

I derailed a bit - overall you are doing great and I think you are on the right path :slight_smile: next time try to focus your camera a bit more on your fretting hand as some bits were trimmed out of the view which made it more difficult to follow your technique :slight_smile: all the best.

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Thanks for the comments, really appreciate the time. I do think I rushed ahead and am in the process of going back through all the modules. I can play the full F but not confident of speed of changes. I can do clean changes if I concentrate hard, but it isn’t natural yet.

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:clap: Celebrating a big moment in your guitar playing Phil. This is a big step to take. Adrian has given you some good pointers. I can’t add to them. I can however encourage you. You’ve done well.

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Thank you, appreciate the comment.

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