I add to my “learning log” so seldom it doesn’t seem much like a log. Anyway, I do practice every day and progress is being made. I am on module 12 and have been for a few weeks now. This one has finally been the one to slow down on and spend some time getting a grip on power chords, which for me is proving to be a slow process and improving on barre chords. I go through shifts from 6th to 5th string power chords and slides up and down the neck several times a day for just a few minutes at a time. Not perfect yet, but way better than when I first attempted to play power chords. I am having some pain in my fretting index finger when I play power and barre chords and will cut back on how often I am using it for those chords and see if the pain goes away in a few days. I don’t want it to get worse. I have also spent quite a bit of time on learning “Hallelujah” with the walk up from C to G and embellishments / hammer-ons on some of the chord changes…C, Am and F. I am also working on “The One I love” by R.E.M. and it has been a good song to practice incorporating the easy lead in riff with strumming. I think I will keep working on power chords for another week or so before moving on to module 13 which will likely be another module I will spend quite some time on.
I think I way over practiced when trying to get comfortable with barre and power chords. Pain in my fretting index finger got so bad I couldn’t put any pressure on it at all. And that went from bearable to extreme practically over night. I had to put the guitar aside for a several days and by using ice and resting the finger the pain is now gone and I have resumed practicing, but not where I left off. Instead I moved into module 13 and am enjoying working on things blues related. I have also found that after a short break that barre chords seem to be easier and after watching one of Justin’s videos on Major and Minor barre chord one minute changes, I tried and am, surprisingly, pretty comfortable air forming the E shaped barre chords when changing between barre and open chords. I have found that by lifting the thumb slightly off the neck when moving barre chords up and down the neck, my fingers now stay in position instead of sometimes moving around when they shouldn’t. That method was also in one of Justin’s videos. It feels good when a few things click and start working. It sure rejuvenates the level of enthusiasm. I do need to practice restraint when practicing though. It is just me and my chocolate Lab Sadie and we live on wooded property where no one can hear me practicing, so it is too easy to spend a good portion of the day playing and getting up any time during the night when a thought about something I need to work on goes through my brain. The finger pain was scary and I don’t want a repeat of that to occur.
Glad the pain has sorted itself out. Using a timer will probably really help you here to stop the over practicing, but I get where you are coming from. When things are going right with the playing, time seems to slow down and I suddenly notice that an hour has passed not the 15 minutes I thought it had been!
Exactly! Time does seem to slow down when I practice and it feels like everything is going as it should. An hour, or more, can pass in what seems like minutes. Actually, when things are not going as well as I would like I tend to keep going too. I will try using a timer.