maybe you can turn it into a song
I’ll definitely write a song about the moon, or at least with it featuring. Something about the moon makes it ready for a song. There are already a few out there.
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I forgot there was a C# in the A chord. I mucked up the mnemonic, was counting Fast Cars Always Get… oops ^^’
Anyway, I never thought about following a progression in a key. I get worried that trying to think like that is a bit like the musical version of ‘paint by numbers’. But I will muck around in both keys… and maybe just use the Am as a bridge between them? 
Cheers!
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I do enjoy reading little tidbits about other people’s lives, though, and I do love that you post so many nature pics. It counts as related because we have been writing and singing songs about the world around us forever. Actually, I had a physics teacher who used to muck around talking about nonsense for the first fifteen minutes of a lot of lessons, and if any of us got annoyed (usually because it was a topic we weren’t interested in) he would say “everything is physics!”.
So you know what?
Everything is music!
Been noodling again, here is my chord progression in case you wish to try it out and see how it feels. I think I might be able to use it to make a nice tune when I can play it all smoothly, and I’ll put some lyrics to it. Although, there would still be a bridge to figure out. But I think some of that comes with lyrics and melody, since they can really flesh out the tone of a song.
Here it is written down, not sure I’m right with my naming things add7s etc, just trying to figure it out based on what’s in the chord.
Mini F - (Fadd7), Cadd7, GM, Atriad+4thstring A, Ftriad (ended up including open D and liking it), C barre, back to GM, Am, start over again
maybe a chorus that is FMbarre, CM, GM, CM, repeat but instead of CM do half a bar FM, resolve to CM, then restart verses with Fadd7.
Hi CC.
This thread might be of interest to you.
Anyone in for a beginner songwriting challenge?
Agreed. The chords in the key are the starting point. Then, as you’ve done, mess around with 7th, add9 etc.
Having said that, there are endless songs out there from very famous artists that don’t deviate from the chords in the key approach. 
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Still having trouble getting the A string to ring out in the C chord. The pad part of my finger that hits it while muting the E string is still without a callous. But I have a string mark there now from something else I’ve started practicing, so hopefully that will fix the C chord problem as a by-product.
I decided to embark on trying to play Cherry Wine by Hozier. It’s gonna take me a loong time. bUT. I saw improvements straight away and having watched a video I can see how overall the finger movements are not drastic and it will mostly be practice of each section. Still, getting my fingers to obey me one at a time for different strings on both hands is frustrating business.
It involves hammer-ons, (mine are mostly okay so far), pull-offs (can barely get any of them ring out) and some slides. The finger picking is a consistent base and the rest starts to follow along with the lyrics so that should make learning it easier, and singing along, too. (Nowhere near singing along lol)
I’m recording each time so I can go back and see mistakes (also can watch in real-time as usual), and maybe I can see a timeline of my improvements just from how many videos I’ve recorded (one per session), so when I think ‘how long has this taken me’ I can figure it out quickly. I stopped at an hour today though as my fingers are sore and if I focus this hard too late in the day I’ll get wired awake.
Edit: Found a website with tabs much easier to follow.
Also, apparently there’s nothing physically wrong with my shoulder, but it is under-developed compared to my left shoulder, possibly due to my dodgy wrist, and unnecessarily flexible. There are a bunch of shoulder exercises for me to continue to do and also a fair few I’m not to touch as I’m too bendy to do them right.
The physio assessed my overall bendy-ness, or at least, shoulders, wrists, elbows, and knees, I guess (had me touch my toes and then some), then told me that the reason my muscles ache when I hold my arms up for a bit, and the reason I always feel like I need to stretch no matter how much I’ve been stretching, is because I’m too stretchy and my muscles are sore from trying to stabilise my wobbly joints. So hopefully I’ll be able to exercise myself out of the dodgy shoulder speedily. And apparently I can never, ever stop, although around sixty my joints should get less bendy due to age. Who knew.
Anyway, this has been added to my exercise routine, which is already boring and takes too damn long.
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Will edit this later, just to keep track of recent chord progression noodling: Cadd9, C, open (G6/D), Dm, G/B, then Am, G6/D, Dm, G6/D, Am G6/D F, GM - was just using higher 4 strings, yet to try with G & B on the lower strings.
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First four practice sessions of Cherry Wine intro, condensed into a few minutes. I’ll keep recording for my own review, but won’t post the intro again until I have it pretty well under my fingers and I’m into the verses. But, it’s kind of cool to see how going to sleep and then trying it out another day shows magic improvements.
I think if I manage to get it sounding good at this speed, I only have to go twice as fast to be on time! 
I have a new chord progression to throw to willing ears also (recorded my chords here to remember them since I lose all my papers all the time), but it’s late and I’m tired. Going to a concert tomorrow night! I have a suspicion I’ll really be focussing on Cherry Wine practice after that for a while, since I’ll have heard it live and be inspired.
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It is so true that the mind assimilates and integrates when we are sleeping, which often leads to making unexpected progress the next day.
Looks like a tricky song, take it slow and you’ll get there. Constance
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Cherry Wine has sliding in it. My nemesis. 
TMI probably but I’m an oily-skinned individual and have been rubbing my fngertips on my face to practice the slides, since they felt like they were catching a bit, but getting the note to stay ringing out is a real challenge. Single strings I can sometimes manage it but two at once, I just don’t have the angle / pressure down just yet.
On the plus side, the intro is coming along well. Got to see it live the other day and the videographer for the concert did zoom in on the guitar on giant screens a few times so I got to see Hozier doing it, and it looked way more cramped for him. He has been playing it regularly for like a decade though so of course it looked easy.
I bought a shirt and an Adelaide concert pin from the merch stand when I went to the concert, but now I’m regretting not buying the general tour pin because it looks cool. I was there, it was there, my inner stooge was like ‘no, one is enough’, and it was, as usual, wrong. I have a miserly, fun-wrecking streak inside me and I have not yet been able to kill it. 
Hammer-ons and pull-offs are getting easier, or at least, more reliable? Also, have been practicing my chord progression since I didn’t want to post it until I could play it smoothly, and as such my F chord seems to be getting quicker to place? It’s funny, because I’ve been including it in my regular chord changes (the full barre chord) and have settled in the low twenties for it with most chord combinations, but I wonder if this will boost that? Same with Dm, which I seemed to be fine with some days and appalling with others.
I had planned on doing regular practice today as well as the fingerstyle stuff, and I may yet, but I’ve apparently spent about three hours practicing and my fingers are pudgy and a bit sore, and I haven’t done my shoulder exercises which is becoming apparent, so I’m putting my guitar away for now.
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You know, actually, the sliding is coming along pretty darn well. Again, something figured itself out while I slept. I had to take a day off from playing as my three hour session left me with sore forearms and wrists and I don’t want to tempt fate, which frankly I’m already doing by using my ridiculous wrists for anything at all.
I’ve had seven practice sessions all up and fumbled my way through most of the song, section by section. Memorising it is a little tricky as there are repeated motifs with slight variations and it’s easy to just do the one variation when you settle into it. I’m definitely gonna post some sections as videos when I get better, but I’m actively trying to hold off. The thing is - every little section of this song is so damn pretty. I already loved it and thought it was beautiful, but learning the actual music means focussing in on each part, picking up the parts I missed when listening as a non-guitarist and at full speed. There are so many little flourishes, and it’s so gentle. I just think about it constantly.
The bridge has the slides, and also has a little flourish between sections with several strings having hammer-ons and pull-offs in succession and it sounds so fiddly but it isn’t, but it’s just, ugh, gorgeous. It’s a gorgeous song. You should totally have a crack at it.
(Edit: You gotta put a capo on the sixth fret)
(These tabs are available for free on songsterr, but if it’s not allowed for me to have this snippet here please let me know and I’ll delete it.)
Singing it is near the bottom of my range so at some point I’ll have to work on that separately, and then later smash the two together and hope for the best. There’s no way I’m changing the key, it’s perfect.
I’ve also been dabbling with Jolene by Dolly Parton. Have gone with the fingerstyle as that’s my jam at the moment, but I will learn the strumming as well later as I found it incredibly tricky, so I definitely need to acquire that skill. The fingerstyle is also tricky but I’m finding it easier, although I’m nowhere near full speed and haven’t touched the riff. Not sure if I want to do it in the original key or shift it down a step. Better figure it out before I practice too much, I guess.
My goal is to make that my first open mic song, so step one is getting good at it and then I can look at the whole performance anxiety thing after that. Easy peasy.
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Nice one !
you re trying the full original song ? not a simplified version first ?
I get bored easily. And I’m really enjoying the fingerstyle that I’m learning. I’ll probably do a couple runs of the simplified one to sing along to so I don’t get lost learning the more complicated one, and play along with the song on youtube to get the timefeel.
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good luck learning it 
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Got a full run of my Cherry Wine practice so far. Trying to remember the variations between the sections and the connecting runs, and trying to consistently get my fingers on the right strings.
I should slow down my practice speed for them, however I find it difficult to practice the hammer-ons and pull-offs with reasonably consistent timing if it’s too slow - especially the hammer-on where the bass is strummed with the hammer-on and not the first plucking of the string. I can make it ring out okay without the bass involved but almost never once I incorporate the beat. I do break down the bits I’m having trouble with and focus on them for a while.
I’m going to work on keeping my fingers closer to the strings, should solve some of the missing issues. Also, I think slouching as I practice probably changes my angle of attack and affects consistency and proprioception.
Anyway, I did a couple hours on this again today, stopped when I realised I was just getting worse with each pass. Got my wrist in a brace because I was focussing so hard I wasn’t paying attention to how it felt.
I am absolutely gonna get this under my fingers before next year is over, I am determined. I go to sleep thinking about playing it and wake up thinking about it so I don’t think I can start on Jolene yet as I can’t shake the singular focus I have going on lol.
In weather news, it was 9% humidity today. 
But, we’re getting rain on the weekend!
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O what are there are some difficult things in there 
, but it’s already so good to hear that it will sound great one day… and then it is so great to see this archive again 
…
Ps: I have mastered Jolene and I think it will be a lot raelly a lot easier than this ,Although it was a riff on speed for many, many months and perhaps a year + (many breaks), but well before the speed it already sounds 100% finished
Greetings
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Well, I learned a new word today 
Proprioception - awareness of the position and movement of the body!!
I’ve been doing a bit of reading on practice methods recently and one common theme seems to be breaking things down into chunks and then doing repetitions of these chunks. Most sources say that amateur musicians don’t break things down into small enough pieces and don’t identify their problem spots - you don’t appear to have that problem. They also recommend that you practice each chunk until you get 3 correct repetitions in a row (they can be slower tempo, they just need to be correct and in a row, not just 3 reps in total), then move on. They also say that if you get to around 15-20 repetitions and still haven’t got your 3 in a row, then you should also move on to the next problem spot and come back to the ‘failed’ one later in the day or in your next practice session. They say, as you seem to have discovered yourself, that beyond a certain point more repetitions don’t actually help and can harm, both your music and your body.
The ‘chunk’ might be just a couple of notes with a tricky transition but is rarely more than a couple of bars.
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Thanks for this Stuart, I’ll aim for the three successes in a row as a goal. I have video of myself working different parts to review and sort out the obvious issues, but my goal has always been ‘get it working’ and once I got it working I moved on to the next section. Having a specific concept of ‘working’ and a goal for repeated success seems very sensible. I’m kind of annoyed I didn’t think of it myself to be honest…
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you’re really aiming at tough songs to practice on , don’t be hard on yourself , what you re trying to learn aint easy , its gonna take time
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