Conquered, if only for a blip

[Notter]

Winning there then Cate!!

[CateB]

I’m definitely having the dream of achieving it successfully and if so, I too will be screaming like Courtney. Her vocals are insane. I’d only recently watched a YouTuber reacting to her. Left me gobsmacked

[CateB]

Cheers Mark. One slight handful of fingers at a time but lessening each time since Tom’s and Matthew’s help

[jkahn]

@CateB

I strummed a relatively acceptable F barre chord - twice. My left hand has never felt such pain like it has right now but that’s possibly due to the fact I was too afraid to lift it away for a few minutes, despite the 3rd strum being not so great, for fear i’ll never play it again but hey, I did it.

Congrats Cate.

Now begins the long journey to build the muscle memory, strength and endurance. Make sure you practice it daily, then integrate it into songs… and over time you’ll eventually be able to play a song made up entirely of E shaped barre chords. Takes a while though!

[JasmineJ]

Awesome! Love it!
Such a great feeling!
Congratulations

[CateB]

Thank you JK. It will definitely be in my daily routine. The reason I quit 40 yrs ago was when my teacher started me on House of the Rising Sun. Good ol F so that will be the song I’ll be striving for. Not because it’s a favourite of mine or anything….but for a 4 decade revenge pact. Memory muscle has definitely been another of my exercises I’ve been working on. Thanks JK

So to all, I’m going to eventually learn House and when I do, I’ll bore you all with a recording of it

[CateB]

It’s definitely a good feeling to make a fairly decent sound……I use the term ‘decent’ very loosely but I’m on my way.

Thank you Jax

[Tbushell]

@CateB

Tom….WOW. Thank you so much. I can’t believe what a difference your video made.

So glad it helped! Haven’t gotten any other feedback yet, and was starting to worry that maybe the approach didn’t click with anyone.

I’m going to add some commentary to the video topic (I’ll @ you when I do). But WRT to sitting positions, you might want to take a look at this topic

Sitting position, slight difference that makes a difference?

I watched that video (terrific performance of a great song), and thought to myself "geez, I wish my guitar sat so nicely on my right leg! So I tried casual position without a strap - as I have so many times before without success. But some thing was different this time. My guitar never felt solid in my lap before - always wanting to slide off my leg. But this time it felt secure. I realized the weight of my right arm was being transmitted diagonally to my thigh - holding the guitar securely…

And if you don’t like the strap, other members talk about how they play classical position with guitar lifts and other aids.

[Eddie_09]

I hope you are sitting down Cate . In all honesty I started playing on a cheap guitar which made barre chords nigh on impossible as the action was so high. Once I knew I was going to stick with it I upgraded to a better guitar (after a year) and got into properly learning barre chords. It probably took me about 3 months after that to get to a point where I was reasonably comfortable with them. Stick with it though as it is worth it.

[CateB]

Thanks Tom. I only used the strap for the first time because of watching you using one and it really made such a difference. I think also because, and yes, I know people will be screaming at their screens, I’ll grab the guitar when just sitting on the sofa to practice. I feel stupid for not doing so as obviously, correct sitting is what I’ve needed to be doing this whole time.

I’ll go watch your video now. Thank you again for putting in so much effort to help. It’s greatly appreciated Tom

[CateB]

Okay. Well I did only buy my first guitar at the start of January, which is when I first began learning. Then I guess, a further few more weeks before I hit the F so I’m sitting down, but not for the devastating impact you thought it would have as in ‘it took you that long’ as opposed to ‘it only took you that long’ . Okay. Lots more practicing for me. Cheers Eddie - I think

[CateB]

Hey Tom

That F that I felt I was slowly conquering……not so much. Feeling very defeated by the horrid thing.
When I bought my guitar, they gave me a voucher for a free lesson so I’m going to give it a shot and hopefully she’ll be able to give me in person directions. Unless of course you’re free to pop over to Australia and give up a hand with it

[Tbushell]

Hi Cate, sorry to hear you are frustrated.

Kind of off topic in this thread - maybe post in the original thread, and I can perhaps help.

[Tbushell]

Oh, I see mods have moved your post, so now it’s in the right place.

[Tbushell]

@CateB

they gave me a voucher for a free lesson so I’m going to give it a shot and hopefully she’ll be able to give me in person directions.

That’s a very good idea!

In person, she may pick up something that’s very obvious in your technique.

However, it will depend a lot on the teacher. I had two or three over the years who realized I had serious issues with muscle tension, but none of them were able to give me actionable advice on how to solve those issues.

But you should definitely explore that option.

[CateB]

Hey Tom

Late reply, sorry. I’ve not even picked my guitar up for a good month or so due to health stuff so it won’t just be F but I’m thinking all chords now . Have a couple more weeks of getting myself sorted then will be back at it.

Hope all is well with you and you’re playing to sell out stadiums

Cate

[Tbushell]

@CateB

Late reply, sorry. I’ve not even picked my guitar up for a good month or so due to health stuff so it won’t just be F but I’m thinking all chords now

Sorry to hear that…hope you are now on the mend.

You will probably be a bit rusty with the chords you already can play, but they should come back in a week or two of resuming practice.

Possibly even better…sometimes that happens after a lengthy pause…the brain somehow integrates the learning away from the instrument.

@CateB

Hope all is well with you and you’re playing to sell out stadiums

Well, if by “sold out stadiums” you mean playing for free for my girlfriend and her cat…why, yes indeed!

[CateB]

I’ve no doubt the cat, if it could, would be calling encore after each ‘concert’

Hopefully you’re right when you say picking it back up and playing cleaner chords. Shall soon find out.

Cheers Tom

[BarrhamianSteve]

Way to go! Like any physical skill, sports related or music, I find the less I think or judge myself but just keep going, after hours of being stuck at one level, then suddenly it clicks and works. Hope you are still going well and enjoying the victories you make along the way.

[Tbushell]

@BarrhamianSteve

I find the less I think or judge myself but just keep going, after hours of being stuck at one level, then suddenly it clicks and works.

I’ve experienced that as well. And sometimes the increasing level of frustration is a sign that a breakthrough is imminent.

And sometimes the frustration is just a sign that you are not ready to learn that particular skill yet, and should focus on something else for a while.

I wish I could distinguish those two types of frustration…but have no idea how to do that.