Greetings fellow musicians,
11/01/2023 - I felt like it was time to start a learning log to track my playing. I started playing in May of 2023 I’m retired and have time to practice and enjoy the journey. I finished grade 1 and I’m hoping to stay put for a while and master the chords I’m working on and master all the proper techniques I should have in my tool box before moving onto grade 2.
The chords are the 8 beginner chords plus Fmaj7 and Cmaj7. Kinda stuck on Old Faithful strumming pattern so I definitely need to address that. Playing all the riff’s I learned in grade 1 fairly well.
I have an inexpensive acoustic guitar but as the local music shop owner recently told me you can learn to play on a cheap guitar as well as you can on an expensive one it doesn’t matter. I’m not sure when to buy another one or which one I should buy electric or electric acoustic.
This recording was done about 2 months ago. I want to start posting some videos here to see my progress. I need to work on another one because I feel like my playing is a little better.
11/09/2023 - Well rookie mistake turned into a positive I think! So I went to practice a little and play some songs on my acoustic guitar the only guitar I have and on the first strum it sounded hideous lol! Apparently because of turning the heat on at my house due to cooler temps it changed the tune of my guitar.
So being the rookie I am I turned on my neck tuner and failed to put it on G or guitar and could not get it tuned up. Knowing I have a way of turning mistakes into disasters I immediately took it to my local guitar shop and of course we all had a good laugh over it.
Then I saw it a beautiful (to me) Ephiphone Les Paul whispering to me “have a strum” well I did and oh my! It’s the first time I held an electric guitar and l’m in love! I’m 64 and my children are having a lot of fun with it also!
Well done Ed!
Congrats on your first recording and your learning log. i think you did a great job after such a short time on the guitar.
maybe try to relax your strumming hand even more, when that happen you will get better dynamic in your playing too.
inexpensive vs. expensive. does not matter much, that Fender will serve you well for a long time as long as its set up ok and feels good to play.
Electric vs. acoustic… well not an easy question to answer. both maybe?
Well you play well enough to go try out guitars. Some people like to set themselves a goal and use the new guitar as a reward. Or go down to the local store, try some, and maybe you experience love at first sound.
Hi Ed!
Good job with your playing! Lot of good stuff there… foot moving to the beat, staying in time, Old Faithful with your arm in more or less constant motion, very good chord changes for Grade 1… Great Job!!! Keep it up and you’ll feel really to move on in no time!!! Looking forward to seeing your next video!!!
Oh, almost forgot… in regards to guitar purchases, my philosophy is to buy the one(s) that really feel, sound and look really good… if it’s really, really expensive, go for it anyway & then all the $$$ you’ve spent motivates you to play well enough to justify the expense!!!
11/09/2023 - Well rookie mistake turned into a positive I think! So I went to practice a little and play some songs on my acoustic guitar the only guitar I have and on the first strum it sounded hideous lol! Apparently because of turning the heat on at my house due to cooler temps it changed the tune of my guitar.
So being the rookie I am I turned on my neck tuner and failed to put it on G or guitar and could not get it tuned up. Knowing I have a way of turning mistakes into disasters I immediately took it to my local guitar shop and of course we all had a good laugh over it.
Then I saw it a beautiful (to me) Ephiphone Les Paul whispering to me “have a strum” well I did and oh my! It’s the first time I held an electric guitar and l’m in love! I’m 64 and my children are having a lot of fun with it also!
Ok folks I’ve pulled back again! Have not started grade 2. I plan on staying put a little longer. I plan on working hard on Strumming, chord changes and songs over the next month or so and revisit moving to grade 2. My thought is no harm in staying put but there are consequences of moving up too fast. I have 10 or so chords in my toolbox, playing 8-10 songs fairly well. I’m still having a little issue holding onto the pick and I’m getting tired of old faithful strumming pattern lol! I still haven’t learned any songs by heart and I can’t sing yet. I love the 1 minute chord change app.
So moving along in grade 2 and having a great time my awesome coach @Richard_close2u shared this video with me for a little fun and help with the E minor pentatonic scale so just wanted to share the love! For the sake of transparency I never heard of him but he seems like a really cool chap!
