Absolutely. In my opinion it is better to record progress than perfection. So just flip on the camera, and let it happen, mistakes and all, just like an actual live performance. It is good for you as it helps shine a light on both things you do well and things you need to work on. As Justin says we should practice what we need to work on and not what we do well. Looking back on the takes also gives you extra motivation as you can see the progress you have been making.
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Ohhh… And remember we are all here to support you.
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There is no chance for perfection happening, not in the foreseeable future anyway. But perfection is mostly boring 
Thanks. I think I noticed that once again by receiving the various comments on recording.
I appreciate the feedback. It’s.good to be back
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Nicole, I have no doubt that it is true that being able to play and sing from memory is ultimately going to deliver the best performance, either live or to record.
But given most of us record primarily to support learning, get feedback, and for fun, not as pro or semi-pro gigging or recording musicians, having YT channels with no intention to monetise those, I agree with all the encouragement given to be OK using lyrics to record and share, especially when learning.
When I started doing live Open Mics in-person people all said I must perform from memory, because it is most natural, most audience engaging. The problem was the extra stress introduced by having to remember had a greater negative impact than the benefits of performing from memory.
So I reverted to using my song sheets. I felt more relaxed and as such I think the performances were better. After some time, I found I had developed the ability to memorise, felt relaxed, and stopped using the song sheets.
So really, be gentle on yourself, allow that ability to develop over time, either proactively or in the background (I left memorising for a while and kind of stumbled back into it later) and until you feel relaxed, no stress, keep using the sheets.
That’s my verbosely articulated 2cs on this topic
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Thank you David. I hear you all and of course you are all correct in the end.
I had no idea that my casual remark about recording what blow up like it did, still I’m happy that it did.
Of course recording can be used in different ways and I 1) might have wanted to differentiate better and 2) should get used to the idea of recording practice sessions. I have hardly ever done that, except more than a year ago when documenting my first steps with JG.
Seeing how you end your reply, I’m tempted to say: Right back at you 
You are an excellent writer, you know that, right?
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Thank you 
Appreciate that and do sometimes have to remind myself to follow my own advice given 
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Sooo… Talk is cheap they say. Time to prove that I have been taking your feedback to heart and recorded some of today’s practice sessions.
I had completed my regular practice routine for 1,5 times, so I decided I may now do something else as well.
Earlier today I had remembered a finger picking pattern and thought “Chocolate Jesus” could be a good case to test it on.
Plain to see that there are many things to improve. Playing alternating bass strings becomes random at this stage when I’m singing, strings are snaring, my thumb is likely positioned too high.
Still maybe not too catastrophic a starting point if I decide to continue working on this song and picking pattern .
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Great stuff Nicole. Good steady alternating bass line and strong rhythm throughout. Not easy to do. And no probs with the Dmin shape either. All sounds excellent. Peter
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Oh yes you can ! Well done Nicole.
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Well you made it hard for yourself there Nicole. Singing and strumming is difficult. Singing and fingerpicking is more difficult. Well done. Lots to be proud of in that recording.
I have to say that I fall into the learn the lyrics and chords off by heart camp. There is enough to think about with fingerstyle. 
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I agree. Finger picking pattern and singing requires a good level of automation and that is already there. I think the rhythm / timing can improve a bit, but that will come with the practice.
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Peter, you are too kind. Hmm… It’s clearly not excellent though. There is lots of work to be done.
The Dm… Yes, that was another reason why that song came back to my mind. I mean, how can I say that I play it fine mainly nowadays without being able to prove it?
… Wasn’t a whole lot of fun though. It’s fascinating how even recording practicing makes me nervous. Let’s see if that will ever change if I continue recording. And: I have to diversify my repertoire of expletives… It’s rather boring hearing the same ones over and over again when watching those practice videos 
That’s me. Why should I try the alternating bass finger strum combo that Justin suggests, when I can make my life more difficult? 
When I showed the video to my husband (he watched half and then continued washing dishes) he said two things: 1) There was a strange sound. 2) You want to sound like Tom Waits.
Well, indeed there is more than one strange sound The second comment I took as a compliment though.
Amen to that
Thanks Boris, I wholeheartedly agree
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I thought the rhythm/timing was fine. The only thing was when you tapped the body of the guitar twice; that was a bit rushed…but I didn’t need to mention that as it was not guitar playing.
Playing alternating bass, reading and singing and changing chords all at the same time whilst keeping in time is difficult but a skill you have mastered.
I myself am currently struggling with “Candyman” in trying to keep in time, getting back to the steady bass, after stopping it to play the lead fills/licks on the top strings. I used to be able to do it! This is how the expert did it. Note his playing is far from perfect…
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Well certainly Keith Richards and the X-pensive Winos say so . . . . what a great album.
But more importantly, well done on making the practice recording after all the conversation about that. And I am glad you have done so now while on the way to learning it all off by heart.
That is a great picked pattern, did you learn it from Justin (if so I must go back to that lesson) or come up with it yourself (either is just fine). Like the breathy speaking singing style.
I suggest you consider getting a music stand. I think it may help with posture and playing if the lyrics and chords are in fron of you, raised to an appropriate height.
Bravo !!
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Hi Nicole,
You should definitely continue with this song, have fun and those videos are invaluable 
… and indeed choose a fixed picking pattern… I see that your index finger and thumb are sometimes getting in each other’s way already , and If you want to continue and improve this style, at some point there will be songs where you get stuck if you don’t learn to stick your thumb out at least a little further, so it doesn’t hurt to draw a little attention to this now …
If you are just starting with this thumb style, it will go quite quickly “naturally”, better if you pay attention and do it very, very slowly…
Learning singing and fingerstyle picking… 
not me
Have fun and greetings
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Well done on that one, Nicole!
There is this old and a little corny saying: Always aim for the moon, even if you miss it, you will land among the stars (it’s originally in German, I don’t know whether there is a more appropriate English version than this literal translation ).
Attempting this quite tough song for your first share of recording practice was like aiming for the moon, but you actually didn’t miss it so much at all. 
There is a lot going on with alternating bass notes while finger picking, which is far from being a beginner pattern, then adding singing on top while reading all at the same time. Quite a lot to calculate for your brain at once and it went really well. You noticed some points yourself already by checking your recording, but probably you also noted it during the performance, too.
It’s hard to keep the alternating bass steady all the time, also the very small pauses while reading on, all this will improve quite fast with practice. You already have a very solid foundation, now it only needs a little time to develop. Please stick to this song, you have come so far already and as said, it’s not an easy one! Please be proud of your achievement!
I second that. This will also relieve some possible tension due to posture and will ease up playing, too.
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True, there are some “plang” sounds and it’s still mesmerising. The whole thing is more or less hanging in these changing bass notes if I hear it correctly? If would notably fail in his rhythm the whole structure would come crashing down. What a very beautiful song to work on
You are correct with the tapping is correct. It fell a bit apart after that and I had to introduce bars that are not there to get back into the rhythm.
I was wondering, does it make any sense practicing playing the chord progression of e.g. “Chocolate Jesus” but playing only the bass notes while counting the rest to get the rhythm more steady resp. more ingrained?
If I may: When learning picking with alternating bass as in Travis picking, where a different bass note is played on every beat, it totally makes sense to practice this movement in chord progressions alone for quite so time. I guess, it will be worth it here as well. You will gradually build dexterity and thumb indepence.
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Not from Justin, no. I didn’t dare to skip ahead to the fingererstyle lessons. I know it would be a rabbit hole for me from which I would emerge after many months only to find that I’m still in module 8 
I think in the end it’s a picking pattern that I remembered from long time ago, combined with the changing bass notes somewhere in the video about the song.
Hmm… The music stand is an idea, I’ll visit some small guitar store anyhow in my vacation soon. Let’s see. I have to check that Keith and orchards album btw
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Rogier, you have eagle eyes. That’s exactly what happened. And yes, I want to continue with fingerstyle, that’s one of the few things that I’m sure I want to take to the in-person lessons (which will hopefully start soon once Finland awakes from it’s summer slumber).
Hmm… Never say never. “Broken cowboy” is a very beautiful song… I’m sure you will be tempted to hum a bit at least 
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