LunaRocket's Learning Log

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Rebecca @LunaRocket

I think there comes a point that is better to move on than stay where you are, I felt the same.

Interesting you mention Nitsuj, I looked at occasionally in grade 1 and was often reassured that I was at least as good as if not better than him, and this was someone who knew exactly what he should be doing.

Mastering the different fingering for G I think is important to get easy changes between some chords in songs. I find fingers 2 3 4 a very useful one and like you my little finger hurt to start with but that does go quickly.

There are lots of interesting things in Grade 2 so enjoy it.

Michael

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Congrats! :tada:
Definitely expect your 3rd and 4th finger to be sore for this module - that was my limiting factor in how long I could practice for that section. It does get better (the stretchiness too)! Have fun!

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Good. I was king of hoping my practicing Dm would have helped, but as I wasn’t playing any songs with it, nope. no such luck!

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone!

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Rebecca @LunaRocket
Dm, when I learnt it in Grade 1 I could not get away with using my little finger and used my third finger. Later did have a song with it in I think I used my little finger.
As I said not a chord I have used recently and just had a go and would definitely use my little finger now, I think I can now stretch that bit further.
Need to get your little finger going for Grade 2.
Michael :grinning:

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Congratulations on passing Grade 1, Rebecca!! :partying_face: :star_struck: :tada:

Sometimes it is better to move on rather than getting bored out. Also nothing wrong with coming back to former content and revisit it in parallel to the new stuff. :slight_smile:

Those stuck 3&4-chords are quite tough stuff at the start, but you’ll soon see progress - especially once the pinky eventually stops hurting. :sweat_smile: For myself, I had them faster under my fingers than some of the other open chords, but struggled a lot in the beginning - fumble fest as Justin/Nitsuj would name it, I guess. :rofl:

Good luck and lots of fun in Grade 2, Rebecca. :slight_smile:

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Well, you didn’t ask for it, but here’s a link to my 2nd AVoYP, What’s Up by 4 Non Blondes. I figured I ought to do something to celebrate graduating from Grade 1.

What’s Up

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Congratulations! I think it was the perfect time to move on. Good luck with Grade 2. There are heaps of fun stuff in grade 2. Also, don’t be afraid to go back to Grade 1 if you need. Particularly one of Justin’s grade 1 song lesson videos. Going back and learning a new song that is at or below your skill level can be a fun thing to do every now and then.

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That is a great way of looking at it! Imagine, something BELOW my skill level! :laughing:

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Rebecca, congratulations on completion of Grade 1. Your plan of focusing on the first 5 of the stuck 3,4 chords sounds like a good plan. The G, Cadd9, Dsus4, A7sus4 and Em7 stuck 3,4 chords are used in a lot of modern acoustic songs. Also Justin says he is giving your pinkie finger and your hand a good workout. Focusing on learning songs is a good idea. There are a lot of great songs in Grade 2 that you can play and enjoy for a lifetime.

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So, this is my practice routine for Module 8, I increased the time for a few items, others I’ll just repeat when necessary.

Stuck 3&4 Chords - 6 mins - For me the suggested 2 minutes or so was not enough, I’m running through the first 5 discussed in the lesson in random order. Pinkie still isn’t happy. Really having trouble getting that stretch between the 2nd and 3rd fingers still.

E Minor Pentatonic Scale - 4 mins - I watched the lesson for this twice, found myself scratching my head, tried it on the guitar, around the 8th time through had a minor (heh heh) epiphany and no longer need to look at the chart. Whether I have the shape memorized is hard to say and I’m definitely not ready for the metronome!

PFC Big G to D - 2 mins

OMC Big G to D - 1 mins - first attempt I hit 24. I remember when I first started OMC in grade 1 of a pitiful start of 12 for chord changes. So, this is definitely an improvement. Be interesting to see how fast I can improve. (27 on the 2nd try)

PFC Cadd9 to D - 2 mins added this one to assist in the song Good Riddance

PFC Big G to Em - 2 mins added this one to assist in the song Good Riddance

Open Note Study - 4 mins -Did this a few times and figured, I got this, then I started to do it backwards and got lost again. I am not used to reciting the alphabet, even this short bit backwards.

Strumming & Accent 2&4 - 5 mins - Sometimes I can do it fairly well, sometimes with my leg counting 4 beats, but for the most part not. Need lots more practice.

Wish You Were Here Riff - 3 mins - After 3 days I think I’ve finely got the first 4 notes memorized, ACK! I love this song so I shall keep on going.

Practice Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) by Green Day - 5 mins - Picked this one because it’s on the App. (Would like to try Free Fallin’ but it seems too hard just yet). Have to play GR at 50% and I’m still fumbling around badly, hence the addition of a couple chord perfect fast change practices added to my routine. It is getting to the point where I sometimes hear the tune in my head so maybe parts of it are sinking in.

Repertoire Revision - 12 mins - Mostly playing (because I can! WOOT! What’s Up, Up Around the Bend and For What It’s Worth. At some point I’ll start working on the proper strumming for What’s Up. I also really want to get back to Bad Moon Rising, because I’m having fun with that, not up to full speed yet, but I swear when listening to the recording it’s not as fast as the App. Don’t know if I’m just hearing it wrong, or what. Have to experiment. I’m pretty pleased with playing it at 90% though.

Also found a couple more Grade 1 type songs on the App I want to try though I have yet to find the time! Too much life interfering with my guitar journey!

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Grade 1 songs. aka Repertoire Revision

Well, as of today, I can play Bad Moon Rising at full speed. 179 bpm! Then I tried playing it with the CCR recording. ACK! :open_mouth: Apparently, I lose track of which chord I’m on while trying to play with the original recording. Obviously more practice required!

I started trying a new strumming pattern recommended on the App for Dreaming by Blondie, A simple DDDUDU. another ACK! I can do it fine while not singing but once I start singing, it all goes mostly bad. More practice required.

Still need to try the more complicated strumming pattern for What’s Up, But after the Dreaming fiasco, I think I’ll hold off, a little at a time.

Stuck 3&4 Chords

I’m doing okay with the Big G and Cadd9 and Dsus4 but still having a lot of stretching trouble with A7sus4 and Em7. I figure another week on those probably. my pinkie finger doesn’t hurt quite as much except for certain angles as it presses onto the little E string. (It’s hurting a bit every time I use it to hit the shift key on my keyboard for each capital letter!)

My OMC for Big G to regular D is up to 44. Not too shabby.

The scale and open note stuff is moving right along. No metronome yet, though.

My one song for Grade 2, Good Riddance, today I was able to increase the speed on the App to 60%. Still a bit of fumbling but not as bad as a few days ago.

Strumming Accent on 2 and 4. Well, as 60 bpm with the metronome, I’m finally getting there, though I can’t tap my foot with it without screwing up. Oddly, my head seems to bob along okay.

Wish you Were Here Riff. I can play the first 2 bars without looking, and sometimes the 3rd. Sometimes I look at the TAB sheet provided with the lesson and sort of understand it. Unfortunately, when I do the strumming bits with that Em7 it sounds mostly bad because I can’t keep those 2nd and 3rd fingers in separated and staying on the strings they belong on. But as we all know, more practice! But my husband recognizes it, so at least it’s not all bad. :grin:

I’m hoping this progress means I’ll be looking into Module 9 by the end of July.

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Your doing well. I never did get the wish you were here rift right ;-( Gave up on it in the end. Sounds like you will nail it soon.

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Lovely update Rebecca, it sounds like you’re moving along really nicely with a big variety of things working their way under your fingers now. The pinky pain does ease on the stuck 3&4 but it seemed to take a while to get comfortable. If you’re playing Oasis songs with them the pinky can be pressing the entire song so that prolonged pressure certainly doesn’t help!

All the best and keep on having fun!

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I’m not, yet, but you just reminded me to add Wonderwall to my playlist on the App and in my practice routine. I figure if Justin recommends it, it’s probably a good idea. I think I’d only heard it once in my life before so, at least for me, it’s not been overplayed. I do seem to find a lot of joking about it, I guess it’s some sort of white elephant?

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Yes it’s definitely become an internet meme as it’s supposedly so common / popular that even non-guitarists know how to play it!!

It’s a good 3&4 workout for sure, and regardless of the above (and as Justin and others say) it’s a popular song for a reason, it’s good!

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Grade 1 songs. aka Repertoire Revision

Haven’t had a lot of time to practice so the songs sort of fell by the wayside, maybe tomorrow.

Stuck 3&4 Chords

Still having a lot of stretching trouble with A7sus4 and Em7 and I’ve thrown in extra practice for those as well as the other 2 uncommon chords, my 3rd and 4th fingers just keep sliding back toward the nut! But at least my pinkie finger doesn’t hurt anymore. YAY!

My OMC for Big G to regular D is up to 55-57.

The E minor pentatonic scale I’m playing it front and backwards at 80 bpm, just really came together today, not even accidentally picking the wrong strings without looking.

open note study I can do it front and backwards, and even randomly choosing a string and picking out the notes though I sometimes have to really think about it. Coming along though.

Strumming Accent on 2 and 4. This is coming along very well, I’m at 80 bpm with the metronome and getting my foot to tap out just the regular 4 down strums. I sometimes mess up when changing chords but I’ll keep practicing.

Wish you Were Here Riff. I’m really pleased with this. I never really got into the other riffs in the other lessons, but I’ve always loved this song, and I’ve mainly been learning it by reading the provided TAB which is good because until this I had a really hard time understand how TAB worked, so it’s a 2 for 1 learning experience here! Rhythm is still off when I get to the chord sections, have a hard time remembering is it an up or down strum first, getting there, though.

Module Songs I’m practicing Good Riddance at 70% speed with lots of finger fumbling still, but not as bad as last week.

Wonderwall is still down at 50%, and I’m confused about Justin’s lesson vs the song APP. Justin has a CAPO on Fret 2, the app never mentions a capo, and uses the same chords Justin does, but it doesn’t sound the same with a capo. so I don’t think the App is using it. So far now I’m not using a capo. I figure learn the song, then figure out what’s going on…

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Reads like terrific progress Rebecca and it’s really good to hear the gains you’re noticing. The stage you’re in, for me, was one of the most inspiring times of the first couple of grades with the WYWH riff, the dynamics in strumming and a great variety of songs to learn, awesome stuff!!

Re. wonderwall, the original uses capo at fret 2 and I’m presuming that’s what Justin is teaching in the video with the same chord shapes, it’s just moving the key up a full tone. So the need for capo is only if you want to play to the app or the original recording.

Have a load of fun and look forward to hearing your next steps!

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Thanks @Notter, I’m still not that clear on using capos, the other problem being my fingers get so cramped in the smaller frets, probably I’m just not use to it and it’s just a matter of more and more practice! :upside_down_face:

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Maybe worth checking out this thread Rebecca

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For the heck of it yesterday I watched the first lesson in Module 9, picked up my guitar and tried the F chord for the very first time. heh, heh, heh, heh. Well, that went about as I expected from reading others’ attempts. I managed to get the middle strings to ring out just fine, but the barred part? uh, uh, nope, nope, nope. There was a split second I thought I heard the 2nd string make a noise other than a thud but, I never did repeat it. But I only spent a couple minutes messing with it, next week I should be able to make it an official bad attempt. :grin:

Till then, I’ll keep practicing Module 8 chords and the 2 new songs and my old songs.

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