Mac's learning log

[MacOneill]

Day 136 :

Trained on finger stretches and crawling as a warm up and did the pinky exercise

Played on Yousician for 53 minutes

Trained on changing between C and Dm for 5 minutes

I play standing up and each songs are played once with the metronome , once with the backing track :

Played tears in heaven ( training for power chord and strumming )

Played Kiss from a rose by Seal again ( level 4 ) cow boy chords C G F A D AM
played it at 70%

I play standing up with the backing track :

Played fields of gold by Sting
Played Sailing by Rod Steward

grade 2 in JG :

module 9

Trained on wish you were here riff

Trained on Californication riff

Practice the F barre chord on the chords trainer (21 in 45 secs )
Practiced the F barre chord in songs : losing my religion by REM
I played the song only at 75% ot its speed

I practiced " One " By U2 on the JG website for 10 minutes
Practiced changing chords between D and Fm/7 for a minute

I will stop playing the F barre chord in a song
I lost my F with the streamliner so I need to practice the F barre chord alone
the frets must be wider on the streamliner

module 10

Watched 2 videos :
First Finger A Chord
F Chord Changes

Practiced the finger A chord
Practiced the F chord on the chord trainer and without the chord trainer

[DarrellW]

@MacOneill

I will stop playing the F barre chord in a song
I lost my F with the streamliner so I need to practice the F barre chord alone
the frets must be wider on the streamliner

Try putting a Capo on the first fret for starters, you might find it easier, when you’re OK take it off and see how you get on.

[MacOneill]

I will try it

I had no problem on plonk plonk ( wasn t perfect of course ) but on the streamliner the B string is muted

[DarrellW]

It could be the position of your barré finger, the other possibility is that your barré finger is too close or too far away from the fret. Other thing it could be is your finger on the G is catching the B. Try playing a F minor and see if it goes away!

[MacOneill]

Day 137 :

I didnt play yesterday cause I had my every 4 months injections in the face … it painful
the stuff killing the pain is painful , ironic

Trained on finger stretches and crawling as a warm up and did the pinky exercise

Played on Yousician for 44 minutes

Trained on changing between C and Dm for 5 minutes

I play standing up and each songs are played once with the metronome , once with the backing track :

Played tears in heaven ( training for power chord and strumming )

Played fields of gold by Sting

Played Kiss from a rose by Seal again ( level 4 ) cow boy chords C G F A D AM
played it at 70%

grade 2 in JG :

module 9

Trained on wish you were here riff

Trained on Californication riff

Practice the F barre chord on the chords trainer (21 in 45 secs )
introduced the F barre chord in songs : losing my religion by REM ( just a tiny part of the song )

I practiced " One " By U2 alone without backing track

module 10

Practiced the finger A chord
Practiced the F chord on the chord trainer and without the chord trainer ( F C G Am )

@DarrellW

Try putting a Capo on the first fret for starters, you might find it easier,

it worked , the F was nice and pleasant with the capo on
when i remove the capo it s more difficult now then before
i think im far away from the fret … will experiment stuff tomorrow

[MacOneill]

Day 138 :

Trained on finger stretches and crawling as a warm up and did the pinky exercise

Played on Yousician for 46 minutes

Trained on changing between C and Dm for 5 minutes
Challenge of the week : a melody level 2 called : Longing for your love
Played Losing my religion

I play standing up and each songs are played once with the metronome , once with the backing track :

Played tears in heaven ( training for power chord and strumming )

Played fields of gold by Sting

Played Kiss from a rose by Seal again ( level 4 ) cow boy chords C G F A D AM
played it at 70%

grade 2 in JG :

module 9

Trained on wish you were here riff

Trained on Californication riff

Practiced Open E Minor Pentatonic Scale

I practiced " One " By U2 alone without backing track

module 10

Practiced the finger A chord
Practiced the F chord on the chord trainer and without the chord trainer ( F C G Am )
did the F chord alone just to make it ring , then practiced it on the chord trainer , then practiced it on the intro of losing my religion at 70% speed

sometimes i got it , sometimes not … still the B chord

[MacOneill]

Day 139 :

I forgot to do the warm up XD
I was too focused on the F barre chord

Played on Yousician for 53 minutes

Trained on changing between C and Dm for 5 minutes
Challenge of the week : a melody level 2 called : Longing for your love
Played Wind of change with the backing track ( training for strumming on F major 7 with a C bass / F Dm Am G C E )
i wanted to start learning a new song
I did gold each parts , now i gotta play it as a whole and make it sounds nice

I play standing up and each songs are played once with the metronome , once with the backing track :

Played tears in heaven ( training for power chord and strumming )

Played fields of gold by Sting

Played Kiss from a rose by Seal again ( level 4 ) cow boy chords C G F A D AM
played it at 70%

grade 2 in JG :

module 9

Trained on Californication riff

I practiced " One " By U2 alone without backing track

module 10

Practiced the F chord on the chord trainer and without the chord trainer ( F C G Am )
I tried the bloody barre chord a lot of time until my hand started aching then i stopped
I tried it on the third and second fret , no prob on them , but i can t do it on the first fret
I tried to lower my thumb at the back , leaving it real flat but to no avail
I will try to borrow my mother’s laptop to record a video and show the problem tomorrow

[MacOneill]

Day 140 :
26 weeks streak

Trained on finger stretches and crawling as a warm up and did the pinky exercise and the stretching exercise

Played on Yousician for 55 minutes

Trained on changing between C and Dm for 5 minutes
Challenge of the week : a melody level 2 called : Longing for your love
Gold it and played it without mistakes
Played Wind of change with the backing track ( training for strumming on F major 7 with a C bass / F Dm Am G C E )
I played it at 70 and 80% speed to practice it and learn the song

I play standing up and each songs are played once with the metronome , once with the backing track :

Played tears in heaven ( training for power chord and strumming )

Played fields of gold by Sting

Played Kiss from a rose by Seal again ( level 4 ) cow boy chords C G F A D AM
played it at 70%

grade 2 in JG :

module 9

Trained on wish you were here riff

Trained on Californication riff

Practiced Open E Minor Pentatonic Scale

Practiced The C major scale

I practiced " One " By U2 alone without backing track

module 10

Practiced the F chord on the chord trainer and without the chord trainer ( F C G Am )
I do pop quizz between songs : hop ! do an F !

I didn t have time to borrow a computer so i guess it will have to wait until I can buy my own webcam
Kiss from a rose is getting better , slowly but surely

I dont like the finger A chord
Justin learned it after 10 years of practice and I feel like its too soon for me
My hand is not stretched enough as a beginner and the fingers are not in place over the strings like Justin’s so by learning this chord my hand is just taking a bad form , I dont think its a good idea

[MacOneill]

Day 141 :

Trained on finger stretches and crawling as a warm up and did the pinky exercise

Today it was too hot to play in my room so i decided to play in the living room meaning I played on my mini amp and not with the scarlett solo
its really different to play without headphones, you hear all the little mistales even more

Played on Yousician for 75 minutes

Trained on changing between C and Dm for 5 minutes
Challenge of the week : a melody level 2 called : Longing for your love

I play standing up and each songs are played once with the metronome , once with the backing track :

Played tears in heaven ( training for power chord and strumming )

Played Wind of change with the backing track ( training for strumming on F major 7 with a C bass / F Dm Am G C E ) 80% speed

Played fields of gold by Sting

Played Kiss from a rose by Seal again ( level 4 ) cow boy chords C G F A D AM
played it at 70%
I will lower the speed at 60%

grade 2 in JG :

module 9

Trained on Californication riff

Practiced Open E Minor Pentatonic Scale

Practiced The C major scale

I practiced " One " By U2 alone without backing track

module 10

Practiced the F chord on the chord trainer and without the chord trainer ( F C G Am )
I do pop quizz between songs : hop ! do an F !
I watched 2 videos :
Feeling The Frets
Alternate Picking C Major
I trained on the C major scale for 5 to 10 minutes

[MacOneill]

Day 141 :

Trained on finger stretches and crawling as a warm up and did the pinky exercise

Played in the living room on my mini amp again

Played on Yousician for 49 minutes

Trained on changing between C and Dm for 3 minutes
Challenge of the week : a melody level 2 called : Longing for your love
Played Kiss from a rose by Seal again ( level 4 ) cow boy chords C G F A D AM
played it at 60%

I play standing up and each songs are played once with the metronome , once with the backing track :

Played tears in heaven ( training for power chord and strumming )

Played Wind of change with the backing track ( training for strumming on F major 7 with a C bass / F Dm Am G C E ) 80% speed

Played fields of gold by Sting

grade 2 in JG :

module 9

Trained on Californication riff

Practiced The C major scale

I practiced " One " By U2 alone without backing track

module 10

Practiced the F chord on the chord trainer and without the chord trainer ( F C G Am )
I do pop quizz between songs : hop ! do an F !
I trained on the Alternate Picking C Major scale for 5 minutes

[MacOneill]

Yesterday , Maxwell , my cat , tried to play guitar !
But he’s not a good player and he just crashed all my material on the floor … at 4 AM !!!
So much fun to check that nothing is broken at 4 AM …
( the headphone , the scarlet solo , even my new guitar … )
I should teach him to stop playing music in the middle of the night

Day 142 :

Trained on finger stretches and crawling as a warm up and did the pinky exercise

Went back in my room playing on my computer

Played on Yousician for 48 minutes

Trained on changing between C and Dm for 5 minutes
New Challenge of the week : a simplified melody level 3 called : Xanny by Billie Eilish

I play standing up and each songs are played once with the metronome , once with the backing track :

Played tears in heaven ( training for power chord and strumming )
I love this song but changing from a B5 power chord to a Dm is difficult , thats where i almost always make a mistake : Em B5 Dm E Am Dm
the Em B5 Dm E changing is my weakness so i m still working on it

Played Kiss from a rose by Seal again ( level 4 ) cow boy chords C G F A D AM
played it at 60%
This song is driving me crazy … so difficult
I thought that a FM/7 after an A would be easy because there’ an anchor but no … on the contrary
the middle finger is slightly not in place when i change to the F and the string starts to buzz
Fm/7 after a G is also a challenge
drives me mad

Played Wind of change with the backing track ( training for strumming on F major 7 with a C bass / F Dm Am G C E ) 85% speed

Played fields of gold by Sting

grade 2 in JG :

module 9

Trained on Californication riff

Practiced The C major scale

I practiced " One " By U2 alone with and without backing track

module 10

Practiced the F chord on the chord trainer and without the chord trainer ( F C G Am )
I do pop quizz between songs : hop ! do an F !
my F barre chord is getting better , finally ! its just a slow work …

I trained on the Alternate Picking C Major scale for 5 minutes

[MacOneill]

Day 143 :

Trained on finger stretches and crawling as a warm up and did the pinky exercise

Played on Yousician for 49 minutes

Challenge of the week : a simplified melody level 3 called : Xanny by Billie Eilish

I play standing up and each songs are played once with the metronome , once with the backing track :

Played tears in heaven ( training for power chord and strumming )

Played Kiss from a rose by Seal again ( level 4 ) cow boy chords C G F A D AM
I ll try to change how i form my fm/7 that may be how i ll solve my A to F problem
I usually put my index first and then the middle finger and pinky
I ll try to put the index last instead to form a good ringing F , its gonna take some time and practice

Played Wind of change with the backing track ( training for strumming on F major 7 with a C bass / F Dm Am G C E ) 85% speed
The part im struggling with is E Fm/7 G E Am
Im not used to changing from E to F

Played fields of gold by Sting

grade 2 in JG :

module 9

Trained on Californication riff

Practiced The C major scale

I practiced " One " By U2 alone and without backing track

module 10

Practiced the F chord on the chord trainer and without the chord trainer ( F C G Am )
I do pop quizz between songs : hop ! do an F !

I trained on the Alternate Picking C Major scale for 5 minutes

[MacOneill]

Day 144 :

Trained on finger stretches and crawling as a warm up and did the pinky exercise and a little stretching exercise

Played on Yousician for 59 minutes
27 weeks streak

Challenge of the week : a simplified melody level 3 called : Xanny by Billie Eilish

Played Kiss from a rose by Seal again ( level 4 ) cow boy chords C G F A D Am
I slowed the song at 50% to work on my Fm/7

Played Wind of change with the backing track ( training for strumming on F major 7 with a C bass / F Dm Am G C E ) 85% speed

I play standing up and each songs are played once with the metronome , once with the backing track :

Played tears in heaven ( training for power chord and strumming )

Played fields of gold by Sting

grade 2 in JG :

module 9

Trained on Californication riff

I practiced " One " By U2 alone without backing track

module 10

Practiced the F chord on the chord trainer and without the chord trainer ( F C G Am )
I do pop quizz between songs : hop ! do an F !

I trained on the Alternate Picking C Major scale for 5 minutes

[MacOneill]

Day 145 :

Trained on finger stretches and crawling as a warm up and did the pinky exercise and a little stretching exercise

Played on Yousician for 40 minutes
27 weeks streak

I forgot to play the challenge of the week

I play standing up with the backing track :

Played Kiss from a rose by Seal again ( level 4 ) cow boy chords C G F A D Am
I slowed the song at 50% to work on my Fm/7

Played Wind of change ( training for strumming on F major 7 with a C bass / F Dm Am G C E ) 85% speed

Played Dreams by Fleetwood Mac
YS version is different from the JG’s app so I’ll try the app next month to see if i can play both

I play standing up and each songs are played once with the metronome , once with the backing track :

Played tears in heaven ( training for power chord and strumming )

grade 2 in JG :

module 9

Trained on Californication riff

I practiced " One " By U2 alone without backing track
Im getting better at it , I m not adding embellishment at this stage , just playing the rythm
I should learn the bridge now to play the whole song

module 10

Practiced the F chord on the chord trainer and without the chord trainer ( F C G Am )
I do pop quizz between songs : hop ! do an F !

I trained on the Alternate Picking C Major scale for 5 minutes

I have a sciatica ( judging by the pain in my leg ) so playing is not very comfortable at the moment
I have work to do this week , a game i must draw for a magazine , sitting all day on my chair will be funny

Oh and I registered into the local music school for guitar lessons
I will still folllow JG’s lessons but having some time once a week with a teacher can t do me any harm
It will start in september

[MacOneill]

Day 146 :

Trained on finger stretches and crawling as a warm up and did the pinky exercise and a little stretching exercise

Played on Yousician for 57 minutes
27 weeks streak

I play standing up with the backing track :

Played Wind of change ( training for strumming on F major 7 with a C bass / F Dm Am G C E ) 85% speed

Challenge of the week : a simplified melody level 3 called : Xanny by Billie Eilish

Played Dreams by Fleetwood Mac
I must have gotten better cause i got a better ranking
I dont like the ranking system but this time it showed that i ve improved since i first played that song

I play standing up and each songs are played once with the metronome , once with the backing track :

Played Kiss from a rose by Seal again ( level 4 ) cow boy chords C G F A D Am
I slowed the song at 55%
changing my fingers motion was a good idea it seems , the strings do not buzz anymore when changing from A to F

Played tears in heaven ( training for power chord and strumming )

grade 2 in JG :

module 9

Trained on Californication riff

I practiced " One " By U2 alone without backing track

module 10

Practiced the F chord on the chord trainer and without the chord trainer ( F C G Am )
I do pop quizz between songs : hop ! do an F !

I trained on the Alternate Picking C Major scale for 5 minutes

[MacOneill]

Day 147 :

Trained on finger stretches and crawling as a warm up and did the pinky exercise and a little stretching exercise

Played on Yousician for 42 minutes
27 weeks streak

I play standing up with the backing track :

Played Wind of change ( training for strumming on F major 7 with a C bass / F Dm Am G C E ) 85% speed

Played Rock like a hurricane simplified melody as a warm up

Challenge of the week : a simplified melody level 3 called : Xanny by Billie Eilish

I play standing up and each songs are played once with the metronome , once with the backing track :

Played Kiss from a rose by Seal again ( level 4 ) cow boy chords C G F A D Am
I slowed the song at 60% but i will go back to 55% tomorrow

Played fields of gold by Sting

Played tears in heaven ( training for power chord and strumming )

grade 2 in JG :

module 9

Trained on Californication riff

I practiced " One " By U2 alone without backing track

module 10

Practiced the F chord on the chord trainer and without the chord trainer ( F C G Am )
I do pop quizz between songs : hop ! do an F ! ( 25 changes in 45 sec )

I trained on the Alternate Picking C Major scale for 5 minutes

I also practiced the old faithful pattern for 5 minutes on the strumming machine at 100 bpm
If i want to play Dreams by Fleetwood mac on the app its better to practice first

[MacOneill]

Day 148 :

Trained on finger stretches and crawling as a warm up and did the pinky exercise and a little stretching exercise

Played on Yousician for 66 minutes
27 weeks streak
I just realised that have been playing guitar for 6 months now

I play standing up with the backing track :

Played Wind of change ( training for strumming on F major 7 with a C bass / F Dm Am G C E ) 90% speed

New Challenge of the week : a simplified melody level 4 of The star spangled banner

I play standing up and each songs are played once with the metronome , once with the backing track :

Played Kiss from a rose by Seal again ( level 4 ) cow boy chords C G F A D Am
I slowed the song at 60%

Played fields of gold by Sting

Played tears in heaven ( training for power chord and strumming )

grade 2 in JG :

module 9

Trained on Californication riff

I practiced " One " By U2 alone without backing track

module 10

Practiced the F chord on the chord trainer and without the chord trainer ( F C G Am )
I do pop quizz between songs : hop ! do an F ! ( 25 changes in 45 sec )

I trained on the Alternate Picking C Major scale for 5 minutes

I practiced the old faithful pattern for 5 minutes on the strumming machine at 100 bpm

I had a booster shot in my left arm today so im feeling tired and feverish with massive headaches but I still managed to do my daily practice

[MacOneill]

Day 149 :

Trained on finger stretches and crawling as a warm up and did the pinky exercise and a little stretching exercise

Played on Yousician for 63 minutes
27 weeks streak

I play standing up with the backing track :

Played Wind of change ( training for strumming on F major 7 with a C bass / F Dm Am G C E ) 90% speed

New Challenge of the week : a simplified melody level 4 of The star spangled banner
I practiced the melody at 80% speed

I play standing up and each songs are played once with the metronome , once with the backing track :

Played Kiss from a rose by Seal again ( level 4 ) cow boy chords C G F A D Am
I slowed the song at 60%

Played fields of gold by Sting

Played tears in heaven ( training for power chord and strumming )

grade 2 in JG :

module 9

Trained on Californication riff

I practiced " One " By U2 alone without backing track

module 10

Practiced the F chord on the chord trainer and without the chord trainer ( F C G Am )
I do pop quizz between songs : hop ! do an F !

I trained on the Alternate Picking C Major scale for 5 minutes

I practiced the old faithful pattern for 5 minutes on the strumming machine at 100 bpm

My arm is still sore from yesterday’s injection but i managed to play
Feeling better than yesterday at least

[MacOneill]

Day 150 :

Trained on finger stretches and crawling as a warm up and a little stretching exercise

Played on Yousician for 60 minutes
28 weeks streak

I play standing up with the backing track :

Played Wind of change ( training for strumming on F major 7 with a C bass / F Dm Am G C E ) 90% speed

New Challenge of the week : a simplified melody level 4 of The star spangled banner
I practiced the melody at 80% speed

I play standing up and each songs are played once with the metronome , once with the backing track :

Played Kiss from a rose by Seal again ( level 4 ) cow boy chords C G F A D Am
I slowed the song at 60%

Played fields of gold by Sting

Played tears in heaven ( training for power chord and strumming )

grade 2 in JG :

module 9

Trained on Californication riff

I practiced " One " By U2 alone without backing track

module 10

Practiced the F chord on the chord trainer and without the chord trainer ( F C G Am )
I do pop quizz between songs : hop ! do an F !

I trained on the Alternate Picking C Major scale for 5 minutes

I practiced the old faithful pattern for 5 minutes on the strumming machine at 100 bpm

I wasnt happy with my playing tonight …
too many mistakes , fingers not responding
but i may have been distracted by the elections in France , the results we at the same time I was practicing and it was really important

[MacOneill]

Day 151 :

Trained on finger stretches and crawling as a warm up and a little stretching exercise and did the pinky exercise
Played Everybody hurt by REM as a warm up and got a better ranking so I must have gotten better

Played on Yousician for 55 minutes
28 weeks streak

I play standing up with the backing track :

Played Roxanne by The police , basic chords / Am G F Em Dm C / all down strums

Challenge of the week : a simplified melody level 4 of The star spangled banner full speed
I start to get it I only made 1 mistake

I play standing up and each songs are played once with the metronome , once with the backing track :

Played Kiss from a rose by Seal again ( level 4 ) cow boy chords C G F A D Am
I slowed the song at 60%

Played Wind of change ( training for strumming on F major 7 with a C bass / F Dm Am G C E ) full speed

Played fields of gold by Sting

Played tears in heaven ( training for power chord and strumming )
I finally played it without mistake

grade 2 in JG :

module 9

I practiced " One " By U2 alone without backing track

module 10

I forgot to practice my F barre chord

I trained on the Alternate Picking C Major scale for 5 minutes

I practiced the old faithful pattern for 5 minutes on the strumming machine at 110 bpm

I wasnt all thumbs tonight
I had a pleasant practice time and enjoyed it , I even had a blast practicing Wind of change
( But Kiss from a rose is still a nightmare )
I will remove Tears in heaven from my practice schedule
I dont want to be obsessed of being perfect , thats why I changed and started playing Roxanne
I should remove Fields of gold too for the same reason

Im doing the best I can at my current level and I should live with it

I wasnt Happy with One but it was the last thing I was practicing so I was probably just tired

My yousician activity for last week :