Mac's learning log

[MacOneill]

well it is awful but I usually know how to avoid them which is the positive part
( cluster not always , I can reduce the numbers of crisis but not make them disappear )

but working outside is absolutely impossible , I admire your colleague ( it you re talking about a colleague )

@ConstanceClaire

I didn’t know a thunderclap headache could be anything other than an emergency room situation,

I didnt even know what it was for years
Looks like its part of the migraine spectrum
I had a MRI years ago and since there was nothing unusual in it , doctors didnt care much about explaining to me what it was
They didnt care about finding what I was suffering from at all in fact … it took me 20 years to have a diagnosis , and only because one of my friend is a GP

when I had my accident , my employer didnt send me to ER … just sent me home
So I was never treated for head trauma , and my GP later didnt understand my symptoms , for him I was just a hysterical woman
I should have been advised years ago to consult a neurologist

For me it has always been weird and terrible pain without knowing why or what was happening

[MacOneill]

Day 270 / weeks streak : 1 year + 1 ( on YS )

Played the Am pentatonic scale and the C major scale as a warm up + 1 of the pinky exercice
Trying to name out loud the notes on the neck while playing the Am pentatonic scale
Learning the Pattern 1 of the G Major Scale and the E majord scale

Yousician

Challenge of the week :
Midnight special / level 2 / basic melody
Man of constant sorrow / Level 4 / cowboy chords

Legato lead : the four seasons by Vivaldi ( Winter ) / basic melody part 2

Practiced on Little lies and Everywhere ( DONE ) by Fleetwood Mac / level 5 / cowboy chords

Working on Losing my religion level5 / cow boy chords

Practiced drills for fingerstyle forward ( Am / C and G / EM ) and backward ( Am / C and G / EM )) and forward Arpeggio up and down

grade 2 in JG :

Barre chords

The F barre chord : Sailing by Rod Steward

The Bm Barre chord : Practiced on Karma police , One of these nights and Tequila sunrise by the Eagles - Every you every me by Placebo

Practice Folk fingerstyle patterns part 1 ( on the JG website )

Module 12

Practiced Enter the sandman riff ( easy and hard version )

Songs on the Musopia app :

Played Halleluya by Leonard Cohen fingerstyle at 102 bpm

The long way around by the Chicks at 103 bpm
One’s on the way by Loretta Lynn ( Practice for G7 )

Guitar teacher :

Practice E major arpeggios
forward / backward and alternate fingering ( up and down )

Practiced ragtime

G to Bm is not easy

[MacOneill]

Day 271/ weeks streak : 1 year + 1 ( on YS )
Did the spider as a warm up + pinky exercice

Yousician

Challenge of the week :
Midnight special / level 2 / basic melody
Man of constant sorrow / Level 4 / cowboy chords

Legato lead : the four seasons by Vivaldi ( Winter ) / basic melody part 2

Practiced on Little lies and Everywhere by Fleetwood Mac / level 5 / cowboy chords

Working on Losing my religion / level5 / cow boy chords

grade 2 in JG :

Barre chords

The F barre chord : Sailing by Rod Steward / level 4 / cowboy chords

The Bm Barre chord : Practiced on Karma police - One of these nights and Tequila sunrise by the Eagles - Every you every me by Placebo

Module 12

Practiced power chords
Im re doing all the power chord training songs on YS ( level 4 )

Practiced Enter the sandman riff

Songs on the Musopia app :

Practiced :

• Rhiannon / Go you own way / Landslide by Fleetwood Mac
• More than this by Roxy music
• Peaceful easy feeling by the Eagles

Guitar teacher :

Practiced Wish you were here Intro by Pink Floyd

HAPPY GUITARVERSARY TO ME

I managed to play for a whole year with Justin lessons without quiting !!!
I played 271 days in 2024 !!!

In a year I went from grade 1 module 1 to Grade 2 module 12 and I learned 2 barre chords that I can play into songs
I also learned how to strum on songs
I broke my solitary lifetime and enrolled into the local music school !
Now I have 1 to 1 lessons with a guitar teacher and play sometimes with other students
I also bought 2 guitars that I love and gear to practice and record

I wanted to do Silvia’s Top 3 Guitar Achievements, I was waiting for this anniversary to do it

• Learning open chords and how to use them in a song
• Enrolling into the music school
• Learning to play barre chords

Top 1 Guitar related Frustrating Aspect smiley]

• Power chords
  ( and Pulls off )

my goals for the next year ?
Playing guitar thats all
I dont know where it will lead me this year so I wont create any pressure by making goals
I really didnt expect to be able to go to a music school , it was a surprise on my guitar journey so who knows what might happen next ?
I just know that I will keep on practicing with Yousician and Justin’s lessons
things that I know I ll work on are :

• learning to change chords while strumming a pattern
• Playing loud and soft

Guitar is fun and Im really happy that I ve come here in this community and met so many amazing and sweet people !
Thank you all for your support this year , If I didnt quit like last year its probably thanks to you all

Thanks also to my lovely Gretsch for being so enjoyable , lets have another year full of music together !

[grabhorn]

Congratulations, Deborah!

[ConstanceClaire]

[ziggysden]

Happy anniversary!!

[Boris1565]

@MacOneill

I managed to play for a whole year with Justin lessons without quiting !!!

Congratulations!

[MacOneill]

thanks a lot ^^

Year 1 + Day 1 / Year 1 weeks streak : 2 ( on YS )

Played the Am pentatonic scale and the C major scale as a warm up + 1 of the pinky exercice
Trying to name out loud the notes on the neck while playing the Am pentatonic scale
Learning the Pattern 1 of the G Major Scale and the E majord scale

Yousician

Challenge of the week :
Midnight special / level 2 / basic melody
Man of constant sorrow / Level 4 / cowboy chords

Legato lead : the four seasons by Vivaldi ( Winter ) / basic melody part 2 ( done )

Practiced on Little lies by Fleetwood Mac / level 5 / cowboy chords

Working on Losing my religion level5 / cow boy chords

Practiced drills for fingerstyle forward ( Am / C and G / EM ) and backward ( Am / C and G / EM )) and forward Arpeggio up and down

grade 2 in JG :

Barre chords

The F barre chord : Sailing by Rod Steward

The Bm Barre chord : Practiced on Karma police , One of these nights and Tequila sunrise by the Eagles - Every you every me by Placebo

Practice Folk fingerstyle patterns part 1 ( on the JG website )

and pattern 2

Module 12

Practiced Enter the sandman riff ( easy and hard version )

the easy version is really easy to play

Songs on the Musopia app :

Played Halleluya by Leonard Cohen fingerstyle at 91 and 102 bpm

The long way around by the Chicks at 103 bpm
One’s on the way by Loretta Lynn ( Practice for G7 )

Guitar teacher :

Practiced ragtime

Tomorrow starts the workshop again at school for 2 weeks
maybe we’ll play a new song

[MacOneill]

No daily practice today because I went to the workshop tonight at the music school

We were less than before
3 persons did not come so we were only 5 to play with 2 teachers

2 youngs girls , one playing a classical guitar the other playing flute ( flute traversiere )
The father of one of the girl played also a classical guitar
A german girl on bass guitar and me with my Gretsch

Before going to the workshop I wrote all the chords I usually play on YS for Karma police on a sheet of paper
It was usefull since we played this song again , I ve been able to play chords and not single notes this time

I messed up a bit while playing because when I was watching my hand on the neck , I lost track of where I was in what I have written
Im also so used to play with a backing track that I forgot to start at the count of 4 … I was waiting for the music to start

It was globally very enjoyable and time flew by too fast
Its too bad we do not have more time to rehearse together , we only played twice in 2 months
With more time we would play Karma police well enough for a group of beginners

At the end of the practice session , the teachers asked what other song we want to learn since I was not keen ( at all ) at learning Shallow by Lady gaga …
( I kind of yell : Oh no ! not her ! she makes my skin crawl ! )
Since nobody answered I suggested a Stereophonics s song : Handbags and gladrags ( Yeah I know its a Rod Steward song before being a Stereophonics s song )
The teachers said OK so it looks like it will be the song for next week’s workshop
( but its not available on YS )

but YEAH its on the Musopia app and Justin did a lesson

I tried the song on the app , Its going to be a nice work on sus chord and barre chords
Need to learn B / F#M and Esus 4

The app version is easier than the video lesson so I ll stick to the app for now

Karma police and Handbag and gladrags are 2 songs way above my level but I try

[SteveL_G99]

Deborah, happy guitarversary day!!

[MacOneill]

thank you

[MacOneill]

Year 1 + Day 2 / Year 1 weeks streak : 2 ( on YS )
Did the spider as a warm up + pinky exercice

Yousician

Challenge of the week :
Man of constant sorrow / Level 4 / cowboy chords

Legato lead : the four seasons by Vivaldi ( Winter ) / basic melody part 2
In the hall of the moutain king by Edvard Grieg / Basic melody part 1

Working on Losing my religion / level5 / cow boy chords

grade 2 in JG :

Barre chords

The F barre chord : Sailing by Rod Steward / level 4 / cowboy chords. ==> DONE

The Bm Barre chord : Practiced on Karma police - One of these nights and Tequila sunrise by the Eagles - Every you every me by Placebo

Module 12

Practiced power chords
Im re doing all the power chord training songs on YS ( level 4 )
Practiced on Anarchy in the AI and Highway to Helsinki

Practiced Enter the sandman riff

Songs on the Musopia app :

Practiced :

• Go you own way / Landslide by Fleetwood Mac
• More than this by Roxy music
• Peaceful easy feeling by the Eagles
• The long way around by the Chicks at 103 and 116 bpm
• One’s on the way by Loretta Lynn ( Practice for G7 )

Guitar teacher :

Practiced Wish you were here Intro by Pink Floyd

Practiced Handbags and gladrags by Stereophonics ( on the JG app )

How do you pass from the verse with normal open chords to power chords when you do not have a pedal to start an effect ?
You record the power chord part separatly ?

[math07]

@MacOneill

How do you pass from the verse with normal open chords to power chords when you do not have a pedal to start an effect ?
You record the power chord part separatly ?

Without pedal, the trick would be to play with your volume button on the guitar. If you put some gain on your amp for the power chords. The volume knob on the guitar could be at 10 for the power chord and at 6 for the clean part. The amp should play more clean when decreasing the volume on the guitar.

Similarly, your guitar may have a switch to toggle between your 2 pickups. You could set the volume for each pickup at the beginning of the song and toggle the pickup switch in the middle of the song. I find it easier than adjusting the volume button at the middle of the song.

[MacOneill]

@math07

If you put some gain on your amp for the power chords. The volume knob on the guitar could be at 10 for the power chord and at 6 for the clean part. The amp should play more clean when decreasing the volume on the guitar.

that s what I do when I play , I add gain ( and a little something else available on my amp ) but it only works for songs with only power chords
when there are clean chords it doesnt work

I cant change the volume while playing … My Gretsch has only one knob to control the volume for both pick ups

What kind of pedal do you need to switch to a power chords effect ?

[math07]

It’s called an overdrive pedal Unless you have a amp like the boss katana which sell its own footswitch to trigger the effects.

Otherwise, the technique that Justin use often is to use his pinky to roll the volume knob on the guitar while playing. It doesn’t have to be really accurate on the number, normally full for power chords and half way or 3/4 for clean will produce what you want.

[MacOneill]

I looked a bit on the internet and it looks like a Fuzz pedal would do

My amp has a treble booster , awesome to play power chords but only for full power chords songs , if there are clean notes , it not really helpful

@math07

Otherwise, the technique that Justin use often is to use his pinky to roll the volume knob on the guitar while playing

Ill need a way longer pinky then
the knob is too far away
Most of all Im too much a beginner to be able to change chords and change the volume while playing , I cant do it fast enough

Power chords are tricky to play …

[mattswain]

Fuzz can be quite a specific effect that might not be as general purpose as an overdrive pedal. I have one, it’s fun to play around with, but if I just wanted to add a bit of crunch to my clean sound I’d probably also say look at overdrive pedals for something that works with a bigger range of songs.

That said, if you’ve seen one you like the sound of then go for it! Even within the world a fuzz pedals, some are more fuzzy than others! Mine has what I can only describe as a spitty sound (maybe crackly would also describe it) which is a cool effect but would sound weird on a lot of songs!

[MacOneill]

@mattswain

which is a cool effect but would sound weird on a lot of songs!

Oh thats just to work on power chords but if its an overdrive pedal , I do have one
I have the Boss BD-2 overdrive

Will this one do the trick ?

[mattswain]

Others may know that pedal better than I do but I would think if you turn the gain dial up on it then it will at least get closer to the sound you’re looking for. I might be wrong, I think the Blues Driver is a relatively mild overdrive pedal but it might be all you need given that metal isn’t your thing

BOSS Blues Driver BD-2

That is a short video that might give you an idea of what it can do - it starts with a few clean tones to compare

[MacOneill]

thanks for the video , I saw it but quite some time ago ^^"
( and you know how good my memory is )

It should be what Im looking for , great ! nothing to buy
AH … the power supply … but its less expensive XD