I aways enjoy LLs and seeing what everyone’s up to.
Coming along alright there.
One observation, and suggestion, if I may.
Your wrist appears to become quite ‘cocked’ when playing the C chord. Upon moving to the G in the video, your wrist is then required to make a significant, and quick, shift to the opposite orientation. Not that easy to do, and inefficient. This is slowing you down, and also causing accuracy issues.
Try bringing that wrist/ hand forward a bit, and you’ll likely find the change from the C to the G ( or to any other chord), much more fluid, with much less movement required.
Thanks for the advice. I’ve watched the video again having read your comment and I see what you mean, specifically with C. I’ll see if I can adjust this when I do my practice later today. It makes sense that less movement of the hand is more efficient and even though playing like this doesn’t cause me discomfort right now, it might not always be so.
Thanks for taking the time to watch my video and comment
Was off work this past week but wouldn’t say I got a huge amount of extra practice done. Continued with “Have You Ever Seen the rain”, adding the into and outro to it so I’m playing the whole song now. The main challenge is hitting the rhythm straight from the gun but that will come with more play-throughs.
I’m also playing a little of House of the Rising Sun again each day (my intro to finger picking). As a guide of where I am, I can manage about 65% of full speed at the moment. At the moment that requires my undivided attention and I doubt I could sustain concentration for the whole song. I mostly play round and round the chords without any backing track and just occasionally check in with the recording to check I’m not horribly out of rhythm. As I’ve mentioned on an earlier post, I don’t need to look at my fretting hand for this but do need to look at my picking hand for the time being. I need to devote some more time to this for 65% to become 80-90% in any reasonable time frame.
Each day I do try to play some of the songs that I can play already (my version of them), these are…
My biggest progress this week has been with finger picking House of the Rising Sun. Have maybe increased from 65% full speed to 75 or 80. Remembering which of the 3 chord sequences I’m on remains a challenge. I think the other challenge will be playing along to the song (and staying in time) when all of the vocals and instruments come in (the intro is easy to follow) but I’m not ready for this yet.
I’ve also got one of the little fills in Heart of Gold right after playing this song for so long. I had the right notes but was never quite in time… and now I am
I think I’ve changed my mind about my next track. It was going to be Everlong by the Foos but I think the rhythm is going to take a while so I’ll keep just practicing that in the background, just a few minutes each day on muted strings. I watched Angela Petrilli do an acoustic lesson of Dumb by Nirvana on YouTube which sounded cool. At first I looked at the chord shapes in the initial play through and nearly pressed exit immediately, but having watched the breakdown of it, with patience I think it will be doable. So that’s next!
ah ah I know the feeling , you watch the stuff and think : I’ll never be able to play that !
But after breaking it and a bit of practice well … its not so bad after all
As mentioned last week, I’ve started looking at Dumb by Nirvana. The recording is tuned a half step down so while technically I could do this early practice in standard tune (I’m not playing to backing music yet), it’s nice to have a second acoustic that I can leave tuned down. The main challenge is the verse as it requires a bit of string muting so the bass E string (E flat string if I’m being picky) isn’t ringing out loads. It’s got some slightly unusual chord shapes (relative to what I’ve played so far) but actually they’re not that hard.
Continuing to make progress with picking on House of the Rising Sun. I’ve noticed that as I’m speeding up I’m getting the occasional fairly horrible squeal from my strings. Need to work out which chord change this is happening on most frequently and try to eliminate it. Some string noise is inevitable but this more of a squeal which isn’t a nice sound!
Also spending just a couple of minutes each day on the picking pattern for the verse of Everlong (with muted strings). I know it will be pay off when I’m ready to learn it properly (maybe need a 3rd acoustic to leave in drop D joking, honestly!!!)
Had my first play through of Dumb this evening against the MTV Unplugged recording. Took a couple of listens to sync my playing with it but it came together nicely (and I can even pretend the cheering at the end of the recording is for me ). I need to do a recording and listen back to check it sounds like I think it does, but it feels like real progress. It’s not that long ago that playing against original recordings seemed hard to wrap my brain around
Mostly consolidation over the past week or so. Have got Dumb (by Nirvana) to a point where I’m fairly happy with it. I’ve been practicing it on my Taylor Academy acoustic because even though it’s easy to play, it’s even easier on my nicer Taylor with short scale and lighter strings. I’ve included a quick recording of how it’s currently sounding (on my Academy).
I mention that short scale because one of my next two songs is going to be In Bloom by Nirvana on electric guitar. I’ve started experimenting with on my Telecaster which has a very noticeably longer scale to get to grips with. The bulk of the song is doable (it’s just moving a power chord shape around) but there is a little solo to learn that’s going to take some time. It’s not the most complex solo in the world but it’s a new challenge to me. It will definitely require muscle memory to get my left hand moving around instinctively with some bigger jumps than with the open chords I’ve been playing so far.
The other track I’ve started on is an acoustic version of Everlong by the Foo Fighters. I’ve been trying the verse strumming pattern (muted strings) recently so now it’s time to try to speed it up with some chord changes.
I think both of these tracks will be a challenge and take a little time to come together but I’m fine with that.
My focus this week has been on Everlong (acoustic). Getting more consistent with the main pattern in the verse, more speed required but it’s coming together. I have to practice it in short bursts as my left hand gets tired quickly keeping pressure on the strings to ensure the notes ring out. Is that normal when starting out with moveable power chord shapes (on acoustic guitar)? Maybe I’m pressing harder than I need to… it’s something to figure out. Have also started learning the pre-chorus. I can see the transition between the sections as something that’s going to take time to smooth out.
Also playing about with In Bloom, specifically the solo. I know from trying to learn the song previously that the solo (as short and simple as it is) will be the thing that trips me up. Initially I’m just learning the pattern of notes, getting some muscle memory in the fingers.
Have kept doing play throughs of what I know already and that’s another week gone by!
I also get tired quickly when playing just power chords on the acoustic. Most songs with power chords are played on an electric guitar where it is easier to press the strings. This practice is very good though to prepare you to play barre chords.
A quick observation. Most beginners do this, but I noticed that your guitar is leaning back so that you can see your hands on the fretboard and the front of your guitar. It is fine to do this now, but Justin says that eventually you should face the guitar forward and learn to play without looking at your hands. This will take a lot of practice, but it is something to work towards. It looks like you are having fun, so continue to have fun and you will continue to play and get better.
Thanks Steve for reading my log and taking the time to comment. It’s reassuring to hear that others encounter the same issues and it’s not just me being feeble!
I think the angle of my guitar is something of a confidence thing at present. I can play the most common open chords (and F on a good day) without looking at my fretting hand. I suppose Dumb does have slightly less well practiced chords but it’s a fair point and something to work on in my next session.
And yes I am enjoying it. It’s nice to have reached that stage where I can play along with some music that I actually listen to (as opposed to some of the beginner tracks that you play just because they’re easy).
It’s been about a month since I last wrote anything here so what gives? Well I’ve still been playing and practicing but no major progress to report. I’ve continued on and on with Everlong… in truth it’s probably too hard for me right now and I’d have been better off learning some simpler songs. There are effectively 3 parts to the song to learn and I can now play them all but not consistently, or seamlessly move from one section to another, or play along in time with the recording. I don’t want to park it altogether having put so much time into it but for for my sanity I probably need to find another simple (but enjoyable) song so I feel like I am making progress.
I can now play Fortunate Son along to the recording, just a shame the studio version has a long fade out! The live versions do get a proper ending but tend to be a little faster too.
Anyway I’ll try to post another update in less than a month!
So I wanted a simple song and I picked The Joker by Steve Miller Band, and it can be a simple song except I’m trying to learn a sequence for the verse that’s a mixture of strumming the chords and playing a little riff. I can manage it ok but as soon as I try to match it to the backing track (even at 80%) my brain has some sort of meltdown and it looks like I’ve never picked up a guitar before. So much for picking something simple! Yes, it’s just more practice, and I will get there.
In other stuff I’m starting to try to play and sing along to Bad Moon Rising and Heart of Gold. I can play the songs, it’s the singing that’s the new bit. On the good days it’s not bad (allowing for my lack of ability as a singer) and other days (like today) I had to park the singing because just playing in time was enough of a challenge.
Have persisted with The Joker and I’m so nearly there. I do think the rhythm that repeats in the verse maybe permanently etched on my brain as I’ve played round and round and it so often!
Initially I was just practicing it freestyle but this week I’ve been playing it against the song and I’m pretty much there, just need more practice to improve consistency.
I have to credit my progress partly to the people who make the app called Moises. It’s a subscription but certainly the iPhone and iPad versions are getting frequent updates adding new features each month. For The Joker I’ve used it to mute the vocals, to loop the verse, alter the speed and change the pitch so I can play in standard tune while I practice (although I’ve now tuned my second acoustic guitar a whole step down to play in the original key). I think it would have been much harder playing this song to the original recording without Moises to get me there increments.
I’m off work next week (whoop whoop) so I’ll try and get a recording done of wherever I’m up to with this. It’s not going to be a finished version but at least should be recognisable!
At the moment I’m at the stage where I can play The Joker fairly well except when I point my camera at me and then I become all thumbs. Going to need a few (dozen) more playthroughs (specifically of the verse because there’s picking involved) before I’ve got something that I’m happy to share (I’m not chasing perfection).
The question will then become what next? Will continue to work on The Joker but it’s probably time to find the next song. I’m sure I’ll end up picking something else that’s too complicated for my current ability!
Ok so this is a snippet of where I’m up to with The Joker, playing it round and round on a loop. Still more work to do but it’s getting a little more consistent. At the start of the clip I’m definitely uneven but it improves (I think)
Practicing The Joker verse
I’ve started looking at an acoustic version of Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus. I suspect it’s going to be another one that’s going to take me weeks (or longer) to get up to speed but I think I have to learn songs that I enjoy rather than songs that are easy.
I found an acoustic version of Teenage Dirtbag to play along with. Initially I’ve just been getting used to the chords, practicing hitting the chords for the verse, pre-chorus and chorus, plus the little riff in time with the recording and it’s going better than I expected.
At this stage it’s still requiring maximum concentration to remember the chord sequence so until it embeds in my brain I’m not attempting the strumming pattern for the verse, but it’s still fun to play along with.
I’m always combining practicing new songs with play throughs of the songs I’ve learned so far so they don’t slip out of my brain!
Having songs you really wanna learn because you enjoy them already has helped me keep engaged for sure. I’m thinking of embarking on First Cut is the Deepest by Cat Stevens, but having watched the video Justin made, I think it’s gonna take me a long time! But instead of being turned away by the complexity, the part of me that likes it was like ‘challenge accepted’. I really think it’s gotta be the thing that drives us to get better as quickly as we are able! Makes chord practice less monotonous, too. Look forward to your progress video!
joking, honestly!!!)
). I need to do a recording and listen back to check it sounds like I think it does, but it feels like real progress. It’s not that long ago that playing against original recordings seemed hard to wrap my brain around
