Need help defining my goals:)

Consider adding a timing to the goals.

  • Play three songs (from memory) for friends by the end of February 2023.

That sort of thing. I’ve been amazed at how well this has helped me in the past. Be realistic when you are setting the goals, you don’t want to demotivate yourself by setting unachievable goals.

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great tips will def add this one :slight_smile:

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Thanks @tony!

Since my timeframe at this point is generally “before I bite it”, I totally forgot to mention it.

Your recommendation to keep it realistic should probably be said twice, so here it is!

:slight_smile:

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noted :slight_smile:
I am in it for the long howl

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This thread got me thinking about goals because even after two & half years doing this learning guitar thing I’m still not sure that I have a goal. My original intention was to ‘learn to play guitar’! How naive was I :slight_smile:

Don’t get me wrong I’m still practicing and not going anywhere soon but still not sure what I want achieve out of this. I don’t want to perform in front of others that’s for sure, and singing is not my bag.

I do actually like practicing technique more than playing songs at the moment, and probably haven’t played a song for 3-4 weeks as being doing PFC’s with the F barre chord. I’ll probably get back to songs at some point!

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Many years ago I learned the value of writing down one’s goals. I remember writing down some very specific goals for a project of mine and when I came across those goals some time later, it was a bit uncanny how well they had been achieved.

Yet, with my guitar playing / singing / performing, while I had one specific goal when I started, I’ve not written any down and the goals along the way have been about learning a specific song, that’s it, and yet I’m thrilled with the progress I’ve made. Well and truly exceeded my expectations.

So as with many things, it’s different strokes for different folks.

Hi @Stuartw , I think, your goal might be one of the probably most important ones - ‘having fun’ :slightly_smiling_face:.

Hello Dailin, maybe this thread might offer you some additional help.

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It doesn’t feel like much fun at the moment. I’ve got to the point where I can play the F barre chord OK but can’t use that in any songs as can’t change quick enough. The same goes for 7th chords. I can ply the chords but can’t change quick enough. Feels like I’m back at the beginning again!!

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Oh, I absolutely know what you mean. It’s the same here with the F Barre and the stuck 3 & 4 chords. I can play them, but the changes take horribly long :see_no_evil:. Nevertheless, I’m absolutely certain, that this will improve. And by using these chords in songs I really love, the practice is still fun to me - even if it sounds terrible at the moment :sweat_smile:.
We’ll get there in the end :hugs:.

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I think that is the problem with me. I’m not sure that I have found songs I really love. I have found songs that I play but in a lot of cases I not heard or heard of the song/artist.

Hi @Stuartw. I agree with you and @NicoleKKB that finding songs you like is a good motivator. Since you are working on F and 7th chords, there a lot of songs within your reach chord-wise. It’s just a matter of finding ones you like. You might also find songs that you didn’t know you would like until you play them…
For skill development, I just started playing lots of songs even though I did not know them or the artist. I started doing this by learning to play anything Justin recommended in the modules. I then started doing it with the Justin/Musopia App. I would pick a category and try to play everything in the list. I learned a few things do this:

  1. The variety of strum patterns and tempos in the variety of songs, even for relatively simple chord patterns, helped my strumming and chord change speed.
  2. The ability to slow songs down in the app, or on YT (whatever), is huge. It helps keep you from getting discouraged, even with a song you like, because you can’t keep up. Play at a speed you can keep up with and increase the speed as you improve.
  3. And most importantly. There are many songs that I really liked playing that I would not have looked at based on genre or artist. E.g. I don’t listen to country very much, but I’ve learned that there are lots of country songs that are fun to play along to. Ditto for Taylor Swift.
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I don’t know if you like Neil Young, but you could try to play along with the rhythm part in his song Danger Bird. The verses are F-G-A, the latter sometimes turning into A7, that lend themselves for barre grips but you can experiment with playing open grips or mix barre and open ones. The choruses are C-D-Em and you can use the same approach for them, though I prefer to play these parts with open grips. Plus the song has a nice relaxed tempo.

Apart from Living With War I don’t have or have any other NY albums. Not sure why I bought LWW. Probably heard one track on the radio. Thanks for the suggestion which I will check out.

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Hi guys.
To be honest I wasnt planning on posting this video here. And i dont even kniw if its allowed since i am not even playing the guitar

I am following a seminar of tony robbins at the moment and posting a video about facing your fears and changing your identity was the challange of day 2.

So i did post this in social media.

Please delete if this isnt allowed :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

Since i feel abit strong from facing that challange i hsve the courage of posting it here too.

You guys are an amazing community. Thank you so mutch

Facing my fears

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Well done on posting the video! Mental health gets ignored all too often.

I think a lot of us here are a bit shy about being on camera and performing.

All too often in life fear holds us back and the fear itself is almost always worse than the actual thing.

Flip side is you only get 1 life and not to worry too much about what other people think!

Recording yourself playing and sharing is probably the most useful part of this forum I think , even if you dont share much

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thank you rob. You are right emotional health its so important, I havent been very kind to myself the last couple of years actually. I am doing that now.

Tony has been so helpfull, I just cant believe. Anyways like I said i wasnt really planning on posting this video here and videos of myself playing are coming up for sure.

But I wanted to share with this amazing community my progress, in this case mental progress :slight_smile:

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Tip my hat, dailin. Looking those fears in the face and then acting is the epitome of courage. Remember courage is not having no fear but acting as you want despite the fears.

So I celebrate your courage to share this video and you can rest assured that the Community will be supporting you every step you take. You are not alone in the fears and nerves.

AVOYP is perhaps not the best place for the post since it is about guitar recordings. I also noticed you had a Topic about goal-setting. So I have taken Moderator liberty and moved your goal Topic into the Learning Log category. You can continue to update that by making replies as you progress.

Then I thought that is a good place to share this video, since apart from all you shared, there is the declaration of intent to learn, record and share your guitar playing.

Very cool looking guitar in the background by the way.

Power to you

:muscle: :muscle: :muscle: :metal: :sunglasses:

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Hi Dailin,
How Good that you realize that you have to be kind to yourself, only if you take good care of yourself you can also give the bèst to the loved ones around you and/or the new people you meet,…I wish you a nice peaceful and long road,… :sunflower: :gift_heart:
Greetings,Rogier

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Hi Dailin,
You have met this challenge with grace. Your video shows you as a strong and courageous person, to face your fears and be authentic to yourself and the world is an accomplishment that too many people will never be able to do. That fact that you have done this is a very big step forward.

Cheers
Glen