29. November 2025
I think I’m slowly making my way to a kinda sorta intermediate guitar player? I take a lot less time learning songs that don’t have any special tricky bits, and easy chord progressions and strumming patterns I get almost immediately, including singing. Things that were too difficult half a year ago are now a lot easier, like the riff for Jolene. I have a few more difficult songs in my repertoire now, like Loosing my Religion or Sweet Baby James, and there are a lot more songs I can now actually perform and feel while playing. I have a few (mostly German) songs where I either mashed two different youtube versions together to create a better version, or went ahead and found my own way of playing it altogether. And I have played for and with others enough to not be afraid of it anymore. It certainly feels more like I’m actually making music now, instead of just learning the guitar.
17. Dezember 2025
The last few days was all christmas songs, or more precisely Winter Wonderland, Little Drummer Boy, and Fairytale of New York. I’m fairly happy with the two Justin songs, even if the E to B minor in Winter Wonderland is a bit of a challenge.
Justin hasn’t done a video for Little Drummer Boy yet, and none of the youtube tutorials actually count it out. Which is why I have a wee bit of a problem with the rhythm/chord changes. I know it’s 4/4, and I know there are a few half-bar changes, but where exactly? It feels like there’s a push somewhere, or a quick one-note change, or smth like that, but I don’t really know, since everyone is too cool to actually count it out! Argh! My brain is not happy when it doesn’t understand exactly what we’re doing. Ah well, maybe I’ll find it easier to figure out when I’m not feverish with a cold because my heating doesn’t work right.
In other news, I definitely need a new capo, since mine has big grooves in it, and doesn’t clamp properly anymore. It is a bit of a problem, since the neck of my guitar is so big that normal capos do not fit. Maybe I’ll go and find a music store between the years, when I’m hopefully healthy again. Until then I shall then only practice songs without a capo, which sadly excludes Mrs. Robinson.