I reckon I am a reasonable intermediate player, but my rhythm guitar/strumming is not good enough. I didnāt learn anything particularly new from the first module, but it was useful to work through it, and I should practise more with a metronome. One of my objectives is to be able to play Scottish/Irish folk songs that require fast, steady strumming, often not in 4/4 time. At this time of year, Fairy Tale of New York is a good example, keeping up with that with ease would be a good target, but even faster would be useful. I am hoping the next couple of modules will cover that kind of thing, and not limit fast strumming to funk, although that would be interesting too.
One other point - I have not participated in this forum before and it is not immediately obvious to me how you go about posting a comment. Do I click on the button that says āReplyā? I hope this works ā¦
Thanks Michael for your help; I can certainly see how to communicate, although it is not clear what the difference is between the first two āReplyā options that you mention, and other than in your screenshot, I donāt see where this āMessageā option is. And is this conversation only going on under āGrade 1 Ready to Passā or is it visible on other forums?
Hi Ken - The reply option next to the heart symbol gives a targeted response (i.e. it notifies the person that you have responded to their comment). The big orange response option at the bottom just provides a non-targeted response. The only people that will get notification of the response being made is the topic owner and those with the topic set to āwatchingā.
The way I use reply is as follows
If I am replying to a specific point a person has made then I use the grey version.
If I am replying to the topic in general then I use the orange one.
If you click the avatar, of the person you want to message then you will see the button . I will send you a PM shortly let me know if you get it.
This would be very cool, thank you! I found/find it difficult to use a drum beat as a metronome, I have no experience with it and it seems a bit disorienting to me. As part of the course, it would introduce me to it in a controlled way.
For those who feel the strumming course was ānothing newā, I would postulate that although the information is not earth shattering, it is the course that guides you on an organized progression to work on something very fundamental and most likely often ignored.
I have found it very helpful. Just setting me on a guided path through the first grade (which was repetition for me) and more challenging than expected in the early part of the second grade.
I think there is a large difference between understanding that there are a lot of different ways to strum and being able to strum several patterns in a coherent and musical way. I have a ways to go!
This is from someone mostly looking at classical and finger-style. Stimming is not my plan, but I think I best be good at it.
Thanks for that explanation David. Like many here, Iāve just finished Grade 1 of the beginner course, and will be working on memorizing 5 songs so working on improving my strumming (so that itās less clunky and can be done without too much thinking) will be helpful for consolidating all the techniques taught in that course, and working on the finer details.
Iām looking forward to going through this course along with Ear Training & Practical Musical Theory while I digest Grade 1 and work on my songs before beginning Grade 2.
Thatās a great point Joshua! Just having completed Grade 1, I understand strumming, and can keep a steady basic strumming pattern going but itās still a conscious effort and if I want to change strumming patterns mid-song like in some of the songs Iām learning, I will lose everything. So hoping that this course will give me a focused approach to practicing and solidifying my strumming skills and learning new patterns.
J