Had the day off yesterday, was able to squeeze in two 15-minute practices in one day, for the first time.
Unfortunately, I feel like I'm hitting a plateau. I'm doing the chromatic and E Phrygian scales correctly, but slowly, and I've memorized the 6 chords I know so far. However, I'm playing the notes very, very slowly, and I'm not good at switching between chords yet. Perhaps it's time to go to Lesson 3 and learn some more chords.
For my "free practice," I worked on the lead part from "Day Tripper." It's really catchy, pretty easy to play by ear, and uses (at least) four strings of the guitar. So it's a good one to learn the strings and to learn the individual notes on the strings. It's also fun to play.
I also re-tuned my guitar yesterday. Since I don't have a guitar stand, every time I take my guitar in and out of its case, it gets a little more out of tune. But it was much faster to re-tune it now that I've memorized the string names. I can just plunk out the note on my electronic keyboard, and not have to take 2 minutes figuring out which string corresponds to which note.
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3 comments:
Are the chords you are doing all open chords? I found that changing opens quickly when you are starting tends to be easier if you use a pivot finger common to the two chords, or change a single finger first and pivot on that into the rest of the chord. This allows you to move fingers without having to reposition the entire hand - like resting your hand on the table when you draw.
For instance D to Dm I would keep the ring finger on the D (B string) and rotate into the Dm. Or with G to C I would move the pointing finger from the B (on the A string) to C (on the B string)and then pivot around that finger to the C chord. Then say changing back from the C to G, i would put the unused pinkie finger on the G (high E string)and then pivot the rest of the hand to the G chord.
I'm at work and I can't download the practice you posted, so please forgive me if I'm giving advice below your level.
Yep, all open chords so far.
And your advice is just about exactly the right level. Slightly above where I'm at right now with guitar, but I understand exactly what you're getting at.
I should be able to apply it in a couple of weeks, as I play more songs and get a tad more coordinated. When I'm practicing and I'm pressed for time, doing songs is the first thing I drop.
I need to warn you about the practice--it's sloppy. It's like ten minutes of a fourth-grader learning the violin. You may be better off waiting until the next one I post, which will be before the end of the month. .
I wouldn't worry about sloppy - I'd shudder to hear myself at the moment. I've barely picked my guitar up in the last couple of years - I'm mostly working from muscle memory :)
I'll keep giving unsolicited advice for now then, but let me know if I start sounding like a tool.
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