Lesson 49 Tuesday 17th December 2013

This was my last lesson of the year as my teacher was having Christmas off work the same as I was going to.

We started off the lesson looking at how I was doing with the Intro on Oasis "Wonderwall".

I had been doing this part for a while and I did not feel like I was getting it right. After my teacher went through the chords a few times I had several attempts at the correct rhythm before I got it. The good thing was that I was not doing the bouncing rhythm bit so in a way an improvement.

As it was Christmas the teacher thought it was time I knew what the chords where for the intro.

It starts off with a new chord Em7 

Then changes on the up stroke after the fourth down stroke to G with the down stroke just before the G only having fingers three and four kept down.

After the G there is another down stroke played with just fingers three and four down and the chord Dsus4 starts on an up stroke.

Then another down stroke which has only the fingers three and four down followed by the upstroke in the chord A7sus4.

Then the last down and up stroke have just the fingers three and four down.

This intro is proving very difficult as the changes happen on up strokes instead of down strokes. I would either concentrate too much and panic and mess up or come in too late.

I spent a long time trying to build up the intro by starting with the first part and then see how far I could get. We then spent a bit of time just getting used to the changes as a big problem of mine is that not all the fingers land at the same time so that the first part of the chord would be half right.

We went through the intro many times and at a slower pace to help me get the correct rhythm. This worked but did take many attempts and I am not feeling it at the moment.

With two weeks now off I have plenty of time to try and polish this off and start the new year well.

Lesson 48 Tuesday 10th December 2013

I was a bit worried the day of my lesson as I had bruised my finger (number one finger) at Karate training the day before. It had swelled up and closing it was difficult and making a fist impossible. So at the start of the day I did try out some chords to see if I could do them. I could play them just as bad as I could the week before so that was a relief.

The lesson started with my version of the Rod Stuart song “Maggie May”. I had been practicing this song a bit and trying to get the change over from one chord to the next correct. I started off with the intro.

For some strange reason my first play of this I added in a few more up and down strokes. It would sound ok but not correct. This makes me wonder if when I have been practicing all week I have been playing it wrong. Once my teacher went through the rhythm once I got myself back on track. The changes did not sound too bad until I hear the teacher play it. Maybe my finger was impeding me (I wish).

Next we went onto the main verse.

 After my first run through it was obvious that I was playing the up strokes too close to the down stroke so that the rhythm has a bouncy feel to it. I think it’s because I am trying to race through the song. What I need to do is have a more robotic constant rhythm. After many attempts my loose rhythm stated to tighten up to the correct timing.

We next looked at doing another song. My teacher selected the Oasis song “Wonderwall”. Being an Oasis fan this is a favourite of mine so I apologies in advance Noel Gallagher.

We started off with the intro.

The rhythm has a very different make up. It took me many attempts just to get the first line correct and once I did get the correct sequence my old friend the bounce came back. After many more attempts I managed to put the bounce back in its box. The next step was to try the second line which at first seemed impossible to get. This is because of the sort of pause where the two up strokes are next to each other and I have to do a down stroke without touching the strings. Sounds easy. For me it was not. As I have been used to always doing a down stroke to not do one proved a bit of a challenge. After a long while I did manage to fluke a couple.

With this success the teacher thought it a great idea to put both halves together. Suffice to say it did not go well first time. I did manage to get so far but once I got to the two ups the part after I would miss out strokes. Looking on the positive side I was managing to get that far into the rhythm which is not bad for a first go I suppose. However after sweating blood I did manage to get all the way through twice. I don’t think Bonehead has anything to worry about as it probably took me a hundred goes to get them two.

I foresee loads of late night swearing. I mean practice.

Lesson 47 Tuesday 3rd December 2013

I started my lesson with the Rod Stuart song “Maggie May” which is lucky really as this has been the only thing I have been practicing this week.

I started with the intro.

As usual I could not get the rhythm correct for the first four times. I seem to be adding in an extra or missing out a down stroke. My teacher could see the problem and corrected it quickly by playing through the intro. Once I could see and hear where I was going wrong I managed to get this corrected.

We then went onto look at the main verse of the song.

I have been practicing this a bit and remembering what chords come after which, so I was a bit frustrated and disappointed with myself when the first few times of playing it I was all over the place. I kept on missing strings or catching them on the strumming and not landing very well on the chords. The other problem my teacher noticed was that on the last up strum would be just a bit too close to the last down strum. This would then make a sort of springy country type sound to the end of the bar. I feel this is happening because I am trying to give myself some sort of subconscious signal that this is the end of the bar go to the next chord. I needed to get the up and downs to play at the same time in the rhythm. Once I was aware of what I was doing wrong the rhythm started to sound less springy.

I managed to get through the entire tune a few times. We then played it with the song and even though I had played some very bad chords as my fingers would not set correct I was in the correct timing as the song which was very encouraging.

My main problem is that my fingers are just not fast enough moving from one chord to another. For example moving from a G to a D finger two can sometimes be a strum behind finger one. Sometimes I would even forget to take finger four off until near the end of the bar.

So to combat the teacher has given me an exercise to look at. 

The idea is just strum once a chord goes through the transition on the next two strums and then be totally on the next chord. I had a go of this and because of my rubbish co-ordination I find this part (which is crucial I get right) very difficult. I am starting off very slow and I am hoping with loads of practice I can speed up and make this more fluid.

On a positive turn my bar chord in this song F#m once I am on it is sounding clean every eight out of ten times I do it which is better than not so long ago when I could not do this chord for love nor money. Moving from the chord Em to this chord though is proving much more of a challenge. Maybe the big pause while I change to that chord enhances the song. Maybe. Maybe.

Lesson 45 Tuesday 19th November 2013

This lesson I concentrated all lesson on the song "Maggie May" by Rod Stuart.
I first started with the Intro.

At first I had trouble getting anything together on this part as I think nerves had go to me. Why I do not know as it was only me and the teacher and I know he is there to help and guide. Once I relaxed I got a few goes under my belt.
I was having the same problem as last week with not getting the rhythm correct or even not changing quick enough. After listening to a recording of the song and watching for the changes that my teacher was doing I started to get some sort of tune going.

I then had a look at the chorus.

This part is very rough and I did spend a lot of time just getting used to changing from Em to F#m which is another bridge chord.

The change over is difficult to do smooth but on the good side once I am on the chord they are starting to sound much more crisp.

Lesson 46 26th November 2013

I started off this lesson again going through the Rod Stuart song “Maggie May”.

I started off with the intro.

This has started to get better but it does seem to me that it takes me a few times round to get the rhythm correct. What I mean is I am strumming correctly but it’s like the timing is just slightly off. Once I hear the teacher go through it once or maybe twice I sort of get it. Some parts of this are not very crisp with me being too late on the D from the G. However after a fair bit of practice I did get very close.

The main part is made up of four verses with no choruses.

It took me a few times to forget the intro rhythm and play the main songs rhythm. The main had parts have been the change from G to D again and also from G to A and of course the Em to F#m thing. We spent a lot of time just getting the structure of this part and getting use to the changeover. Doing this part slow and getting the changeover correct was a good idea but there was something inside of me wanting to strum along at the right speed even though I probably would go too fast and make a pig’s ear out of it all.

After practicing this till my fingers where bleeding the teacher wanted to see how I was fairing with the Animals song “House Of The Rising Sun”.

Well the easy answer to that would be not very well. I have to confess that I have been practicing but most of the time on Maggie May so this song is still in it’s very raw (by that I mean sounds very bad) state.

I went through the first part and we looked at the position of my strumming hand the directions I was plucking. After a few times it did sound better but still very raw.

Lesson 44 Tuesday 12th November 2013

I started off my lesson with the Rod Stuart song “Maggie May”. I have been playing the intro a lot at home. 

After many hours playing it I even played the intro to my wife. This song is one of my wife’s favourites, so I was a little disappointed that she had no idea what the song was until I told her. I am guessing that my version is not up to scratch and she was just being polite when I told her what it was.

I always get nervous playing for the first time at my lesson like I am in an exam or something. My teacher does help me relax though but it still take me several goes before I forget myself and just go for it. After the first few goes at the intro it comes apparent that I was getting the rhythm wrong. I was missing out a down strum at the start of each bar after the first D. 

Having now got aware of it I was having great trouble getting rid of it and playing each chord too. To combat this we just went through the bar several times on just one chord so I could get the correct rhythm of the bar and feel it. This took an awhile to do but after I had it I had to get onto the other problem of the change from chord to chord.

I have been trying to practice the technique of taking most fingers off on the last strum of the chord to help get to the next chord. The problem has been that I am too late every time. I am coming off on the first strum of the next bar not the last of the bar before.

We practiced this many times and I built up the process from chord to chord until I could get all the way through once. Unfortunately the intro needs to go through the pattern twice. On the second runs I would go too late again.

We practiced this for a while and I am very close to cracking it. I just need to relax and go with it.

The final part of the lesson we went through the riff Madness on the song “Our House”.

This is still working progress. My main problem seems to be that I want to look in both places the neck for the fingers on the frets and also what string I am strumming. I need to get the feel of where the strings are for strumming I think that way I can concentrate on where my fingers are on the fret board.

Lesson 43 Tuesday 5th November 2013

I went to this lesson with a fanfare of fireworks. Not because I was living now as some rock god but because it was bonfire night. With the fireworks going off it was a welcome change for something else to be scaring the local wild life rather than my playing.

We started off with the Madness Riff from “Our House”.

This still has problems for me with my fingers not getting in the correct place. Things have improved though as I am trying hard to pluck only down and keeping my hand in the correct place. I still need to remember to lift my finger off after I pluck the string though as if I don’t the sound still rings through.

I then went next onto looking at the song by Rod Stuart “Maggie May”. 

 I have practiced this but I don’t seem to get the rhythm correct. After a few goes and listening to the song and the way the teacher played the song I would sort of get the rhythm. I need to change from one chord to the next much quicker. The teacher gave me a guide of fingers so that I would not have all the fingers down for the last strum on the bar so that it would give me a chance to get to the next chord quicker and it makes this a sort of transition strum.

After many goes on the intro we looked at the main rhythm of the song. 

The rhythm is just a little different.

I had a go at this rhythm but kept on getting the intro rhythm instead.

Lesson 42 Tuesday 29th October 2013

The start of the lesson we warmed up the fingers by playing the Animals song “House Of The Rising Sun”. I can see that this is a good tune to get me to play the chords clean as you pluck the individual strings and you can then know if you are holding them right or not.

As usual it took me a few goes to get it right even on chords that in practiced I had got fine. After a few false starts the notes did start to ring out with A and C sounding ok and even D sort of passable too. However I did get stuck on F which does not ring out but gives a depressing thud.

The F has been a bit of a problem form me mainly because finger one has to hold down strings 1 and two while fingers two holds string three and finger three holds down string four.

While doing this I think I am not putting enough pressure on finger one or I put loads on and the other two fingers are not straight so that they bend and mute out other strings. I have been practicing this one a lot and even though it is not there I think it has improved.

I run through the tune a few times. At the moment there is a big gap between each chord and the strumming of them is slow and deliberate. I have tried to speed it up and make it flow better but at the moment when I do that it sounds worse with loads of missed notes. My major problem is as ever movement from one chord to another which I feel is getting better slowly but surely.

We next looked at my progress on the riff in the Madness song “Our House”. 

Again this took several attempts to get part the first few plucks. I was resting my plucking hand on the bridge which did make things easier. My main problem appears to be that I want my eyes to be in both places. Either looking at where my left hand fingers are or what string I am plucking. My teacher thought it would be better if I just pluck downwards as I have a habit of just doing up plucks which I then have problems finding the next string. This did help as I could get past the first part.

For the final part of my lesson we looked at the song “Maggie May” by Rod Stuart.

We only really had time to look at the intro of the song.

The E chord is played a bit different.

What I did find is that I could play all of the chords without having to take finger 3 off. The rhythm for this took me a few moments to get too.

I had a few attempts and there was some notes ringing out. The main one I was not happy with was D. I went through the chord and could not understand why it had such a bad buzz to it. Upon looking at me doing it my teacher could see that I was not muting the top string with my thumb. As soon as I did this it made a big difference.

I feel that holding down chords is getting easier and sounding better. However I still need to practice the moving from one to another as I do have to sometimes have a big thinking space to remember where my fingers must go.

Lesson 41 Tuesday 15th October 2013

It’s been a few weeks or so since I have added an entry to this blog. I have not given up on learning playing the guitar it has been more a case of family business taking up my time. It seem to be a tradition in our family that as soon as my kids go back to school one by one they get some bug or another which causes chaos in our house. This means that after running around to sort things I am just too tired to type.

However I have been keeping up my lessons which are like a little bit of me time for the week. I also do exercise classes through the week but they are more to keep me fit and well and are more of a task than a pleasure. I have been practicing and now that I have an amp to use my kids are regularly asking me to put head phones on so that they cannot hear it, so I can only assume I am still not playing well.

I started off my lesson with the song “House Of The Rising Sun” by the Animals. We have been playing this because you pluck out all of strings on the chords which lets me know if I am playing the strings correctly.

The chords are Am where you pluck the 5^th string then strum strings 4, 3 and 2. Then pluck strings 1 then two and three. You then play C plucking and strumming the same strings. Then D but you pluck the 4^th string and strum strings 3, 2 and 1. Then pluck strings 1 then two and three. I then have to play a new chord to me which is an F plucking and strumming the same strings as the D. The F chord I am having difficulties doing correctly. It is almost like a tiny bridge chord and bridge chords are proving a problem to me. The last and final chord for this song that I have to play is E. For this one I pluck string 6 and strum 5, 4 and 3 and then pluck strings 1 then two and three. With each of these chords I have to make sure the last string struck which is string 3 has to be played open. This is then used to help me move my fingers to the next chord. Moving my fingers has proved a problem as my fingers do like to lock in place. Practicing this I am having to try doing it at a slower speed to try and get the technique correct. I have been playing this song for a few weeks now but I am nowhere near perfecting it.

I next had a practice of the bridge chords I have been struggling with.

Fmajor 7 is starting to sound better but is not all there.

Bm chord will ring out after coaxing my fingers in the right direction.

B chord also needs much work on it.

The final part of my lesson was to go through the lead riff from the Madness song “Our House”.

This is the part that is played about 2 minute 14 into this video.

I have been playing this a lot and I still have to take about seven goes before it starts to sound better. I also get a bit lost at times and start playing the first part when I want to be playing the second part. My teacher corrected the way I rest my plucking hand on the guitar. I have been plucking where the top pickups are which means I sort of hover my hand above the strings but rest my little finger on the base of the guitar. The teacher showed me that the better place was to rest the left side of my hand on the bridge of the guitar and this allows me to pluck the strings by just moving my wrist. This did make more sense and was easier to control. Did it make my playing any better, well not yet.

Lesson 34 Tuesday 3rd September 2013

For this lesson I took my new Amp and Footcontroller to show the teacher and learn a bit on how to use it.

I was shown about the different sounds. We had it in clean and and crunch and the two different types of overdrive. The amp seams to give out a good sound even though it is not that big. We added the Footcontroller and tuned the guitar with the tuner on the footcontroller. Tuning on the Footcontroller was easy with the name of the string being struck shown and a light on the left or right depending on if it was too low or high and a light in the middle when it is tuned. You can also save in sounds into the footcontroller which I will have a practice at doing






I started off practising the Oasis Riff in the song "I'm Outta Time".

This is getting better but I have developed a habit when I strike another string which sounds out when I am doing the first bend. I have to practice more to get rid of this habit of pulling the other strings.

I next had a look at how I was doing with the Wet Wet Wet version of "Love Is All Around". I started off with the difficult capo 1 version with the bar chord.

Moving from A to Bm is still proving to be a problem. On the brighter side though I have managed to get the bridge chord sounding nearly right.

I then went onto the capo 3 version.

This one is starting to get there a bit but I have to remember that a lot of the chords I need to mute the top string with my thumb. The chords on them selves seam to be getting a lot cleaner. However moving from one to another my fingers need to hit the strings a lot more sure than they do now.

Amp For My Electric Guitar

I have been looking for an amp to go with my electric guitar. After looking around I decided to go for The Marshall MG15CFX.

I also went for a MG Series Footcontroller too.

The Amps's Features Are:

Outup(RMS) = 15 watts
Speaker = 1x8"
Channels (storable) = (clean, crunch, OD1, OD2)
Digital effects = (Chorus, Phaser, Flanger, Delay, Octave)
Digital Reverb = (Spring, Studio)
Internal Frequency Dependant Damping
MP3/Line In Jack
Emulated Headphones Output
MG Footcontroller Compatible
Dimensions = 382x379x205
Weight (Kg) = 7.7
I have had a go on this amp and have got some sounds out of it but I do need to read the instructions on how this all works. The size is small but perfect to put in a small nook in my little house. The sound is still good and I have already had my kids complain that it is too loud.

I also got the footcontroller which is compatible with this amp.
The pedals can be programmed to different effects and sounds so for example a clean version and also a reverb version.
I have not used the pedal out yet as I think I need to work out the correct sounds on the amp which would be good to program in.

I have a lot of dials to learn now which will be fun to get used to.