Lesson Eight

I went to my eighth lesson tonight after practicing the exercises that I had been given. I started off doing the Simpsons tune. I know where I have to go but I still seem to be struggling getting my fourth finger down and the tempo is still very slow.

We then went through the chord rhythm exercise to the Green Day tune of “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”. I had told my tutor that I had been practicing but to hear my first attempt it would be hard to believe me. I then had a go by trying to do it at the slower tempo of the tutor’s software. This did not sound any better and sometimes I got all the wrong strings I was feeling a bit frustrated with it. The tutor informed me that it was normal to not hit the cords right every time and you will have some totally off, but to try and stay in the tempo of the song and you will get back some of the chords. My problem seemed to be that I would mess up then almost start again but on the chord I was doing so as well as being wrong on the chord I could never catch up with the song and start to try and chase it. I had another go and even though this time the chords where on the whole real bad I at least kept the rhythm.

I then had to do the same song but with a new item which I purchase from my tutor called a capo. 

This is used to raise the pitch on tunes and is attached to the neck of the guitar to shorten the length of string played. On this song it need to be on the first fret.

 I had another go at the tune and it was funny hearing me strike the chords badly in a higher pitch.

We then went over my song I am trying to learn which is “Half the world away” by Oasis. I had been practicing what I had been given so far which was just the intro.  I am finding the F major seven chord very difficult to do and plucking out the individual strings while holding this cord down just gets thuds instead of the nice note I aspire for.

Just to add to the song that I am murdering we now have the main part of the start.

 I also had to learn a new chord called G/B which I am told is like a bridge chord which helps the tune cross over from one sound to another. I had a go at the rhythm which I was told I had already done before. I sort of got the right rhythm so some of the practice must be working. I also learnt tonight that I have been spelling chord as cord which is a bit embarrassing. 

Lesson Seven 20th February 2013

I started off my lesson with the Theme of The Simpsons that I had been practising. It did not sound too bad, it was slow at times and I kept on hitting the wrong string sometimes but on the whole it was not too bad. The teacher thought it was OK and gave me some tips on moving my fingers and assured me that as time goes by I will know where the strings are. I think there has been improvement as at times I can sort of hear the tune coming out. The teacher seamed please so far with the progress and talked about maybe in a few weeks looking at another song to practise with lead sections. I was given two options.
House of the Rising sun by the Animals

Or
Radiohead Street Spirit (Fade Out)


Being a big Radiohead fan I picked Street Spirit though at this stage it seams incredible to be able to play this.

I then went through how bad I am at practising my cord changes for the Green Day song. I was all fingers and thumbs and there was massive pauses between each cord change and the up and down strokes where in not particular timing at all.

The teacher decided that I need to slow the tempo down. He had a computer software which he could take the song I was to learn and slow or speed it up and take out instruments so that I could hear the part I need to learn. This did help a bit but I still had big trouble trying to find the strings for A from D mostly. I was thinking that I may see if I could find some sort of metronome app for my phone to help practise with.

We then talked about songs to practise. He asked me if there was any I would like to learn as if there is a song you like it would make it more fun to learn. I thought about it and said I would like to learn an Oasis song like Wonderwall or Half a world away. It was decided that Half a world Away would be the better one as there are cord changes that I have already been given and some that I have not yet which would be good for learning.


I just started off this one with the first two cords and changes. This would be the cord of C followed by playing just strings 1, 2, 3 and 2 then cord F major 7 and the same single strings to play. This is just the intro part. I had a go and the teacher said it sounded all right but I need to get the cords sounding far more crisp.

A good lesson with plenty to work on.

Lesson Six 12th February 2013

I went to this lesson not having practiced as much as I would have liked as I had been ill most of the week with some sort of virus. So that’s the excuse I am using this week for how bad my cords are. To be fair I think they are getting slowly better but it just seems that when I think I have cracked a cord all of a sudden I can’t play it at all. I need more practice to get my fingers in the correct shape.

We went through the changing cord rhythm exercise again and I feel so slow and clumsy at this. I then got another exercise to practice, this one again would involve changing from one cord to the next. I would start in D with two downward strokes, then finger three on the second string (second from the bottom string) and finger four (little finger) on the first string and one up stroke, G with two down strokes and repeat. This did not sound good.

My teacher then talked about what song I would like to learn. I must admit I had not thought of a song to learn at the moment I could not even get a cord to play right first time. He explained to me that it would be a simple one that would help me practice the changing of cords and rhythm.  To get an idea he asked what sort of music I liked. I like many different types of music but sort of guitar based could be anything from Oasis and Radiohead to Pink Floyd and the Beatles.

Thankfully he made the decision for me which is great as I don’t think I am ready to play “Wish you were here” at the moment. The song was going to be “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” from Green Day.



This would have four Cord Changes that I had done so far. It would go like this, E minor with two down strokes, finger 3 three on the second string (second from the bottom string) and finger four (little finger) on the first string and one up stroke, the cord G with two down ward strokes, again one upward stroke with fingers three and four down on strings one and two, D with two down strokes, one up stroke with no fingers down and then A with two down strokes.

The teacher showed me how it would work while playing the song. When my turn came it sounded nothing like the easy rhythm song that he had played. It sounded more like someone having a nervous breakdown on a guitar. Clearly it is going to take a while to get this right.

The last part of the lesson I was given another TAB tune to learn. I had a choice of two, both where designed to use all my fingers. The choices were a song by Bruno Marrs or the Simpsons theme. The choice was simple it was going to be The Simpsons. My kids like that program and I am sure they would love to hear me play the theme tune.

Lesson Five 5th February 2013

I had been practicing my cords and other tasks a bit. Now I don’t think I have cracked it yet but there seems to be less howls from the local dogs down my street.

The lesson started with cords I think they are sounding better but I still need to have a few goes to get something that sounds like it is the cord. There is some improvement though and it would appear that the G cord from this time last week was just a fluke.

The rhythm exercise I have improved on but there is still a pause every now and again which I need to sort out.

The exercise of changing from one cord to the next while in a rhythm still sounds bad and even though I tried my best it don’t sound anything like a tune.

I then got another new exercise to try. Going on the same as the last change cord in rhythm task. I have to play the cord A with two down strokes, then slide my third finger down a fret and do a up stroke , then D cord with two down strokes then all fingers off and up stroke, then the A cord again. I was all over the place with this and can see it will take me a long while to get this right.

I finished my lesson off going through the TAB exercise. I could get the right notes but it was not in time at all and needed to be much more crisper. More embarrassing is the fact that my nine year old son can play it better on his ukulele and he has only worked out how to do it from watching me.