Lesson Twelve Tuesday 26th March

Tonight's lesson I went with  the same guitar as last week so that was a good start to things. The teacher tuned the guitar for me as I am scared to tune it after what happened with my other guitar. It seems as if the strings have settled down a bit now and that the tuning is sounding a lot better (well in the teachers hands it does).

Once the guitar was tuned which sounded a lot better than last week I started the first exercises which was the REM tune “Everybody Hurts”. I went through where I had got to which was mainly doing the D and G then the Em and A.

 I needed to link these cords together and for it to flow so I spent a bit of time doing this. Sometimes it would not sound too bad and I can see the benefit of it for getting my fingers in the right place for a cord. My D is coming along and is getting more crisp but I am still having trouble with the G.

The teacher added in another section for my to try this ends with a use of finger three then two on the top string. I will need to practise a fair bit adding this all together.

I next went over the other main song I am learning which is “Half The World Away” by Oasis.

The first part of the song has mixed results with C not sounding too bad but F major 7 is still no where near right.

The next part is getting better but the change to F major 7 is still difficult. The teacher told me I was playing it a bit fast to try and get through it and I need to relax and enjoy.

We practised these two parts a lot and I was told that is sort of two thirds of the song with a difficult bit in the middle which I will look at soon.

To make me ready for that time I had two bar cords to learn. The first was B Minor.

This was very difficult one and it felt like my hand was twisting in many directions at the same time.

The next was a F bar cord.

 This one was no better. I have plenty to practise and if I could just make my hand move in several ways at the same time these bar cords should be fine.

Lesson Eleven Tuesday 19th March

In the day before my lesson lucky for me my new guitar had arrived. This time it was a blue one. 

New Guitar

The Old Classical Guitar

Not really my favoured colour but it was the only one they had in at such a short time scale. Regardless of the colour I was relieved that I would not have to take the classical version that I had. 

I did not have a chance to have a strum of it but I could tell even to my much untrained ear that it would need tuning, which I was very reluctant to do.

I went to my lesson and before revealing my new guitar explained to him all about what had happened. He had a look at the instrument and to start tuning it. This took a fair while as apparently the fret board was too straight and this was making some strings stick to the frets themselves and make a buzzing sound when you play them.

He explained to me that the board sort of needs to curve slightly away from the strings so that when they are tuned and are tight the tension will always make sure that the strings are still away from the frets. 

Allen Key Slot for adjusting Fret Board

There is an Allen key slot to adjust this curve just inside the sound box of the guitar. The teacher started to adjust and tune as best as he could to this (let’s be honest) cheap musical instrument. While he struggled with my new guitar he gave me his one to practise on.

The teachers guitar as you could imagine is very good but sadly as I went through my exercise it was not my old cheap guitar that was making it sound bad just my poor ability.

I played “Half the World Away” which I do think may be improving. I went through the R.E.M song “Everybody Hurts” which was slow and needs a lot of improving on when it comes to playing in G.

After tormenting the teacher’s guitar he announces that he had done his best. He showed me that it was in tune but there may well be a buzzing sound on some strings but they would still ring true (just sound a bit crap that’s all) he thought as the guitar settles down it would be fine.

It did not matter really as once I had a go of it none of the strings rang true and that was nothing to do with the instrument. My next exercise was going through the Green Day song. 

This one still eludes me I had to go through practising changing from G to D and back. The teacher added another part to this song.

Cord B7 x = don't use this string

This is at a very different tempo and since trying to practise it I cannot get right and with yet another cord to learn which is B7.

Another lesson finished and I am sure there was some improvement but I will wait for trying to tune a guitar for a while though. It’s just proving to be too much hassle for me and my poor teacher.

I Have Killed My Guitar

Last night I decided I would do another progress video to see if I was improving. I decided that I would tune my guitar with the tuner I had. I started to tune my instrument and it took me a while getting the idea of how it worked but it seemed to be going OK. There was a lot of tightening going on which I did not really think much about until I heard a loud crack. At first I did not know what this was and with hind sight it makes me laugh really to think how I could not know. Thinking more about what I was to do I suppose I started to practise my exercises. When I play and practise it does not sound pretty, but this time it really did sound bad. I thought to my self I must of got the tuning wrong as it sounded so bad.


Then I looked up at the head of the guitar and noticed why it was sounding so bad.
The head was totally split.
I have to say its put me off tuning at the moment and I never thought that would happen.













I ordered myself another instrument which I have had a message to say it has been dispatched. It will be touch and go if it gets here for my next lesson. I may have to use the first guitar I used in the first lesson.

It makes me wonder if there is some mystical force out there trying to tell me something.

Or maybe it was just a cheap guitar.

Recording my Progress

I thought it was about time that I recorded my progress to get an idea if I have progressed. The great thing about recording is it will show to me exactly what is happening rather than my feelings of how the practice is going.

So I decided to use my iPhone to record my progress and then record each week at the same time to see if there has been any improvement. Being a poor PC owner I need to use some software to edit the MOV file that the iPhone would record in. I used “Wondershare Video Editor” to do this job. The software works very well and enabled me to upload this to You Tube.

For my first recording I tried to keep it to some sort of structure, so I started off with the cord of E minor. I then try to do the cord of A. This then goes into the first exercise I was set of going from E minor to A and I think you will agree I don’t do it very well at all. I then go onto the cord of G with varied degrees of success. This is followed by the cord of D with I do have trouble with. I then put this all together going from E to G to D to A in the exercise that’s suppose to sound like the Green Day song. I then attempt a C cord followed by the near on impossible F major 7. I then attempt what I have been shown of “Half the World Away” which needs loads of practice still. I finally finish with two riffs that I have been shown which are Creams “Sunshine of your love” and “The Simpsons” tune.

I am hoping that with more practice these videos will get much better and maybe then I will show my face. At the moment it would just be me grimacing with the pain I am putting my poor guitar through.

Lesson Ten 12th March

Having practiced a lot on the two tunes that I had been given I was hoping that somehow I would do better in my lesson tonight. I started off going through the song by Oasis “Half the World Away” to the part I am up to. 

The C and F major seven sounded so flat and Picking out the strings on their own I could tell that the fourth string was the one I was having trouble with. It looked like it was my finger three resting on it making the dull thud sound.

The second part of the tune it took me a while to get the first half's tempo correct and the change from D seven to F major seven was proving to take far too long. After several (sometimes frustrating goes) the teacher thought it better for me to slow the tempo down so I could get used to the rhythm of the tune and get the changes in the correct sequence. 

By slowing it down it did sound better.

I then went through the Green Day Tune which again I had problems with changing from G to D. We went through just changing from G to D and D to G several times. I do think that the practice did help but the cords where not very nice to hear.

The only way to get the cords to sound right is practice the cords and keep in that position for a while. So to help this I have another tune which is “Everybody Hurts” by REM. 

I am only doing the intro but basically it is a cord which you then pick out the strings which will show where you are going wrong. This was good to learn, even though I had more thuds than nice ringing notes. With this exercise it will give me more time to keep my fingers in the right place and get some muscle memory on how the cord feels. Once I can do this part I can then add in the cords of E and A.

I have a bit to practice now and I do feel that the tunes are sounding better.

Tuner for my guitar

One piece of equipment I have not had and to be frank really have needed is a Tuner for my Guitar.

The only time my guitar is tuned is when the teacher does it at the start of my lessons. To be fair you probably could not tell if it was out of tune when I play it at the moment anyway, but I thought it is something I need to be doing ready for when I can really bang out a proper note on my guitar.

Not really knowing what to look for I had a little read about things and then just took a punt.

I went for a “Clip Universal Digital Tuner ENO ET-3000+”

It is a clip on tuner that can be used for a Chromatic (what ever that is) Violin, Guitar and Bass.

Features & Functions

• 360 degree rotating display
• Compact size
• Easy to read “Red to Green” status indicator screen light
• Accurate to +-5%

Specifications

• Frequency Tone “A” 435Hz-44Hz
• Pick up “Mic” and “Clip”
• Multiple tuning modes
• Chromatic, Guitar, Bass and Violin
• Power button battery (CR2032)

I looked up what Chromatic meant and I found out it was some sort of scale. The way it is put in the instructions I thought it was some sort of high polished instrument.

I have had a look at the instructions but being dyslexic things like this can prove puzzling to me. 

However I had a mess about and it seems straight forward with the screen being red until you get it right then it goes green. I will now hopefully be able to keep my guitar in tune but I need to get the playing right as well and no amount of tuning is going to do that.

Lesson Nine Tuesday 5th March

I started off my ninth lesson by practicing the Green Day song I have been trying to play.

 I used my capo and tried to get the right rhythm as was discussed last week. I am still having trouble changing from E minor to G and then to D. I was getting the rhythm right but the cords where nowhere near what they are suppose to be. I was told to try and slow it down to get the right notes. It sort of worked but I kept on speeding up. I need to keep my tempo. I then had a practice of just going from G to D. This was to get used to changing to these cords so it will feel more comfortable. I did this many times and did improve in some areas with the fingers three and four being straighter so not touching another string and making that horrible thud noise. But I need to make finger four hover above the strings when not in use on a D as I have a habit of moving it away too far.

The next part of my lesson was going through the song Half the World Away by Oasis.

So far I had been practicing the start which I am having difficulties on the F Major Seven. This is just the intro and it would be nice to get that right first. 

I then do the start of the song till I get to leave this island which is not very far into the song. I am nowhere near getting this bit right in my mind but the teacher seemed pleased and after several tortured tries he thought it was time to show me how another part of the song would go. I watched and I still feel that I may have to practice a year to get this. This does not dishearten me I have always thought that good things come with a bit of hard work and practice.

I was shown a preview of what is to come in the song and it involves something called a bar cord. 

Now I am sure I did not get it right in this picture but it sure was hard to do. You have to sort of stretch all your fingers and wrist and arm in a strange way. It felt like torture and I am sure the thud sound is not what it is suppose to sound like. Something else to treat the poor dogs with around my street. I bet they are hoping that I can get it right quickly for the sake of their ears.