Lesson 31 Tuesday 6th August 2013

My week had been very up and down and as a result  had not done really much practice, which was a shame as even though my playing is not the most mellow thing to here I (unlike anyone hearing it) do find it very relaxing.

We started off with the Sixpence none the Richer song “Kiss Me”.

My first attempt at the rhythm went badly wrong. I had gone back to the old habit of adding in extra up strokes at the end. 

Fortunately I managed to turn this around after a few minutes and managed to coax the right rhythm out of my fingers somehow.

We then turned next to the chorus which I had been attempting. As the chorus sort of cuts the rhythm into chunks I found it a good way to remember it.

The change from G to C I have found difficult but after several goes I sort of got the hang of it.

Once I have done the full chorus section three times it goes into a sort of change which is C to Em7 for one bar then Am to G for the next bar followed by a full bar of Fmajor7 then finishing off with Gsus4 twice and a G.

This final part I kept going wrong on as I would drift into the first part of the chorus but once I slowed down (a lot) I could struggle my way through it.

We then attempted to put all three parts together. My problem at this part was I needed to listen to the song and know when the changes are. I would focus too much on what I was doing and forget to hear the change. What I really need to do is be able to sing the words while playing. This does involve multi-tasking and as my Mrs would say “You not very good at multi-tasking”.

We then had a quick look at how I was getting on with the Radiohead song “No Surprises”.

I found that the intro part I was pausing then speeding through too much on the change from 3 string bit to 2 then one bit. This is something I will have to practice.

The rhythm part at first I was all over the place totally forgetting the rhythm. Once the teacher went through the routine I managed to get the rhythm back.

I did however have a few problems again with the changes. As some parts of the rhythm you may have to play the same chord several times I would sort of get locked in that chord.

We also discussed other songs to look at for more things to practice. I had asked my Mrs what songs she would like to hear as she is the one having to endure my practice. She comes up with two.

Rod Stuarts Maggie May which I know she likes.

Even though there is a guitar in it the major part to me sounds like a mandolin playing. But what do I know I am no expert.

The other song was “Love is all around” by Wet Wet Wet which when we first met was her favourite band.

After listening to both songs the teacher and I agreed that the Wet Wet Wet song was the one to go for.