Lesson 50 Tuesday 7th January 2014

My first lesson of the year and my first lesson for two weeks and exactly one day off of a year of trying to play the guitar.

In my two weeks off I had been practicing each day. Maybe not as much as I would have liked but I had been trying to play. In that time I had played a few tunes I thought my parents (who grew up in the 60’s) may recognise some of the tunes like The Animals song “House Of The Rising Sun” or “Maggie May”. Unfortunately they did not so I think I may have to improve of them a bit then.

We started off the lesson going through the intro from the Oasis song “Wonderwall”.

This has been proving a problem to me and I have tried to build up the song but once I get to the Dsus4 it all goes bad and the A7sus4 is a disaster.

My teacher decide to get me to slow down on the tune so that I can get the idea. It took me several attempts just to get past the first bar which I can only assume is because I was nervous of getting it wrong. By slowing down it did give me time to hit the chords correctly and I did get better and I even got through the whole intro without a mistake.

Even though we did practice through this part for a very long time with me making many mistakes sometimes on parts that before I had spot on. I have to say I did enjoy myself and the time went by so quick.

Near the end of the lesson to give me a break from the intense practice I was doing on “Wonderwall” and probably to give my poor teachers nerves a rest too, we had a look at how I was doing with “Maggie May”.

  

The intro I still have problems with but I am managing to push through it.

The main song is getting better but the bridge chord hgh still slows up the flow of the song. But the rhythm and timing appears to be correct which is great as this has been a problem with me keeping the rhythm and speeding up too much. It is not perfect though and I can see many areas to improve on like the old favourite of changing chords cleanly and on time.

A great lesson for the new year. If I look back to 12 months ago I knew nothing about the guitar. I had no idea about chords, how to do a rhythm or anything. So even though I am no Jimmy Hendrix I am pleased with my progress and look forward to another 12 months on improvements. The thing I have come to notice is that the improvements are not instant but subtle and its only when I think back to how I used to be I can see a progression and me being more comfortable playing (mostly badly) the guitar.

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 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.