Lesson Twenty One Tuesday 28th May 2013

I had been practising obsessively the song “Half the World Away” by Oasis again so the first part of the lesson I would show how far I had got.

The first time through the teacher sang the song while I played. He had to pause a few times while I got my fingers in the right place mainly in the chorus. I had tried to practise the changes in chords in the chorus. I had been trying to focus on the problem chords of D7 to G and C to E. I have been just trying to move from one to the other slowly at first then speed up when I think I have got it. This has made the pause on these parts slightly less than they were but not seamless. There is a few other chord changes I need to look at too but I thought it best to focus on some and get them correct first. After a few goes of this we had to see if I was in the correct time as I do have a habit of speeding up too much, so I played the song along with the tune itself. I would start off OK but then speed up mainly in the chorus parts that I am most anxious about. The problem would be that I would not really hear the song as I would be so focused on what I was doing.

We went back to the drawing board and the teacher decided on playing the base guitar with the correct timing on it. This I found a lot easier to keep in time with and also get back to the correct bit when my fingers or plectrum would get caught in the strings. We played this way a few times and the teacher thought that it was the best one so far and when I relaxed and just went with it, I played a lot better.

The next part of the lesson was going through the lead part of the Pink Floyd song “Wish You Were Here”.

I have been practising this part but I keep on forgetting the correct strings or fingers to use without looking at my sheet. This means there is a massive pause between each note. We practised putting the parts into sections and getting a bit of flow. This worked in parts. When I mean parts I mean if you filmed me doing them and skilfully edited them all together it may sound like the tune.

At the end of my lesson my fingers sure did feel like they have had a workout.

Lesson Twenty Tuesday 21st May 2013

I had been practising mostly the Oasis son "Half the World Away" and pretty much nothing else. My Mrs has told me that she thinks it is sounding better but I still feel there is plenty of work on it.

So I started off my lesson with this song.

The intro to this song still sounds a bit dodgy with the Fmaj7 not sounding very crisp at all. The first verse went through OK and then the chorus come and this is the part I am still struggling on.

The changes to Am and the change from D7 to G and then G7 still have big pauses and I know I have to practise this more and more to get rid of this part. The worse part seems to be the change from D7 to G which I suppose is because all your fingers go in a completely new shape and some of the fingers have to travel a fair bit.

Once I had gone through it once the teacher gave me some encouraging tips and explained that I was playing it too fast. This has been a constant problem and I can only compare it to when I was learning to drive where I had a lead foot and would speed along too fast. I can only assume its a nervous reaction and I need to relax and not be so tense and enjoy it but notes (there are loads of them) and all.

We played the song so I could get the correct speed and I had another go. The speed was OK at first but at one point (in the chorus) I lost my way with my fingers getting caught all in the strings, I then tried to catch up and actually sped past as I was not listening to the song but just obsessing with what I was doing.

We did this excises many times and slowly but surly my speed did come down. This did improve my chords (well some of them) too.

I need to practise the chorus a lot but I am considering recording my progress on this song and putting it on You Tube to show how bad I am. Maybe I could get some pointers on where I need to improve.



The second part of the lesson we looked at the Pink Floyd song "Wish You Were Here" and the lead part. This is so I can learn some new techniques not just rhythm.

My teacher kindly put on the fingers that I would have to use. The 2/4 is what I was told is a Slide up. The idea of the slide up is you strike the first note and slide down to the next position and if done right you should hear this note too. I practised this part a few times but the pause between each not while I found the right one was so long you could not call it a tune.

A great lesson and the hour seems to go so quick.

Lesson Nineteen Tuesday 14th May 2013

For my nineteenth lesson I had been practicing mostly “Half The World Away” by Oasis. I had sort of got through the song but the chorus is proving very difficult moving from some chords to another.

So for the first part of the lesson we went through this song. I am not sure if its stage fright or what but my first go through was a nightmare. As well as the usual duff cords I missed out complete parts of the song and mixed up other parts. I did manage to get myself together and struggle through to the chorus. The chorus has proved to be very difficult with particular trouble coming from when changing to cords that move all my fingers not just a few. When the difficult changes come there is a massive pause between each cord as I rush to get my fingers into the (sort of) correct position. But probably the worst part is that I am going too fast, which even as I practiced at home my wife had commented on. I rush in then try to slow down but am always just ahead of the correct rhythm. As I am speeding through I am making mistakes that if I slowed it down I may not make. This is not guaranteed as I do have a knack of getting my fingers caught in the strings or losing the plectrum from my fingers as I am strumming away.

We practiced getting the rhythm correct and with some success though I am not sure I will have a guy with a drum kit beating out the correct speed for me every time I play the song. We then looked at the difficulties I am having in the chorus going from the cords C to E  and then E to Am and the really hard D7 to G and then to G7. All of these changes have me moving all of my fingers around at the same time and it just seems to overwhelm me. My teacher explained that this was normal and to just practice over and over again changing from one cord to the next. He recommended that I start with D7 to G and G to G7 which frankly are the worse examples. I can see it is just a case of repetition and the body will remember. We did also have a look at the Fm bar cord which I have improved on but string 3 is the problem with nothing ringing out.

We next had a look at my progress on the Green Day song “Boulevard Of Broken Dreams”. 

For me the big problem with this song is the chorus which changes the rhythm. As I have said many times in these blogs, my rhythm is something I need to work hard on. 

My rhythm can go off so quick for example if I am thinking too hard about what is coming next on the song. I have also tried to sing on some of the songs to help maybe with when changes on cords are but this really does kill off my control of the rhythm. I know I need to put some more time in on this song to get it correct or at least bearable to hear.

Next was a look on how I was progressing with the REM song “Everybody Hurts”. 

To be honest there has not been much progress as I have not been playing this much. I can get through the first part until the last G before the chorus which has a change I always struggle on. 

We went through this part a few times but I still have trouble with it.

The last part of my lesson we discussed about adding a couple of songs to practice some different techniques that I have not looked at yet. The teacher wants me to have more practice on lead and most of the songs we have been doing are more rhythm.

I was asked if I had any ideas or preferences. I could not think of any at that time so I was given some choices of songs to look at.

The first two choices where between Mcfly “All about you”

Or Pink Floyds “Wish You Where Here”.

I went for “Wish You Where Here” as I know the song so I am more likely to know when I am going wrong. I later found out that my wife would have liked the Mcfly song as she knows it. Maybe I will try that one later on.

My second two choices where for The Animals “House of the Rising Sun”

Or Radiohead “Street Spirit (Fade Out)”. 


For me this had to be Radiohead as I do like Radiohead and again I would know when (which will be most of the time) I was going wrong.

I will practice away on what I have so far and look forward to murdering the two new songs next week.

Lesson Eighteen Tuesday 7th May 2013

It was a nice warm sunny evening which put me in an uplifted mood for my lesson which I was hoping would keep me feeling relaxed and not make the playing at times feel like I am fighting through it.

We started off hearing how I was getting on with the Oasis song “Half the World Away”.

It took me a few minutes to get started with lots of nervous false starts and I getting my fingers entwined with the strings. I did manage to eventually start the song and get pass the intro and into the first verse of the song. Again as seems to be my problem I was rushing it too much and again it’s a case of keeping the rhythm constant. I get the rhythm correct at the start and then I concentrate far too much on what cords I am playing and getting ready for the change that I forget the rhythm and it speeds up and up.

We tried some techniques to combat this. The teacher would play the song to give me an idea of the (much slower) rhythm and I would play along to this. This at first did not go too well as I think I was listening to the song too much and would lose what I was doing. He then would clap out the beat I needed to be in rhythm with to help. Once I eventually started in time and not rush or come in far too late, this did have some success. The main thing I had to do is trying playing the song slower than what it would be and then by some crazy reason I would have the correct rhythm.

I now had a go at tackling the chorus which I have sort of dabbled with but to no great success. The cord changes on this part are for me far more complex with Am to C to E then to Am which has all the fingers moving everywhere. I had a few very slow start stop goes of this with the rhythm going straight out of the window. The worse part of the chorus is the Fm Bar cord. Stretching my fingers in this way is proving a challenge and after a few minutes of getting nothing but a dull thud I had to stop as my hand was aching. I will now look to practice this chorus part a lot.

We than decided to go through the other two bar cords I have to practice. These do not sound any better at the moment but I know it is practicing them every day that will get them sounding better eventually.

The teacher also thought it was time that on some of the cords that I now start to muffle out the last E string. Of all the cords that I have so far if they are not an E type or being used in the cord like G the top E string should not be heard. This can be done by either muffling with the thumb or if you like the finger holding down the rttt string touching this as well. I had a go at using the thumb as this seemed better as I could get into bad habits moving fingers over on other strings that need to be ringed out clean. The A was the most difficult to do with the bottom of my hand touching the first E string.

We finished off the lesson looking at my old favourite the Green Day song “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”.

Again the keeping rhythm was my problem with me going far too fast. As I go so fast I make many mistakes and do not give myself time to change from one cord to another. Once I slowed down the mistakes (still there) where fewer.

Again on this song I had to tackle the chorus as I had only really been doing the first verse. Because the rhythm changes here and the cords move all over the place it took me a few moments to get my head around them. The worst part was the B7 cord at the end of the chorus which would prove difficult.

Some progress has been made and I am now added the choruses to these songs which even though sound bad and progressing. Plenty to practice and just maybe my kids will listen to my playing and be impressed instead of saying “What’s that noise daddy”. Kids are such hard critics.

Lesson 17 Tuesday 30th April 2013

I had been practicing a bit this week and going with all the good advice I have been getting I had taken great care to practice the rhythm.

The first song we practiced was “Songbird” by Oasis. 

I have noticed that my finger tips are now hardening up with all the playing and I suppose my hand has got to condition it’s self for these bar cords now.

The problem I have had with is song has been the change from G to G/F# to Em and Em to G/F# to G. I would get so anxious about this change that I would be too late or too early. Sometimes I would seem to get my fingers all caught in the strings.

The first few attempt of this song did not go well I think it’s a case of trying to warm up and relax. My teacher started to help by at first singing the words so I could hear the words I would need to hear for the change. Even though I was trying to keep my strumming at a constant it was apparent that when the change happens I was speeding up so after the song I would be strumming too fast. My teacher decided to try and combat this by playing the base guitar with the rhythm that I would need to follow. This seemed to work for me. I was able to keep time better and the changes where happening at the correct time too to my surprise. I managed to get through the whole song a few times at sort of the correct rhythm. However the cords are not all correct and some sounded really bad. My teacher was happy with the progress through and informed me that we will not practice this one at lessons any more as I have the basis of it now and I can practice this on my own. My teacher assured me that the song would get better as the cords I am playing I will be playing in other songs so this one in time will get naturally better. It is hard myself to tell if I have improved on this song but my Mrs thinks that it has improved a lot which is encouraging to hear and I certainly will be using this song in my practicing.

We then went onto have a look on my progress on the Green Day song “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”. 

This song again I have been playing a bit and was hoping for some progress on too. At first things were going well, but then I would almost mentally full asleep or something as I would lose my way and forget that I have to change to G. Once that mishap would happen I would go to pot with all sorts of funny cords appearing and I am sure none are real. Again once relaxing a bit the rhythm flowed a lot better and the song sounded nearer where it should be.

As things where not going too bad it was time to play the Oasis song “Half the World Away”.

 It took me a very long time to get the correct rhythm as I kept on reverting to the Songbird rhythm. I struggled through this at first feeling a bit disappointed with myself. I suppose this is going to happen as you cannot always get it right and once (again) I relaxed a bit I gained some respect on my playing.

The last thing we did was to practice some bar cords. 

We first started with Bm which after a bit of moving of fingers I did to my surprise nearly get the cord. 

I then had a go at the other bar cord of F. This one proved to be very difficult and a dull thud was all I got for my efforts. After a few minutes I had to stop this part as my hand was hurting.

Lesson Sixteen Tuesday 23rd April 2013

I had not had much chance to practise this week so I did not think I would have much progress this week.

The first song we started to practise was Songbird by Oasis.

I have been having problems with this song and the change over from G to E. I would either be too early too late or miss it completely.
The teacher explains that if I listen for the words that will give my the signal when I need to change. Unfortunately I have been concentrating so much on my rhythm I never hear the words.

We did loads of practise of the song with me playing along to a recording of the song and trying to get the changes correct. There was some success but it seems in my apprehension to get it correct I start off at the correct rhythm then I will speed up. The teacher tried to get me on track by clapping  the correct rhythm out and when that did not work playing his drums that are just behind me. These tactics did have some success with me getting the change over on time a few times.

We worked on this song for a vast majority of the time and I still need to get used to the changes and not feel so nervous doing them.



For the last part of the lesson we went through the Green Day song Boulevard of Broken Dreams.

Again this song seems to be a problem with a change from G to another cord, this time being D. The problem I have on this one is the fingers three and four need to be able to move easier and when holding down the notes they need to be straighter so I can get a clearer note.
The rhythm on this song sounded about right even with the record playing but sometimes the cord changes are very heavy and don't flow and I am guessing that's because I need to relax a bit.

I am hoping this week I can get much more practise and iron out some of these problems ready for lesson seventeen.

Lesson Fifteen Tuesday 16th April 2013

My lesson started off looking at the Oasis song "Songbird" that I am learning.

I had been practising this song but the changes in cords are proving very difficult and I would keep missing when I needed to change.
I would either be too quick to change or too late. I suppose it's because I get so zoned into doing the rhythm of the cord the change seems to be a bit of an unwelcome event. As well as changing not on time I could get my fingers caught in the strings which was a bit embarrassing.
Again it was a case of relaxing and the teacher would play the song many times and clap out the rhythm to help me with a louder clap to signal the change. This I did for a long while with some success. The Changing cord also needed to be slicker and the change of rhythm for the change is proving a big challenge.








The next song I practised was the Green Day song "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" I seem to be getting a bit better on this one but the change from G to D is my real problem.

I also need to slow the rhythm down a bit and stop trying to chase through the song.

The last song was the other Oasis song "Half The World Away". I have been practising this one for a while so I was hoping to show great improvement. Unfortunately it took me a bit of time to get the rhythm correct as I had the rhythm of Songbird still on my finger tips. I managed to get some respect back on the song but rhythm is the main thing I need to practise.