I have been at this now for about two years. My musical interests are somewhat eclectic. I really like rock and the blues and I am a Parrot Head from way back. As such I am currently trying to learn two Jimmy Buffett songs: Margaritaville and Changes In Latitude Changes In Attitude. Down the road I hope to learn even more songs by Buffett. I am also working on Run Away Train by Soul Asylum, which is the first song that I tried to learn, and Angel From Montgomery by John Prine.
My biggest hurdles thus far are timing and changing from open chords to bar chords.
My goals are to master Margaritaville, Run Away Train, and Angel From Montgomery in the next two months and then turn my attention to other Jimmy Buffett songs and pursue my desire to play blues guitar.
@Keith Altazin ain’t nothin’ wrong with being a Parrot Head.
Hey @Keith this is great! Thanks so much for sharing what you're learning. Looking forward to following your journey!
Thanks for posting this @Keith Altazin I love that you have specific songs as your goals/mile markers. That's super-important. I know that @Irwin1957 has similar struggles as far as timing and changing from bar chords to open chords. He has made huge strides in the area of timing and now he is tackling the bar chords to open chords challenge. @Irwin1957 might have some good advice/encouragement for you. I'm looking forward to hearing the full Buffet songs from you. :D
@Keith Altazin -I've been doing my best to climb that open to bar chord transition hurdle. What I did was work on first getting the shape down on it's own then the bar, and than put it together. I then have my @Chelsea Amber voice in my ear with her excellent advice of "practice what you're going to use". Lou Reed's "Perfect Day" has a D to C#m Bar Chord, then an E to F#m Bar Chord. I've been practicing each transition about 5 to 10 minutes a day for the past few days. I can't get the bar chord down in time,(always a beat or two behind) but it rings out pretty clean. Still not where it needs to be, but it's slowly getting better. Benefit of practicing it in a song, is the reward of the song! I've got the open chord portion down, so when I improve the Open to bar transitions, I'll be able to cover the entire song.
As @Nate Savage mentioned, I've been working on timing literally from day 1, and Nate is probably too nice to say this, so I will: my timing was AWFUL! But I worked closely with Nate on it, and I practiced endlessly with a metronome, and still do. I rarely practice, or play a song without it. Now, I feel very comfortable, very natural with my timing, dare I say this, but it almost feels like its become one of my strengths. I can play in time pretty consistently now, and almost as important, I recognize when it's even a hair off. Anyway Keith, hope this helps a bit.
@Irwin1957 I'm doing the same thing. In Changes in Latitude Changes in Attitude there is a Bm to F#m change, which is the easy one. The troublesome changes are the A to Bm and the F#m to G. I work on each about 5 - 10 minutes. I also have to continue working on the chord shapes and progressions. Like everything else it is a work in progress.