I want to use this thread to document milestones, big and small, and hold myself accountable on celebrating them, not qualifying them.
I play drums and sing in our church’s praise team. We’ve been recording music, because of COVID, since March for online and outdoor services. We’ve had some struggles getting the right equipment for mixing and figuring out how we want to record. I got the music for today’s rehearsal/recording Monday evening. I decided to challenge myself and try to be ready to record guitar as well. I am celebrating the following:
1) Being in the key of Ab I figured out the capo to use G chords and transposed them myself.
2) Looking at what the chords would be I was excited to know them all already!
3) I practiced a bit Monday night, tons Tuesday, and some again today before rehearsal.
4) After it took at least two hours to record the singing, drums, and keys due to problems with the new mixer I stepped up to the plate and recorded it. It was rough but I did it!
5) My fingers are getting tougher every day. Tomorrow will be my rest day as a reward.
After listening to it here is where I can improve:
1) Get the hand spread out a bit more to reduce the string buzz.
2) Continue working on smooth chord transitions.
I share this picture to show that while I am exhausted I am pretty proud of myself. I will hopefully have the song to post later. Thank you, Chelsea and Nate, for this “family”, for your great teaching, and for your encouragement!
Awesome looking forward to hearing about your continued progress! :)
@Tammy Anderson props to you on your dedication! Looking forward to hearing your debut here at Guitarfam!
Recording yourself is one of the best ways to improve. Sounds like you're very well on the way. I'll be following your progress :)
Woohooo!!! I'm so excited to see you starting this thread and celebrating your wins! We're here to cheer you on every step of the way. :)
@Tammy Anderson This is great! I'd encourage you to submit a video for our next student video review. :D
Update on my progress: I've been spending practice time working on the major scales, smooth chord changes on the open chords, and then applying different fingerstyle patterns to those chord changes. The chord changes are coming easier and I am more relaxed while playing. I don't have that song yet to share with you that I mentioned before as it is part of a larger service. I'm waiting on the song part of the video itself.
In the meantime, I am playing today for this week's praise team song. The chords are simple and easy to change from except for an A/C# that I'm just going to make an A. The challenge with this song is the strumming is fast. So I'm constantly checking relaxed wrist while playing it.
I've also been dreaming of another goal once I get these two further along. I'd like to learn jazz guitar. Of course that means I've been checking out guitar options which has been fun. I'm leaning towards the Ibanez Artcore AF75G. Fun!
Awesome! Thanks so much for the update! I’m so excited to see the video when you have it. 😊 A/C# is a tricky one so you’re right that you can just play the A and let the bass guitarist take the C#. Perfect! Also, I LOVE jazz chords! I wrote a few songs using them just so I’d be able to remember them. They’re so fun! That actually gives me an idea for an upcoming Guitar Fam YouTube video...
@Chelsea Amber if you have any recommendations for a good starter song to play with some entry jazz chords I’d love for you suggest them!
@Tammy Anderson hmmm... I think the first song I learned a long long time ago with jazz chords was "Summertime" by Ella Fitzgerald.
@Tammy Sounds like you're definitely staying focused so I applaud you for that! Also very cool about the praise team songs you're learning. Looking forward to hearing some.
As far as that A/C# chord goes. Just bar your index finger on the second fret (strings 4, 3, 2) to make the A chord, then use your ring finger on the 5th string 4th fret to get the C#. That should make it easy to play. Either way just playing the A itself is fine, and even more so if theirs a bass player. :-)
As far as the fast strumming goes. Just practice at a much slower pace and once that muscle memory kicks in you'll gradually be able to play it faster without even thinking out it. Just remember to breath and relax as much as possible. :-)
As for me, I play a lot of R&B songs which use a lot Jazz chords that I love so Jazz has always had my interest as well. That said, I say learn and play what you love and yes that Ibanez Artcore AF75G does look good and fun to play! :-)
@J.Rod thanks! Maybe you can help me with what I do on the first string at the second fret for the A/C#. Do I just mute it with my bar finger? I’m not sure how to bar 2-4 and not also get that first string as well.
Tammy,
Sure no problem..
Let me try to elaborate a bit more. Just bar your index finger across the 2nd fret pressing on 4th, 3rd and 2nd strings, Your thumb behind the neck will help you press your index finger down firmly. Once you have that partial bar chord, move your wrist down just bit if you hear the high E string ringing. That will take the pressure off the E string and help to mute it (adjust as needed). It's like trying to bend your index finger from the first digit only. if that makes any sense. lol That should give you a pretty clear A chord. Once you have that, place your ring finger on the 5th string 4th fret to get the C#. Hopefully that's a bit clearer for you.
Also know that that @Nate @Chelsea, myself and others are always here so don't ever hesitate to ask for more help if needed. Let us know how it works out for you. :-)
Thank you!
Just relax! That is my newest lesson learned. Things had been going good. My confidence was building and I was seeing some real progress. Then a few days ago I sat down to play and it sounded bad and felt all awkward. I was like, “What in the world happened?” So after thinking for a split second that maybe I actually wasn’t getting better and going down the path of discouragement, I decided to analyze my position and such. I realized I was hugging the guitar to me too much, death gripping the fretboard, and just being overall too tense. Once I took some deep breaths and was intentional on not doing those things I sounded and felt much better. One day, one strum, one pick at a time!
I love that you were able to take a deep breath and assess the situation before going down the dark path of discouragement. You got this!! Thanks for this great reminder to all of us to relax.
Update time! I’m becoming more and more comfortable in my guitar skin.
One goal has been to be able to play with the praise team 50% of the time. I’m meeting that goal. I am tripling up on praise team with vocals, drums, and guitar. It feels great to get a piece of music and feel pretty confident I can do most of the song. We usually only have maybe three days before recording so I have to put some serious prep time in. When there are chords I’m not familiar with I am trying to figure them out myself before “looking them up.” So now the goal has been tweaked to become a better quality player.
One step towards better quality is I’ve begun the bar chord masterclass now that my acoustic has had a set-up. Thanks for that “requirement”, Nate and Chelsea, as my life is easier now. 😊
My second goal is to become a good fingerstyle player. That took a bit of a pause since Christmas as I need to find some new songs to work on and I was putting practice time into some other fundamentals. The new Shallow cover would be a good song though.
I also wanting to continue to add new chords to my bag of tricks since eventually I’d like to get into some jazz and blues. I’ve got an Ibanez Artcore AF75G on its way. It will be my first electric and I’m pretty pumped.
That's so awesome that you're starting to feel more comfortable with your guitar. And way to rise to the occasion with learning all the praise team songs in 3 days! That's not a lot of time. LOL! Feel free to post a photo of your new electric guitar when it arrives!
@Tammy Anderson -There was some good energy coming from that post! Nothing beats new gear coming, and as for fingerstyle, I'll speak for myself: there is no turning back!
Enjoy it all Tammy!
Thanks, @Irwin1957!
@Tammy Anderson - Sounds like you're making some good progress. I'd love to see/hear some of the songs that you are working on. I have an Ibanez also and love it (Ibanez afc95) I have flat wound strings on it and geared it more towards "Big Band" guitar playing, lots of swing and old school jazz.
What really helped me out with jazz chords is getting The Real Book, just make sure that it's in C or else all the chords will be wrong on guitar.
@Ghost thanks for those tips! Now I’m even more excited!