Archive for March, 2010
Three new chords were introduced to me at last week’s session. C major 7, D minor and G7. The F chord is still, by far, the hardest but G7 is pretty close. My index finger needs to be at the first , or “e,” string at the first fret, and my middle finger goes on the fifth, or “A,” string at the second fret and my ring finger goes on the sixth, or “E,” string at the third fret. Needless to say, it’s a bit of a stretch. The new song, where these chords were presented, is Snowbird.
I also started on fingerpicking, which is pretty cool but has made me realize that I really should consider growing out my fingernails. I tried to before but couldn’t stand how they felt when typing on a keyboard. I suppose I just have to get used to the clackety clack. I’m getting a little bit more confident and relaxed with some of the first songs I’ve learned so things are going well. This last practice I’m trying to resist clamping down on the fretboard so I can more easily move my hand and fingers. I’ve noticed I end up death-gripping the poor guitar neck and it’s hard to switch chords. Sadly, strumming still needs a lot of work, but I must persevere!
With I Can See Clearly Now, I was introduced to the F chord at last week’s session. While there is an instance of the chord in Take Me Home Country Roads, it’s very quick–two beats–and not at all easy for someone just learning it. Of course, in I Can See Clearly Now, there’s a crazy switch between several chords with two beats per chord that I have to work on. Even practicing every day since last week’s lesson, the F chord is difficult and so is the chord progression in the latest song. One big solace is the A major 7 chord I also learned last week. Incredibly easy compared to its partner.
However, my difficulty with the latest bits is a good thing, in perspective of my instructor. She wants to get me at a point where I’m really challenged and so far, this is it. Right here is where I’m in a very stuck position. Comparing to all the other things I’ve learned up to this, those past challenges were very tame. I’ve been bumping up my practice time to about an hour and a half. Fingers don’t hurt so much anymore, but my hand does cramp up a bit on some songs. This kind of hard work is really fun.
I had a troubling guitar practice session last night. It felt like I didn’t have timing and I couldn’t hit any chords correctly. There was a lot of buzzing towards the end of the night. I kept muting a string on a chord. It was very frustrating.
I have to keep reminding myself that it takes a lot of time to get good at something. I’m trying to relate learning kata to learning the guitar. I need to see the chords, strumming and fretting as the fundamentals, equivalent to punches, kicks, stances and blocks. Practice them individually and in basic kata (the songs I currently have) repeatedly.
Just as my stances could get more stable, my strikes speedier and more focused, I have to work on positioning my fingers on the fret board correctly from the start (I’m fumbling and having to correct my placement). Same thing with strumming. I need to be consistent and always strike the strings on down and up strokes. Just as the focus of power is in the hips, I need to relate that to my wrist (not the elbow) for guitar.
Every kata, even basic ones like Taikyoku, have a tempo to them, a rhythm. It took months of practice to get the timing down, even on my favorite kata like wanshu and annan. I have to see guitar playing the same way.
And even when I did get pretty good at all my kata, I still had a lot more room to improve. And that was seven years of training. I’ve only been practicing the guitar for a few weeks, just about a month.
Last week Friday marked the third guitar lesson. There is a layer of cracked skin on my left hand fingertips. Perhaps I’m building the calluses up too much? While I can play longer, which is a godsend because I have six songs to practice, it is harder to feel the strings. What little aptitude I displayed was proof of my continued practice, which I think pleased my instructor.
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This past Friday, I reviewed the first two songs I learned on my first session and was introduced to three new chords (A, D and E7) and two new songs (Jambalaya and He Aloha Mele). The new chords are harder to switch between than the first four, but hopefully I’ll be able get the hang of it through my daily practice. As for the practicing itself, the calluses are starting to show and fretting is getting a bit easier to do for longer periods. However, my forearm is beginning to hurt a little bit. I suppose I’m building up the muscle there.
Besides handling the frets, strumming is also a little challenge. I sometimes miss the strings on the upstroke but at least my instructor says I have good rhythm. I just need to keep my wrist loose and continue practicing the twisting motion.
I gave a wishlist containing some of my favorite songs to my instructor so hopefully, once I get better I can start learning some of them.
