Jeez, three weeks since my last post.... this is why I don't write fiction anymore... anyway...
I'VE FIGURED OUT TIME SIGNATURES!!!! WOOHOO!!!!
I feel like I did when I first learned how to navigate downtown Kansas City. I'd never driven in the heart of the city, and it was an extremely liberating feeling knowing I could, and still find my way back home.
I'm very close to perfecting the melody to Greensleeves. My biggest hurdle seems to be making a smooth transition between four particular quarter notes. I think it has something to do with the fact that the song in the book I'm learning from was written to exclude the use of C#, and I'm not used to hearing it played without it. Otherwise, I have what I've been learning memorized, and can now play it without the sheet music.
Chords are coming along well. I'm amazed by how easy they are to play once you've got the patterns down. The current list includes:
G, C, D, D7, Em, Dm, Am, A7, F
This week, I'm to focus on being able to play the harmony to Greensleeves. Next week, we begin our next project: playing chorded notes!
I know that a quarter note gets one beat. I know a half note gets two beats. I know that a dotted half note gets 3 beats. But, for reasons I've yet to comprehend, if you give me a song with a 4/4 time signature in which the first two notes before the first bar are quarter notes, and ask me on what beat the first note starts, I may as well be a dear caught in headlights. Now ask me to count off as I'm playing the rest of the song. That's right, nothin' doin'.
Simply put, pick-up notes and me aren't exactly bosom buddies, just yet. This week, I've been assigned one song with the very scenario I've described above, that I'm to practice, exclusively. Right now, I suck on it.
I've also been tasked to start practicing D, E, and F as part of a scale pattern, and I've been given my first three chords - C, E, and G Major!
My hands have reached a point where they don't hurt at all after practice, so I'm kicking off this week by extending my practice sessions from 45 minutes to a full hour.
Classical Guitar Lessons - Weeks 6, 7 & 8
(note to self: post updates immediately following you return home from the night's lesson.)
I've done some introspection during these last few weeks. I've shared my thoughts and concerns with both my wife and my teacher. I've learned quite a bit, too.
As a student, you must never practice with the idea that you will accomplish a certain goal within a set amount of time. Doing so only forces your mind, and your hands to do something they're not prepared for. The ability to play guitar well can only come from determintation, committment to regular practice, and the understanding that things will fall into place as they're meant to. If you force it, you'll only wind up hampering your progress.
I also learned that the only way to be true to yourself, as a guitarist, is to practice with only yourself in mind, and not try to "prove" to your teacher what you can do. You've nothing to prove to anyone but yourself. Your teacher's only job is to guide and empower you.
Keeping this in mind, my approach to guitar has only changed for the better. I'm much more relaxed while practicing, I'm clear-headed, and I'm doing what I can to meet the next week's goal(s) without forcing it them. I realize these things have more to do with attitude and one's state of mind, but, believe me, they do wonders for your technique, not to mention the comaraderie between you and your teacher.
Right now, I have some issues with tiime signatures that I need to work on, and maintaining a steady tempo. That feels ironic considering I used to bust a few good moves on the dance floor. But I've quickly discovered, there's a significant difference between being able to do the "Roger Rabbit" with my feet, and navigating 4 fingers across six strings while another four plucks them.
LOL!
Nevertheless, I'm progressing nicely. I can play every major scale on the neck (it's amazing how easy scales are to play when you discover the patterns associated with them). I also noticed a bad habit I'd already developed with my left thumb moving vertically across the neck instead of remaining centered. I'm working to rid myself of that one. The scales are helping.