Last night's lesson was postponed... car's in the shop, and the bridge on my guitar needs to be repaired. A section of it under where the strings rest popped up while I was tuning it the other night. Major bummer...
See ya next week.
Tonight's lesson began with the sudden realization that I've been practicing "Shenandoah", since mid-November, while playing the wrong note in the 3rd line. There are two sharps in the song, one near the end of the first line, and one near the end of the 3rd line. Both are F#, the latter of the two being one octave below the first (holy shit, I actually know that!). Well, I've been playing an F note as apposed to an F#. Why I didn't catch it myself, I've no idea. My teacher and I had a good laugh from it though.
We then switched places - he played melody while I played harmony. Definitely still a little rusty here.
What's funny is that I've become so accustomed to playing "Shenandoah" with the wrong note that I had trouble coordinating my left hand well enough to actually find the note! Once I found it, I kept tripping over the transition to D and B! LOL
This week, I'm to continue work on "Shenandoah", and should be able to play both the melody and the harmony flawlessly.
Yes, I realize it's been a month since my last post, but I'm lazy that way...
My most recent lesson was November 16, and went really well. Unfortunately - though understandably - Thanksgiving and, now Christmas, have postponed any further lessons until probably January. It is, after all, the busiest time of the year.
I've been practicing the melody and harmony sections of Shenandoah, and have got both pretty well hammered down. Not surprising, however, is the fact that working on the same song since October has begun driving me a little nuts. I think it's time I finally ventured away from the safety of my practice lessons and started putting what I've learned so far to use on material I'm more familiar with, and enjoy listening to every day. I won't actually be dismissing my lessons outright, rather, I'll simply be adding a little more fun to the mix.
As a side-note, I've finally got my new electric guitar! It's an Ibanez RG370DX, and is officially the most expensive guitar I've ever owned at a retail price of $450. Technically speaking, it only cost me $325 - I got a really good deal from a local dealer. I also picked up a top-of-the-line Ibanez hardshell case, and own a new Marshal MG15DFX 12W amp to plug the guitar into. I brought it to my last lesson to have my instructor test-drive it, only to be completely blown away by just how versatile his playing is! WOW! Definitely getting my money's worth on lessons!
Anyhoo... that's it for now. See you next year, if not sooner!