I love how something that looks so easy can prove so difficult. I may've said this before - I don't remember - but it bears repeating:
Anyone who's ever claimed that guitar is easy to play didn't start by learning classical guitar.
Yet, I love it so. Go figure. LOL!
On that.... er.... um.... eh... note (cringe!)... I'm happy to say that, after three solid half hour practice sessions spent doing nothing but arpeggiating the harmony for "Red River Valley", I am finally able to transition between the G, C, and D7 chords with relative ease! God I love progress!
Next, I get to resume memorizing the A, C, and D major scales.
I used to wish I could be an instant guitar virtuoso, but no such wish would ever allow me to feel the tremendous sense of accomlishment I've achieved since I started this journey. If only my mother - God rest her soul - could hear me now.
I've been doing my first arpeggio runs with the C and G chords, and, while my arpeggios are sounding great, transissioning between chords is a bit sloppy. I'm going to go ahead and incorporate the other seven chords I know and work arpeggios into my 15 minutes of chord practice.
I can finally play the melody and harmony lines to "Shenendoah" well enough that my teacher has given me a new piece out of my instructional book to work on - "Red River Valley". Much to my delight, I actually managed to play the melody nearly flawlessly on the first run! As for the harmony, my teacher wants me to be able to arpeggiate the chords, as apposed to simply strumming them. That's why I'm incorporating arpeggios into my current chord practice (grin).
I'm continuing work on the A and C major scales. Speaking of scales, my teacher wants me to be able to identify every note on the C, G, and A major scales, and every location on the fretboard each of those notes can be played within those three scales. We're expecting they shouldn't take more than about two weeks to memorize. I've already memorized the G major scale.
It's intriguing how much of a relationship scales share with one another. They all connect with each other by overlapping patterns, providing a sort of guide to help you better identify where you are on the fretboard. I never saw those patterns before I started seriously studying guitar, and now that I've begun noticing them, I find it impossible to even look at fretboard without seeing them. It's no longer some abstract thing attached to piece of wood with a hole in it. The more I learn, the more I practice, I'm finally seeing the guitar for what it truly is: an elegant, beautiful instrument designed to allow anyone with a desire to express themselves, musically, do so.
Guitar's fixed! Woohoo!
This week, we covered a couple of the scales I've been working on. Primarily, he wanted to make sure I knew where even the first F# was on the G major scale, and that I could play up and down the C major scale without thinking twice about note names. Suffice it to say, I was pleased with my memory.
;)
We went over the melody and harmony to "Shenendoah" again. I'm still having a devil of a time with the transition from G to D7 and back again, but I'm getting there. Unfortunately, my timing was a bit off. I figured out that I was focusing more on where he was in the song, as apposed to focusing on my part, and trying to make sure we were both on the same page. I need to stop doing that.
hehe
This week, I'm to know all of the notes that make up the A and D major scales, and have been given a new exercise to begin work on: arpeggios! This one's very basic, involving nothing more than playing the first and third bass strings and all three treble strings with appropriate thumb and finger placement/use. It's a bit tricky right now, but I'm getting the hang of it.
I've also gotten the amplifier on my guitar fixed! I'll be posting recordings soon!