February 28, 2004
The Foundation is Laid
Hard to believe it's been 7 months since I started taking lessons. Even harder to believe is the progress I've made as a guitarist. I know 11 chords, the major scales G, A, C, and D, I can look at a sheet of music and instantly identify each note and where it can be played on the guitar. Add to that, my tone sounds great!
This is my last week of lessons using the Hal Leonard Guitar Method Book 1, as we've reached the end of the book with "Minuet in G". Next Monday, we begin focusing exclusively on classical guitar studies, including building on and honing my skills, my technique, and expanding my repertoire. I picked up a copy of Christopher Parkening's Guitar Method Book 1, on the advice of my teacher, the other day. We found a piece near the middle of the book that compliments my current level of playing, and will be starting from there, finishing off the book over the next several months.
I finally conquered my muscle memory on the first line of "Minuet in G", too! Damn that feels good! Now if I can just play the entire piece without fucking up even once!
LOL!
February 21, 2004
The Rewards of Practice
It never fails. The more you practice, the better you get. Unfortunately, there's a little thing called "muscle memory" that likes to get in the way ever now and again. Muscle memory is developed by making your fingers repeat a particular pattern or patterns over and over again. Eventually, you get a feel for where you need to be on the fretboard and you can stop looking at the fretboard, occasionally.
This week, my third finger on my left hand has been especially stubborn with its muscle memory. My teacher has assigned me the second of the two-page classical piece that is "Minuet in G". The first two notes of the second measure are A and D, in that order, with D being the first note on the first set of 8th notes in that measure.
Here's a picture for reference:
Here's the fun part. Occasionally, when I try to play the D, instead of fretting the third fret on the 2nd string, my finger wants to fret the third fret on the 3rd string. What's funny is that I know why it doesn't want to cooperate, yet I still can't get it to behave. I have to actually focus harder that one small section of the song. Bah... cursed muscle memory!
Otherwise, the week's been a total trip. The lesson went really well, but I've noticed something as I've learned more: Sometimes, when I realize I'm actually playing a song I've heard before and, in the case of "Greensleeves" and "Minuet in G", enjoyed listening to for so many years, I find myself suddenly experiencing shock that I'm actually playing it, and then I fuck up the song. It's an annoying phenomenon, but at least it tells me I'm getting good.
February 11, 2004
A Night Full of Fun
Lessons can be so much more enjoyable when you're not worried about how well you'll perform under pressure. I finally figured out how to really relax this time, and played exceptionally well!
This week, I'm continuing work on "Minuet in G", working more with arpeggios on "Red River Valley", and continuing my efforts to memorize every playable location of E, F, G, A, B, C, and D on the fretboard. So far, I've got E and F up to the 12th fret.
February 03, 2004
And a Stumbling We Will Go
Sorry for the late posting, but last week's lesson was canceled due to inclimate weather.
This week, I got to demonstrate, once again, my uncanny ability to trip all over myself when trying to show my teacher what I accomplished since our last lesson. My wife says it stems from a subconcious desire to impress my teacher and assure him that I'm not wasting his time (ie performance anxiety). It makes sense, but I would really like to overcome that. I know what I can do, and my teacher knows what I can do. 'Nuff said, right? (grin)
The good news is that I played "Red River Valley" a lot better than I did during our last lesson - both the melody and arpeggiating the harmony. I only wish I'd played as well I have been. Ah, well... I just need to learn to relax, is all... it's not like I can flunk anything.
As for my arpeggios, they're coming along quite nicely. My only problem now is maintaining a consistent rhythm. My teacher suggested that I set my metronome at a pace I'm comfortable playing at, and play each note of the chords I'm practicing with to each beat of the metronome. Work with just one chord for a while, and then continue working on transitioning chords while maintaining the same rhythm.
I've been assigned a new song to practice: "Minuet in G". It's in 3/4, and uses a lot of 8th notes. After working on it for about 20 minutes, tonight, I'm already playing the melody pretty well. There's a spot near the end of the second line that I'm having fits with right now, but I'm confident I'll iron it out before next week's lesson.