Final Presentation

It has been two weeks since my last post, but I have still been practicing. Simple chords are now easier then ever, my sound has improved, harder chords ( bar chords) are getting easy. I can pick up most song's base chords very quickly. And I am constantly trying new finger picking patterns, most of which are still hard to do. I present my project in band class tomorrow and I am still not sure what to present. I am thinking that I will give a simple presentation regarding what i've learned about guitar and then maybe finish with a song consisting of simple chords.

This will probably be one of my last posts, but this has been SOOOO much fun. I plan to continue practicing guitar even after the google projects are over. I might even try to convince my parents for lesssons!

Yours Truly,
Jason Kelley

Fingerpicking

I have recently been trying my hand at harder fingerpicking songs such as rhiannon by fleetwood mac, and slowly but surely the easier songs are getting easier. I am know able to easily play the introduction to Landslide by Fleetwood mac, I have even taken some simple fingerpicking patterns and added them to some interesting chords making a little tune. Bar chords are still as hard as ever, I am able to play them if I slow down but I am currently unable to quickly switch between them. In general though I am improving a lot.

Fingerpicking

Now that I have conquered the fundamental chords I am working on learning how to finger pick. So far I have been able to play the introduction of "Landslide" (Fleetwood Mac) but my transitions between chords and finger picking combined is very poor. I am hoping to get this worked up soon. I have found that it helps to not even look at my fingers and trust that they know where they should go. So far I am having a blast exploring this.

Recently....

So I have recently been practicing and I am amazed at my improvement. My chord changes are much faster now and I can play more difficult songs. I am just now being able to play bar chords. I am very happy with how my guitar playing and the next step is to push the difficulty of the songs that I am practicing as I have mastered the simple ones.

Picking it up again

Now that my current homework situation has cooled down I have found time to pick up the guitar again. Over the past several days I have learned how to weight my fingers on certain strings as to be able to switch between chords much easier. I have also gone out and bought a capo for an acoustic guitar of which I am now using. I have moved on from the basic chords to being able to play certain songs. I am currently working on "Country Roads", "Holding out for a Hero", "Clocks", "Sweet Home Alabama", and "Lay All Your Love On Me". All of these are pretty straightforward songs and I am working on the transition of the chords. My next task is to figure out the strumming patterns. Overall, I am having a wonderful time figuring all of this out.

1st Practice

I picked up the guitar again and was amazed to find that getting a much clearer sound was a lot easier, I'm not sure what caused the dramatic change but I am very excited and am currently looking off of song books with written chords in them, trying to get a feel for playing, strumming, and chord changes. Eventually I plan on checking out a book on guitar playing from the library but until then I feel like I am making progress.

Chords Learned :   E   Em   A  Am    D   Dm

Getting Started

Long Term Goals: 
- Learn Basic Chords
- Learn Simple Songs
- Learn Basic Strumming Patterns
- Learn and play a medium leveled song at the end of semester (Landslide?)

Day 1:

Goals:
- Learn how to hold guitar (X)
- Learn string names (X)
- Learn the basics of how to play (X)

(X) = Complete

Notes:

I have always wanted to learn how to play the guitar, I have just never had the time. I currently feel very empowered to practice as much as I can, and I hope that this empowerment continues throughout the semester. I am required to perform a song at the end of the semester and am thinking about playing "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac, a favorite of mine.

Difficulties:

Right now I am struggling to get a clear sound out of basic chords. I feel like my fingers are to bulky for the strings, however I am confident after a few weeks of practicing that I will overcome this issue.