New beginner YouTube channel - Let's see if I can go from dreadful to not bad

[ShawnE]

Hey all, I'm Shawn, 38 & fresh to the guitar.

Yesterday was my very first day at getting stuck in (probably spent a little too long at it - finger tips feel like I burned them on a stove!).

I spent my first hour awkwardly & awfully strumming between D & A chords, but hey, I'm excited for the months ahead. I intend to follow the tried, tested & trusted Justin Guitar lessons to see if I can get myself going.

Looking back on this first video I can already see the importance of reallyyyyyy slowing every thing right down & it reinforces the need to let things naturally develop in its own time. Oh, and I need to get to grips with holding the pick properly.

After just one hour I can highly recommend recording yourself practicing if you don't already!

I noticed there's not a great deal of content around showcasing absolute beginners & it's clear to see why - seasoned amateurs & pros tend to sound a lot better!

So, I decided to start this channel to not only periodically document my own progress from the very first day, but because I thought it may also be useful & intriguing for other beginners to watch both now & further down the line.

A sort of way to truly realise that we're not alone all frustrated & wondering if things could ever possibly get better.

Well, I'm going to find out if they do, anyway!

If you fancy offering motivation, encouragement, tips, a chat etc. do feel free to follow along!

https://youtu.be/zT9ij0RV4M4

[Dad3353]

GET THAT THUMB TO THE BACK OF THE NECK..! 

It'll all become so much easier..! 

 

 

Edited September 16, 2023 by Dad3353

[ShawnE]

@Dad3353 Haha thank you! Practice will recommence with far more attention to thumb placing... that all makes sense!

[Dad3353]

@ShawnE : OK, good. You're making very good progress, and you'll find, as we all do, that progress can be appreciated in steps, or plateaux. You'll think that nothing's happening, until suddenly it happens, and you realise that you've progressed. This is where the Patience part kicks in; one has to continue to do the mundane, daily routines, assiduously, in the certain knowledge that it all pays off, and handsomely, and faster than one thinks..! One little test to do every now and again (three months or so..?) is to turn the guitar round, and try to play the exercises left-handed (or right-handed, for lefties...). That's the level of control you had at the very beginning. Now turn it back to your normal playing fashion and appreciate the difference..!
One more little thing (well, not so little, really...), concerning the right hand, or rather, the right arm. Swinging the arm up and down, strumming with a piston movement, is a technique that's useful for some styles of playing, but it's not really conducive to good right-hand technique. Can you try relaxing the right arm completely, and using a wrist movement instead..? A relaxed hand and wrist, too; just enough effort to have the pick brush the strings. Adjusting the force of this brushing is what gives life to the strumming, with only very slight effort, so it's not tiring. Light, measured strokes, with a relaxed arm, will bring much benefit. The swinging piston can come later, if context calls for it; a more delicate approach allows the music to come through for most playing, though. Worth trying..?
In any case, keep it up; you're doing very well, and the videos are very useful, for us to see what you're doing, and certainly for others treading the same path. Good Stuff. 

[ShawnE]

@Dad3353 I know, the damn piston arm  I find there's a correlation between how much I pump the arm & how well specific chord changes have progressed... as soon as I get more comfortable switching specific chords I naturally relax the strumming arm without even realising... I noticed that when my time was focused on the D, A & E 2 weeks ago as suddenly my strumming typically became much lighter & was just from the wrist - it also naturally swings much lighter when I just sit there switching between Em & Am. As soon as Dm is in the mix it starts swinging two to the dozen like a tense mechanism while the rest of me zones in on the switch.... hopefully just a matter of another week or two's focused practice & the piston will subconsciously relax until I more consciously call upon it. Nevertheless, will monitor it for sure! I make sure it's relaxed each time I do a few minutes of strumming exercises each day. As always.... big thanks!!

Edited September 18, 2023 by ShawnE

[Dad3353]

2 minutes ago, ShawnE said:

... I make sure it's relaxed each time I do a few minutes of strumming exercises each day ...

 

The thumb on the back of the neck will help a lot with everything, I'm sure. 

[ShawnE]

 

A second week with the main focus on the Am, Dm & Em so now we have a little run through of the 5 songs I've been practicing once a day to start getting to grips with them. Took me a little while to warm up so plenty of mistakes in the first 3 songs in particular but pretty happy with my run through of the last two songs - overall I'm pleased enough after 7 weeks!

 

Excuse the piston arm. I think it's a tad better than it has been & after running through a little of my next lesson (which includes first use of the C chord) I can see varying strumming power is starting to be discussed.

[Dad3353]

 

Definitely getting there; well done..! I see the thumb in its right place, and the strumming is quite a bit more relaxed, especially towards the end of the session. So much more to learn; all the 'great' masters say this, even after reaching virtuoso status, so you're in good company from that point of view.
No specific advice, even less critique, this week; you'll be assimilating your achievements for the next few days, and it must be becoming apparent that it is, indeed, all coming together..!
Oh, yes; one word of advice (if you're not already doing it...) : Go back over the totality of your lessons, from Day One, and do 'em all again, just as you did those first days. This will, firstly, encourage you to recognise your progress, and also 'fix' much of the notions gleaned back then. I think you'll be pleased with the result. Good Stuff.

 

Douglas

[ShawnE]

@Dad3353 Yeah I sometimes find I want to bend my thumb at times (not often) but become instantly aware of it & manage to fix it. Hoping that irons out & happens less & less in time. Otherwise doing my best to keep it positioned behind!

Good point about the going back over all the stuff I've learned & sort of consolidating it as well... will be sure to keep a healthy chunk of previous exercises in my practice & to play at least one song from all previous weeks so I'm still playing every chord I've learned so far every day. Cheers!!

[ShawnE]

 

Well.... I learned the C chord this week.

 

However, with that opening me up to an abundance of new songs I was immediately reminded that I have to work on continuing to polish up not only the chords I've previously learned but also the action of changing between them all - of course, I'm aware certain changes are more commonly used than others so it makes sense to at least prioritise those for now - namely the changes that specifically take place in the songs I'm practicing.

 

So, it took all of 10 seconds into a new song to discover that I'll be putting a ton of work into the changes between Em and D, Em and C, and C and D (just as a main focus - still doing all other standard practice stuff & whatnot) for the next week or two before I reassess. I don't expect to vastly improve these within a matter of weeks but I do want to feel more comfortable with them before introducing yet another chord (.....G!).

 

Thanks for watching!

[Dad3353]

@ShawnE : Betterer and betterer..! It might seem like slow progress to you, but objectively you're doing very well indeed. No need to burden you with more wisdoms and advice; you're right in deciding to allow the current dose to sink in over the next week or so. One thing, though, that you might like to try (if you're not doing it already...) : just spend a few minutes a day, outside of the allotted 'practice' time, to pick up the guitar and 'noodle' a little. Play around just picking out any little ditty that comes to mind, or finger the 'D' chord shape and move it up the neck, playing just the top three strings. The 'Am' chord works, too, moved up and playing the top four strings. It's not a strict 'learning' thing; just a fun way of hearing new sounds, exploring the instrument and relaxing some of the strict rigour of the exercises. Messing about is fun, too..! Just a thought; meanwhile...

 

Have a wonderful day. 

 

Douglas 

Edited October 2, 2023 by Dad3353

[The Pinky]

I'm impresse!  It's good to see others progress and how I compare.  It's also interesting to see different learning techniques.

[ShawnE]

@Dad3353 Yes good shout with the noodling! I do that when I can... usually just fumbling around the chords I find most difficult with different strumming.. I like to call it "making music"  Or I might have a dabble at playing through a song without hunching over to look at the fretboard (that's given me an idea for a video), or I'll set the metronome & just play around with the changes... it is more fun you're right & I think that type of playing around is what's pushing my progress possibly more than anything else because it's letting me go over & over & over stuff in an enjoyable way without having one eye on the next exercise.

 

In fact, it's so much more enjoyable than standard timed exercises etc. that I suspect it results in a lot of people reaching a certain level of proficiency with this basic stuff that they then just call it a day with the learning & don't bother furthering themselves (or facing up to further frustration haha) anymore. Of course, I've personally got one eye on the 2043 guitarist of the year award.

 

@The Pinky Thanks very much! How long have you been learning? Long enough to consider yourself playing yet? I still proudly tell people I practice guitar, I don't play it 

[The Pinky]

23 hours ago, ShawnE said:

@Dad3353 

 

@The Pinky Thanks very much! How long have you been learning? Long enough to consider yourself playing yet? I still proudly tell people I practice guitar, I don't play it 

I used to "play" years ago, I started in school and then on through college until my mid 20s.  I didn't have any formal lessons, I was taught by mates etc. And was never any good and didn't really study too much to learn properly.  I picked the guitar up again back in February buying a steel strung acoustic, I then picked up an electric guitar a short while after and recently was given a nylon strung acoustic which was going in the bin.

 

I have joined a programme on line (which I guess may be similar to what you are doing?) Which is paying dividends and thanks to the guidance of the teacher I am probably better than I was years ago although my technique still needs a lot of improvement.

 

Do I consider myself as playing, well i guess in a fashion although i don't think i am that great i rely on others such as my wife either saying that sounds good or "I recognise that!"  As a gauge I can just about play recognisable versions of lying eyes by the Eagles and Wish you were here byPink Floyd.  I am still practicing and taking every opportunity even if for only 10 minutes, and probably don't really practice as much as I should.  How much practice are you doing?  I do enjoy playing a spot of blues and am playing/practicing blues as well as practising scales and various strumming/finger picking techniques.  I don't rely on YouTube but I have a few books and I have been listening to a podcast to support my other lessons.

 

Two things I have learnt is that we all progress at different rates and we all have different abilities so comparing myself with others is done with those caveats.

 

I an lucky because my son plays guitar and he is very supportive and next week I am actually meeting up with some guys locally who jam together, which is a little daunting as they have all been playing for years so hopefully I won't embarrass myself too much!

[ShawnE]

@The Pinky That's awesome that you had a little kickstart though & picked it back up.... & all the more worthwhile if you've got to a point where you feel you're doing better now than you were even as a youngster. That guidance & structure to learning is probably all it takes for a lot of people... it's good to see where you're heading with it & understanding that there's a path of progress clearly mapped out. At least to the point where you may feel proficient enough to reassess your learning & take it down a different specific path. A lot of people have told me about how they've started following certain online lessons or even lessons with a teacher & then eventually changed route because they decided on a different style of playing or something similar... perhaps years down the line for that to ever come to fruition, certainly for me!

 

At the moment I'm getting around an hour of practice in every day. Usually 15 mins most mornings & then a good 45 minutes or more in the evening.

 

Spot on with the learning at different rates as well...!

[ShawnE]

 

This one isn't for the squeamish... if you don't like looking at calluses forming you may want to give this one a miss... if you're morbidly curious like I am then you may want to give it a watch... 

 

Short 6-7 minute documentary outlining the 54 days it took for my calluses to develop before settling down.

[The Pinky]

1 hour ago, ShawnE said:

@The Pinky That's awesome that you had a little kickstart though & picked it back up.... & all the more worthwhile if you've got to a point where you feel you're doing better now than you were even as a youngster. 

 

While I was strumming away thus morning, I had one of those light bulb moments where something clicked, which happens every so often.  This made me think about how I am discovering things almost daily, things just become clearer and my understanding better, add to that I sit there noodling and suddenly hear a phrase or series of notes that form a song or riff -  sometimes it just appears to be coming automatic and my fingers know where to go!  I also find myself putting little fills in every so often too.  Although all this is far from polished and much more work is needed.

[Dad3353]

2 hours ago, ShawnE said:

...Short 6-7 minute documentary outlining the 54 days it took for my calluses to develop before settling down.

 

An excellent video, well filmed, and well paced. Instructive, with some very useful tips of what (and what not..!) to do; very pertinent. Good Stuff; well done. 

[ShawnE]

 

10 weeks in... not too much change as I've mainly been going over the same things for the past 2/3 weeks... hopefully just some small improvements with bits & pieces.

 

The polishing of chord changes, technique, strumming, picking, rhythm etc. continues.. onwards & upwards with the G chord next.

 

Thanks for watching!

[Crusoe]

Coming on rightly Shawn.

[Dad3353]

@ShawnE : Congratulations on such speedy progress. You've gone from Dreadful to Bad in only a few weeks, and your progress is accelerating..!  Looking forward to the next couple of weeks when you get to be simply Quite Bad, from whence it's only a short time to Not Bad,then Not Bad At All, and Hmm... Good..! Keep going, you're on the right track; your patience and diligence are definitely paying off handsomely. Good Stuf (and thanks for sharing your journey...). 

 

Douglas

[ShawnE]

@Crusoe @Dad3353 Cheers both! Hahah yes 10 weeks from dreadful to bad.. and that in itself is not bad!  My latest module has had me dabbling with the G today (a simplified two finger version.. at least for now) & strumming along to 6:8 time signatures instead of the 4:4 I've had up 'till now... think I might be edging back to dreadful for the next few days before it starts heading forwards again!

[Dad3353]

40 minutes ago, ShawnE said:

... I might be edging back to dreadful ...

 

I never left..! 

[ezbass]

11 hours ago, ShawnE said:

I think I might be edging backwards for the next few days before it starts heading forwards again!

With a small alteration to your statement above…

 

[ShawnE]

 

[Dad3353]

43 minutes ago, ShawnE said:

...

 

Good Stuff again, Shawn; quite some wisdom in there. You''re right, we all learn and progress in different ways, which even for one person, changes over time. It's all good, and Patience is indeed a real boon, most especially when one hits a 'doldrums' period, thinking that progress has stopped (or even regressed..!). Not always easy to combat, but 'little and often' is one way of ensuring that, even when motivation is low, a few minutes can be found to do a little 'something', preferably something easy. What, exactly, matters little; the important thing is to do 'something'.
You are steaming along at a steady pace, following your exercises and routines, which are all to the good, so keep it up. I don't know if you've any interest in other aspects, but I believe that there is much to be gained from looking at some of the notions behind the stuff you're playing. Just simple things such as 'What are chords..?' and 'Why do some chords seem to 'go together..?', and more, make a lot of guitar stuff 'make sense'. Any thoughts..?

 

Douglas