What's going on guys, Joel McLaughlin here. I'd like to officially welcome you back to my blog. I'd have to say from my personal standpoint that this week was very successful. I'll get into the many things I learned in this week.
This week I learned many things about guitar basics and even began working on the song I might be performing for my final project. One of the the biggest things I learned this week aside from the obvious (how to hold the guitar, tune, how to hold the pick, etc.) was how to play a chord. the chord I learned this week was the A major/minor chord. With the learning of this chord also came multiple fingerings for the same chord. On top of chords, I learned where the notes are on the guitar, and what string you need to press, in what place to achieve that note. Another big thing I began learning this week was the basics in the song I have been thinking I'm going to try and learn. I have beginning to learn some of the notes in the chorus and I've started memorizing the lyrics. Overall I haven't necessarily had any unconquerable struggles yet throughout this process. Although if I did have to pick a couple of things that were giving me some trouble it would be sliding and my finger strength. In regards to sliding, it is something that requires a lot of practice and one could even say that it ties into finger strength. When you first pick up a guitar, your fingers aren't used to constantly pressing the strings down and sliding across the strings. That in combination with some of the strings being sharp or grooved can really hurt your fingers. So, if your fingers are already hurting due to inexperience and then you have to slide them is can be really difficult. Finger strength is just something I will have to build up over this process and when that strength is built up, that should help exponentially with my sliding. I hope to continue to inform you efficiently of my successes and struggles throughout this process, so if you ever decide to pick up guitar you can know what to look out for. Thank you all for tuning in and I'll see you all next week.
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My name is Joel McLaughlin and I would like to formally welcome all to my blog. For any music enthusiasts out there, the next 12 weeks I will be posting this blog about me learning to play the guitar and tips to help you learn if you so wish to do so.
Throughout my life I have always had a sort of incurable passion for music. Whether it be just listening to music or even participating in music myself. One of the music abilities I've always wanted to learn is how to play the guitar, but one could say I have never had the time and drive to put in the effort. Over the course of this project I will finally begin to work towards this goal. My brother-in-law (Preston) will be teaching me techniques I need to know and fundamentals throughout this learning privilege. Preston who has played guitar for a good chunk of his life is my inspiration for this project. When he plays guitar he plays with so much passion and you can just tell he is really enjoying what he is doing. This gives me the strength to finally make that extra push to begin learning this amazing skill. Over this process blogs will be posted weekly of progress that I am making in the development of my guitar skills. Eventually I would even like to learn to play a song and maybe even sing it depending on how skilled I am. I have a couple of songs in mind that I would like to be able to play but at this point I think I am leaning towards "Morning Song" by the Avett Brothers. At the end of the 12 weeks I will present to my class my newly acquired skill by hopefully not only playing the song that I have learned, but also singing it in front of the class. On top of that, after the presentation of my project I would like to continue to develop my playing and singing skills with the guitar and even maybe play for people sometimes. I look forward to taking this journey with all of you in these next 12 weeks and I'll talk to you next time. |
Genius HourMy name is Joel McLaughlin and this will be the website for my blog for the next 12 weeks. I will be taking lessons from my brother-in law to try and learn to play the guitar. Archives |