Hey guys & girls, I'm Shawn.
I started learning on an acoustic a little over three weeks ago at the age of 38 (with zero instrument experience) & I'm periodically documenting my progress (started from day 1) with video updates on a new YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@NewLifeWithGuitar I've started with self-teaching via online lessons but hope to introduce weekly in-person lessons in the near future.
First reason for this is so I can of course look back at these in years to come & appreciate this journey we're on of continual improvement - second reason is I think it could prove a collection of useful content for other beginners - both now & in the future - as a sort of reference point or somewhere to get the perspective of another beginner who may be at their current level. I already find it more helpful than you may think to see or hear about other learners struggling with the same things I am & then later explaining how they found ways to overcome this, that & the other.... it has already produced a couple of lightbulb moments in my first 3 weeks... but content from a beginner's perspective seems limited for obvious reasons... we're rubbish & generally want to hide away 'till we're half decent.
Anyway, I'll try to remember to post my updates in here. If any other beginner's want to follow along (as well as any of you more advanced curious minds) feel free to subscribe & offer words of motivation, advice, or even just to have a general guitar chat!
Day 1:https://youtu.be/zT9ij0RV4M4
Week 1 Update:
https://youtu.be/05H5KqOKR_U
Week 2 Update:
https://youtu.be/ZXif-NdEz4w
Week 3 Update:
https://youtu.be/gS_215iNyyk
Thanks in advance for anyone who may be interested in following along &/or getting in touch!
For now, I'll plough on with my current week of practice/learning/frustration/enjoyment/finger pain etc...
Comments
Just paste the URL directly into the post like this:
I had to bung a space after the 'h' to stop it rendering!
I think you've used the forum editor's link facility and, if you're not careful, it munges the 'http' stuff at the start.
You don't need the '?si=whatever' suffix either.
Also note that, if you subsequently edit the post, previous Youtube embeds will turn into static images (just a forum quirk).
https://www.youtube.com/@NewLifeWithGuitar
One month update... that's 30 days learning & practicing how to make sounds with this beautifully handcrafted piece of wood with 6 strings.... I take a look at the progress I've made during my first month by comparing clips from day one through to week four.
https://www.youtube.com/@NewLifeWithGuitar
https://www.studiowear.co.uk/ -
https://twitter.com/spark240
Facebook - m.me/studiowear.co.uk
Reddit r/newmusicreview
A little run through update of the "easy" songs I've been going over (& over & over) to drum these 3 chords into my unmusical brain - Of course, I've still been doing all of my slow daily technical practice (probably up to around 45-60 minutes of total practice per day on average) & often practice these songs at a slower tempo, certainly at first.
I also introduced Am & Em chords last week & a couple of new "easy" riff practices to get my fingers working in new ways.
As of yesterday I've also introduced the Dm chord, a simplified version of the spider finger exercise to ease me into that & a slightly more difficult strumming pattern to work with (the "old faithful" - missing one downstrum for the first time - D-D-U-x-U-D-U).
Of course, with these new minor chords I have a few new practice songs added as well - I have a LOT of different things in my routine now so will see how I get on over the next week & will then look to condense the exercises & songs in the routine so as not to overwhelm myself with a ton of different things every day - maybe split things up into alternating daily exercises &/or pause things I'm more comfortable with & focus more on what I feel needs work. I'll reassess & see.
Could be a good few weeks before I'm comfortable enough to progress onto a new chord & such - Will put together a video update of all of this in the next week or two.
Thanks for watching!
https://www.youtube.com/@NewLifeWithGuitar
https://www.youtube.com/@NewLifeWithGuitar
https://www.youtube.com/@NewLifeWithGuitar
Introduction of the Em, Am & Dm chords at the 5 & 6 week stage. Still have lot's of work to do with these minor chords (particularly the Dm) before I'll be comfortable enough to add a further chord & whatnot.
https://www.youtube.com/@NewLifeWithGuitar
I followed Justin for a while and the '60 second challenge' worked for me. Nevertheless one thing I would add was even though I got those chord change times spot on, they still sounded 'bitty' until I started up-strumming. So I did the one minute challenge for downstrumming and separately for upstrumming.
But it still sounded 'bitty' and I could not understand it. My chord change times were pretty good.
Then one day, I got a bit frustrated and just picked a fast song I liked and went for it. Suddenly it all came together!
It was like a breakthrough moment. Like that scene in Karate Kid where he spends ages painting the fence but then only realises why when he has to use his skills for real. It's like the muscle memory kicks in.
That was maybe two months later. Took me ages to get 'D'
I went G - Cadd9 - Em - D - A - A7 - Am - E. I did learn Dm but never really used it so that fell by the wayside. I also use another one but no idea what that is. Also a two finger D which to me sounds like a Bm (or certainly not out of place in my singalong ears).
Can't play an F, can't play a B. Can't play a Power Chord (finger stretching issue) and in most cases play 2 finger chords nowadays because they're not a million miles off and I'm lazy.
In my favour my timing is pretty good and can learn a song (in my style) in literally minutes.
Not sure if you know of this resource:
https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/bob-dylan/mr-tambourine-man-chords-1092233
Find a song you like and google it eg 'My way chords', a few website options will show but Ultimate Guitar is best (IMO). Press the 'simplify' button if there seems too many chords or chords are too complex and lastly use the Transpose (-1 and +1 buttons) to find your opening chord (when you start singing along this will usually match your voice), you will notice all the other chords change automatically when you find the opening chord you like
Finally click autoscroll and it will scroll through the words and chords as you play along. Press the + or - on your computer to make it scroll faster or slower.
@BillDL I'm not sure if you still fluffing the Dm is consolation or just a further realisation at the difficulties I have ahead with this instrument for the rest of my life haha..!! Appreciate your advice regarding the way I'm doing the spider walk exercise... I'll pay close attention to all of that. I think I need to look at my thumb placing as well when performing it (as well as thumb placement for general play as well to be fair).
I've heard a lot about the fretting of different chords as well... behind the scenes I dabble with a few different ways just so that they aren't totally foreign to me if it comes to making use of them further down the line... I'll still have my main way of fretting in these very early stages but appreciate it can be super helpful having other ways of fingering a chord in the arsenal when it comes to doing as you say and finding easier way to transition to the next chord during play.
Always appreciate your really helpful advice and tips so thanks so much!!
@hollywoodrox Thanks a lot I'll certainly keep it going!!
https://www.youtube.com/@NewLifeWithGuitar
This is after 7 weeks of learning. For the second week in a row I put the main focus on the Am, Dm & Em (I wasn't comfortable enough with them last week to move onto new stuff) 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 there's 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 just 7 weeks.
Still doing all of my other regular practice of course, playing through these songs is just what I do at the end of my more technical exercises etc.
This coming week I look at the C chord for the first time.
https://www.youtube.com/@NewLifeWithGuitar
The fingers naturally place down in order - index finger, then middle finger a split second later, then ring finger lagging last... it's not a big issue at the moment but would be nice to eventually get the ring finger dropping at the same time as the middle (& I guess beyond that would be all finger dropping in unison!) ... is this likely just a case of more time & repetition or would you recommend spending a little time every day forming the chords with the ring finger placing down before the middle to sort of train it to get up to speed?
Big thanks!
https://www.youtube.com/@NewLifeWithGuitar
Don't overthink it though: just keep doing what you're doing. By all means, do some finger independence exercises if you find it fun...but don't overdo it and pick-up an RSI.
Bonus round...C to D transition:
x-3-2-0-3-3 -> x-x-0-2-3-2
That C chord is a common variant but don't worry about what it's called yet: it sounds cool.
Finger it with the ring finger on the 3rd fret of the B string.
Keep that finger in-place while you form the D chord around it.
n.b. you get an almost free G chord with 3-2-0-0-3-3...careful though: you'll be playing Wonderwall before you know it!