I have the A & E down now. And focusing on the D. As soon as I get the D down, I will begin the process of switching them back and forth, and picking up speed between them before moving on to lesson 6.
I did try something suggested in the RHM forums, and I sat on the edge of the bed to practice, and that does seem to help to get me back to the original technique shown in the DVD. A little, but not %100. So it seems that the height from the ground can help me adapt to the hurdle. I am wondering if being higher then the edge of my bed might help even more. So I am on the hunt for other places to sit, to see if that will solve the problem.
Another thought I had was to place a heavy object on my right side, near my leg. (Not obstructing the area used to play though, much like the arms of a chair would.) If I could get that to prop up my leg straight, it would make it a lot easier to put the guitar on my right leg, as opposed to my left. Something else I will have to hunt for. One person down at the local bank even suggested using a belt to tie my legs together? Sounds primitive, but there might be merit in it, I will have to poke around with it. The closer I can get to John's example, the better off I must be in the long run.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Practice day
Monday, November 3, 2008
Practice day
Ok, so we are actually getting somewhere with practice now!
I was having quite a bit of trouble at first, because I was unable to hold and use the guitar in the way John suggests in the DVD. I became rather frustrated, and went to the RHM forums to look for answers.
But it wasn't until today, when the visiting nurse came to my home, (They come 3x's a week) that I realized that I was approaching this from the wrong direction.
The reason I left the drums, and started the guitar was because my physical limitations will not allow me to play them. But, as the nurse noted when I discussed it with her this morning, is that I will simply have to do a "Rick Allen" and work around it. (She is a big 80's fan as well, so we had discussed him more than once.) BTW, since I am mentioning him, I need to give this a shout out as well: Raven Drum Foundation check it out...
Yes, it would be nice to mirror John, but that can't happen because of the amputations, and the bone deformities in the lower half of my body. Ergo, I made a few adaptations, and now the practice is going much better! And I mean MUCH better.
- The guitar will need to be placed on my left leg, instead of my right.
- The guitar needs to be tilted up and in to accommodate that.
- I will have to lean to the left and down to use my left hand to my advantage.
The articles I found on the three men spoke highly of them, so maybe I will need to keep in mind that there are some instances in life where the end does justify the means.
But with that aside, I am doing well with the A & E major Open Chords, and need more work with the D. It might take a bit of practice to move on to lesson 6, but as Sarge said: "It's a journey, not a race." So we indeed might have some short posts on a few days. Who knows, maybe I can throw in some ancillary quacking to fill some space.
I can still solicit advice from the folks at RHM, but I might have to twist it a bit to make it work in some instances. But as long as it works, who cares if it looks a little odd. I am in it for the music, and I am sure the music won't mind having to park in the handicapped spot, to make it to the ears of the listener... LOL
Sunday, November 2, 2008
LRAG-BEG - L# 5
Lesson 5 Major Open Chords E - A - D
I am just going to assume that all guitarists share the same experiences the majority of the time, especially when just starting out, such as myself. So let us hope that those reading can relate, by thinking back to the first time learning their first chords when I say...
Damn, my fingers hurt! LOL
And those first three chords where no piece of cake to try and learn either! And yes, I said "try". I still do not have them down, and don't expect to just as yet. It is certainly not as easy as it looks by any means.
My main problem, which others might have had, is getting my left hand positioned correctly, so that the fingers are where they belong. So far I have found...
- I need to keep my fingers arced, to where they come straight at the fret. My pinky likes to hit that first string, and deaden it.
- I need to keep equal pressure on all the strings in a "Bar Chord". That one is a killer. Just when I think I have it, I get down to test each note, only to find I am not placing enough pressure on one of the strings with my finger. Especially with that "A Major Open Chord" I keep worrying about my first finger touching the first string, so I let up on that second string a bit to stay away from it.
- It is not easy to see down where my hands are at, when sitting up straight, and keeping the guitar in the correct position.
- I will need a nice sturdy chair to sit in for practicing
- I will indeed need callouses on my fingers to make this a lot easier.
Tomorrow will strictly be one among very many "Practice days only", so unless I have some new revelation, methinks the next post might be a bit shorter.
The kids sure do like watching me with the DVD though... It is like a tennis game, seeing them watch John on TV, then turn to me quickly to see what I do, then back to John. I do get clapping, and "Yay Daddy" every once in a while when they can tell that I am doing it correctly. Gotta love the built in "fan club" at home.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
LRAG-BEG - L#'s 1,2,3,4
The wife and I, (and the kids of course) watched the entire video "Learn Rock Acoustic Guitar" two times through last night before getting serious with it this morning. And as I had stated in a comment over at the Rock House Blog . The wife got so "overly-excited" about the thought of me getting back into music, that she hooked me up after the kids went to bed. And for that, I am forever a John McCarthy fan! LOL
- Lesson 1 dealt with "Parts of the Guitar", which if you saw the "Ground Zero" video, that turned out to be the best place to start for me. (It's kinda nice to know what it is you are playing before you actually start.) So now I actually know all about my guitar! Who'da thunk?
- Lesson 2 discussed "Holding the Guitar and Pick". And like drumming, knowing how to hold the sticks (The guitar in this case) actually makes all the world of a difference! (trust me, holding the sticks foolishly will come back to bite you later on, so I was more than appreciative to get the guitar right from the git-go.)
- Lesson 3 gave me the "Names of the open strings". Yet again, quite invaluable for someone who doesn't know his ass from a soundhole in the body! And believe me, I will be spending quite a bit of time here in the beginning lessons, as I damn well know that memorizing the names of the strings, as well as the upcoming chords will come back to bite me if I don't get it done before moving on. So I expect this to be a very long process. For those of you reading, you had better prepare for a long haul before you really see me get anywhere. I am the anal type, and need to be %103.5 sure I have it down before even moving on.
- Lesson 4 was a "Chord chart explanation". And that was nice to have. I would imagine that it probably helps a hella lot to be able to read the charts and the tab if you ever plan on getting past the first day!
I went online to download my free tuner and metronome, as well as look over some of the other information there to go with the lessons. An invaluable resource indeed. Kinda makes ya wonder why this whole outfit is only $20.00? I would have paid twice or three times as much for it. (Don't get any cute ideas RH, I am already sold on the twenty bones, so don't go raising it anytime soon!) I popped into the "RH Classroom" as well, and there is still a grip of stuff there for me over and above what is on the DVD. Again, an infreakingvaluable resource! At this point, I wouldn't take "Private Lessons" if they were offered to me for free. And the forums contain more information then I will probably ever be able to absorb anytime soon.
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