Day 7 - There Are No Rules To Break

I didn't realize that rhymed.  Hmmm, perhaps a song??

I had an entirely different post outlined in my head from the one I'm actually publishing. I will save the interesting article for another day.

 

Today I played guitar.

 

I need to get that out of the way since today I did not want to play guitar. Nothing against the guitar but it was one of THOSE days. We all have shitty days when work sucks, family life sucks, we have aggravations, frustrations or aches and pains of some sort. So today sucked, tomorrow will probably be worse and the weekend will be spent at sports tournaments. 

 

So all I have to look forward to is Monday??

When in an foul mood I just want to withdraw from the world and spend time reading inappropriate romance novels or surfing the internet for Jon Bon Jovi pictures.  Guitar playing was not on my radar at all.

Just discovered the Photo Booth app on my iPhone.  Fun!

 

Thankfully I made my 365 Guitar Project rule simple: 

Play guitar every single day. 

No official practice necessary and no minimum play time. I am thankful I have just a little insight into how I operate - I know better than to make grand resolutions I can't keep.

So, after I was done taking crazy pics with my phone, I picked up my Fender intending to just strum a song or two and go in search of a stiff drink and a novel.  Interestingly (or not), once I started playing I didn't feel the need to stop right away.

I actually got a tiny bit of "practice" in.  I worked on my power chords.  That's it.

Then I plugged in headphones and played along to some of my favorite songs.  My guilty pleasure song almost made me happy for a moment there, but I'm still cranky.

Day 7 is over and I'll summarize my first week another day.  Now that this post is published, the wine bottle is mine!


 

Day 6 - My Hands Are As Cold As Your Beer?

This afternoon I had a tiny window of time to rock out on my guitar before chauffeuring a child to a lesson, so I sat down and immediately began playing a song.  Horrifically.  How could it be that I played this poorly when last night I noticed some improvement?

Perhaps my hands were as cold as a well chilled Dos Equis.  Maybe not cold as in "cold as beer" temperature, but cold as in not properly warmed up.  The muscles and tendons in my hands were shocked into movement; they hadn't had time to loosen and prepare for the vigorous activity of strumming.  (Well perhaps not super vigorous, but you get the idea.)

So sorry, but you will have to read on to understand the "cold as beer" reference and enjoy a video performance by Phil X.

It occurred to me that a WARM UP may be essential.  At least for a shitty guitarist like me.

When I was following the JustinGuitar beginner course I would usually do my practice according to his weekly lesson plan - which included a warm up. I noticed that my playing improved after stretching my fingers and doing some simple scales. With that in mind, I'm not sure why I sat down today and expected to rock out a song perfectly, especially since I have changed the way I hold the pick less than a week ago. 

 

A warm up can make those first chords sound awesome!

 

(Warning, feminist rant ahead:  When I was searching for images of a woman's hands playing guitar for this post - rather than try to photograph my own hands which are badly in need of a manicure - it was amazing to me the photos that pop up for keywords "girl and guitar."  I am a woman, yet it never occurred to me to pose topless with my guitar between my legs.  Perhaps I am missing something?  Or kneel down before it with my mouth open and ready.... you get the idea.  Seriously??  Rant over.)

 

 

Warming up makes total sense - athletes warm up.

When I raced 5k's and half marathons, I would jog slowly to loosen my muscles and then do some speed repeats shortly before the starting gun. Those races always went better than those where I was rushed and did not have time to warm up my muscles.  If you go from zero to race pace without a warm up you can expect some serious muscular backlash.

But what about guitar?

I would assume that most guitarists have a warm up routine of some sort??  Perhaps I need to develop my own official routine, although when I start making rules and absolutes my inner teenager has a tendency to rebel.

I did a little online searching and found a great article with some simple warm ups.  It is located HERE.  Thankfully the exercises are written in tab. I can't read sheet music but I can (slowly and painfully) dissect tabs. 

 

A proper warm up may prevent injury.

In my quick and informal research, I came across articles and forums that discuss repetitive injuries caused by guitar playing - many of which may have been prevented by a proper warm up. A forum post on guitar noise.com had some great finger stretching and limbering exercises.  

I'll try anything once.

 

 

(Except posing topless with my guitar.)  So before I began my real practice session this evening, I did the finger stretching and hand warm ups above.  I also began playing some of the warm up tabs very slowly.  I stopped when I reached the "intervalic guitar scales."   I'm not gonna lie - the word "intervalic" scared me, lol.  Enough warm up for one session.   

 

On to the actual practice.

 

Focus #1:  strumming.

I once again focused on my strumming with the proper pick hold.  I played for several minutes muting the strings, more to prevent my ears from exploding than anything else.  Relaxing my right hand is a serious problem.  As I wrote once before, "concentrating" on "relaxing" is a very weird proposition.  It's like when the gynecologist tells you to relax.  Yeah right.  (My apologies to any male readers, but we've already discussed nudity and sexual acts sooooo...)

 

Relaxing difficulties aside, I noticed more improvement tonight.  I don't know if my proper warm up is the reason, or that I am getting more familiar with holding the pick in this manner.  Regardless, I am happy with the improvement. 

 

 Focus #2:  soft and gentle.

I practiced several strum patterns, and concentrated on trying to play them softly; letting my pick glide gently over the strings.  I have a tendency to strike the strings hard.  That must be the inner rock goddess in me, lol.

 

Focus #3:  sloooooow the fuck down.

I don't know what possesses me to play a song at tempo or faster.  Huh?  I have real difficulty slowing down.  I mean, Freebird at warp speed?  I am pretty sure this means I'll have to spend some time with my metronome.  That will be a blast.

 

 

Incidentally this blog post title was inspired by Phil X's song I Wish My Beer was as Cold as Your Heart.  Sounds like a good country song, no?

 

 

Day 5 - Shhhhh...I'm Having An Affair

I realize this is only day five of my 365 guitar project. But one thing I've noticed is that this project, and specifically the habit of playing daily has

 

Rekindled the passion.

When I first started learning guitar it was difficult and felt like work.   However, once I mastered a few simple chords and put them together as songs, I became very enthusiastic and passionate about playing. I wanted to play all the time. I rarely walked by my blue Esteban acoustic without picking up the instrument and strumming a few chords. 

 

Just like spending time with a lover, I couldn't get enough.

 

Then life happens.  I found a day or two might go by without playing.  I finished my beginner online course and really stayed stagnant.  I just played the same easy songs over and over. It was still pleasurable, but the passion was dwindling.

 

Oh god it's like marriage.

 

(Not mine of course, lol.)

In June I went on vacation so I was separated from my guitar for a few weeks. They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but I didn't find that to be true at all.  When I returned I found excuses to spend my free time on other activities.

 

After that trip, I had a brief but torrid affair

 

with diet and exercise.  Workouts consumed all my energy since I was trying to look amazing (or my version of amazing) for an important trip to Las Vegas in October.  I rarely played the month prior to the trip and when I returned I had to focus on catching up in all other areas of life.  The guitar was neglected.

 

Trying to rekindle the romance was part of the reason I began my 365 Guitar Project.

 

I am just five days into the project but already I feel the familiar sparks of passion.  I want to play.  I need to play.  I look forward  to spending time with my guitars.

 

So for now I will nourish this passion and revel in it.

 

I'd like to keep this love affair alive for good this time!

 

 

Day 4 - The Dava Made A Difference

I was able to practice a little right after work and again after dinner for probably about an hour and 15 minutes total.  I devoted nearly all of my practice time to strumming with my new pick hold.

I was very discouraged after the first session.  It is incredibly hard (for me) to relax my hand and strum while also gripping the pick tightly enough so it doesn't slip in my hand.  And then my arm/hand/wrist has? have? a tendency to drift away from the strings so I am strumming at some crazy angle - again.

The strumming is easier with a lighter pick (I was using a Dunlop .46mm - paper thin), but that pick kept slipping.  So I alternated with my Dava pick.  It has a nice rubber grip, but the pick portion itself is still rather thin.

My pretty Dava picks!

Interestingly (or not) the Dava picks are multi-gauge.  In other words, you can get the feel of a light, medium or heavy pick just by where you put the pressure with your thumb.  Ha! As if I would ever have the coordination to do that! 

From the Dava website:  Unlike ordinary picks, Dava picks have a flexible center section. This is placed right where you hold it. You control the flexibility by putting pressure either toward the tip or toward the back of the pick, or anywhere in between the two, giving you multi-gauge control.

Brief Interlude... Jon Bon Jovi's favorite pick

From an interview with Jon's guitar tech from the 2009 Lost Highway tour (who was unnamed in this article - not sure if he's the current tech), Jon uses a Dunlop medium pick.  The powers that be ordered 2500 picks for that tour.  Four are on each guitar.  I have a photo of Jon's guitars from the 2013 Because We Can tour, but I'll save that for another post.  Instead, I'll share a pic of my JBJ guitar pick which I wear as a necklace.

JBJ pick from Lost Highway tour.

And now back to our regularly schedule practice update...

One thing that helped with the dreaded strumming (God where is a thesaurus when I need one?), was to focus on keeping the guitar tucked in toward my body so it stays parallel to my body.  I have a tendency to let the bottom tilt upward.  Not so I can see the frets or strings, but it just happens that way.  I find I tend to press the guitar into my massive breasts (yeah right) rather than tuck it in closer to my abs and legs.  I'm probably not describing it accurately (and certainly the description of my breasts is fictitious), but the goal is to keep the instrument totally upright.

Another interlude...Thesaurus.com

So I am tired of saying the word "strumming" or "strum."  So I did visit an online thesaurus.  Guess what?  There are only three synomyns for strum - pluck, pick and plunk.  WTF?

Yes, back to practice notes...

Sometimes I swear I have adult ADD.

At any rate, by my second practice session, once I was warmed up, I noticed progress.  I could do some of my normal strumming patterns to speed.  I am still missing some of the upstrums, but less than I missed yesterday.  I know that I should just focus on the strum itself (soooooo tired of that word) but I want to play songs, and so I did mess around with some of my favorite easy songs (Stairway to Heaven, Freebird, Bringing on the Heartache, While My Guitar Lies Bleeding in My Arms, etc.)

OMG, another interlude...

Although I don't expect to have any readers, I did briefly think about how someone would describe me based on my posts so far, and from those to come in the future.  This since I haven't really said anything about myself other than that I am a mom.  And you can tell I have less than stellar writing skills.  And probably adult ADD.  Oh, and no musical ability whatsoever.  I promise I will not get sidetracked any further tonight.

These are my final practice comments - I promise.

Thankfully I don't have much more to add.  At least I am seeing progress.  Hopefully in another week I'll be back up to speed, so to speak, so I can focus more on the left hand. 

The sound, when all the planets are aligned and I get the strum at the proper angle, is good.  Better than before so I am pretty sure that my incorrect "pen hold" was the sound problem I was experiencing. 

I still have to concentrate on keeping my lower fingers on my right hand from curling into a fist.  So many things to think about while trying to relax!  Lol.  We will see what tomorrow will bring.  Rock on.

Day 3 - Should I Record Myself? Please NO!

Almost as painful as my recent strumming is the idea that popped in my head.  I suppose I should record myself playing so I can compare what I sound like now with the way I will make my guitar sing in approximately 362 days.  Yeah right.

I've only recorded myself twice, and certainly have never shown anyone or published it on youtube. 

 

What can I learn from videotaping myself?

• check out technique (one of the videos I took showed my hand strumming and I now see the awkward way I used to hold the pick - like a pen.  The other video only shows my face.  That was intelligent.)
• check out how I sound (I need to find out the dates of my videos but one sounds decent - keeping in mind "decent" for me means that I strummed the chords correctly and accurately.  I can do a little bit of finger picking - which I quite enjoy - but only know a few riffs.  I don't do any lead guitar type of stuff.  Rhythm guitar all the way for me.)
• Justin from justinguitar.com says it's good to do!  And his opinion means a lot, ha ha.

Here is Justin's Quick Tip about recording yourself:

Back to Practice

Mostly Strumming Practice

Since it is Sunday, I was able to practice twice, for about an hour and a half total.  Still focusing mainly on strumming.  OMG.  I did search for a YouTube video to help me because it still feels amazingly awkward with my new pick hold.  I found a good tip from Jeni Trani at Mahalo.  She said to imagine flicking water from your hand/wrist.  Interestingly, she uses a lot more wrist action than others I've seen for really fast strumming.  I've seen other "experts" advise to use more of your arm, rather than wrist.

 

Which is it??  Aaahhh!

Soooo, I practiced a bunch of song but focused mainly on the strumming, not so much the chords.  I feel like a total beginner again.  Dang it.

Once I have the strumming mastered - please God let that be SOON - then I need to pull out the old metronome.  I always want to go FAST. 

My Favorite Chord of the Day

E7.  I was playing Alone by Heart and I just love the way E7 sounds.  I don't know why.  Many of the 7th chords I don't care for at all, like A7 and D7.  But E7 is cool -- today.

Riffs

I worked on Bring on the Heartache again.  I really like that song.  Interestingly, although Bon Jovi is my favorite band, Bringing on the Heartache is the song I enjoy playing most of all.  I usually just play the chords, but I'm learning the riff that sort of runs through all the song.

At the end of my evening session I decided to do the intro to Wanted Dead or Alive which I can play to speed finger picking, but I totally kept missing strings picking it with my "new technique."  So I got pissed and quit.  And that's cool because I met my goal today of playing my guitar every single day.  Bye!

Day 2 - Awkward Strumming

Today I focused on my new (correct) picking technique. May I scream in frustration??!!!  

 

It feels like I am taking major steps backwards, but I know in my heart of hearts I need to tackle this problem NOW.  I want to cultivate good habits and proper technique. But strumming today was absolutely painful. I shut the door of my music/exercise room in hopes the family wouldn't hear me lest they might mistake my "music" for a screeching cat or something. Ugh. 

 

Here's a summary of today's practice:

 

Warm up, spider, scale practice.

 

Riffs (with new pick grasp)

Practiced Bringing on the Heartache with pick. (I'm more comfortable playing this with my fingers but need to move out of that comfort zone ). 

 

 

Strumming Practice

Then I probably did 40 minutes of strumming practice. I used my orange Star pick (Phil X uses Star picks, although heavier gauge.  Oh, and he uses them with just a bit more talent and finesse than I do!)

 

Phil X's Star picks.  I took this photo before the Kansas City Bon Jovi concert in 2013.

 

Despite the star cut out, the damn pick kept slipping in my hand. And my fingers kept tensing and curling into a fist. So the new pick technique feels incredibly awkward and sounded like total shit.

 

Toward the end of my practice I discovered a few helpful hints:

• I concentrated on relaxing my wrist (what a paradox - "concentrate" to "relax")
• I tried to ignore the fretting hand and just played easy cords or muted the strings (rather than trying to play songs).  Muting the strings was certainly easier on my ears, lol.
• And this was a biggie - moving my hand/wrist in more of a natural arc than straight up and down along the strings

I realize these may be concepts that the majority of people either intuitively know or soon pick up.  Unfortunately not me. 

So apparently the word of the day is perseverance!  And persevere is what I'll do.

 

 

 

 

I also managed about another hour of practice this evening. First with my cherry red Fender Starcaster and then, when the strumming still sucked, I went back to the Takamine.  Most of the  session was spent on strumming. I just messed around with songs I like and strummed them slowly (and awkwardly). I still miss many up strums.

 

I spent a little more time working on Bringing on the Heartache riff using the pick.  It definitely sounded better than strumming chords. 

 

 

Day 1 - Use The Pick Correctly For Crying Out Loud

 

Well here we go - day 1 of 365. It's easy to be motivated on day 1, however I'm looking forward to reviewing my skills and creating new (good) habits. 

 

The first bad habit I decided to tackle is holding the pick. I've used a pick for about a year and I've never held it properly. I grasp it like a pencil. I did try the "real" way but it felt uncomfortable and I justified my bad habit by assuming that everyone is different and perhaps this is my own personal style. Yeah right.

 

Personal style aside, my strumming sucks and I suspect it is related to the pick issue. I can strum some 16th note rhythms but the sound always seems a bit off with me. I question the angle of the pick against the strings, using more or less wrist versus arm swing, etc. In other words, I can play songs and they sound decent (sometimes) but I know there is a problem somewhere. This is where it would be helpful to have a real live teacher!

 

Soooo, today after work I searched YouTube for "how to hold a guitar pick."  I watched a few videos but THIS one was a revelation!
 

 

Mark McKenzie specifically mentioned he used to hold the pick like a pen. (Actually he has a cute Australian accent and it sounds like he is saying "pin."  But I digress.)

 

He showed how the wrist has to be bent at a crazy and awkward angle to strum. Wow. That's my issue exactly!  I had my wrist bent all weird and fingers curled almost in a fist around the pick. Sometimes my fingers would actually graze the strings. 

 

Then he demonstrated the proper way to hold the pick:

1. Hold the pick at a right angle to the thumb. Not too much of the tip showing.  (I hold it with waaaay too much pick hanging out.)
2. The side of the index finger holds the pick in place. Slight curvature of the index finger. 
3. Hand in A-OK position with fingers relaxed and fanned out. 

Oh yeah - the A-OK description was HUGE.  No more fingers grazing the strings - at least once I master this new technique. And here was the pièce de résistance:
 

The thumb and wrist and arm should all be in a straight line. 

 

 

The heavens opened and I swear I heard the Hallelujah chorus!  (Click the link for the real thing from Handel's Messiah.)  This was a revelation for a slow learner like me. (Lord this is probably the first lesson in a beginner class but this is the price I pay by being self taught.)

 

Now I know, not only how to hold the pick, but how to align my wrist and arm to strum. It all makes sense.
 

So I practiced. Immediately I noticed the sound was "right."  Apparently this is the answer to my strumming dilemma.
 

But, and this is a big concern indeed, it feels awkward and totally unnatural!  Every few strums my fingers want to curl back into a fist.  Also the pick slid around quite a bit. The new way will take getting used to. 

I resolve to work on this and will not go back to my old style even if it sets me  back a bit. I think learning the proper way will pay off big time. And it already pays off with the improvement in sound.
 

I spent about 45 minutes strumming and then maybe 10 minutes playing around with Bringing on the Heartache riffs.  I had less trouble picking individual notes than strumming with my new picking technique.
 

So really only one skill was practiced today, but this is a biggie.  Now I know how to hold the pick correctly.  And I'll practice until it feels natural.  Hopefully before day 365! 

Until tomorrow...