#guitar journal

[phantalgia]

Getting Back Into Hobbies: Guitar, Introduction

Before I Even Begin

This is the start of a diary section of my blog dedicated towards learning guitar. I picked up my guitar after a few weeks still feeling confused as to what I was looking at. That throat tightness and shortness of breathe has come back. I have energy that came back despite the Long COVID to try and get back to it.

Anyway, there will be other diaries dedicated towards other hobbies. Drawing will be one, not sure if I'll ever share what I've been doing. But I will share my thought process and things I'm learning on the way. I also could have made a separate blog dedicated to just these hobbies. Honestly, I don't know. Perhaps I will if it seems like I should.

I think last night just reminded me of what really matters to me. I have alternating interests that cycle, never consistent. But I can work with that and attempt to work with my physical and mental health. The thing is, I got to start. So I want to at least pick up my guitar again. I will probably talk about how I'm gonna get myself back into drawing via another blog post but let's start with guitar.

Why Guitar?

To make things short and sweet, the American Primitive scene got me interested in guitar. It's probably a pipe-dream at this point to get to that point but I'll do what I can. I have other instruments that interest me but guitar seemed like a good place to start. I can save specifics about guitar and the genres of music that inspired me for a later time.

My Progress So Far

I don't really like to think about my progress, as when I look back I see a year or so went by and I feel like I didn't go anywhere. So I know my goal is in the fingerstyle realm but there has been something bugging me about the instrument that I HAD TO KNOW. This is part of my own perfectionism/anxiety and perhaps a very mechanical way of seeing things that I inherently have.

Guitar Theory/Music Theory Has Been My Focus

I'm really hellbent on guitar theory for the past year. I've pretty much abandoned fingerstyle practice for this. Honestly, what I want to learn is how to transcribe music and play along with songs. My goals have been the following:

"Memorize" all the notes on the fretboard or at least get relative knowledge about them.

Use CAGED to learn scales and chords and then how it can be used to relate to other systems and patterns of seeing the guitar, as well as theory.

Learn 3NPS

Understand how this all connects to broader guitar theory and music theory generally to have a more holistic view of the instrument.

The THEMES here have been holism, diversification, pattern seeking, connecting, relating, and theory (guitar/music)

I have thought about other goals to add onto this either during or after:

Chord theory

Chords and scales their relations

Others I can't really think of right now....

What I've Learned So Far

I initially started out learning fingerstyle but kept trying to find new ways to learn and see the instrument. What I gravitated towards has been transcribing and guitar/music theory. I really enjoy being able to play a song that's in the right key and figure out if the chords and scales are correct. I do need to also practice actual picking patterns too of course.

What eventually lead me to CAGED, memorizing the fretboard, and patterns and systems was because of how much CAGED tickled my brain in terms of how it allowed me to see the fretboard. I was excited and fascinated by the patterns and theory more than the act of playing itself. So that's where my focus has been. I don't know if this is indicative of how my brain operates or it's just "productive procrastination". I like systems and patterns and stuff. That took away from the actual art of playing.

Books I'm Using

I don't really like YouTube videos, they don't feel structured enough for me. Even books aren't perfect in this regard. But occasionally I'll use YouTube videos as a facilitator rather than the main mode. So books have been my go to.

Memorize and Master The Fretboard In 14 Days! - Troy Nelson

The CAGED System for Guitar - James Shipway

I'm also using a couple of courses on Udemy although they're not perfect. The Troy Nelson book has probably been the most interesting and the James Shipway book introduced me to a nice practice regiment I could apply to anything I do by going around the Circle of Fourths.

The Troy Nelson book has been really good for memorizing although, the memory seems to be muscle memory or relative memory rather than mental or absolute, perhaps I can use that to my advantage by incorporating other patterns and systems. Dropping the guitar for months after my surgery I came back pretty much oblivious to what I was looking at on the fretboard. But quizzing myself I realized I did remember quite a bit if I tried hard enough. After a few weeks still, I'm rusty again with the memory even though I tried to pick the guitar back up a week or so ago.

I want to add that Nelson offers not just a system to memorize the fretboard. No, it's more than that. It goes over theory and a whole host of other things with the emphasis on the goal being memorizing the fretboard. So you get a lot more out of it. It's a really good book IF YOU TAKE YOUR TIME WITH IT. Just because it's 14 days doesn't mean you have to or should do it in 14 days. I definitely am not, whether better or worse. In fact it might be for worse as I'm always feeling like I'm not good enough or haven't memorized it well enough.

The Shipway book is great for CAGED obviously, but offers multiple ways to tackle it and see it. So it's very varied in what it does. It does require knowledge of the notes on the last 2 or 3 strings though.

My Thought Process For Learning, Better or For Worse

So I'm a perfectionist, I'm very antsy about doing things the right way. That prevents me from doing a lot or moving along and progressing as I see things in a linear fashion. I have been trying to break from this habit but it's hard.

It's hard for me to see things as a process of just absorption over time. Instead it's all linear, structure, one thing at a time. So certain strategies for learning become difficult such as diversification.

So an example is this need to know the fretboard before moving on. I never finished that Nelson book, and managed to do that on top of the Shipway one and developed a regiment of practice where I went back and forth on top of self quizzing myself on note locations. It helped make learning the fretboard easier. As I had another way of seeing the fretboard and relating note locations to the CAGED system on top of this quizzing thing.

But perhaps I was only able to have this diversification as long as I slowly added new approaches over time instead of all at once. So I did this "fretboard memorization" book first for maybe a little bit, maybe get a quarter of the way through and go "ok I think I have made some room to add the CAGED book now" so I'm able to EASE my way into the CAGED book. And then BOOM I have built my system and didn't give myself much distress.

What Now?

Use this blog to document stuff and maybe get help? Perhaps slowly I can have a much better way of learning the instrument and make progress. I don't know what to do next. Perhaps today I will just take a break. I spent a lot of time writing about this and I'm drained and anxious about this. My mind is kind of bouncing around the drawing stuff too, so it's very active up there. I think I can at least be satisfied that I picked up the guitar for a little bit and did some writing today to talk about how I feel about it.

Future entries on my guitar progress will probably be after I make progress at a given day or even time of day, my thoughts, feelings, breakthroughs, emotions. I think my main worry is the feeling of being stuck or like I'm not going anywhere with this or things just taking too long.

Any Advice?

So I ask the person reading this, anyone with experience in fingerstyle guitar or in the American Primitive guitar space want to help give me some advice? Otherwise I could just go on Reddit and ask at some point.

[nightsi]

college

[rexscanonwife]

Yo I was thinking about something and-

Their shred-off would be LEGENDARY 😩😩😩

[moonetta]

Metal Family episodes 9 and 10 are such well written depictions of abuse and leaving a toxic family

[veronicamalatesta]

Not anymore 💘🧚🏼‍♀️✨🦄💫🌓

[its-stimsca]

WAHHHHH THANK YOU FOR THE NZ BIRD STIMBOARDDD!!!! I have another request. May I please have a tuī stimboard with gifs of junk journaling and bass guitars with mainly blue colour schemes pls? I've been interested in junk journaling and taking bass guitars lately :3

Surprisingly I think this is the first board I’ve made where all the gifs are made by me

🎵 📘 🎵 / 📘 🎵 📘 / 🎵 📘 🎵

[iconsfinder]

[angrybatart]

Someone's getting extra kisses later tonight.

[albertayebisackey]

"I try to keep a low profile in general. Not with my art, but just as a person." - Eric Clapton

[kaylor]

"taylor swift is a good dancer" makes me feel equally as gaslit as people acting like she is insanely built. She got stamina but if you saw the buff women i want to fuck you'd hurl. Why do we need her to be athletic so bad . Let her be gangly and baby giraffe adjacent in peace

she's not a good dancer she knows 3 moves and has them all perfectly and clinically memorized and she's good at emoting during a performance so you don't see her going 1234 in her head but you know she secretly is because it slips sometimes and her eyes go blank for a split second because she's trying to move her hips in a way that is laborious and unnatural and all of this is very endearing to me but the fact remains she's not a good dancer

[rotton-teeth]

Toralei Fearbbok after school activies that arent just ~Music~

[meganthepagan1]

My husband has been practicing guitar for the past 2 years after never playing it before. His elderly cat would sit nearby and listen to him every day before she passed away at 17. She was his cat since he was a kid and into his 30’s. He made it his life’s mission to play every day for her after her passing. We now have a kitten that’s a few months old and she sits and listens to him when he plays. It makes him so happy. Animals are the therapy we need.

[vulpine111]

I plan to spend as much of my day as possible learning guitar!

I found a channel on YouTube that teaches chords common in punk style music. It seems like a good place to start. Once I have all that down, I'll aspire to more complex styles, I hope.

I made a playlist with some vids from SugarPill Productions and other channels.

I just took my methadone but hopefully it doesn't make me nap for too long after it kicks in.

I still don't have the right mask for my CPAP machine. I don't understand what's taking them so long. I might call my care coordinator and see if she got them to choose a fitting day for me yet.

They've really been dragging their feet.

[harmonicunt]

kind of bonkers crazy insane that i have like, a whole song, start to finish, that i wrote, that i came up with, that i sing, that i play

[onmymusicstand]

Currently, I’m working on a new piece that’s giving me some trouble. In fact I’ve decided to accompany it on guitar… but played by myself! However, I’m a beginner at guitar and to be honest, I don’t play it often. Given the difficulties I'm facing, I'm starting to wonder if this project is a good idea...

[vio-starclad]

Oof. I mean they are handmade by craftsdudes but I was hoping they were a bit less.