Jan 4: Over an hour
I played today. Started with my songs, tried to play the How to Train your Dragon songs but my back decided to start acting up.
So I switched to playing songs I know in my song apps, but haven’t played since November (because Christmas).
And omg.
I can play them so much better now?
Like, my rhythms are better?
And I can switch between chords faster?
I was feeling like I wasn’t improving, but wow! What a difference!
I’m very proud of myself.
Oh, and I played for over an hour.
Jan 5: In a groove
I played my songs today. I really love them.
I also tried to play the last book I was given for Christmas; Songs of the 2000s. This book is MASSIVE. Like… My music stand cannot handle its size. (Insert innuendo?) So I decided that I would not play it today.
I just didn’t have the spoons.
I’ll try again tomorrow.
I played more songs from my app.
I really need to learn how to do a bar. My fingers just don’t want to, and so many chords require it.
Oh, I thought you might like to see my capo.
Isn’t it awesome??
Jan 6: Bars will have to wait
I played my songs again today and made way fewer mistakes.
Isn’t it funny that I can make mistakes on the songs that I wrote?
Maybe funny isn’t the right word for it.
Frustrating?
Anyways…
I also played the challenges for the week in my music app. I did very well on the melody one, not so great on the chord one. It just sounded like a bunch of noise to me. 🤷🏼♀️
I didn’t play from a book today. Instead I looked for songs in my apps that had a bar in them.
I think I need a teacher to explain in person how they work, because I just could not get it.
Thank you very much to the person who commented on my last post about pulling back with the arm, but if my finger can’t straighten out over the fret board, what’s the point?
So yeah, I’ll wait until I have a teacher and then I won’t have to unlearn more bad habits. (Because I’m sure I have tons.)
Also, hi new people! Glad you like my capo. Sorry if I’m boring. I won’t be offended if you leave. 😉
Jan 7: Short but painful
Today I played one song from my app and both my songs.
That’s it.
My right shoulder has been hurting and I didn’t want to aggravate it further.
I did try to keep my rhythms steady. Not sure I succeeded…
Jan 8: Music in books
I don’t remember if I’ve told you why I started playing guitar. Buckle up, because this is a ride in being extra.
I wrote a novella at the beginning of April 2021, about a boy named Tommy who went to a science camp over March Break, and while there, he discovered he was gay. Originally, I had him play a song on guitar to the boy he had a crush on. I don’t even remember which song it was. (I think it might have been Stand by Me?)
About a month after I finished writing that novella, I was searching for how to properly include lyrics in books and that led me to an article that explained that if any lyrics were included in a book, royalties would have to be paid.
Like, 4-5 digits.
Lol.
Yeah no.
So I removed the lyrics and just wrote around the music.
It worked.
And then….
Oh, and then!
My husband said, “Wouldn’t it be cool if you wrote a song?”
I dismissed it, of course. And then I started thinking, “It’s not like you found the perfect one when you were looking. But you could write one that would be perfect for them!”
At 3am, naturally.
And then it proceeded to write it for me, in about half an hour.
I repeated it over and over until I fell asleep and lo and behold! I remembered it the next morning (mostly) and wrote it down.
Then I changed the novella around to fit the new song.
And all was quiet for about a week. Then my husband made a comment like, “You know, you could write the music for your song.”
Ummm, what? The last time I played any music was when I picked up my flute like, a decade. And I don’t know how to write a song.
And then I thought about it for about two weeks, discussed learning the guitar with him for two days and asked to borrow my dad’s guitar.
A week after picking it up, I was hooked and went and bought my own guitar (¾ size rather than full). After about a month of learning, (during which the novella became an entire novel) I tried to write my song and I had zero idea what I was doing. So I asked for help from my music mentor.
Keep in mind, I had the melody set in my mind, so I sent him that file and he worked music around it. Chords I could play, too, with a little practice.
And poof! I had a song!
And that’s why I started playing guitar.
I played my songs today, once each.
Jan 9: Booster
I got my COVID booster yesterday. I thought I was fine, but I have a severe headache today, so I’m not going to play today.
I will look at my third song again today, though, and see if I still like it.