May 15: Partial success
I got the guitar amp! It’s lovely. I’m much happier with how the guitar sounds now that the bass isn’t majorly reverbing.
I played mountain king… Meh.
I played “Get to Know You” and the wedding song. I don’t like that I can’t do the percussive element for the former. The latter sounds better with the toning turned up. I still much prefer the sound of the acoustic.
And then! I tried to put chords to the walking song! Yes yes, I know it’s for the ukulele. I played chords that I knew were simple on the uke and I figured out the chord progression for the verse!!!! I tried to figure out the chorus, but it wasn’t working for me today, so I left it for tomorrow.
Then I switched instruments to try to play what I’d written on the uke, and it sounds so lovely. I’m quite happy with it.
Did you happen to catch the cover of Assassins! Accidental Matchmakers that I posted today? Click on the tag, because you need to see it!!
May 16: Complete
I had some major issues with the app hearing my guitar today, so after two fails on mountain king, I stopped. It was just pissing me off and I was playing the right notes at the right time.
I played “Get to Know You” twice and then I worked on the walking song.
Omg.
Not to brag, but this song is so flipping cute.
I can hear the cheekiness of the character who “wrote” it.
I ended up writing it on the guitar, but it’s got chords that are really easy on the ukulele (C, F, Am, G, D, and A). I think I was having trouble writing the chords on the uke because I’m not as familiar with the instrument.
I figured out the chords for the chorus, which means the song is complete!
I played it through once, and I’m really happy with it. The ending sounds incomplete, but then I realized that was the point, because Randal (the character making it up) stops singing because he gets distracted.
May 17: Short
I only had a few minutes of playing today, so I grabbed the new song and played it on the ukulele.
I am completely in love with this song.
It’s so cute.
I’m really happy with it.
Some of the chords aren’t in the right place on the paper, but I’ll fix them once I figure out where they’re supposed to go.
May 18: Fixed
I didn’t have much time so rather than pull out the electric, I focussed my entire practise time on the walking song.
I played it through about four times, listening closely to the melody and trying to make the verses as similar as possible.
I ended up shifting the chords a tiny bit in the second line of each verse, and I am so much happier with how it sounds now.
I think I might actually put the chords down on the file instead of penciling them in. Maybe tomorrow, if I’m still happy with it.
Wow. I wrote a song in less than a week. I’m pretty damn proud of myself.
May 19: Swing
I played the electric again.
Sometimes I feel like I’m really getting the hang of it. And then others…..
Mountain king from the app didn’t go so well. I don’t understand how to play the electric loud enough for the app to hear me but stop the echo. Very frustrating when I’m playing a fast song.
Then I played “Get to Know You” twice and the ballad. I shouldn’t have played the ballad. My arm hurts now.
Last, I played the walking song. I played it on guitar instead of the ukulele. It’s okay, the chord names are the same no matter the instrument. I just have to get used to the slightly more complex finger positions. NBD.
It’s cool how different the song sounds on the two instruments. The electric makes it sound much more hard rock, which is fascinating. The ukulele makes it sound much cheekier.
May 20: Fiddling
No, I did not start learning a new instrument. I think two is enough, don’t you?
For now.
Mwahahaha
I started off with mountain king. Ehhhhhhhhh….. I almost feel like giving up while playing the electric, but then I would have trouble with the fingering when I start the acoustic again.
I played “Get to Know You” twice. There was a weird discordant echo the first time I played it. I have no idea how to deal with that. I definitely need a music teacher if I continue with the electric, I think.
I also played the walking song twice. I noticed on the first pass that I wasn’t quite matching up with where the chords were supposed to be. So on the second play-through, I paid more attention, and I ended up tweaking the placement of two chords.
Hence the title of my post. 🙂
Oh, and I finished chapter 14 in our WiP last night, which means we’re 2/3rds done!! I’m really proud of this latest chapter; @ericdesmarais wrote a riddle at the end of chapter 13 and the characters had to solve it, but not too quickly.
Not to brag, but I was really clever. I’m very proud of myself.