Today brought very rapid improvement on my chord changes!
D-A: 58
D-E: 50
A-E: 54
These were not the best sounding chords, but my fingers were in pretty much the correct spots. What helped (surprisingly) was a tip I saw on two different websites. They recommended strumming at a certain rate, and not waiting for your fretting hand to be ready. Eventually it will speed up to match the other hand. It sounds crazy, but it actually worked.
My fingers were hurting less today, at least for fretting. Anything else that uses my finger tips (like some typing, and unlocking seat belts) still hurts a lot. Maybe some calluses are finally forming?
Overall I am feeling more comfortable picking up the guitar and playing with it. Maybe I'm getting better at this? :)
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Learning Guitar, Day 4
Another day of practicing my chords. I can make them ring out most of the time.
My chord changes are really speeding up now. Here were my results for today:
D-A: 34
D-E: 31
A-E: 37
These were again after 4 trials of each. I'm finding the D-E to be the most annoying. Sliding my index finger back and forth really hurts, and it starts to feel like the string is going to cut through. A-E is becoming much easier, as I found I can basically leave my middle and ring fingers in the same relative positions. After I slide my index finger back (going from E to A), I can usually just put down the next two fingers easily, putting my ring finger down a string of course.
I am still a little stumped by strumming. I feel like I am playing too hard/loud, so I switched to a slightly lighter pick, and watched a few videos on strumming. Most recommended loosening up, and making sure to use your arm. It seems like this will be mostly practice as well to make sure I hit the strings just right.
I also noticed today I have been sort of cheating with my left arm. I've been sitting cross legged which lets me rest my left arm down. This may be hurting my playing abilities, and it might prevent me from building needed muscles in my arm, so I'm going to try not to do it any more.
And I have the first signs of blisters on my fingers! I don't think I've ever been this excited about that before. Add to that my speed increase with chord changes, and I think I am learning at a good pace. And I am already seeing signs of my fast learning when I re-watched the video on one minute chord changes. Apparently 8 changes is extremely good for a beginner's first try. I got 15 on my first try.
I can now play the intro to Van Morrison's Brown Eyed Girl. The video I watched uses a barre chord, but only part of it that is simple to learn. It still takes me a little time to get into the right positions and it sounds chunky, but that is just practice.
More tomorrow!
My chord changes are really speeding up now. Here were my results for today:
D-A: 34
D-E: 31
A-E: 37
These were again after 4 trials of each. I'm finding the D-E to be the most annoying. Sliding my index finger back and forth really hurts, and it starts to feel like the string is going to cut through. A-E is becoming much easier, as I found I can basically leave my middle and ring fingers in the same relative positions. After I slide my index finger back (going from E to A), I can usually just put down the next two fingers easily, putting my ring finger down a string of course.
I am still a little stumped by strumming. I feel like I am playing too hard/loud, so I switched to a slightly lighter pick, and watched a few videos on strumming. Most recommended loosening up, and making sure to use your arm. It seems like this will be mostly practice as well to make sure I hit the strings just right.
I also noticed today I have been sort of cheating with my left arm. I've been sitting cross legged which lets me rest my left arm down. This may be hurting my playing abilities, and it might prevent me from building needed muscles in my arm, so I'm going to try not to do it any more.
And I have the first signs of blisters on my fingers! I don't think I've ever been this excited about that before. Add to that my speed increase with chord changes, and I think I am learning at a good pace. And I am already seeing signs of my fast learning when I re-watched the video on one minute chord changes. Apparently 8 changes is extremely good for a beginner's first try. I got 15 on my first try.
I can now play the intro to Van Morrison's Brown Eyed Girl. The video I watched uses a barre chord, but only part of it that is simple to learn. It still takes me a little time to get into the right positions and it sounds chunky, but that is just practice.
More tomorrow!
Learning Guitar, Day 3
Today was spent practicing the three chords I know. I had no problem remembering them, and little problem getting them to ring clearly.
I started trying to see how many chord changes I could do in a minute. I started a timer for 1:05. got the first chord ready, and started mashing my fingers at the one minute mark. I counted each chord individually. After 4 trials, here were my best number of changes:
D-A: 24
D-E: 21
A-E: 20
I could feel myself speeding up, but the pain in my fingers made me take a break between each practice session. However, I still found myself placing fingers one at a time. Once I have the calluses built up, I will just need to practice to reach to my target of 60 in a minute.
I tried playing a bit of a song! I could play the chorus to Three Little Birds by Bob Marley reasonably well.
I've discovered one reason I am struggling sometimes to get my chords to ring clearly. When I hold the strings for long enough, they leave indents on my fingers. This lets them lift off just enough to buzz or sound dead. If I try to adjust my finger to fix that, the string finds its way back into that groove. Again, this means suffering until I have some calluses.
Also, I'm noticing a weird dull pain in my wrist and forearm. I have a feeling this is from playing too much, and building up the new muscles in my left hand. At least I hope it is. Time will tell.
Despite the pain, I am still just as excited about playing guitar. Obviously I can't wait to be playing songs I really know, but for now I am happy with what I'm doing.
I started trying to see how many chord changes I could do in a minute. I started a timer for 1:05. got the first chord ready, and started mashing my fingers at the one minute mark. I counted each chord individually. After 4 trials, here were my best number of changes:
D-A: 24
D-E: 21
A-E: 20
I could feel myself speeding up, but the pain in my fingers made me take a break between each practice session. However, I still found myself placing fingers one at a time. Once I have the calluses built up, I will just need to practice to reach to my target of 60 in a minute.
I tried playing a bit of a song! I could play the chorus to Three Little Birds by Bob Marley reasonably well.
I've discovered one reason I am struggling sometimes to get my chords to ring clearly. When I hold the strings for long enough, they leave indents on my fingers. This lets them lift off just enough to buzz or sound dead. If I try to adjust my finger to fix that, the string finds its way back into that groove. Again, this means suffering until I have some calluses.
Also, I'm noticing a weird dull pain in my wrist and forearm. I have a feeling this is from playing too much, and building up the new muscles in my left hand. At least I hope it is. Time will tell.
Despite the pain, I am still just as excited about playing guitar. Obviously I can't wait to be playing songs I really know, but for now I am happy with what I'm doing.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Learning Guitar, Day 2
So I picked up my guitar today, along with a tuner, strings, case, and a few picks. I read a good habit to get into is to tune your guitar each time you plan to use it, so the first thing I did when I got home was to try out my new tuner. I guess the microphone in it isn't as strong as I expected, but I got it to work. One thing I kept messing up was which tuning knob adjusted what string. Also, the strings made a crazy popping noise sometimes, but I guess that's normal. Eventually I got the instrument in tune, and boy did it sound good!
I messed around with it for a bit before trying some of the beginner chords, like C, D, E, etc. One site I looked at recommended starting by learning G major, C major, and D major, but the site I am now mostly following (http://www.justinguitar.com/) recommended D major, A major, and E major. I liked this site because along with each lesson was a high quality video, with plenty of details to go around.
I started with the D major chord. The first thing I noticed what how much my fingers hurt. I read somewhere it would take anywhere from 10-14 days to build up the calluses needed for them not to hurt. I guess I'll live with it. I had a little trouble getting the chord to sound correctly, but eventually got it and practiced it for a little while.
I followed up with the A major, then the E major. A was very cramped and hard to get right, but I got it down. E seemed alright, but a lot of the time the B string (5th string) sounded dead or buzzed. I found the problem to be my index finger, and I found that if I move it up slightly the problem goes away. This may mean touching the D string (3rd string), but that's ok. The ring finger is holding that down on a later fret anyway.
I practiced each for around 15 minutes (on and off). One thing I found helpful was using a webcam to match the shot of the end of the fretboard in the videos. I then pulled up a picture from the video of what the chord should look like, and compared them side-by-side to diagnose problems.
After about a two hour break, I came back and practiced these (trying to ignore the constant pain in my fingers) and found I had them memorized, and could play them clearly most of the time. Not bad for my first day. I am still a little fuzzy on the names, but I'm getting there.
The next exercise in that lesson plan was to try switching between chords, and to see how many you can do in a minute. I decided not to try that today with the state of my fingers. I will try that on the next few days though, as a way to see my progress.
I'm so excited to have a guitar now! I can't wait to be able to play a song or two. Maybe tomorrow?
I messed around with it for a bit before trying some of the beginner chords, like C, D, E, etc. One site I looked at recommended starting by learning G major, C major, and D major, but the site I am now mostly following (http://www.justinguitar.com/) recommended D major, A major, and E major. I liked this site because along with each lesson was a high quality video, with plenty of details to go around.
I started with the D major chord. The first thing I noticed what how much my fingers hurt. I read somewhere it would take anywhere from 10-14 days to build up the calluses needed for them not to hurt. I guess I'll live with it. I had a little trouble getting the chord to sound correctly, but eventually got it and practiced it for a little while.
I followed up with the A major, then the E major. A was very cramped and hard to get right, but I got it down. E seemed alright, but a lot of the time the B string (5th string) sounded dead or buzzed. I found the problem to be my index finger, and I found that if I move it up slightly the problem goes away. This may mean touching the D string (3rd string), but that's ok. The ring finger is holding that down on a later fret anyway.
I practiced each for around 15 minutes (on and off). One thing I found helpful was using a webcam to match the shot of the end of the fretboard in the videos. I then pulled up a picture from the video of what the chord should look like, and compared them side-by-side to diagnose problems.
After about a two hour break, I came back and practiced these (trying to ignore the constant pain in my fingers) and found I had them memorized, and could play them clearly most of the time. Not bad for my first day. I am still a little fuzzy on the names, but I'm getting there.
The next exercise in that lesson plan was to try switching between chords, and to see how many you can do in a minute. I decided not to try that today with the state of my fingers. I will try that on the next few days though, as a way to see my progress.
I'm so excited to have a guitar now! I can't wait to be able to play a song or two. Maybe tomorrow?
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Learning Guitar, Day 1
I've decided to blog my learning experience, both to chart my progress, but also to put down any tips I can as a newbie. Be warned though, these tips may be crap!
Today was spent visiting guitar shops. I played with a wide variety of acoustic guitars, having no idea what I was doing. I had actually forgotten how short a guitar is, and had to ask "is this full size?" All of the guitars I played with were full size even though there were a few with a 3/4 size available.
The first shop I visited had a nice sounding guitar for $199 with case and strap. At the third shop I had found a nice black guitar for a reasonable $119. With one more shop left, we drove across town to find another reasonably priced guitar, this time with a cut away. However the salesman didn't strike me as much of a musician. In the end I picked the black guitar, and I'll be picking it up tomorrow, along with a case, strap, and tuner, which will all (most likely) be bought separately.
So what was I looking for when I was hunting? There was a few things that were commonsense, and a few I learned online.
First (and most obvious), I made sure all the guitars I looked at were in my price range. All of the shops took care of that for me by asking first.
Second, I made sure I liked the look of it. Blue? No thank you. Natural wood? Good. Black? Not bad.
Then I considered the supposed condition of it, and the actual condition. Is it supposed to be new, but there is a dent or a nick somewhere? Or if it was used, is the price worth its condition? One used guitar I looked at was only $100, but the wooden piece where the bridge and pins are located looked like had broken off and been glued back on, along with a noticeable dent on the top.
Next, does it sound nice?
Last, how is the action? Action is the distance between the strings and the fret board. If it's too high, the strings can be too hard to press. If it's too low, the strings could vibrate and hit the fret board, making horrible buzzing. Supposedly it's best to have a guitar with a medium action: not too high, not too low. On the same idea, I made sure the strings vibrate correctly when pressing down on the ~12th fret or higher. If they are hitting the board, that's a problem.
Beyond those, I had no idea what I was doing. It was a bit awkward, but since this is all new to me I figured it was ok. The salesmen were a little pushy, but when I mentioned I was still looking they backed off a little.
I'd say today was a success. I ended up with a free guitar pick, I bought a chart with guitar tabs for common chords, and I have a guitar in mind to buy. Tomorrow, the fun begins!
Today was spent visiting guitar shops. I played with a wide variety of acoustic guitars, having no idea what I was doing. I had actually forgotten how short a guitar is, and had to ask "is this full size?" All of the guitars I played with were full size even though there were a few with a 3/4 size available.
The first shop I visited had a nice sounding guitar for $199 with case and strap. At the third shop I had found a nice black guitar for a reasonable $119. With one more shop left, we drove across town to find another reasonably priced guitar, this time with a cut away. However the salesman didn't strike me as much of a musician. In the end I picked the black guitar, and I'll be picking it up tomorrow, along with a case, strap, and tuner, which will all (most likely) be bought separately.
So what was I looking for when I was hunting? There was a few things that were commonsense, and a few I learned online.
First (and most obvious), I made sure all the guitars I looked at were in my price range. All of the shops took care of that for me by asking first.
Second, I made sure I liked the look of it. Blue? No thank you. Natural wood? Good. Black? Not bad.
Then I considered the supposed condition of it, and the actual condition. Is it supposed to be new, but there is a dent or a nick somewhere? Or if it was used, is the price worth its condition? One used guitar I looked at was only $100, but the wooden piece where the bridge and pins are located looked like had broken off and been glued back on, along with a noticeable dent on the top.
Next, does it sound nice?
Last, how is the action? Action is the distance between the strings and the fret board. If it's too high, the strings can be too hard to press. If it's too low, the strings could vibrate and hit the fret board, making horrible buzzing. Supposedly it's best to have a guitar with a medium action: not too high, not too low. On the same idea, I made sure the strings vibrate correctly when pressing down on the ~12th fret or higher. If they are hitting the board, that's a problem.
Beyond those, I had no idea what I was doing. It was a bit awkward, but since this is all new to me I figured it was ok. The salesmen were a little pushy, but when I mentioned I was still looking they backed off a little.
I'd say today was a success. I ended up with a free guitar pick, I bought a chart with guitar tabs for common chords, and I have a guitar in mind to buy. Tomorrow, the fun begins!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Learning Guitar
Recently I've begun listening to the blues again.
I've always had a liking for the blues ever since I first saw The Blues Brothers, which was when I was around 13. In the beginning I only ever watched the car chases, but slowly I saw the rest of the movie and realized I liked the music better. The car chases are epic, but something about the music drew me in. It is now one of my favorite movies, and I am planning a trip to visit most of the filming locations, but that's a different story.
I've spent a lot of time in the car listening to B.B. King's Bluesville on XM radio, and even more time on Pandora listening to the blues. My interest hasn't always been steady, but I always seem to come back to it. There is something about it that makes me feel at home.
The fall semester of college has ended, and I am back at home. Suddenly I've found my self listening once again, but this time something was different. Something about it felt more appealing. As I thought about it more, it hit me: I want to learn to play the blues.
That thought hit me pretty hard. I've had little experience with making music, and none turned out well. The closest I've come is trying violin way back in elementary school, but I was terrible and didn't enjoy it.
What if my heart was in it? Could I learn play the blues? And where do I begin?
Those are the thoughts that have been racing through my head. One thing is certain though; I need to get a guitar. That opens a whole other can of worms. Acoustic or electric? What brand and model? Where do I buy it from? How much will it cost? Add to this the fact I need to learn to play it and I have a confusing mess.
As of now, I think I've decided to get an acoustic, but no particular brand or model yet (suggestions?). But other thoughts are going through my mind as well. Why do I want to learn to play? Will I be able to handle other people listening to me play?
After talking with a friend for a while, I think I'm starting to see me playing guitar as a way to express myself. I'm not sure if thats true yet, but it feels right as of now. As for people listening to me, I guess I will have to get used to it if I really want to learn. Putting all this aside, I have a desire to just get my hands on a guitar and start strumming.
Within the next few days I will go out exploring music shops and playing with some guitars. I have no idea what I'm looking for yet, but I am very excited to get started. If you have any tips on guitar buying or getting started playing, I would love to hear from you!
I've always had a liking for the blues ever since I first saw The Blues Brothers, which was when I was around 13. In the beginning I only ever watched the car chases, but slowly I saw the rest of the movie and realized I liked the music better. The car chases are epic, but something about the music drew me in. It is now one of my favorite movies, and I am planning a trip to visit most of the filming locations, but that's a different story.
I've spent a lot of time in the car listening to B.B. King's Bluesville on XM radio, and even more time on Pandora listening to the blues. My interest hasn't always been steady, but I always seem to come back to it. There is something about it that makes me feel at home.
The fall semester of college has ended, and I am back at home. Suddenly I've found my self listening once again, but this time something was different. Something about it felt more appealing. As I thought about it more, it hit me: I want to learn to play the blues.
That thought hit me pretty hard. I've had little experience with making music, and none turned out well. The closest I've come is trying violin way back in elementary school, but I was terrible and didn't enjoy it.
What if my heart was in it? Could I learn play the blues? And where do I begin?
Those are the thoughts that have been racing through my head. One thing is certain though; I need to get a guitar. That opens a whole other can of worms. Acoustic or electric? What brand and model? Where do I buy it from? How much will it cost? Add to this the fact I need to learn to play it and I have a confusing mess.
As of now, I think I've decided to get an acoustic, but no particular brand or model yet (suggestions?). But other thoughts are going through my mind as well. Why do I want to learn to play? Will I be able to handle other people listening to me play?
After talking with a friend for a while, I think I'm starting to see me playing guitar as a way to express myself. I'm not sure if thats true yet, but it feels right as of now. As for people listening to me, I guess I will have to get used to it if I really want to learn. Putting all this aside, I have a desire to just get my hands on a guitar and start strumming.
Within the next few days I will go out exploring music shops and playing with some guitars. I have no idea what I'm looking for yet, but I am very excited to get started. If you have any tips on guitar buying or getting started playing, I would love to hear from you!
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Technological Marvels
You know what's always impressed me? How much storage space we have, and at such a small spacial cost. I found 3 great examples of this.
First, an old IDE harddisk I had lying around.
Date: 1998 (11 years)
Storage capacity: 3.2GB
Size: 2.5cm x 10.1cm x 14.5cm = 366.125cm^3
Storage density: 366.125 / 3.2 = 144.41cm^3/GB
This anchient machine was manufactured in 1998, and has less space than some thumb drives. Scary, isn't it? Plus this thing needs an external 12v power supply, and has an IDE interface.
Next, a Sony Micro Vault Tiny
Date: ~2006 (~3 years)
Storage capacity: 1GB
Size: 0.2cm x 1.4cm x 3.2cm = 0.896cm^3
Storage density: 0.896 / 1 = 0.896cm^3/GB
Speaking of thumb drives, heres a fully functional USB thumb drive. Even though it has only ~1/3 the space of the IDE drive, it is also an amazing 408.7 times smaller. Hmmm...
Last, a MicroSD card
Date: 2008 (1 year or less)
Storage capacity: 2GB
Size: 0.1cm x 1.5cm x 1.1cm = 0.165cm^3
Storage density: 0.165 / 2 = 0.0825cm^3/GB
I got this with the purchase of my phone in December. This tiny wonder has 2GB of space, in a very tiny package. Its over 5 times smaller than the thumb drive, and has over 10 times the storage density.
Just to give you some ideas, if the IDE drive had the same storage density as the USB drive, it could store 403.6GB of data. And if it had the storage density of the MicroSD card? 4437.9GB, or 4.3TB of data.
First, an old IDE harddisk I had lying around.
Date: 1998 (11 years)
Storage capacity: 3.2GB
Size: 2.5cm x 10.1cm x 14.5cm = 366.125cm^3
Storage density: 366.125 / 3.2 = 144.41cm^3/GB
This anchient machine was manufactured in 1998, and has less space than some thumb drives. Scary, isn't it? Plus this thing needs an external 12v power supply, and has an IDE interface.
Next, a Sony Micro Vault Tiny
Date: ~2006 (~3 years)
Storage capacity: 1GB
Size: 0.2cm x 1.4cm x 3.2cm = 0.896cm^3
Storage density: 0.896 / 1 = 0.896cm^3/GB
Speaking of thumb drives, heres a fully functional USB thumb drive. Even though it has only ~1/3 the space of the IDE drive, it is also an amazing 408.7 times smaller. Hmmm...
Last, a MicroSD card
Date: 2008 (1 year or less)
Storage capacity: 2GB
Size: 0.1cm x 1.5cm x 1.1cm = 0.165cm^3
Storage density: 0.165 / 2 = 0.0825cm^3/GB
I got this with the purchase of my phone in December. This tiny wonder has 2GB of space, in a very tiny package. Its over 5 times smaller than the thumb drive, and has over 10 times the storage density.
Just to give you some ideas, if the IDE drive had the same storage density as the USB drive, it could store 403.6GB of data. And if it had the storage density of the MicroSD card? 4437.9GB, or 4.3TB of data.
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