So, I'm closing in on a month of doing this. Somehow that seems kind of crazy. How could it have nearly been a month? I've either made some good in-roads, or I haven't played nearly as much as I've wanted to, or both. Likely both.
Know what's funny about today? It dawns on me while I'm at work that the entire month has been about the electric. Scales, comfort, riffs, etc. I've hardly touched my acoustic at all this month. Learning to play guitar (or getting better at guitar) is, at the beginning, about learning some of your favorite SONGS. Then, as time passes, we tend to get caught up in technique, in dexterity, in speed... all of these are important things, but in their own strange way, they take our focus away from the reason we started playing in the first place... the songs. That being said, I picked up the acoustic tonight, and opened that binder of acoustic stuff I started (remember that?) way back around day 3 of this whole process.
Initially, I was going to pick a few songs and give them a run through, but instead, I focused on one, and tried to figure out the best key for me, relative to the one it was recorded in, and really focus in on making it sound like ME, as opposed to making it sound like the record. I have this habit of mimicking vocalists, and while it can be fun, it also detracts from finding my own voice. Anyway, the song I focused on tonight was "Closer Than We Are" by The Damnwells. They're somewhat local, and have attained a big following in this area. A co-worker burned me a bit of their stuff last year around this time, and that was one of the songs I connected with immediately, along with "Kiss Catastrophe," but that will be another tune for another night.
Now I've got to find a way to even out my playing between acoustic stuff and electric stuff... AND I've got to find a "Top 5" for tomorrow.
Know what's funny about today? It dawns on me while I'm at work that the entire month has been about the electric. Scales, comfort, riffs, etc. I've hardly touched my acoustic at all this month. Learning to play guitar (or getting better at guitar) is, at the beginning, about learning some of your favorite SONGS. Then, as time passes, we tend to get caught up in technique, in dexterity, in speed... all of these are important things, but in their own strange way, they take our focus away from the reason we started playing in the first place... the songs. That being said, I picked up the acoustic tonight, and opened that binder of acoustic stuff I started (remember that?) way back around day 3 of this whole process.
Initially, I was going to pick a few songs and give them a run through, but instead, I focused on one, and tried to figure out the best key for me, relative to the one it was recorded in, and really focus in on making it sound like ME, as opposed to making it sound like the record. I have this habit of mimicking vocalists, and while it can be fun, it also detracts from finding my own voice. Anyway, the song I focused on tonight was "Closer Than We Are" by The Damnwells. They're somewhat local, and have attained a big following in this area. A co-worker burned me a bit of their stuff last year around this time, and that was one of the songs I connected with immediately, along with "Kiss Catastrophe," but that will be another tune for another night.
Now I've got to find a way to even out my playing between acoustic stuff and electric stuff... AND I've got to find a "Top 5" for tomorrow.
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