I want to learn Guitar and stuff...

2012-04-26T23:54:00.001-07:00

Testing

SURPRISE!

2011-02-14T00:55:00.000-08:00

HEY! Bet you've all figured I'd given up since I haven't posted in a while.

Well, you'd be wrong... (mostly) :)

I have been a bit slack the last few dasy/weeks/month... :(

But, I did decide to do a quite video today, those of you who are arctic monkey fans may recognise it.

In other news, I move house this last week. During the move I made the mistake of leaving my guitar with my dad over night, when I got it back he'd "tuned" it for me... so I had to re tune it. :)
Well, that's about it for now.

Cheers!

Still Trucking

2011-01-08T02:53:00.000-08:00

Just thought I would post something as it's been a bit of time.

Just thought I would assume people that my guitar has not yet been banished to being a nice decoration! :)

I couple times a week I like to get on it and strum a few chords, practice that Artic Monkeys guitar 2 riff, etc.

I have been neglecting my Smoke on the Water practic though... might give it a quick once over now...

*Elevator music*

Yep, no surprises there. Not practicing something doesn't make you magically better at it. :)

Anyway, keep sending your positive energy my way to keep me motivated!

Cheers and out!
PS.

I promise I will eventually get around to posting another vid at some point soon. Been busy with work and then lately and only been practicing with the guitar unplugged so as to not waste time setting up.

Laters!

Eb Chord

2010-12-28T01:06:00.000-08:00

I've been fairly lazy over Xmas with practicing and so there isn't much to update.

It seems my fingers got a bit fatter over Xmas and now I had some issues getting the C Chords down without dulling strings.

Anyway, after a few rounds of CAGED and a finger spider thing I decided to be hardcore and see if I could find the Smoke on the Water rif but in chords.

Yeah, this was about the time I discovered the Eb chords.
http://www.8notes.com/guitar_chord_chart/eb.asp

Seriously... wtf?

No idea how to stretch out the fingers to all their positions and press hard enough AND not dull any other strings.

After battleing with this chord for 5min and starting to sweat a bit I decided that will do for today.

Damn you Eb chord!!!

Switch positions... OH yeah... ;)

2010-12-17T19:22:00.000-08:00

Oh, haven't posted up much for a bit so I figured I would give an update.

I have to admit this week I have slacked off with the practicing guitar thing... actually, I've just plan slacked off!

No practice, no guitar, I think it's my mind and body going into Xmas mode.

Anyway, picked up the ol'six string today and have a strum.

Still remembered the C A G E D chords which is good to see. Plus my fingers seem to be building up the extra skin nicely and they are not sore at all after the session.

So today I just did the standard chords, some spider exercises, a big of Deep Purple and then decided to try playing standing up with the guitar on the strap.

WELL!

Isn't this a whole new kettle of fish! Had some issues getting the fingers on the right stings and so on but had it going in the end.

Tomorrow arvo I'll see about making a quick video of my progress.

Cheers!

Not much news...

2010-12-11T01:30:00.000-08:00

Hey peeps, thought I would give a brief update on progress.

Still practising chords, I need to develop my coordination more so I can change from one chord to another quickly. I tried to play along to a song just using A D E and was really struggling. The song is just playing each of these chords 4 times and then switching to the next.

Seemed easy enough on paper, but apparently this is not the case. So I will need to practice this more.

I think for practice, I will use the C A G E D chords and play each 4 times.

On the up side, apart from barre chords my fingers are behaving well lately, but need to get them moving around faster.

No clips this time as the wouldn't be much different from the last ones.

Cheers n out!

\oo/ \oo/

Expanding the Repatwa...

2010-12-08T01:17:00.000-08:00

So, did a bit of practice on chords today although the fingers are still pretty sore from the other night.

The tips feel numb until I touch them when it feels like I have a spinter in each finger... not an awesome feeling.

On the plus side, I figure that since I'm memorized the C A G E D chords, I can look to learning some other ones so when I practice I've got the most diverse range to train my fingers with.

I'm using this chord chart:

I think this is also the chart that I will end up printing out and popping on the wall, it should keep me busy for a while.

It's still taking me about 1-3 seconds to get my fingers into the correct positions when playing a chord. The particularly tricky ones from the C A G E D chords is the C and the G.

Out of this expanded chart, the B chords was driving me nuts! I have to get my hand on a really awkward angle to to get it right. F is also a bastard to get... in ANY of its variations.

So yeah, from here I just need to keep on practicing these chords and then I can start looking at playing something. I'm still practicing that Smoke on the Water intro sing tabs, but I've discovered there are more complex versions of it to explore.

I am still struggling to strum the right strings with the Smoke on the Water tabs as I'm either struming the A and D strings together and then the D and G strings together. I have to look at my strumming hand to make sure it's doing the right thing while at the same time the fretting fingers are on the right fret.

I need eye's like a chameleon!

Hmmm...

Getting these chord down slowly...

2010-12-06T01:54:00.000-08:00

Ok, I have to admit I'm fairly happy with my progress.

Coming from basically not having picked up a guitar up in my life to being able to make sounds with this that don't sound like a cow farting in about a week... I'm pretty happy!

I did a short session today, only 45 min odd.

Focused on the basic 5 chords, C A G E D and some Smoke on water.

So glad I've got this TH1 program, I can play as long as I want and Jaimee can still do her thing without being annoyed.

That and the fact the chords sound so much better without the static and noise the AMP was causing.

I've attached 2 vids, they are some sound files so don't expect to see much.

One is me practising chords and the other is Smoke on Water (sorta...)

Cheers guys!

Sunday.. bloody sunday... Nah... it was pretty aight!

2010-12-04T21:15:00.000-08:00

Alrighty, had yesterday off from practicing as my fingers were still rather tender from the night before.

Practice for about one and a half hours today, mainly focusing on the basic chords and some Smoke on the Water as per usual.

2 Positive outcomes from today:

1. My fingers are not as sore was I was expecting them to me after practicing this long
2. I'm starting to get the finger control down.

I've noticed I'm beginning to me the shift from "How the hell do I get my finger to there... MOVE IT DAMN IT" to "So what does that E chord look like again?"

It appears my fingers are getting the message and starting to play nice. :)

Another thing I noticed it that if I relax my hand a little and don't push as hard as I've been trying, my fingers don't get as sore and my hand doesn't tire as quickly while I'm still able to get a decent sound.

So, next steps from here are:

1. Smart to memorize the Major chords C... A... G... E... D... I'm thinking something along the lines of a printout above my computer screen so something so I can visually memorize them.

2. Keep on trucking with Smoke on the Water.

OH! I almost forgot... I aquired a cool little program... Overload TH1.

It is awesome! It's an amp and effect simulator program so I've jsut got my guitar plugged into the PC and I can get a really authentic sound coming through my headphones!

Here's a screenshot of my desktop while I practice:

The added bonus is less death stares and slammed doors by the fiancee... :) x2

Anyway, that's all for now... Hope everyone's had an awesome weekend!

Updates on progress today and a video!!! WOA!

2010-12-03T03:42:00.000-08:00

Hey peeps!

I've been practising some more today even though my finger tips a re still sore from yesterday, I'm dedicated to the cause!

Anyway, first I did some scales to stretch the fingers and warm them up for some chords, I used the scale excercise I found here:
http://guitar.about.com/library/weekly/aa071200j.htm

Quite useful and surprisingly tricky for a noobie.

Then is was onto some basic chords, the major 5, C... A... G... E... D...

Spend the majority of my time on this with breaks to try Smoke on Water and some picking excersices.

The first picking excercise is playing a bit from a Metallica song, Nothing Else Matters. See the bottom of this page for an idea:
http://www.musiclearning.com/lessoncentral/basics/basics.html

The next picking excercise I just made up on the fly but basically its strumming E, E, A, B, D, G over and over. Surprisingly tricky.

Here is a video of my major 5 chord efforts, this was after a while of practicing so my fingers where already wanting to throw in the towel.

And that's about it. Now it's time to let my fingers recover for another 24 hours and do it all over again tomorrow night!

Catchya's!

Fingers are literally red and sore...

2010-12-02T02:04:00.000-08:00

So I spend a couple hours today practicing the Major C Chord in all it's exciting forms, followed by some more attempts at "Smoke on the Water" using simple tabs, this one in particular:

http://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/d/deep_purple/smoke_on_the_water_intro_tab.htm

I'm staring to have a little more control over what my middle finger is doing which is a bonus.

At the moment, I think that I'm not so much learning chords, but conditioning my fingers and hand to do stuff and stretch out in way I've never had to in the past.

My left forearm is quite sore from all of this, but it's the finger tips that area really suffering.

Right now, the are so sore and tender, typing this post is not so awesome. But yeah, no pain no gain right?

Anyway, I've also noticed that I can't work out a comfortable position for my strumming hand, I keep resting it on the pick guard and accidentally turning the volme knob. I'll have to investigate proper hand placement I think.

Oh, I'm also getting a little frustrated with how clumsy my stumming hand is when it comes to strumming specific string.

For example, in the Smoke on the Water version I'm attempting, I only strum 2 strings at a time, but I keep accidentally catching the one below or above the string I need. Very annoying especially when I get the rest of it alright. But patience is the key.

So yeah, that's probably it for today, here's a picture of my red, sore, tender bitch fingers you guys can enjoy.

I was going to also post a video of my chord efforts and my Smoke on Water effort, but it turns out I didn't press the record button hard enough on the camera so I was just talking to myself like a retard. :p

Cheers n out!

I see...

2010-12-01T02:17:00.000-08:00

Ok, after some playing around I have discovered a few things.
1. I'm still mega pumped about having an electric guitar. :)

2. I have almost no control over what my individual fingers do. There the index finger goes, the others just want to follow. This is a slight hinderance.

3. After trying a trying out a few chords and giving Smoke on the Water intro a bash using tabs a few times, my fingers are SORE!

I was going to post a video of my first attempts, but after reviewing what I'd capture I decided it would be better if I didn't.

Maybe I'll throw something up tomorrow.

Laters.

It's all I ever dreamed

2010-12-01T01:03:00.000-08:00

Well, I got home and there is was... in it's box and all.

The footprint on the box was a little concerning, but after unpacking it... everything looks in top shape.

First things first, I have to tune it!

Armed with my electric tuner and youtube, I started the process...

E.... A.... D.... G... B.... E.... DONE!

The bottom string, the E, was a little concerning because it was WAY out of tune and I was tightening it a fair bit. I was actually flinching expecting it to snap and take my eye out.

But, all is good now!!

Next step? Try and play Gun'n'Roses Knocking on Heavens Door.... :)

Nah, just kidding. I guess I'll give a few chords a bash, see how my hand deals with it.

I've noticed the next it quite thin and my fingers appear a little fat... see how it goes... :)

Oh yeah, some pictures of the toy...

In has arrived!

2010-11-30T16:01:00.000-08:00

Soooooooo.... I just checked the parcel tracking website and the guitar has been delivered!!!

It's sitting... somewhere at home right now, in it's box, just waiting for me to finger it's g-string.

"Yeah I did..." :p

So now begins the wait to get home...

6 hours of work left
1.5 hours of travel time home
2 hours dinner with the folks as the old man is in town

And then... then... I get to unbox it!

You can expect pictures and a jumbled post tonight as I stuggle to type with the excitement of offically owning a guitar.

Cheers n OUT!

Guitar is on it's way... Oh yeah!!

2010-11-29T19:14:00.000-08:00

Just received my tracking details for my parcel(s).

I'm hoping the guitar will arrive by the end of the week and I'll be strumming by the weekend.

And that's right, I said "strumming", I'm down with the guitar lingo!

Anyway, I've had some friendly peeps suggest some more usefull sites for me to check out as a beginner.

http://www.justinguitar.com/

This site is pretty awesome, some really good information for beginners on all aspects on playing guitar. I think I will be frequenting this one alot!

Also,

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/

This site has a WHOLE bunch of guiatar 'tabs'... from what I gather tabs are for people who can't read music but want to learn to play some songs the like.

AWESOME!

Songs like a good starting point to be!!

I do want to learn all the chords and the names of chords and all the rest, but I think when motivation is low it will be good to jump on the site and try and play something using tabs.

Both those site also have forums attached with even more knowledge to be shared with a beginner like me, so I just have to decided which one I want to join.

I'm leaning towards justinguitar and I'll just use ultimate-guitar for the tabs stuff.

Anyway, everyone cross your fingers that this guitar come in this week... and it's in one piece... :)

Cheers,

The ball is rolling...

2010-11-26T22:08:00.000-08:00

Alrighty, the ball is well and truely rolling at this point.

My beautiful fiance said I can order the guitar now and I won't have to wait till XMAS before I can start playing with it! Sweeeeeeet!

The one I'm getting is called a Nature by jixing... Yeah, it's chinese without too much literature about it. From what I have ready they are 'OK' quality and acceptable for a beginner (that's me).

It coming with a electric tune with a thing that clips onto the guitar for "easy tuning"... ok.. that's a good thing in my case.

I've also been reading up on barre chords, I've seen pictures like this:

I had no idea what the chop the line meant, but ends up that I just need to have my finger across all the strings. Now I just need to work out what the "R" on the E string means. :)

Also, I've been searching for a good way for remembering string names.

One suggested phrase is: "Every Adult Dog Growls, Barks, Eats"

Errr... ok, yes... I suppose the do... but puppies also do those things... hmmm...

Another phrase is: "Eat A Dog, Get Big Ears."

I don't think there is any scientific evidence of this, but I think this phrase is more memorable.

So from here, I think I really need to wait until the guitar arrives before anything more progress can be made other than finding more sites with free tutorials and videos.

Feel free to share any tips or sites you guys know of.

Cheers!

You what now?!?

2010-11-26T06:41:00.000-08:00

Fat Penguin!

Ok, now that I've broken the ice, on with what the chop this blog is about.

I'm Raf D (aka Lil Raf) and I want to learn guitar and stuff...

I've decided to have an early life crisis and I figure learning guitar is as good a new hobby to take up as any.

Generally, there are people who have natural musical talent and those who don't but are committed to learning an instrument anyway. I fall in neither category.

I have absolutely no musical talent apart from clicking "shuffle" in iTunes and I am a fairly lazy person.

My prediction is that either:
a) I discover I'm a white Jimi Hendrix and this whole adventure into the land of musical awesomeness will be a breeze
b) I discover I'm crap at playing guitar, but I want to proven to myself that I can atleast learn how to learn Pink Floyds - I wish you where here
c) I end up with a really nice guitar decoration to go on the wall in the study.

Anyway, with the prospect of this whole thing coming up short and me throwing in the towel early on to instead pursue my true passion, drinking beer, I will be starting with the cheapest guitar I can find.

eBay is looking like a goer as I can get something for about 150 bux with a practice amp.

Brilliant!

Other than that, and because I'm cheap, I'm going to try and make this a free "self-taught" affair. So far I've found a bunch of useful sites and youtube will be my friend.

So, there is it... that's the plan... lets see how I go.

Things I need to do to learn guitar and stuff from here:

1. Get a guitar
2. Get some more "beginner guitar" material
3. Work out how the chop to read music.

Wish me luck!