According to my doctor, who says that making music is the number one stress reducer. He says it has something to do with the total concentration it requires from a different part of your brain. I believe it! I always am in a much better mood after I practice guitar and sing.
My guitar instructor has another adult student who started guitar lessons at age 50! She almost quit during the sore fingers/cramping wrists stage, but she stuck with it and now she wants to be in a band. I just love that. Right now I am totally fired up about lessons, but if I ever start wondering if I should quit, I'll just remember that lady. If I quit, when I'm 50, I'll be like her, wanting to learn to play the guitar. Whereas if I stick with it, when I'm 50, I'll be an experienced guitar player of xxxxx years.
My instructor is great. I was doing the same drills every single day, and she suggested that I split the drills up and do different combinations every day, so I don't get bored, and so that I'll actually notice progress when I cycle back through the drills. If you do the same ones every day, it's like not noticing that your dog is gaining weight, you won't notice your own progress.
So now when I am torn between going for that 10 mile run (not) or picking up my guitar, I can pick up my guitar in good conscience!
Learning All The Time
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Guitar Lessons! And YouTube.....
My New Year's resolution - well, one of them - was to learn the guitar this year.
I tried to learn to play the guitar years ago, in 1988, and again in 1992. I took a few lessons, learned the basic chords like C, A, G, D, Em, and maybe D7, but never really progressed beyond that - in fact, I never really mastered smooth chord changes. I didn't practice faithfully, I never got over my discouragement about barre chords, and I was easily distracted by things like dating, work, going out, and so on. Plus, I was not really surrounded by music. None of my friends or family were musically inclined, I didn't know anyone who played a musical instrument other than one friend who played classical music on the flute, and I actually felt too old to be learning the guitar! Well, here I am, almost 20 years LATER, wishing I had stuck with it back then, and I am not going to waste the next 20 years ignoring this wonderful instrument.
As George Eliot apparently said, it is never too late to be who you might have been. Well, I might have been a guitar player, and I believe George Eliot, it is NOT too late. I am going to do this, regardless of obstacles that life continues to present (I don't have friends who play guitar who can show me stuff and hang out with me; I am a busy homeschooling mom of 3; I am trying to work part time from home; and I am trying to get clutter under control and keep my house from looking like a bomb went off).
And the key to my success this year is going to be...YouTube!! I just love YouTube. I started posting weekly videos on YouTube to sort of mark my progress as a guitarist and to keep me honest about playing. Knowing I was supposed to post another video would make me practice even if I was tired and wanted to go to sleep or knew I should be getting the clothes out of the dryer before they wrinkled.
And then, people started commenting! Nice people! Well, okay, I had one really mean comment that said I sucked and that I was ugly and looked like a man, and yes, that comment was quite discouraging, but that very night I got my first subscriber, and that cheered me right up.
I will probably keep ratings disabled for a year, because I have no illusions about my talent at this point. I'm a beginner, I'm learning, I make mistakes, my voice is pitchy, blah blah blah, I know that and don't need 1 and 2 star ratings to remind me (I've got my husband to do that). But I can't begin to express how nice it is to connect, however briefly and virtually, with other people who are interested in guitar and who take the time to write something encouraging.
Another great thing about YouTube is that so many people post videos! There are people who give guitar lessons on YouTube, or post songs that they write, or just inspire me with their talent! I'm really into some of the fingerpicking bluegrass stuff I've been finding.
That's all for now...
Learning All The Time
I tried to learn to play the guitar years ago, in 1988, and again in 1992. I took a few lessons, learned the basic chords like C, A, G, D, Em, and maybe D7, but never really progressed beyond that - in fact, I never really mastered smooth chord changes. I didn't practice faithfully, I never got over my discouragement about barre chords, and I was easily distracted by things like dating, work, going out, and so on. Plus, I was not really surrounded by music. None of my friends or family were musically inclined, I didn't know anyone who played a musical instrument other than one friend who played classical music on the flute, and I actually felt too old to be learning the guitar! Well, here I am, almost 20 years LATER, wishing I had stuck with it back then, and I am not going to waste the next 20 years ignoring this wonderful instrument.
As George Eliot apparently said, it is never too late to be who you might have been. Well, I might have been a guitar player, and I believe George Eliot, it is NOT too late. I am going to do this, regardless of obstacles that life continues to present (I don't have friends who play guitar who can show me stuff and hang out with me; I am a busy homeschooling mom of 3; I am trying to work part time from home; and I am trying to get clutter under control and keep my house from looking like a bomb went off).
And the key to my success this year is going to be...YouTube!! I just love YouTube. I started posting weekly videos on YouTube to sort of mark my progress as a guitarist and to keep me honest about playing. Knowing I was supposed to post another video would make me practice even if I was tired and wanted to go to sleep or knew I should be getting the clothes out of the dryer before they wrinkled.
And then, people started commenting! Nice people! Well, okay, I had one really mean comment that said I sucked and that I was ugly and looked like a man, and yes, that comment was quite discouraging, but that very night I got my first subscriber, and that cheered me right up.
I will probably keep ratings disabled for a year, because I have no illusions about my talent at this point. I'm a beginner, I'm learning, I make mistakes, my voice is pitchy, blah blah blah, I know that and don't need 1 and 2 star ratings to remind me (I've got my husband to do that). But I can't begin to express how nice it is to connect, however briefly and virtually, with other people who are interested in guitar and who take the time to write something encouraging.
Another great thing about YouTube is that so many people post videos! There are people who give guitar lessons on YouTube, or post songs that they write, or just inspire me with their talent! I'm really into some of the fingerpicking bluegrass stuff I've been finding.
That's all for now...
Learning All The Time
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