second month

i’ve learned the basic c, c minor and a minor scales. i’m now working on minor pentatonics.

 i’ve also started to learn:

- “canon rock” intro (first 17 notes)

- “californication” intro

- “what it’s like” intro

 i can really play “freebird” chorus very well now. it’s the first time that i can play something through and it actually sounds good. it still takes a bit of work to get the f chord down though. need to continue to work on chord transitions.

first month.

i started playing the guitar on January 1st, 2008. as the first month dies down…i’d like to go over what i have learned and can play:

 - a through e major/minor chords … can play these by memory with a clean tone

- “freebird” chorus

- “let her cry” chorus

- “otherside” intro

- “layla” intro

for the second month i am going to focus on learning scales, pentatonics and modes. i would like to have the majority of that stuff learned by then.

“learning the guitar” progression.

i’m going to use this blog to track my journey of learning to play the guitar. 

in xmas of 07′ i found myself with a lot of gift cards. not needing anything specificlly important, i decided to go buy a cheap guitar to play around with. i took lessons 12 years ago but gave up after the 4th or 5th lesson. with a baby on the way, this could be a perfect hobby for me to take up(i’ve been spending a lot of time at home).

 i started playing with the cheap guitar and found myself not being able to put the thing down. i quickly signed up for an online lesson website to help me learn the basics(guitartricks.com). after a week of playing and lots of research, i realized the guitar i bought was one of the biggest pile’s of junk you could buy and definately not something good to learn on. although i could play it, it made it more difficult to get good sound out of it(i quickly realized later how a good guitar can improve your tone).

 i took the guitar back to best buy and went over to the “ma and pop” music store across the street from me. i played a few guitars and stumbled upon a Beautiful acoustic guitar. this thing didnt have a price on it….i figured it was at least a grand. i played it a bit … ohhed and ahhed over it and put it back. on the way out of the store i asked the guy how much it was. “it’s on sale right now. i can sell it to you for $280″. i said thanks and left. after getting home and thinking about it … that was a steal! i went back and bought it. they kept it for a day and did a “pro setup” on it(adjustments to the guitar specifically for the individual that purchased it). i got it home and could play loud, clear, clean tones. i was in love all over again.