Final Video

Hi Everyone,

Here is my final video, as I mentioned it’s a cover of Knocking on Heaven’s Door by Bob Dylan. This was my very first experience singing to a song that I was playing as well as the first time I have recorded myself. There are a number of things I had difficulty with in this video, but all in all, I am happy with how it turned out. Enjoy!

Learning to play and sing to a song on the computer has been quite an experience. As frustrating and sometimes painful as it was, I am so thankful I have finally completed my project and I am ready to move on to learning other songs I also hope to become much more fluid with this song as well. Thank you for following my learning process, it has been a rollercoaster ride for sure!

Thank you for following my learning process, thank you for the encouragement and well wishes, it has been a rollercoaster ride for sure!

Tieing it all Together

Hi all,

It’s been a while since my last update, but I have been practicing every spare moment. Things have been progressing well and I am really feeling committed to the guitar. I have noticed it’s a bit tricky for me to focus on one particular song, I often find myself checking out random videos and sites to learn a riff and then I have to push myself to get back on track.

My goal for this project was to learn to play and sing a song for the final video. I think it’s safe to say that is finally within my reach. As I have mentioned the song I chose was Knocking on Heaven’s Door. I initially had difficulty choosing a specific version of this song. In this video, Michael Schulte uses a capo on the third fret and I really liked how that sounded. I practiced it that way for a while and I initially thought that was the version I would use for my final video. However, when it came time to practice singing I discovered that for my voice, I would probably be better off without the capo, and I am starting to get used to the way it sounds.

I used a voice recorder app on my iphone to record a few different versions of the song, both with and without the capo. Here is a recording where I have demonstrated the difference between the two versions.

If you don’t already play guitar, the pictures below should give you an idea of what position my hand/fingers are in when playing each chord.

  This is the finger placement for a G chord.

This is a D chord.

This is an Am (minor) chord.

This is a C chord.

Here is the exact finger placement for the chords, these are screenshots from a few of my Garage Band Lessons.

The lyrics are slightly different depending on which version of the song you are learning as well. I decided to use lyrics that were familiar to me and seemed to suit the way I learned the song.

Update: Things are Coming Together

Hi There,

I guess I’d better provide an update on my learning project. Things feel like they are starting to come together nicely. I’ve chosen the song, Knocking on Heaven’s Door, because it is the only song my Dad ever sang to us while he played the guitar when I was young.

I used the chrome extension ScreenCastify to record a short video of my guitar lessons.

I am still using Garage Band and I am finding the combination of that, Youtube and consultations with my Dad to be fairly sufficient.

I’m still experiencing a few issues with this program like I mention in the video, the tuner seems out of whack. To anyone using Garage Band to learn the guitar, I recommend purchasing a tuner!

                           This is my guitar!

The song I am currently trying to learn is Knocking On Heaven’s Door. I started by checking out this video, then I looked into the chords on Ultimate Guitar.com. With a few more hours practice I hope to be able to play this song fairly well.

A few things I’ve learned along the way…

• Keep your nails short, especially on the left hand.
• Make sure your fingertips are pushed directly on the strong behind the fret.
• Find a reliable tuner and tune often!

 

 

A Bit of a Bumpy Road…

Learning to play the guitar has given me a renewed appreciation for music. Many times I have thought I wanted to play but gave up after just a few weeks. This project has proven to be challenging as well as rewarding.

My learning project was off to a bit of a slow start and I was reminded of all the times I promised myself I was going to actually do it this time, I was going to start playing. I was reminded of why I never really did.

One of the things I am struggling with is finding an app that has good reviews and has an app available for my mac book. I am a little frustrated at the fact that Apple has apps that are not universal across all devices, for instance, the one I was looking forward to using was called HD Tabs, and it doesn’t work on my laptop. I am now looking for a similar app that is compatible with my computer.

I am still using Garageband to learn chords. This app is great! You can time yourself in order to focus on transition, from chord to chord more quickly. You can record yourself and you can see on the computer screen where you need to fix your finger placement. These are all very helpful when you are learning on your own.

Although at times I have been frustrated, this project has forced me to finally commit to learning the guitar and I am grateful for that.

Learning Project: Tuning and Basic Chords

Hi All and Welcome to week two of my learning project,

This past week I worked on finding a few different online resources. I am going to use the program Garage Band to help me learn to tune my guitar, practice strumming, finger picking and a few basic chords. I find Garage Band to be extremely helpful in learning to play an instrument because unlike many of the youtube videos I’ve found, it starts with the basics. In addition to that I will use a few videos from youtube to help me find a song that I would like to play.

Stay tuned!

Learning Project: Week One

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to my Learning Project! I chose to learn to play the guitar. This is something that I have always been meaning to do, and never found the motivation. My goal for the end of the project is to be able to play and sing a song.I am looking forward to this project and learning to play a few tunes!

Here is my before video

I have broken down my plan for this project, it is as follows:

1. Learn to tune the guitar, as well as proper hand techniques.
2. Learn a number of Chords.
3. Learn chords to a specific song.
4. Learn to sing said song while playing the guitar.

Wish me luck!