J has a guitar that's been sitting on top of the cabinet and I thought, if I learned how to cook via the internet... I'm sure I can learn how to play a guitar the same way. I used to play piano when I was 10 years old but I lost interest because it gets in the way of my play time or nap time. I remember playing while sleeping and my teacher will always wack my hand. I can still read notes but not as good as I used to. I'm basically in square 1 when it comes to piano.
Guitar, oh my goodness... there's a bunch of tutorial and I'm able to zero in on two particular sites.www.justinguitar.com and mahalo.com particularly Jen Trani's session.
Justin Sandercoe is based in the UK and he's been teaching Guitar Lessons for a long time. He's actually taught in The Guitar Institute and one of his famous students is Katie Melua.
His website is free and the lessons are very well structured but not to the point of boring. It's so good, I can't even begin to explain.
Mahalo.com via youtube is cool because Jen covers popular songs that I will always catch myself humming. It's the fun way of learning. She's not too serious, she cracks jokes while clearly explaining the chords and patterns. She mumbles a lot which is very entertaining.
I'm still a beginner but I'm so happy that I already know how to hold the chords properly albeit slow.
Right now I'm stuck with the big bad F barre chord but I'm not impatient. The great thing about guitar is, you can practically bring it anywhere. It's the kind of companion you want in boring places. :P
Right now I enjoy strumming below songs though it's not perfect and I still pause for finger positioning but it's soooo much fun now.
Hotel California
Back to December
Better Man
I'm Yours
The Gambler
Common People
Knockin on Heaven's Door
It was really painful the first week. I started with A, D & E Chord and naturally progressed to other chords. I was practically on fire the first two weeks. I barely put the guitar down but that made the tips of my fingers tougher quickly.
Normally it's 10-15 minutes every day the first week. Toughening your fingertips while learning positioning. I was easily playing guitar for at least 10 hours a day.
After the first week, my fingertips became numb and I actually got scared! I thought maybe I should check with the doctor instead. Then again I googled it and apparently it was all normal.
My fingertips gained all the feelings back, the callous outside all are peeled now but inside they're much tougher.
I can pick up a guitar anytime and play for hours without crying in pain :)
Now I can play a guitar while waiting for my cooking to finish up. I'll share with you anything interesting about my guitar playin' whenever I get the chance.
-AcousticChef - cookin' one tune at a time!