Remember this?
Well, I have actually started playing (aka "working on") out of it. And boy...does it hurt!
I really like it...but as the songs are barre chord heavy, it's something of a work out! As you may know, I have wide-ish hands, but my fingers are short and a little stumpy. It's times like these that I'm thankful God saw fit to give me double jointed thumbs! I do believe that feature expands my reach a little. Anyway, barre chords (particularly full barre) take hand strength...maybe more than I have right now. (Cover your ears folks, she's "dubbing" through them barre chords agin!) But...that's not stopping me. I'm going to push through, yelp "OUCH!" every now and again, moan "but my fingers are too short" and go right ahead and do it. Things we do for the music we love, eh?
My wrist has returned to acting up again which doubles the issues I have with barre chords to begin with...so I brace up before I play and screw up my face as I work through a particularly daunting looking chord.
Here's the neat part though...I have been s-l-o-w-l-y inching my way into more difficult pieces over the past year and I'm finding, jumping head first into barre laden pieces, that my sight reading way down (or technically 'up') the neck has dramatically improved! Um...that's not to say that it's perfect. I still have a long way to go, but I am not having to stop and count...and grab the tuner (or my 'cheat sheet') to determine correct note nearly as much.
The above book has TAB in it, under the notation line. TAB is rather like cheater-notation, so I tend to dislike it; particularly as it distracts me and, if I fall into the habit of looking at it, it does two things, a) confuses me and b) makes me lazy in my note reading. However, I am finding it helpful in this book. I look at the notes of a barre chord, set my fingers on the strings...and if I have any question, I can quickly peek at the TAB...this saves me the trouble of removing my fingers from the strings to go double-check elsewhere as to whether or not my fingers are placed correctly. Other than that, I am forcing my eyes to stay above the line of TAB. It good for the self-discipline...an area I, at any rate, need work in.
Oh...and if you're wondering, four songs is about max at this point...the ones I'm playing being 2-4 pages long. I can't take any more than that! However, I hope to be able to keep "raising the barre"...
I really like it...but as the songs are barre chord heavy, it's something of a work out! As you may know, I have wide-ish hands, but my fingers are short and a little stumpy. It's times like these that I'm thankful God saw fit to give me double jointed thumbs! I do believe that feature expands my reach a little. Anyway, barre chords (particularly full barre) take hand strength...maybe more than I have right now. (Cover your ears folks, she's "dubbing" through them barre chords agin!) But...that's not stopping me. I'm going to push through, yelp "OUCH!" every now and again, moan "but my fingers are too short" and go right ahead and do it. Things we do for the music we love, eh?
My wrist has returned to acting up again which doubles the issues I have with barre chords to begin with...so I brace up before I play and screw up my face as I work through a particularly daunting looking chord.
Here's the neat part though...I have been s-l-o-w-l-y inching my way into more difficult pieces over the past year and I'm finding, jumping head first into barre laden pieces, that my sight reading way down (or technically 'up') the neck has dramatically improved! Um...that's not to say that it's perfect. I still have a long way to go, but I am not having to stop and count...and grab the tuner (or my 'cheat sheet') to determine correct note nearly as much.
The above book has TAB in it, under the notation line. TAB is rather like cheater-notation, so I tend to dislike it; particularly as it distracts me and, if I fall into the habit of looking at it, it does two things, a) confuses me and b) makes me lazy in my note reading. However, I am finding it helpful in this book. I look at the notes of a barre chord, set my fingers on the strings...and if I have any question, I can quickly peek at the TAB...this saves me the trouble of removing my fingers from the strings to go double-check elsewhere as to whether or not my fingers are placed correctly. Other than that, I am forcing my eyes to stay above the line of TAB. It good for the self-discipline...an area I, at any rate, need work in.
Oh...and if you're wondering, four songs is about max at this point...the ones I'm playing being 2-4 pages long. I can't take any more than that! However, I hope to be able to keep "raising the barre"...
Racheal
P.S. This whole post made me think of the sermon this morning--which was on the "lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life". Pastor was talking about pride...and I wonder if I came across prideful in this post, since I do seem to be bragging a bit on myself and patting myself on the back. I didn't really mean it that way, it's more that I'm just excited that I have had improvement (despite pain).
I might as well pitch in here that I just felt like writing too...funny how one deals with the desire to communicate...I write on here because I don't really feel like talking, or my family is all engaged elsewhere.
I might as well pitch in here that I just felt like writing too...funny how one deals with the desire to communicate...I write on here because I don't really feel like talking, or my family is all engaged elsewhere.
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