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Session 4 and the Holiday Spirit


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Hello All...

I started Session 4 for the second time about a week ago. I remembered it as very challenging, and wanted to really do well with it. As part of a learning strategy, and in the spirit of the holidays, I found some Christmas melodies in the keys of G, D and F so I'd get some practice with sharps and flats. Some are in 4/4 time and some in 3/4, and most have 8th notes sprinkled through out. I've also picked out a couple of songs from Hal Leonard Easy Pop Melodies (Nowhere Man is my favorite to play). Slow and steady. I bought a new Matrix metronome recently, because the one I had didn't have volume control and was very loud when I use headphones. Another thing I like about it is that it has the click that Steve likes but it can be set for different time signatures. Beat one has a different click, which is helpful to me when playing songs with pickup notes. Still having some troubles with the Star Spangled Banner, but the other tunes I'm playing fairly well at 66 bpm. If I have one problem, it's hitting the right string (and sometimes whiffing the high E) even though I've braced my hand on the guitar. I guess that will improve over time but it does get frustrating sometimes. I'm going to hold off on trying the bonus exercises. Frankly, some of them are very intimidating. I will get there though. I'm determined. 

Till next time...

Dan F.

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Dan,

It certainly appears as though you have put some thought into your practice regimen and that you have the determination to be successful in your learning.  You have announced several things that you are doing that I wish that I had done early in my learning.

First though, you are correct in describing Session 4 as "challenging".  It is.  There is a lot of material here.  If you haven't discovered it yet there is even more material in the bonus resources than the main part.  I have heard many on here suggest to break it up and work it in parts. I think that is good advice.  Just know it is going to take a while.

You have clearly identified a game plan for your learning.  I wish I had done that earlier on.  I just sat down and practiced with no real game plan.  And, you have purchased that little box we all love to hate, the metronome!  😉😂  That is going to help dramatically with your timing.  And, probably most importantly, you are keeping it fun. You are bringing in songs like Nowhere Man to make it fun and give your hard work some purpose.

Please come back here often and keep us up to date on your progress.  And any time you are not clear about something or just frustrated, post.  We have a real brain trust here of supportive guitarists.  We are fortunate in that we even have several that have completed the course and come back and share.

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Thanks so much for the words of encouragement. I've been wanting to do this for a long time and life always seemed to get in the way. I'm blessed with a wonderful wife who understands my desire to learn and leaves me to it (as well as talking me back from the ledge when I start getting frustrated). I have checked out the bonus material and I'm saving that for later. I did have some frustrating practice time recently. I was having trouble with fretting notes on the higher strings, most notably D on the second string. I realized that was letting the guitar "droop". Getting neck back to about a 45 degree angle seemed to help. Not as much of a problem now. Getting really good on Simple Gifts. I can play it at about 80 bpm and with some alternate picking. The other songs still need some work but I'm making progress.

Edited by dan0725
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It sounds like you are doing well! 

Taking it slow and steady is so important! As well as working with a metronome! 

It is a great feeling when you start getting songs and exercises up to the faster speeds.  The bonus material adds another dimension to session 4, so definitely get the main material down. Maybe even just start taking on a few exercises at a time for the bonus ones. There may be one or two that will be a challenge - I remember one or two that were for me. Once you get to that point, if there are one or two that are just holding you up but the rest are good, remember you can move on to session 5 and still use those as warmup exercises. 

Have fun learning and practicing! 

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Great advice. I'll be switching over to my acoustic for about a week. My Stratocaster goes in to the shop for a set up tomorrow (first time since I've owned it, it's due). I think that playing on a slightly wider neck for a while will be good for me.  Bye for now.

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Just an update:

I'm on my 3rd week with Session 4. I've gotten really good at playing Simple Gifts. I uploaded a video. I've worked on a number of Christmas songs including The First Noel, Hark, The Herald Angels Sing, and Blue Christmas. The Minuets continue to improve and I hope to upload videos for those at some point soon. I've also seen some improvement on The Star Spangled Banner. I will be trying that with the slow backing track tonight. I'm hoping to begin adding a few of the bonus exercises. 

All the best!

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Nice job, Dan!   Really nice job.  It's sounds great.  You have to feel a lot of satisfaction in making this much progress.  And please continue to share your progress with us.

And I hear that metronome!!!😁

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3 hours ago, matonanjin said:

Nice job, Dan!   Really nice job.  It's sounds great.  You have to feel a lot of satisfaction in making this much progress.  And please continue to share your progress with us.

And I hear that metronome!!!😁

Thanks! I appreciate that very much.

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13 hours ago, dan0725 said:

Just an update:

I'm on my 3rd week with Session 4. I've gotten really good at playing Simple Gifts. I uploaded a video. I've worked on a number of Christmas songs including The First Noel, Hark, The Herald Angels Sing, and Blue Christmas. The Minuets continue to improve and I hope to upload videos for those at some point soon. I've also seen some improvement on The Star Spangled Banner. I will be trying that with the slow backing track tonight. I'm hoping to begin adding a few of the bonus exercises. 

All the best!

Very good @dan0725 . Now you have the notes and tune under your fingers, my suggestion is for you to try and make it sound bit more fluid and musical.  Keep it up👍  N

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Merry Christmas a little early...

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Very nice Dan 

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1 hour ago, upsmech said:

Very nice Dan 

Thank you!

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5 hours ago, dan0725 said:

Merry Christmas a little early...

 

Dan,

Please consider posting this in our Monthly Recording Challenge: Christmas.  It certainly should be there.

I tried to make a copy of your post and put it there as a moderator but couldn't figure out how to do it.  🙄  I can move a thread from one forum to another but not a single post!  Maybe that is just as well since I didn't get your permission first!  😁

We're going to ignore that silly netiquette rule about doubly posting!

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Continuing to work on Session 4...

Christmas music has been put away. Adding to the mix along with the main songs and exercises, Auld Lang Syne (key of G) and The Minstrel Boy (key of D). The Minstrel Boy is a very nice tune from Ireland. I first heard it as part of a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode (“The Wounded”). You hear it sometimes played at funerals on bagpipes. I do have a question about it I’m hoping someone can help me with. It looks like in several measures there are ties but I thought ties connected notes of the same pitch. It is possible they are slurs but are not hammer-ons or pull-offs since the second notes are on adjacent strings. So what is it (picture enclosed)? Sorry for being so long winded. 

httpswww.music-for-music-teachers.comsupport-filesminstrel-boy-guitar-d.pdf.png

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@dan0725  Dan, yes, those are slurs, as the curved lines connects notes of different pitch. It means the notes are to be sounded legato -- in this instance, I believe as sung, rather than played, from my reading of the lyric and the tab.  

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I hope someone can help me with this...

I’m starting to work on the Bonus exercises for the 5th and 6th strings. On page 33, exercise 4, the last measure has me confused. The way I read it is 1+ (2 is silent) + (3 is silent) 4 (+ is silent). Somehow this doesn’t seem to add up. I could just be interpreting it wrong but it seems that beat 3 should be quarter rest. Could someone give me the correct count?  Disregard the numbers on the image. This was my first attempt.
 

Thanks.

AE659A44-EA75-4808-AF85-2FF3E7F6A250.jpeg

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Hi Dan and Happy New Year!

To answer your question, the two eighth notes (both C's) form beat 1. The eighth rest and the eighth note G form beat 2. The last two beats of a quarter note and two eight notes form beats 3 & 4. Once you start to play the note G, the rhythm changes to a syncopated rhythm which might be what's throwing you off. 

The (4) should be moved slightly to the left though with a + beneath the last eighth rest. Does that help?

Edited by Cindy
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Also to answer your earlier question on the slur, as Diane mentioned, yes it is a slur. It means you articulate the first note while the second note is played very smoothly - as though the 2 notes are joined together smoothly.

I don't think Steve covers much of any articulation. Music contains markings on how to articulate notes. In addition to the legato slur markings, some articulations might be staccato (a small dot above a note meaning the note is quick and detached) or accented notes (might be an upside down V or a sideways V). 

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On 1/1/2020 at 9:09 AM, Cindy said:

Hi Dan and Happy New Year!

To answer your question, the two eighth notes (both C's) form beat 1. The eighth rest and the eighth note G form beat 2. The last two beats of a quarter note and two eight notes form beats 3 & 4. Once you start to play the note G, the rhythm changes to a syncopated rhythm which might be what's throwing you off. 

The (4) should be moved slightly to the left though with a + beneath the last eighth rest. Does that help?

Yes, Cindy it does. Thank you for the responses. More importantly, it makes sense :) .

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Session 4 Update:

I've been able to play the session songs at 76 BPM. I can play the 5th and 6th string exercises at 60 BPM (working on consistency). 

That's the good news.

I've started working on the Bonus exercises and as I expected I'm running into some snags. Right now I'm on the 5th string bonus exercises and a few of them I can do at the correct BPM. The others, not so much. I've been using my metronome to try to get the timing down but I find playing the exercises really slow (40-50 BPM) is not any easier. What I thought of doing is trying to do the exercises one measure at a time. Get it where I can do it correctly and then add in the next measure and so on. Is this a valid way to do this, or should I try playing all the way through real slow until it clicks and then speed up?

Thought? All advice is welcome. If you have something that worked for you, I'd like to hear about it.

Dan

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On 1/8/2020 at 9:42 AM, dan0725 said:

...

Get it where I can do it correctly and then add in the next measure and so on. Is this a valid way to do this, or should I try playing all the way through real slow until it clicks and then speed up?

Dan,

Absolutely!  Break it up!  I have often heard "Take it slow to get it fast."  Which, of course, refers to slowing down a passage until one gets it perfected and then gradually increasing the speed until you get it to the published tempo.

I wish we had similar jargon for taking a "chunk at a time".  I don't know that I have seen a lot of discussion about this but I, none-the-less, believe just about everyone does this.  Do exactly as you described is my advice.  Take one measure.  Get it comfortable.  Then take the second measure.  Get it comfortable.  Now play measures one and two.  Then add measure three.  etc.

I don't know if you saw my post of Jingle Bells Blues.  That's  exactly what I did with it to learn it.  I never did get it above 90% tempo but I'm ok with that.  What follows next in that version of that song is a bluesy solo.  And, again, that's the way I'm trying to learn it.  The solo has about a dozen licks and I'm about half way through them.  I'm not taking a measure at a time because some of the licks span a couple measures or more.  But I'm still taking it a chunk at a time, a chunk being a lick.  And, digressing a bit, a couple of these licks are above my skill level.  One has a triplet pull off.  So a couple of these licks I may have to "dumb down" for me to complete them.  But I'm trying to challenge myself.

But my point remains I'm taking it section at a time.

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I agree with @matonanjin . That is also my way of learning.

Wim.

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I’ve run into a real snag. Lots of misfires. I’m either fretting wrong notes, especially where second string D is involved. I’m also completely whiffing strings. It’s very frustrating. I’m slowing everything back down for awhile to try to straighten things out. I feel like a baseball player whose in a slump. I don’t know if trying to play to metronome has me messed up or maybe I need to take a break for a couple of days and try it again (I do play pretty much every night). Or maybe I get back on the horse. I was hoping to be done with session four before I leave for Mexico on the 1st. Not looking so good now.

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@dan0725This happens to all of us from time to time so first of all, don't worry about it.  A days break from practice is good sometimes. We need to step back and refocus occassionally. Goals are great and necessary. You seem to have the Practice and Persistence  down... what you need now is Patience.You'll get it👍.

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10 hours ago, NeilES335 said:

@dan0725This happens to all of us from time to time so first of all, don't worry about it.  A days break from practice is good sometimes. We need to step back and refocus occassionally. Goals are great and necessary. You seem to have the Practice and Persistence  down... what you need now is Patience.You'll get it👍.

Thanks for the reassurance. I really needed it. :) 

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