Well, I have made it to the last week of my 20Time project, and I am very proud of how much I have accomplished. I have never played a guitar before and had no knowledge of the instrument prior to this project. I am not going to say I am a rock god or anything, but I think I have come a long ways in just 5 weeks. Here is a video of how I met my goal this week, learning to play "Yer So Bad":
I used this video to help me learn the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WtLhQWYmng (You can also find it on my Pinterest Board)
I was able to use my knowledge of chord progressions to help me come up with a creative ending for the song. I knew that the song was played in the key of G major, so ending on a G chord would make the song sound more complete. I also decided to go with an authentic cadence (V-I) and play a D chord before I ended on G. I did not think I would be able to get this far this week. At the beginning of the week, I had just researched the chords used for this song. At first, I tried to just play the chords that I found and make up my own rhythm. This is what I do when I am learning to play a new song on piano. I look up the chords and roll with it. This did not go over very well when I tried to do this with guitar. Turns out I am better from learning through examples when it comes to an instrument I barely know! That is when I found the YouTube video mentioned above. This video helped me short out what I was doing rhythmically and find easier ways to play the chords that did not require as much hand movement. Once I became more comfortable with the chords, I was able to make some changes to the rhythm that I liked better. As you can tell, I am still practicing this song and it will be a while until I can play it smoothly all the way through. If I had another 5 weeks to only practice this song, I think I would become very good at it, but pretty bored. I like to mix it up and learn multiple things at once. While I was learning this song this week, I kept having other songs jump in my head and I would look up chords for those too. I think variation helps keep me engaged and excited about what I am learning. Thanks to this project, I am hooked on guitar. I want to learn every Tom Petty song I can, and throw in a few others here and there. I am by no means a singer, but I have found it fun to hum along the tune of the song while I am strumming the chords. It's neat to hear how everything comes together in the end. Tune in next week for a reflection post as well as answers to some questions I posed when I first started in on this project.
2 Comments
4/5/2016 08:15:07 am
Soph,
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Sarah Hunter
4/27/2016 12:55:27 pm
Well, I'd say you are the poster child for 20time mastery. Not only did you accomplish your goal, you've become inspired to continue your journey and expand your learning. Good for you, great job!
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During my time at CSUSM, we participated in a 20% project. This blog chronicles my 20% journey!
Cover photo credits: http://bighassle.com/publicity/tom-petty-the-heartbreakers Archives
April 2016
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Ms. Monaco