This video has been fantastic since its version of Bm7 is WAY easier and it also introduced me to a different strumming pattern that gives the song a little more personality. I've tinkered around with different strategies for practicing chord progressions. I've tried playing the same two chords in quick succession over and over again in order to get my clumsy fingers accustomed to those particular movements. I've tried looking away from the guitar as I move my fingers from one chord to the next, trying to train my brain to find the right location on the fret board without having to look. I've also just tried performing the song to see how much things would simply fall into place if I tried to put it all together. That didn't work out so well. What I found out is that trying to sing music lyrics while also concentrating on playing the guitar chords correctly was computation overload. As soon as I began singing, my fingers would forget what they were supposed to be doing. At one point, I took a break from practicing to see if watching other amateurs playing would help me visualize what I needed to do to play correctly. Here are two videos I stumbled upon.
This wasn't helpful so much as it was discouraging. I thought both of these renditions were absolutely terrific and suddenly I feel even further from reaching my goal. Nevertheless, I shall continue to practice until my finished product sounds something close to what I've found on Youtube. I remember reading about the "10,000 hour" rule in a Malcolm Gladwell book. The rule states that in order to reach mastery of something, one must dedicate 10,000 hours of deliberate practice. The way I see it, I only need about 9,990 more hours to achieve acoustic guitar mastery. Unfortunately, since time is finite and this project is only supposed to go on for 5 weeks, I'm going to be a little shy of that number. However, my plan is that by the end of week 5, I'll be confident enough with my progress to post a video of me playing "The Scientist" to the best of my current ability. For now, I'll spare you the auditory anguish.
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4/19/2016 05:46:17 pm
Good work George! I think a lot of what you are doing is training your brain to be comfortable with the movements. Its like that thing we used to do as kids: Rubbing your belly while tapping your head. Its weird and uncomfortable at first, but eventually it starts to make sense and you stop having to concentrate so hard. In your case, it will take a considerable longer amount of time but I have faith you can achieve it!
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4/22/2016 10:37:44 am
Hey George!
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AuthorOn this page, I will document my progress throughout my 20% Project. The purpose of this activity is to see first hand how a 20time project can be used in education. Archives
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