Learning How To Play A Guitar

Hey guys! What's up?! How was New Year's Eve? Great!

Well I've been aiming to be more productive this year and trying to pick up a new hobby. I've been in a band during college (hi guys if you're reading this!) and I must say it's not as easy as it looks. All we had was passion and the urge to somehow, somewhere be heard when we play our music and still be together; whilst looking good for the girls. Regrets? I had a few. I never had the chance to actually learn a thing or two about playing a guitar since I'm on keyboards. I'm working on it right now and found free applications in the App Store that can help me do it since my friends are all either married and got kids. We all know how busy that is.

Fun Guitar Facts:

According to CoachGuitar.com, we can't learn fast if we use technical jargon and theory. They suggest a very practical way through visuals so we can do it like the pros. There are tons of music genres that I had to understand and read before doing this. It already gave me a heart attack when I checked out it's history here; and to tell you honestly, it was turning up a little disheartening.

I went ahead and used the application even if I was a little skeptic. Though I know I'd probably regret it if I didn't try. So after downloading it off the App Store, I opened it up and checked how it works.

 

There were four tabs on the bottom indicating Home, My Lessons, Library and Me. On the front page, it had tons of suggested music to play. It wasn't free so I skipped that. I'm so cheap!

It went through different help options but this one was important. When you are shown some instructions later, you'll have to know what finger to use while pressing on the guitar's fret. We did a few things in college that was quite similar. I used to play just the introduction part of the most popular songs but never finished playing any of them. Hence, the term "Intro Boy". 

After choosing a song on the free ones, it went to this section that had the song divided into parts. Remember those colors we mentioned earlier? This is the part where it'll make sense.

It'll tell you exactly what finger to use and illustrate when to pluck the string.  

Now don't worry too much if the music you're hearing or seeing is too fast. The application has options to either go back to the menu, put it into slow motion or just replay it. I went ahead and used the slow motion feature because I couldn't catch up. Michael Jackson's "Beat It!" is a little complicated. Dividing it into steps made it really easy and as of this writing I can already do the first two parts without help from anybody. From zero to hero. Imagine that!

The other rifts were a little too advanced for me because as you can see, it kind of forced me to use two fingers in a single fret. This is officially a fat finger problem, like when you press buttons on touchscreen.

For those who have experience reading off lyric sheets, you can view it through the TABLATURE mode if you wish to. I stayed watching the videos because I generally find that easy even if I can read notes.

In the end, you'll see how each part of the riff you did earlier will come together. The full video will also show you how easy it is to learn a new song from end to end. Now most of your friends and fans will think that you're a pro!

If you think you've already gotten bored about the free songs that are in your My Lessons tab, don't worry because they've got a whole library of the greatest guitar masterpieces available for purchase. Katy Perry and Bruno Mars did make me skip a heart beat.

If you continue to share and connect with their community through Facebook, you'll get to unlock badges and exclusive content on the application. After all, it's free on the App Store! Who knows? You might get a free song or two right after doing that!



 

For more information about the Application:

Coach Guitar

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Visit their official website

http://www.coachguitar.com/

Another Passion: Music

I've been able to do more today in the field of music. The things I wrote years ago got revamped and was given appropriate amount of care. I rewrote most of it and had a friend arrange these masterpieces. I'm planning to give this to some of my friends who work in the industry who may or may not find some use for it. This is a result of what I've been able to do when we got out piano fixed and re calibrated. These are some of the things that I am so thankful for, plus the Piano Lessons I got when I was a kid. 

I can't remember the last time that my friends and I came together. If my hunch is right, that would have been probably around 15 years ago. I feel so old all of a sudden, but pretty thankful our piano stood the test of time. It would have been amazing if my grandma saw what I was doing with her most prized possession. She was the one who practically introduced us to music at a very young age. Later on, we got busy and ended up having her to only play a couple of songs even if she was already blind. She really inspired a lot of people in her time. She inspired all of us; but she shared something quite amazing to me. That's the eagerness to write and somehow become a semiprofessional lyricist. Now what could be better but having people know about what happens to my compositions soon! Enough of these trips down memory lane and I'll tell you about what happens to my adventures in this field soon!

The Right Note

It's been a while since I've updated you with what I've been doing with my music. I've recorded four tracks and had it all on raw piano. Doing that made me realize how important this heirloom piece is for our family. It's even older than me I guess and honestly putting a price on these things would probably be offending my forefathers. It's been with us for a long time and I haven't been able to think about selling it for a more modern model. That includes my comparison to Steinway Prices too. The reason I'm considering it is because I couldn't do without maintenance. Tuning this old one up every year also is costing me. Finding who'll do that is also a big problem so I am weighing my options as early as now.

The price of these items in this part of the world isn't a joke. It would cost an arm and a leg; or other body parts on some instances. The question is; would I spend something for a new one or do I just keep this? You think about all the people who held each key of this wonderful piece of history and you can't succumb thinking you'll end a generation of musicians who kept this within our home for the last half century. If that isn't one thing I should consider then I don't know what will. See my dilemma? It's not just a piece of furniture for our family; it's the memories that come with it that's important. It's like answering if the piano is a percussion or string instrument, you'll never know in your lifetime the right answer. Maybe my future kids' one of these days would know. As for now, I'll probably have to carry the burden of making this a part of my life. It won't work if I just have it sit there and collect dust. Maybe one day if the music I make becomes understandable for one or more people I'll probably find this all worth it... just like my forefathers did. I just need to find the right note.