Almost Recognizable! (End of Week 2) | Post #2

🎸Research🎸

Hello everyone, and welcome to the end of the second week of my journey! In case you missed my Midweek Check-in, I would highly suggest checking that out RIGHT NOW (link below)!

Week 2 Check-in

Barre Chords

This has been an incredible week in my guitar journey involving many improvements since the Midweek Check-in! As you just saw in the Midweek post, I was nowhere near sounding like Jimmy Page whatsoever. I must admit, my playing was pretty rough to listen to. I noticed that throughout my playing at the beginning of the week, I struggled the most with my barre chords and my hybrid picking. Both of those techniques were relatively new, so I was still trying to figure out how they worked. I found an interesting video on barre chords titled, "3 Secrets to EASY Barre Chords." I would highly suggest this video to anyone who is struggling with barre chords, since not only is it less than seven minutes long but it also offers many great tips for creating cleaner sounds on tough chords. The video suggested that I try pulling the neck of the guitar closer to my chest and the body of the guitar away from myself. This helped prevent my lower strings from muting.

At my weekly guitar lessons, my instructor gave me multiple tips for barre chords. The first thing he suggested was changing my posture. Usually, I play with the guitar's contour resting over my right knee with the guitar's neck parallel to the ground. Mike suggested using a "classical stance" where you hold the guitar at a forty-five-degree angle from the ground with the contour between your two legs. This helped my higher pitched barre chords stay as clean as possible because it reduced the tension from my wrist and distributed it onto my leg.

Mike Using the Classical Stance to Play a Cmaj (C major) Barre Chord

Mike's Website

Hybrid Picking

As you could see in my Midweek Check-in, my attempt at hybrid picking the chords was atrocious. It would begin to sound like Stairway to Heaven for a few seconds before being smothered by off-key and off-tempo notes. I found another video by the same account as earlier called, "Chicken Picking (Easy Exercise)." Now I know that I already used this gif in the last post...but come on... it's perfect.

"Chicken Picking"

In all seriousness though, I found the YouTube video to be extremely helpful. It helped better my understanding of how to use the pick and fingers at the same time. Prior to watching the video, I dropped my pick into the soundhole probably a billion times while attempting hybrid picking. The video gave informative tips on reducing the errors but also presented a great exercise. The video suggested that I hold a Cmaj chord and pluck two notes at once, one with the pick and one with a finger before moving down a string, and repeating until every string had been played. This allowed me to begin hybrid picking without feeling the need to continually stare at my picking fingers.

🎸Improvement🎸

I dedicated this week towards introducing myself to each of the different techniques. I wanted to begin learning every one of them so that I could decide which areas required the most improvement.

The first thing I worked on was improving my chord changing speed. My starting speed was 92 bpm, but that was with one strum per measure (3 beats of rest between each transition). By the end of the week, I got my speed to 138 bpm which would seem extremely close to the goal of 143 bpm... that is until you consider that in the song you have less than one beat to switch chords, not four. That would mean that technically my chord progression needs to reach 572 bpm.

My Chord Progression Strumming Speed: 138 bpm

Since I wanted to take that difference into consideration, and since I had begun learning hybrid picking, I figured it would be more accurate to measure my speed based on my hybrid picking tempo. That causes the resting period between chords to be the same as in the song, making it far more accurate. My hybrid picking speed was at 58 bpm (40.56% of goal). The speed would have been much faster, but I am still struggling greatly with the transition from the barre on the fifth fret to the barre on the second fret. I plan to work on that extensively next week since it is one of the main factors slowing me down.

Current Speed: 58 bpm -- Goal: 143 bpm

Lastly, I briefly worked on a connecting measure in the song. To begin the song, you repeat the first line twice with a measure in between where you slide along the fretboard. This was a fairly self-explanatory part, so it did not require much research. However, I need to practice it more so it can sound like one fluid motion rather than two separate notes.

This is What I have Begun Learning so Far. It May not Seem like Much, but It is Challenging and repeated Frequently Throughout the Song 

This is the Original Song by Led Zeppelin

🎸Goals for Next Week🎸

Since I have begun learning the first line, I plan to start learning the next part. While I have not mastered the first part, by a long stretch, I feel that it is important to start learning the next part. From first glance, it seems easier than the intro. Also, the lines are very similar to each other, so they should not be too difficult to learn. In addition, I am going to continue working on the intro that I learned this week. I want to make it cleaner, crisper, and faster. I had about five muffled notes in the latest recording, and I want to reduce that to two at most by the end of the week. Also, I aim to increase my speed from 58 bpm to around 75 bpm. In other words, I plan to increase my speed to at least halfway to the goal's tempo.

This is the Next Section of the Song

ATTENTION EVERYONE!

 Stay tuned for the next Midweek Check-in video dropping in ONLY A FEW DAYS! It is the BEST way to find extra videos of my playing and improvement. From procrastinating on your own project to getting a solid laugh while watching one of society's greatest leeches learn the guitar, my Midweek Check-ins are sure to satisfy all of your needs! I hope to see you all back in a few days. In the meantime, try to stay out of TREBLE.

Works Cited

Led Zeppelin. Stairway to Heaven Led Zeppelin. YouTube, Led Zeppelin, 8 Nov. 1971, www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXQUu5Dti4g.

Markey, Michael. “Barre Chords.” Private Guitar Lessons. Guitar Lesson, 26 Feb. 2019, North Wales, PA, George's Music.

Polecastro, Tony. “3 Secrets to EASY Barre Chords.” YouTube, Acoustic Life, 6 Sept. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=87reIeqqVrs.

Polecastro, Tony, director. Chicken Picking (Easy Exercise). YouTube, Acoustic Life, 31 Aug. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPVYFnb7vqw.