I started off with a bang for my goal of a new skill every month, if you can call very slowly strumming a guitar going off with a bang. I know what you’re thinking, did I really go out and buy a guitar just to write a blog post about it? The short answer is no. The long answer is that for years now my Pop and I have been connecting over music, mostly him playing different instruments and me having a whack here and there. When I was little he would reteach me how to play the ukulele every year when I would go to stay with Nan and Pop in the summer and eventually I bought myself my very own ukulele. But in 2020 I offhandedly mentioned wanting to learn the guitar and as my Pop collects instruments and had recently bought himself a new guitar he very kindly gave me one of his old ones, well two actually. The first guitar is the one that he learnt to play on and is around 60 years old, so it is very special to me. I’ve picked it up on and off since 2020 but have struggled to find resources to learn or the time to squeeze in some lessons, so it has remained largely underplayed. The second is a newer guitar and has metal strings, this is actually the guitar that I started off this month learning on, but I have since moved to the first as this guitar lives full time at my parents house.
But on to the actual learning! I was originally going to try to just learn songs off of YouTube tutorials but it is a disheartening and struggle filled method to a beginner. I lucked out by finding the Simply Guitar app on the app store and realized that the teaching style used in the app was very effective for my learning style. Each lesson is broken into blocks so you don’t feel overwhelmed by all the things you don’t yet know. After you learn the technique for each lesson you get the chance to play a song using what you’ve just learned by timing it to the on screen bars, sort of Dance Dance Revolution style. As you progress these get harder and involve more techniques at once. You do have to pay to get access to the library of songs as you unlock them but there is a seven day free trial, and you have access to the beginner level of lessons without paying. And no this isn’t an ad, I just really like the app.
Now I’ll be honest this isn’t just something I picked up for one month and am now letting go, I’ll be continuing this throughout the year. Maybe by the end of the year I might even be able to play a full song! I’m trying to let myself go with the flow of learning and not stress myself out by adding goals or deadlines to my playing ability which is actually something that I struggle with as a ballet dancer. And speaking of ballet, learning an instrument can really benefit your musicality so if that’s something you struggle with maybe a few music lessons wouldn’t go amiss. I remember having difficulty with it when I was a kid and my Mum got me into some xylophone lessons during primary school and the difference was astounding.
So all in all a fun and beneficial long term hobby came out of the first month!
Elizabeth Renee x