Hi

Class 3

Class 3 was just waste of okane. why because lee gave so much home work and i did not touch the guitar at least once. so its like another practice session rather than teaching session.

Gyan:
Wheneven i play the e-minor the 5th string buzzes a lot.
there can 3 reasons why a string will buzz:
-> Sufficient Pressure is not applied on fret / too much pressure is applied
-> Finger is released too early after plucking
-> Finger is far away from fret.

The problems i have to fix
-> Left hand Finger training to handle fret movment prperly
-> i,m alternate training to make sure not to touch un necessary strings.
-> chord practice on the six strings
-> music reading and playing from book
-> misc

Trivia:
I was successful in playing twikle twinkle. but later found that i used wrong fingers.
so i stopped immediately

Class 2

Today was humid and i was sweating like a big water tank.
Today's class was very hectic and Lee asked me to play the strings by looking at the book. i could not do that because i never practiced. His instruction was immediate, play the strings by feeling them with fingers and not seeing them. (This entire guitar learning is just like keyboard typing. 7 years back i was typing at 10 letterrs/minute by looking at the keyboard. now, i can type this entire blog in 2 min with out looking at keyboard)

after this, he gave some instructions on my hand supporting position and started explaining the right hand chord exercise. (This involves plucking strings simultaneously) i tried but ok, i was little successful. but
Homework: i have to practice all parallel plucking the combinations of these six strings

After this, lee cleared the biggest confusion i had. what is tone and semi tone and why B does not sound like B on E-High strings (becoz they are seperate by an octave)

(Actually, i understood a little further study needed to reinforce this)

Next, comes the tones on each string of guitar.
Home work: practice the notes and how to read them.

Pretty much for a single class for an average guy on humid summer day.

i had a lot of stuff to practice.
lets see how it goes.

Twinkle:
I had a chance to play my first musical piece.
Lee said that if i finish all the home work i can play twinkle twinkle little star on my 100$ guitar.

Long Week holiday

I was supposed to take guitar classes weekly once, but last two weeks i could not take lessons because of bad weather. so i was practicing the same old tune (although i could not perfect that). Apart from this, i learned a bit music theory and bought a musical tuner (yes, this is a must).

Why do i need a guitar tuner:
Each string in guitar is supposed to make sound at a particular pitch (or what ever).
but because of various reasons, temparature, humidity, weather (or cheap strings)
each string does not make sound which it should. so we should tune it before start playing. So, you switch on the tuner and pluck a string. the tuner will tell whether the string is speaking truth or not (There are many videos on youtube to explain this) i will not cover this.
But, i will cover an issue which i faced with my tuner and i could not find any help at other places.

Problem: i switched on tuner and played E-High string and tuner is supposed to say whether i am above or below the regular level. But, the tuner shows that i am above (or below) of some other tune rather than E-high (say G or F) i thought the tuner mistaken the E for F or G. but, later found that the string is miles away from the regular E. So i need to tighten (or loosen. by trail and error) the string more than a simple adjustment.

But, any way i manged to use it some how.

After the regular practice, i also played E-Minor, E-Major and A-Minor.
But i could not distinguish between E-Minor or regular strumming of all strings.

Sunday came and time for the class.

Class 1

It took 90 minutes to reach the place where i need to take my 60 minute class. remeber i need to take another 90 minutes to get back.

Class started and the teacher rushed through the pages of music text book which he prepared for me. he was lighting fast, and i was barely able to pick up.

He explained STAFF, NOTE, TYPES OF NOTES, CLEF, RESTS, LEDGER LINES and the difficult part....
How to sit and hold guitar. this is the toughest thing i ever did in my life. more ever my arms are longer than usual and i found the guitar sitting position very uncomfortable.

He explained the finger notations and string numbering convention etc., and taught me a simple note called E Minor.

He tried his best to explain the STAFF and TAB for this one. i partially understood it but not fully.

The next task is for the coming 6 days i need to fully undestand the definitions of each stuff and practice the EMinor and sitting position.

my home work status and class 2 details will be reported in the next entry.
CYa readers......(if there are any...)

Also, the things i need to buy has swollen up to 4.
1. Electronic tuner
2. Foot stool
3. Music chart holder
4. new pair of strings

lil out of funds right now....have to find alternative for everything

First day

I called my teacher (Lee) to come to ochanomizu station. This place is famous for shops selling music instruments in tokyo area. once he came we directly went into second hand guitar shop which was near to the station.

Here is what my gyan from teacher that day.
-> acoustic is easier to play than classical.
-> once you learn classcial, you can learn other instruments easily. (jazz rock etc)
-> He said all the factory made instruments looks/sounds same to him.
For better quality go for a handmade guitar.(which starts from 3000$....)
-> we tested only 5 guitars with price range 60$, 80$, 100$, 250$, 350$ and teacher said 60,100 will do but will not sustain for long and he could not notice much difference between 60$ and 350$ in sound quality.

To be frank i was little disappointed with his explanation and decided to take the risk. so i picked up 100$ piece which is just sufficient for my practice over the next 6 months.

Flash: i had change the strings every one month for better performance.
Surprisingly, he did not mention anything about humidifier. i need to get more details about this.

Opening tone

This blog is meant to be a diary of all my guitar experience.
You can continue reading if
-> You want to know what problems you might face whie learning/buying guitar.
-> What are the different details involved in choosing a guitar.
-> How many days does a cheap guiar lasts.
-> miscellaneous stuff

- kc

Note: This is just my experience. i might be wrong as well. Use some trusted persons advice to assess the info i am providing here. Thanks