Guitar Lesson One: In the Books

Yesterday was a particularly long day. You see, I woke up around 4:45 in the AM to head to the gym. I haven’t seen the inside of a gym in months and you can tell. My gym, the Glendale 24 Hour Super Sport (because I’m a super sportsman) didn’t quite seem like I though it would. It was January and normally the gym is packed with Resolutioneers, looking to undue the months of November and December. But the gym seemed subdued.

I managed to crank out thirty minutes on the elliptical (156 average heart rate), which was my goal given the fact I haven’t worked out in months (due to a bad knee and a worse job). I didn’t feel that fatigued by the end of the run and my knees were no worse for wear. And I can report that my knees feel just fine a day later – despite it being cold out. I’m only mildly sore.

From the gym, I made it into work early enough to get a decent spot in the lab’s premiere lot for those of us who don’t park on-site. My work day was long – about 11 hours. My guitar lessons were in Glendale, which is on the way back home. I didn’t feel the need to drive home then drive back into town for the instruction, so I stayed at work. I won’t be doing that again as it wore me the hell out.

My instructor, Vince, is an accomplished musician and blues guitarist. He knows how to play the mandolin and the blues harp (harmonica). He also owns a Stratocaster from the early 60’s and an incredible Bassman amp and reverb. He’s got some incredible tools and the skills to play them, as I saw for myself.

Instruction began simply enough, with a blues primer. He explained the 12-bar blues. Who plays them and why they are played. He broke a basic12-bar blues song and played a bit. After that, he showed me the chords and I played them as best I could. The results were okay, but good according to Vince.

I think I sounded like a parrot being put into a rusty meat grinder, but there were times I did sound like he did.

I was able to play a relatively difficult chord (a form of A) that he was impressed with. He said that most guitarists are not able to play that chord with one finger because they don’t have the finger strength or shape. I was able to play it well a few times, without a muted note.

Vince also noted how well I was able to adopt the blues rhythm, apparently that’s a challenge for people learning.

Vince is very patient and accessible – he encouraged me to call him whenever I run into a problem or had a question. He gave me homework, which I’ll be working on religiously in the coming days. And… the lessons have been rescheduled to 5PM.

Now I’m committed to one hour a day… let’s see where I end up.

Update:

So I spent about an hour and a half practicing. I may be a little hard on myself, but I didn't see a great deal of improvement. What I did like was the fact that my strumming has improved quite a bit. I also sense accuracy has seen an increase as well.

What I practiced - A7, D7, and E7 chords. I have A7 and D7 put to memory. E7 I will have tomorrow. Played along with Jimmy Reed... I have the blues rhythm down like tree roots. Progress.

Also... my fingers look like I touched a frying pan fresh from the burner. There's some pain as well... make typing tough. But it's a good kinda hurt.