The Outro

The Outro

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Hello everyone! We made it!

Six weeks ago I decided to learn how to play the guitar, and what a journey it’s been! Each week I introduced a new playing technique, physical component, or theoretical knowledge topic relating to the guitar and playing. Along with that, each week I had to find different online resources to help me with whatever skill/topic I was learning that week. I found TikTok and YouTube to be the most helpful. I also documented each week of my learning progress through my Edusite blog, where the comments of encouragement really kept me going. I was very eager going into this learning journey, as the guitar is an instrument I’ve always wanted to learn. I knew it was going to be hard, but even so, each time I didn’t grasp certain areas of it as easily as I thought I would, I had many feelings of discouragement. This was definitely a completely new experience for me, so follow along as I recap it from the start!

Week 1 – Don’t Fret- Learning Guitar!

  • I created a weekly goal like ‘schedule’ for each of the six weeks to stay organized and on track
  • I brainstormed and looked up resources that could assist me on my journey and downloading different apps such as SimplyGuitarto try out
  • I shared how my brothers inspired me in wanting to learn guitar

Week 2 –  Soundcheck! – Guitar Learning Journey 

  • I was very eager to start getting familiar with the guitar
  • My brother taught me the strings and their notes by using this helpful acronym (Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie)
  • My brother also explained and showed me what frets are
  • I learned how to tune a guitar with GuitarTuna—literally so easy and handy to use
  • I learned my first chord (E minor) using SimplyGuitar
  • Shoutout to my brother for getting me through my first week of the guitar

Week 3– The Power of Chords 

  • I used the app Tabs & Chordsto learn the chords G, C, D, and E minor
  • I struggled with holding the strings down hard enough and finger placement
  • I was introduced to tabs using Tabs & Chords, which was very helpful
  • I tried practicing “Here Comes the Sun” By The Beatles

Week 4– Plucking Along

  • I watched a TikTokthat taught me which fingers pick which strings
  • I learned the abbreviation PIMA for my fingers (P– thumb I-index, M-middle, A– ring) also using TikTok
  • I found a very helpful creator on YouTubethat showed me different fingerpicking patterns to get use to the movement of it
  • There wasn’t a whole variety of fingerpicking, just practice, practice, practice

Week 5– Ups and Downs

  • I used TikTok to familiarize myself with and introduce myself to strumming
  • Through Youtube I learned different strumming patterns, timing, and motions
  • I learned these 8 new strumming patterns:
  1. DUDUDU
  2. DDUUDU
  3. DD UDU
  4. DD DU DU
  5. DUD U U UDU
  6. D DU D
  7. DU  U DU
  8. D D UDUDUDUDU
  • I realized how technical strumming was, including wrist movements, rather than just an up and down

Week 6– Diamond in the Riff

  • My FAVOURITE week of learning the guitar was riffs
  • How I grew up watching my brother play the Seven Nation Army riff
  • I watched a couple Youtube videos of beginner guitar riffs and caught on quite quickly
  • I learned five riffs this week:
  1. Seven Army Nation by The White Stripes
  2. Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple
  3. TNT by AC/DC
  4. Another One Bites the Dust by Queen
  5. Dirty Deeds by AC/DC
  • This week was when I realized all my hard work paid off; my goal was to play something I like, and I did 5 of them!

Week 7 – The Outro

  • Successfully completed six weeks of learning beginner guitar
  • I learned all the basic knowledge on notes, chords, strumming, and fingerpicking. As well as physical components of the acoustic guitar
  • The next step at this point is to begin practicing songs

Top 3 Takeaways 

  • Even though learning something new can seem daunting and way beyond your abilities, you’ll never know unless you try. I put off learning guitar for so long because I didn’t think I had a musical bone in my body; once I started, I realized with the right resources it wasn’t impossible.
  • Surround yourself with support. Having all my classmates each on their own learning journey alongside mine made me feel less alone on my own, even though we didn’t share a project.
  • Practice, practice, practice. Practice really does make perfect, and although I am far from it, practicing is the only way to get better and to keep your journey going.

Final Thoughts

This was probably the most rewarding learning journey I’ve ever been on. In just six weeks I went from holding a guitar incorrectly to confidently playing my favorite riffs. I wouldn’t have been able to make it this far, or anywhere, in my learning journey if it weren’t for all the online resources and help from technology. I used a variety of tools, from apps to video platforms to other people. I found YouTube and TikTok to be the most helpful. I think everyone should take this class to see all the beneficial resources they’re missing out on. I had no idea how challenging this journey would get or how many times I wanted to smash the guitar into the ground. Whenever I had a bad week or an extra tough week of learning, I would have no motivation to start the following week’s skill. Getting discouraged was the hardest thing to overcome. Whenever my hands or fingers weren’t doing what my brain was telling them, I would have to slow down and remind myself that I’m literally a beginner and obviously I’m going to mess up. I was definitely my own worst enemy. The blogs were a wonderful way to see my progress from week to week and actually have that documentation that I’m improving. Not only was it beneficial to have for myself, but the support from my classmates really was the best part of this learning project: everyone coming together. This was quite the journey, and my fingers are still recovering, but I do plan to keep going with learning the guitar so I don’t lose what I’ve already gained.

Thank you to all my classmates for your comments of support. I really couldn’t have done it without all of you!

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