Plucking the Strings – From Zero to Hero

With the semester coming to a close, so is my guitar-learning project. As part of my EDTC300 class, a class that examines the use of technology and media in teaching and learning, I was required to choose something significant that I would like to learn and share my progress openly in an online space based on the idea that individuals are now more able to learn and share online. I had always desired to back up my singing by playing an instrument but the last thing on my mind was to pluck the Guitar strings. A YouTube video of a girl plucking the strings and singing with so much relaxation and confidence changed my mindset and I decided to give Guitar playing my best shot.

In my guitar project, my main goal was to be able to play the “Happy Birthday Song” fluently in English, Spanish, and French while singing along as I intend to make it my classroom tradition to sing the “Happy Birthday Song” while playing the guitar for my future students on their birthdays.

Join me as I walk you down my guitar-learning journey

Week 1: Plucking the Strings

• Introducing my learning project
• Rationale for Choosing My Learning Project
• Sharing my motivation
• Sharing my first steps toward learning and achieving this goal
• Sharing an online resource YouTube video (6 steps to learn the guitar) and an app  Guitartuna app I would explore as a guide for a beginner

Week 2: Taking a step

This week, I decided to take my first step in learning the guitar’s basics.

• Sharing my first screen recording exploring the guitar learning resource – a YouTube video (6 steps to learn the guitar).
• Sharing a screen recording of my first attempt tuning the guitar with the Guitartuna app

Week 3: A Ride with My Guitar

This week I decided to go deeper with the Yousician app for my guitar-learning journey. I had a lot of fun exploring this app because of the step-by-step guidance.

• Sharing my learning with the Yousician app and a brief overview of what the app can do.
• Sharing a screen recording of my first attempt at learning to play individual notes using the Yousician app
• Sharing a screen recording of my first attempt at learning to transition between fingers using the Yousician app.

Week 4: Playing the Chords!

For this week, I just wanted to rock it by playing chords to the Happy Birthday song

• Sharing a new online resource – the YourGuitarSage video on YouTube

• Sharing a new online tool I used to record my learning – the WeVideo tool
• Sharing an app I explored to enhance my learning –  Pinterest

Week 5: Fun! Playing the Notes

This week I decided to challenge myself to play the notes to the Happy Birthday song

• I explored and shared a new online resource from Bing video
• I used the snipping tool app to screenshot the notes I was to play from the Bing video with a voice-over of me attempting to sing while playing
•  I used the Wevideo app to record my video
• I downloaded backgrounds from Pinterest to add more details to my video.

Week 6: Strumming!

This week, I decided to go on a  strumming adventure

• I explored the wikiHow site and shared the article “Expert tips for strumming a guitar with or without a pick for beginners”
• I learned some tips about strumming and shared images as well as the importance of rudiments and scales when playing the guitar
• A brief overview of what the wikiHow site can do
• I shared my biggest motivation for the article

Week 7: Hey! Did I just Strum?

This week, I considered adding spices to the regular guitar playing for my learning journey by exploring more strumming patterns.

• I explored YouTube and stumbled on Maggie May’s YouTube channel.
• From this YouTube channel, I learned how to strum using upbeat and downbeat patterns and how to add a percussive rhythm – the slap technique when strumming.
• I used the WeVideo app to create a video of me strumming to some guitar patterns
• I shared my success in using this app

Week 8: Strumming – Getting Deeper

So, this week I decided to get deeper into strumming by learning how to strum in a song. I got frustrated trying to strum to the Happy Birthday song.

• I discovered the Good Guitarist page on playing the “Happy Birthday” song with easy chords and strumming.
• I shared how easy it would be to play just 3 chords to the song
• I shared my struggle and frustration in keeping up with the pace of the music while strumming and transitioning between chords at the same time
•  I gave myself a one-week target of strumming to the “Happy Birthday” Song and persevered to achieve that goal

Week 9: I did it – Y E A H!

This week, I challenged myself to get the strumming patterns to the Happy Birthday song right.

• I revisited the strumming patterns on the Good Guitarist page
• I outlined and shared an image of the strumming pattern I worked on
• I shared my success in achieving my one-week goal through perseverance
• I shared my strumming success video

Week 10: The Strings are Getting Plucked

For this week, I decided to revisit some sites I initially explored for my Guitar learning to gain a deeper knowledge of my guitar learning.

• I revisited the YourGuitarSage video on YouTube to practice transitioning for a more fluent transition between chords
• I also revisited the article “Expert tips for strumming a guitar with or without a pick for beginners” and Maggie May’s YouTube channel to better understand strumming patterns and techniques.
• I incorporated these ideas and strumming techniques into a video of myself singing and playing the Happy Birthday song in English and French.

My top takeaways from learning and sharing my learning online

1. From my experience of learning how to play the guitar theoretically from scratch online, I’ve realized that anything of passion can be learned via the internet.
2. I’ve also realized that with persistence, and motivation to learn online, you can learn how to do what you never imagined you would be able to do. During this project, I watched and read about my fellow EDTC300 classmates learning diverse skills via the internet.
3. Blogging is an informational tool that encourages the sharing of resources and promotes self-expression. Initially, I was terrified by the idea of blogging and sharing my content online and I wasn’t sure how to begin. Now I feel like I won’t want to stop. Blogging has allowed me to practice conversation and communication skills by commenting on my classmates’ postings and replying to my blog’s feedback. I would say that blogging serves as a motivational tool. I’ve been motivated by the learnings of my classmates as well as the feedback I got from my classmates for my postings.

4. I would say that YouTube is a great educational resource. Before this class, I only visited YouTube to listen to songs. Now, I can’t even imagine the extent to which the resources on YouTube can enhance the ability to learn diverse skills.

5. My Guitar project experience left me with a personal theme “I can do it if I keep trying” and this is my biggest takeaway. As a future elementary teacher, I will stand tall with my head high, to play the guitar for my students on their birthdays.

As I ponder on where I started with zero skills and where I’m at now in my guitar-learning journey, I’m encouraged to keep playing and learning more guitar skills. I must admit that this journey wasn’t easy but guess what? I persevered and I conquered – Yeah!

Here is a video of where I’m at

Thanks for watching & reading about my guitar journey!

Congrats on all of your learning projects!