To think we have gone through this entire spring semester so fast is crazy to me, with 3 classes this semester there were days where I did not feel I would be able to do it but look we all made it to the end! I am so happy I was able to share some sites and apps I used throughout my journey to be learning how to play the guitar! I never once thought a class focusing on technology in an educational setting would lead me to focus on learning the guitar with online resources but hey, here we are.

I chose to learn the guitar for my learning project due to my connection with it. As far back as I can remember I have been around music and especially the guitar, both my grandpas can play the guitar, my uncles can play the guitar, my brother is learning so I thought why not give it another try. Like I said in my first post, I have tried to pick up the guitar previously with little success. This time was definitely different, I was able to actually learn how to play some basic things or intros to some songs that I had trouble with previously. I am happy with the progress that I had made however I cannot stop thinking about how I could have spent more time with it. There were plenty of times where I just chose not to pick up the guitar and practice which halted my growth. Time runs away from you faster than you would ever imagine and there were just days that I needed to take a break.

For the rest of my post, I will be doing a little breakdown of the resources I used while also speaking on the progress I made over the course of the semester.

Learning project recap

DIVING INTO THE LEARNING PROJECT

• Just some background info about me along with the reason why I wanted to choose learning the guitar for my project.

CAN YOUTUBE HELP WITH LEARNING GUITAR?

• Resource used: YouTube videos.
• Slowly progressing through basic chords, using scales to practice finger movement and placement.
• Poor rating for YouTube as a beginner due to most videos expecting you to be fully fluent.

LEARNING GUITAR WITH HELP FROM GUITAR TABS

• Resource used: guitar tab app.
• I found it easy to follow through the songs, especially with an understanding of music charts and tempo.
• I rated the app quite highly due to the ease of use along with many options for choosing different ways to play or practice.

UBERCHORD NOT UBER EATS

• Resource used: Uber chord
• This resource really allowed me to practice playing different chords. It forced you to get to a proficient level of playing before you were able to move on to the next level in the app. My only gripe was that you needed to pay for the full experience.
• I never actually put a rating for this app but I would rate it a 9/10 due to the way it forces you to practice before getting too far ahead of yourself. It gives you great feedback and suggest changes you can make to improve your ability to play.

BACK TO THE WORLD WIDE WEB FOR GUITAR LESSONS

• Resource used: Justin guitar
• When looking back this is by far the best resource available. Anything you want to learn is on here. From extremely basic to extreme level there is a new thing to learn and practice which is why I think this is the best.
• Easily a 10/10 resource for learning guitar especially if you are good at doing things on your own time. you really need to sit down and do it but if you take the time this website can easily make you proficient in playing the guitar.

THE “ULTIMATE GUITAR” LESSONS

• Resource used: Ultimate guitar
• This website was very similar to the app guitar tab. There were some differences that I really enjoyed like the comments and ratings section. There are so many different ways to learn with this website and honestly it is very simple to use and although there is a subscription you can pay for you don’t need to use it.
• I would rate this app a 9/10 because of the ease of use, and fact that you really don’t need the pro version in order to fully experience the site.

Personal assessment of learning

I really believe that there was a great amount of improvement. I was unable to play notes without a ringing sound being heard with the unclean note. Now when I go to play, I can get through good sections of songs and have them sound clean. I am now able to run through my scales at a proficient level and in the end, I am actually enjoying paying the guitar which is by far the biggest improvement from my previous attempts. Like I said before, I do think I could have gotten farther than I did but I still need to look on the bright side and be happy with how things turned out for me. Not everyone is perfect, things come up and we will not always have time to practice doing things we want but, in the end, the most important things is being able to enjoy doing what we are doing.