5 Month Anniversary: Playing Guitar

I wanted to write a few things down commemorating March 5, 2024. It’s been 5 months since I began studying, practicing, and playing guitar.

I am retired. And, playing guitar has brought me joy in my 70’s in retirement.

(The above photo is the first day I bought a guitar. I found it in a Chicago yard sale a few blocks from my home. It’s a Harmony 02805 guitar made in Indonesia. I learned the bridge was broken and too costly to repair. But it started me on my guitar journey.)

First, Thank You

I’d like to thank my wife for allowing me this indulgent pleasure. I’ve purchased a few too many guitars but I think she actually likes hearing my guitar in the house. The other day I heard her humming a song upstairs that I have been known to play: “Deep in the Heart of Texas”.

I thank my grandkids for letting Opa (grandfather) serenade them with guitar playing and singing while they do art projects at the dining room table on Friday afternoons.

I appreciate my friend Tom and his encouragement to playing guitar. We jam in the basement guitar room occasionally. He’s a good acoustic guitar player and an even better singer. It’s nice to find new things to do with a great friend of 60 years.

I appreciate my instructors at Old Town School of Folk Music. I appreciate Brian and Chris at Rare Birds guitar store in Chicago, IL, for always greeting the old, bald guy who visits them to play their guitars. I appreciate people like Dave Simpson on YouTube for his inspiring guitar playing (watch his videos, please).

Thanks to everyone for their encouragement.

How Have I Studied, Learned Guitar

Several ways of learning:

• Books initially.
• Justin Guitar’s online guitar classes.
• Two classes at the Old Town School of Folk Music.
• Fender Play app most recently.
• Reading guitar articles on Flipboard.
• Videos by Lauren Bateman and others. She’s a fine teacher, search for her on the Internet.

How Long Do I Practice Guitar Daily

Since October 5, 2024, five months ago, I cannot remember a day when I didn’t practice guitar. I even took a guitar on a recent trip to Florida with my wife.

Dave Simpson and his friend Queenie did a 1 hour video on Guitar Practice. It’s worth watching for anything you wish to practice.

But as Dave Simpson once mentioned on YouTube:

Practice is a Joy.

Dave Simpson and Queenie on YouTube.

On average, I practice easily 90 minutes a day. My son thinks its closer to 3 hours a day. So what do I practice? How do I practice?

1. Lauren Bateman – Finger stretching exercises.
2. Finger exercises and riffs.
   • Exercise of Champions
   • Peter Gunn riff
   • Cream riff
   • E Minor Pentatonic Scales
3. Chords – I strum all 30 of the chords I know. I have the chords on a notecard and I play all of them.
4. Strumming – I play the 4 different strums I know on the “riffs” I created for myself.
   • G, Em, G, C, D, G – This is brighter, more cheerful.
   • Am, C, Em, A7, D – This is sadder, more melancholy.
5. Justin Guitar online classes. This costs about $12 a month and its money well spent. He builds up your skills and then intermingles new songs, chords, and strum patterns. This isn’t easy folks.
6. Fender Play – On February 29 there was a $29 special for this annual service. Normally it costs about $150 annually. I snapped it up. Now I’m working through both Justin Guitar training and Fender Play.
7. Just Playing Songs
   • Old Town School of Folk Music Songbook. This has some great songs in the folk tradition. I try playing them with more and more success.
   • Ultimate Guitar: Chords & Tabs. I believe this cost me $25 for a one year subscription. I use it a lot. It helps me play new songs by showing the chords, strums, and examples of people playing the song.

My Favorite Songs

After learning about 5 chords the doors opened to playing various songs. Now that I know 30 chords, I can understand how a song is written musically and begin playing it. Playing songs well takes practice.

Some happy songs of mine:

• Deep in the Heart of Texas. My granddaughter loves singing this with me. I love it too.
• Good Hearted Woman by Waylon Jennings. This is one way that I say, “I love you,” to my wife.
• Leaving on a Jet Plane by John Denver in 1966. If you can play chords D, G, and A then you can play this song. It will take time to play it decently well.
• Angel from Montgomery by John Prine. This is my “hello” song when I start practicing guitar. One day I’ll get it right.
• This is the Day. Yes, another religious song. I believe my wife likes it. It’s pretty simple using chords D, A, and G.
• What a Friend we Have in Jesus. Again, religious. It just harkens back to my Lutheran grade school and the songs we sang. Works for me 🙂

I can play other songs, but the above is just a partial list.

Guitar Playing makes me Social

I wanted to name this section Guitar Playing and Space Travel. But that seemed a bit too far fetched.

Let’s just say that studying guitar and playing guitar opens up new doors of conversation with new people.

Easily 1/3 of the new people I meet have played guitar or some type of musical instrument. It’s common ground with so many people.

One example is walking into a used guitar shop in central Florida. The owner and I discuss guitars, then politics. Then we realize he is a civil war buff and I am an Abraham Lincoln reader. Lots of fun.

Odd Benefits of Studying Guitar – Blogging and KaizenGuitarist.com

I was keeping a daily log of everything I learned studying and playing guitar. It was becoming too long to write. So I created a blog for it: Kaizen Guitarist.

So in learning guitar, I have returned to blogging which is something I did over 10 years ago. WordPress hasn’t changed much. It’s kind of like MS-Word.

But now I need to learn SEO or Search Engine Optimization so that others can find my blog. Hopefully reading my blog of a beginner guitarist will be useful to others.

How much do I need to practice to get good at Guitar?

Dave Simpson gives a direct answer in this Practice Video with his friend Queenie on getting good at playing guitar.

If you want to get good at guitar, put in the years.

Dave Simpson on YouTube.

So Richard, How Well do you Play?

I suppose that’s the big question.

I play well enough to enjoy myself. And every now and then others enjoy it.

Here are a few examples of my songs.

1. Three Little Birds by Bob Marley and the Wailers. This was a birthday gift for my sister. I recorded it after almost 3 months of studying guitar.
   • Richard plays and sings “Three Little Birds” by Bob Marley.
2. Angel from Montgomery by John Prine. This is after studying and practicing for 4 months.
   • Richard sings “Angel from Montgomery” by John Prine.

Do You Play Guitar?

So do you play guitar? Tell me your story in the Comments.

Here’s my good friend Tom playing Peggy Sue by Buddy Holly on my white JS-400 guitar. This was his first time ever playing on an electric guitar. Awesome. Watch Tom the Guitarist play his version of Peggy Sue.

Are you a friend visiting from Facebook? What’s your name?

Any advice for me improving my guitar playing?

Thanks for Visiting KaizenGuitarist.com Today

Yes, this is the Kaizen Guitarist website.

In whatever you do, just try to improve yourself 1% every day.