Milestones -- October 2012 to June 30, 2013

Tine to change strings on my guitar so it is time to reflect on what I have accomplished since the last time I changed strings.

I have learned the following songs:

• Kansas City (C6)
• Walking After Midnight (C6)
• How D'ya Do (C6)
• The Last Date (E9)
• Aloha Oe (E9)

By the time I got to How D'ya Do I had forgotten Kansas City and Walking After Midnight. When I told my instructor this his response was "No you did not forget them. You just forgot where you placed them. I relayed to him that we were moving too fast and needed to slow down. I feel that I need to really focus on one song until I get sick and tired of playing it and I need my instructor to remind me that I have not fully learned the song yet. We came away with this new understanding. At this point I have fully learned How D'ya Do and am continuing to practice it to polish it up. I am tired of the song but I know I am making progress. I think I have relayed before that I am harder on myself than most listeners would be. I notice every little error. To give you an idea of what this looks like for me, let me relay an incident that just recently happened.

A friend of ours was over and visiting with my girlfriend and I was upstairs practicing How D'ya Do. I would go over the introduction over and over again perfecting little things. When I was satisfied (or bored) I moved on to the first verse of the song working on little details. Some times I play the original recording, paying attention to the little details and comparing to where I am at. At one point, I played the entire song and our friend commented to my girlfriend

"Is that a recording?" knowing I was practicing and also knowing I used recordings during my practice. My girlfriend listened a moment and said

"No, thats him playing!"

"Sounds like a recording." our friend said.

After she left, my girlfriend told me that she had been busy lately and had not been paying attention to my playing and told me I had really improved a lot. Now that made me feel good at the same time I thought to myself "I have a long way to go."

There you have it, my curse I put on myself. I need to be critical but not overly critical.

I know need to go back and relearn Kansas City and Walking After Midnight and The Last Date. I figure eventually I will remember them longer than my next song. I still remember Steel Guitar Rag!


I have also learned the basics of Music Theory

I have learned some advanced techniques for the slide. Left hand techniques cannot be learned in an afternoon over a beer contrary to what you may hear from others.

I have learned some basics of Tabledit. I have not had the time to invest in in learning more.

I have learned Amazing Slow Downer and use it a lot.

I have met a couple of people who are interested in learning the pedal steel guitar and am looking forward to hearing about their progress.

Ok enough for now, if I remember anything else I have done since last October I will revise this post. I am off to change strings and I will write a post about changing strings.