Frugal chicos journal - ERE in The Basque Country

[Frugalchicos]

@WRC
Hey, thanks for stopping by!

I think I miss structure the most to be able to have some sort of natural progress. I know the chords, I am able to change between them quickly but struggle with the strumming. I feel like scales and barred chords are years away from my current ability man, haha. I guess I just need to practice more and explore more out of my confort zone.

I have never been very musical or rhythmical gifted...but I like music and always wanted to learn how to play guitar. I am not shooting for being the next John Mayer, but would like to be able to play my favorite songs. I take it as a lifetime hobby and hope to continue learning forever, especially if I have the time for it!.

Any recommendation for a cadence of things to learn would be great. YT channels, reading material, etc...

@loutfard
Agree with your statement. I asked a couple of friends who play guitar back in the Basque Country and they recommended a couple of places that are good and fairly priced. And most importantly, walking distance from my future home - A friend of mine, who is actually my go to for any music questions, had no idea of playing and after 5 years is amazing at both guitar and bass.

Unfortunately, I will most likely not go back to Europe until July 2025, when I will be go for good!

[Western Red Cedar]

Any recommendation for a cadence of things to learn would be great. YT channels, reading material, etc...

I'm probably not the best to offer advice, as I've never taken formal lessons, don't read music, and pretty much just found my own way through YouTube and playing with friends. @Idave, Gin&Juice, guitarplayer, or others might have better advice.

What worked for me was just learning new songs and then slowly learning something slightly more complicated. I started with songs that were G,C,and D. Lots of Bob Dylan and Neil Young. Anything that was fun and kept me playing helped my progression. Hanging out with friends and learning from people who were better than me also helped tremendously. That was when I started finger picking more seriously.

I made a big jump when I learned how to play a B minor and a C sharp chord. Both of those were tied to learning specific songs, but with other chords I already knew. I spent quite a bit of time learning the solo for Wish You Were Here (or most of it), and that taught me about the pentatonic scale, and extensions on that scale. I realized I could combine that with a G or E minor chord when I was playing folk and bluegrass style.

One of the great things about getting more comfortable with the guitar and not worrying too much about technical proficiency is that you can just mess around and find your own style. I'll do some sloppy fingerpicking, slaps on the body to keep a beat, along with the regular chords to match my vocals and play a particular song the way I'm comfortable singing/playing it. I'm definitely not as technically proficient as a lot of other musicians, but I have my own style that they often enjoy and find intriguing.

As Johnny Cash responded when asked why he plays the way he does, "because I don't know how to play any better..."

[guitarplayer]

Timely, here I wrote (also the following comment from @loutfard)

Re guitar, this guy grew to fame together with the internet. He's been on the web forever and is a fairly accomplished musician in his own right. I have learned Blackbird from his videos recently.

I don't write it lightly as there is now so much content online almost all is rendered useless. But this guy I think has it mostly right.

He does some fun experiments as well, for example after years of producing content on learning to play guitar, he then got himself a left handed guitar and set to learn playing left handed using his own content.

Also, I appreciate he keeps all his videos online, also those of very poor quality from nearly 20 years ago when he started posting. Maybe partially calculated stab at looking genuine and I think he does look legit.

[Frugalchicos]

This is awesome guys. Thanks for the advise.

I did some courses with Justin Guitar, but I think I needed more structured when practicing by myself. I spent some time these last 2 days and took some notes of technics I want to learn to prioritize that. Essentially, I am trying to strategize my time so I make sure I progress while having fun.

I am sure this journal will evolve eventually into a lifestyle journal vs a financial journal. The closer the retiring date is coming, the more I think on how I want to spend more time and what I can do now to enjoy the present. So far, working out and playing guitar are being good challenges/goals.

Cheers guys, time to practice!!