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ventaSo... this year I'm supposed to be acquiring approximately one new skill per month.
After the confusions and tumult of last year, I was cheerfully posting my intentions to learn new skills but not quite feeling ready to start organising the learning thereof. Accordingly, for January I picked something which didn't require any external intervention: Learn a few guitar chords.
I already have in my possession a rather battered-looking acoustic guitar (which morally belongs either to the mother or to my uncle, I forget which). ChrisC, having a tidy-up, furnished me with the Guardian guide to learning guitar. A shop on Cowley Rd allowed me to purchase for 35p a plecturm (with an alien's head on it!)
Easy, right ?
Well, no. I have been landed with a rather monster project at work which has not only had me slaving away in the office but also working quite lot of my evenings as well. So my ten-minute evening guitar-practice slot sort of vanished half way through the month.
I've always been reasonably able to pick out simple tunes on a guitar; it turns out that the actual difference between approximately picking a melody and playing it properly (without catching other strings, without looking at the fretboard) is rather further than expected.
Also, chords are hard. My hands feel too small[*] and my fingers don't bend the right ways.
So, January has not been a great success. However, the commitment was only 12 skills in a year, so I still have eleven months to try and squeeze in a bit more guitar practice.
[*] which they almost certainly aren't in reality.
On the plus side, February has just got off to a flying start. But more on that in a month's time...
After the confusions and tumult of last year, I was cheerfully posting my intentions to learn new skills but not quite feeling ready to start organising the learning thereof. Accordingly, for January I picked something which didn't require any external intervention: Learn a few guitar chords.
I already have in my possession a rather battered-looking acoustic guitar (which morally belongs either to the mother or to my uncle, I forget which). ChrisC, having a tidy-up, furnished me with the Guardian guide to learning guitar. A shop on Cowley Rd allowed me to purchase for 35p a plecturm (with an alien's head on it!)
Easy, right ?
Well, no. I have been landed with a rather monster project at work which has not only had me slaving away in the office but also working quite lot of my evenings as well. So my ten-minute evening guitar-practice slot sort of vanished half way through the month.
I've always been reasonably able to pick out simple tunes on a guitar; it turns out that the actual difference between approximately picking a melody and playing it properly (without catching other strings, without looking at the fretboard) is rather further than expected.
Also, chords are hard. My hands feel too small[*] and my fingers don't bend the right ways.
So, January has not been a great success. However, the commitment was only 12 skills in a year, so I still have eleven months to try and squeeze in a bit more guitar practice.
[*] which they almost certainly aren't in reality.
On the plus side, February has just got off to a flying start. But more on that in a month's time...
