After a good week or so of playing, there have been ups and downs as expected. However, with a flood of assignments coming next week in my other classes I may have to cut my guitar playing a lot closer to that fifteen-minute minimum I outlined earlier. With that said, I thought it would beneficial to ruminate on what I felt like were the things to build on and the things to work on in the upcoming weeks.

 

Triumphs:

  • One part of my learning that has surprised me is how much I think about it outside of playing. On my visit to Claremont this Wednesday, I found myself sometimes daydreaming along with the other students as the two and a half hour classes dragged on. I thought about how guitar practice went on Tuesday and how I was proud of how it was feeling to get started again. I have tried to get started on the guitar on a few other occasions but never have I found myself thinking about too much. I think that blogging about it has forced me to be more thoughtful about how the learning process is going and has led me to be more focused on learning and how I am learning

 

  • Another aspect of this that I have found helpful is the environment I am in when playing. During previous attempts at learning the guitar, I was still living with my parents and I think that that made me more self-conscious of how it was sounding. Additionally, I was also always alone in my room when I was playing and I think that added to the insecurity I felt. Currently, I am living with my partner who has been a tremendous help while I am practicing, Unlike me (for now), she is a pretty musical person and knows how to play the guitar along with a couple other instruments. Having her around while I practice has allowed me to have a knowledgeable person to ask questions to and a support base when I am feeling down about how my playing sounds.

On the topic of how my playing sounds…

 

The Stumbles:

 

  • So I am not very good at this. That is to be expected, I mean I am a beginner. But the biggest hurdle for me in the past has always been the steep learning curve and how that makes me feel. I sometimes can be a bit of a perfectionist and that is quite harmful when needing to fail before getting better. Often times, the failures just lead to disillusionment and quitting when trying to learn new things. Although so far this insecurity has been kept in check I have had moments of frustration during this learning process. While those are expected, I need to focus on not letting that insecurity get to me and turn into giving up on the project as a whole as I have in the past and remember the comfort zone donut.

 

  • This upcoming week will also bring challenges as I have a lot of assignments due next week. This brings the challenge of sticking to my lesson plan.  This past week I already skipped a day because I was tired after our long Wednesday visits. Although I think it is okay to take a mental health day here and there, with the upcoming flood of school work it is important to remember my goal is only fifteen minutes a day. My goal is absolutely doable regardless of how many classes or assignments I have due any time soon.

 

Hopefully, this has illustrated where I am currently at in my guitar learning and how things are looking for this upcoming week. Thanks for reading and see you next week where maybe I work up the courage to post some of the footage I have!