This is my final learning blog for EDCI 306A! I learnt my last song, ‘Happy Birthday.’ Here is the YouTube video from Andy Guitar:
The tab music for this song:
by Andy Guitar from https://www.andyguitar.co.uk/online-lessons/lessons/how-to-play-happy-birthday
The sheet music I made for this song:
by Kathryn Ebert
I found ‘Happy Birthday’ to be the easiest song for me to play on guitar. I feel well aware of the strings and frets that I have to play, and find that I am able to stay on rhythm well!
I had a really tough time finding a guitar tutorial for ‘O Canada’ with chords. However, this video shows how to play ‘O Canada’ with notes. I wasn’t pleased with this at first, but I realized that playing the notes based on string and fret actually really helped my overall understanding and feeling of the guitar!
How to play ‘O Canada’ on guitar, note by note:
Since I had a hard time following along and actually memorizing how to play this song, I decided to take it upon myself to write out the notes, along with the lyrics, of ‘O Canada’. I’m happy to share it if anyone else wants to use it!
My sheet music for the above video:
by Kathryn Ebert
What to remember while playing ‘O Canada’ in this way:
The “D, G, A, etc.” refer to the string names. Recall the abbreviation Every Adult Dog Growls Barks eats to remember the string names (starting from top –> bottom).
E (6)
A (5)
D (4)
G (3)
B (2)
e (1)
The numbers refer to which fret you are going to press down the string on. If the note is “D2,” then you would strum the D string while pressing down on the second fret. If there is “0,” then you strum the string openly (don’t press down on anything).
New chords I’ve learned (C major, A minor and D minor):
My final learning experience before handing in my midterm video was to learn the riff from ‘Wild Thing’ by The Troggs. A riff is a short, recognizable part of any particular song that repeats over and over.
This riff is done by strumming A major, D major, E major and the D major again twice each repeatedly in the correct pattern.
Andy Guitar taught me how to play the riff in this video:
I struggled to play this riff as moving smoothly from chord to chord was difficult. I also struggle with the D major chord, as I talked about in my last post. Watch my midterm video to see the final product!
Midterm Video
In this video I show my learning by naming the strings, playing the E major, A major, D major, G major and E minor chords, playing the riffs from ‘Wild Thing’ and ‘Born in the USA’ and by playing my first song, ‘Three Little Birds’.
I am proud of how far I have come, and am excited to continue my guitar journey!
For my first song to learn, I chose ‘Three Little Birds’ by Bob Marley. I have been learning from Andy Guitar, who teaches how to play this song in his third day of his ten day beginners guitar videos:
What it entails:
To play ‘Three Little Birds,’ you must be able to play the A, D, and E major chords. The strumming pattern is simple and on beat. Each chord is strummed for a count of four (one barre).
The song:
Intro
A
4 barres (16 counts)
Chorus
A
Don’t worry about a thing,
D A
‘Cause every little thing is gonna be alright.
A
Singin’: Don’t worry about a thing,
D A
‘Cause every little thing is gonna be alright!
Verse
A
Rise up this mornin’,
A
Smiled with the risin’ sun,
A
Three little birds
D
Pitch by my doorstep
A
Singin’ sweet songs
E
Of melodies pure and true,
D A
Sayin’, “This is my message to you-ou-ou:”
Repeat Chorus
My thoughts…
I have really been enjoying learning to play this song! I am struggling with changing chords, especially from E to D major, but I have noticed my improvements every day. The hardest chord for me is D major, and it gets played frequently in this song. I struggle to press the chords down firmly as I feel my hands are pretty small and cannot grasp the guitar properly. Some tips that have helped me work on my D major chord are:
use the very tip of your fingers
don’t have your nails too long (sad face)
rotate your hand so that it comes away from your guitar, this way you won’t accidentally touch the other strings with your fingers
play each string individually to see how they song
PRACTICE!!! Your fingers are going to hurt, so you have to take it slowly, but don’t give up on it!
In music class, we have been tasked to learn to play either the recorder, ukulele or guitar. Luckily, I have a guitar that has been sitting in the corner collecting dust, just waiting for someone to pick it up! I am thankful that music class has given me the opportunity to do something that I have always wanted to do.
Where to begin?
I had no idea where to start, so I began with something familiar. YouTube has countless videos for learning guitar and I happened across one channel – Andy Guitar – that really resonated with me. I began his 10 day guitar for beginners videos. Below is day 1:
Andy is a great teacher, and I have gone through 5 of his videos, taking extra days to practice his teachings, before going to the next video. So far I have learned:
String Names (from thickest (top) to thinnest (bottom) strings)
E (6)
A (5)
D (4)
G (3)
B (2)
e (1)
Strings are referred to by either their letter or number, depending on the person. A good way to remember the letter names is through this jingle: Every Adult Dog Growls Barks eats.
E Major, A Major, D Major, G Major and E Minor Chords
A Riff (a repeated melody throughout a song that makes up the base of a song)
“Born in the USA”
This was a good riff to begin with for me, as I only had to focus on playing one string at a time. It challenged me to move from string to string quickly and smoothly.
Final Thoughts
Although my fingers are sore (OW!), I am happy with how I am progressing and think that I am on track to meet my goals for the midterm. I am learning the song “Three Little Birds” by Bob Marley and the riff from “Wild Thing”
