20-Time Comes to an End

Well, 20-Time has come to an end. To be honest, I'm having trouble deciding whether I'm happy or sad about this. Let me take some time to explain why.

I'll start with the positives. I can't even begin to tell you how thankful I am that I was able to be a part of this project. Before, I would see Papaw at church putting his heart and soul into whatever song he was playing. He would close his eyes, and just feel the music. Anyone who was watching him could tell how much joy he got from playing just one instrument. I wanted that so much. Because of this project, I have been able to experience it. Learning guitar has always been a dream of mine and this project allowed me to pursue that dream. I never seemed to find time to play before and I wasn't ever motivated enough (it was a difficult time). Now I felt like I had to play, even when I  didn't want to. Even though I didn't reach my original goal 100%, I still felt like I achieved something great. I now know that I am ten times closer to being a pro than I was when this project first started.

This project has also made me a happier person. Every time I play I just get so much joy. I know it sounds strange when I'm just playing a weird object with strings, but it's true. I love it.

 Not only has it affected me, but I also feel like it has affected my parents. About 2 years ago is when my dad bought me my GORGEOUS guitar. I could tell that he couldn't wait until I got started.When he found out I was doing this as my project, he got so excited! He told me that he knew that this would make me happy and that I would be great one day. It was so great knowing that he believed in me and knows that I can do it. Now, my dad wasn't the only one that was affected. There has been multiple times when my mom has put a huge smile on her face and clapped when she heard me play (she's so cute). She says something like, "That sounded so good Lauren! I'm so proud of you! Ahhh, I'm so happy for you!" Seeing her so happy, makes me happy. Sometimes I think, wow, that's so strange how people could could so excited over their daughter doing something they love (I know I did). Well, I guess we won't fully understand it until we are parents.

Now you're probably wondering why I'm debating over whether I'm happy or not that the project is over when all I've said are good things. Well, here comes the negative.

Okay, there was many aspects of this project that irritated me, I'm not going to go into detail about what specifically they were, so I'll just do an overview.  I felt like there were some parts of the project that shouldn't have been graded when they were. Also, I just wanted to play guitar without worrying about whether or not I was good enough to present to the class at the end of the year. Also, I hated SSR time when I read Guitar For Dummies. I'm not going to lie, I got really bored. I tried really hard to pay full attention to my book, but it didn't work most of the time. It would've been much easier if Guitar for Dummies wasn't so boring. And... that's basically it for the negative portion.

After writing this and thinking it through, I decided that I'm in the middle between happy and sad (probably more towards sad).  I think that's reasonable! Alright, I'm not done yet!

Even though the project is over, I am DEFINITELY going to continue learning. As I mentioned earlier, it makes me happy. I can not guarantee that I will continue posting, but I will try my best! Thank you to the few people who followed my blog and stuck with me through my journey, it means a lot! Here's a photo to end my post:

Hope you all have a great week! Thanks for reading!

Lauren

3:00 A.M

KHey everyone! This week has been a pretty great week! 

Dan taught me a new song! The song is called "3 am" by Matchbox 20. I've never heard the song before he showed it to me. When he told me it was an old song I  was prepared to hate it (sorry all you 80s lovers). Surprisingly, I actually really liked it. It's an easy song to play and I can't wait until I get to playing the song quickly! 

That brings me to another topic. I never know what to do when someone asks me to play for them. You'd think I'd you know, play a song (that would be great). The reality is, my songs don't sound very good yet. A BIG problem is that they're really slow. When I move to another chord, I have to think about where my fingers are going to go next. The song then sounds off because everything isn't linked together. It gets that you-don't-know-what-you're-doing sound (I'm sure yall know what sound I'm talking about, right?). I'm sure one day (hopefully soon) I'll get  good enough to play everything together. I can't wait until that day! 

Today is almost the last day for 20-time in class until the year is over! This has been a very fun, interesting project that I will never forget. If it wasn't for this project, I wouldn't be talking to you all right

 now. Have a great week!

Lauren

Motivation is Lacking

Hi everyone! Welcome to my blog, Guitar Glory! 

    Alright, so this week has been a struggle for me. My motivation to play guitar has gone downhill. Even though I haven't had much time to play, I always just sit and watch TV when I do have time. It's VERY frustrating. Part of the problem is because I feel like I won't get anything done. I feel that even if I play it multiple times, I won't get any better. It's that I-can't-do-it mindset. Then I get frustrated with the sound or the pain in my hand. All of this leads to no guitar playing. 

   In order to get past this "phase" (I guess you could call it that), I just need to keep playing more. At this rate, it's going to be very hard to pick guitar over something else. Despite all of my problems with guitar, I still want nothing else but to play it without thinking. I just want to get there without the effort. That's obviously not how it works. After this post, I am determined to get back at it and lose that I-can't-do-mindset.

     On a happy note (get it, "note" like guitar) , I did learn another song at my last lesson! Dan taught me "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. I've actually been wanting to learn this song because it's a common one for beginners. I also think it'll be really fun to play once I have it down! The chords are pretty easy to play as well! I mentioned the chords in my last post. Of course it'll take a while to get it down, but I can't wait till I do! That's pretty much it for this week! 

Thanks for reading! Have a great

 week! Hopefully by the next post I'll be 10x better at "Sweet Home Alabama." 

Lauren