Learning Proposal

A. My Goal: The goal for me this semester is, foremost, to become comfortable with the guitar as an instrument. Second, I would like to learn and perfect the D, C, A, and G chords involved in the song “You and Me Are Gonna Be Friends” by The White Stripes. It is a simple song in that the fingering is not too complicated, but complicated in that it has 4 different chords in it, and complicated enough for a beginner.

B. Learning Materials: My brother, Danny, will be my most important tool in this endeavour. Although he is not a professional guitar player, he is extremely good at it, and has taken several guitar lessons throughout the years. He is also a very patient and willing teacher. I will also use various internet sites, including YouTube to learn how to play the song, as well as familiarize myself with other notes and chords so I can employ the acoustic guitar in my future classroom. I will be using my dad's acoustic guitar instead of a classical guitar.

C.Documenting Progress: I have already created a blog to document my progress. (http://sarahplainandtall21.blogspot.com/)
I will be posting journals as to how my learning/practice sessions are progressing. I already have, and will continue to video record some of Danny and I's sessions, and post them to my blog. I will be scanning any sheets and collected materials, including resource lists, I have found in my travels that I think are useful. As well, I will upload videos that I have found informative and possibly helpful to others.

D.Preliminary Timeline: I plan to practice 3-4 times a week, with at least 1 learning session with my teacher per week. I plan to record these learning sessions, and post them to my blog. I will write once or twice a week on my progress of my practice sessions. I also intend to research sites and videos that may help with along the way.

E. Trouble Shooting:
Obstacles:
1.Procrastination: I have already got the mind set that if I leave it until the end, I will just cause more stress for myself than necessary. I really want to space out my practices evenly so I am not overwhelmed at the end of the semester, and can hopefully produce a worthwhile product for you!
2.Slight Tendinitis: In my left wrist, mostly caused from carrying heavy trays around as a server, I have a slight case of tendinitis. Twist my wrist in odd ways seems to flare it up, so I will take breaks so as not to strain it. As well, I will see if I can wear my brace while playing
3.Frustration: A common symptom when learning something new. I will remind myself that this is a process, and that I will not be a pro by the end of the semester, and that this assignment's purpose is to spark an interest and to hopefully utilize the guitar one day in a future classroom.

F. Critical Friend:
I have chosen my brother Danny as my critical friend and teacher. I will also be using my father as a critical friend, since I am using his acoustic guitar.

G. Reward: As my reward, I will reward my critical friend Danny to whatever he wishes, perhaps we will got for dinner and a movie, or I will take him on a shopping trip. I know it sounds cheesy, but we are very close, and if he scratches my back, I will scratch his back, and that is all the reward I need. :)

Getting Started

Danny taught me to read Tab, and these chords are super easy for me to read!

Sienna: I think "You and Me Are Gonna Be Friends"

My second sesh' with Dan Man (Danny, my brother) was completely productive! Unfortunately, posting a video of this session would be far too... how do I say? ... unprofessional. :) Although a (un)necessary evil in my learning process at this point, I will spare you the explicits. In my first session, I learned an alternate of G Chord, and this session, I learned the D chord. Indents, and blood aside, I've learned that the most difficult thing about perfecting chords, is the unnatural contortion of fingers. The indents are nicely evolving into the much sought-after caluss', that will lead me to pain-free bliss. (I know, I know, wishing for calluss'?) Since the fingering is mostly repetitious, I will focus on it after I become familiar with the chords, and the lyrics will come last, hopefully, as a sort of cherry on this harmonious sundae.

Ps. I've named my guitar Sienna

The Clumsy Musician- A New Adventure

I had originally created this blog for my Education Computers class, and at the time thought it was pretty fun to customize and maneuver, but I had already decided it wasn't "my bag"-- I'm not the journaling type. However, when we entered the 202 version of Education Music, and discovered that our class was assigned the task of learning (or expanding our skills on) guitar, having never learned a string instrument, I decided that this would be quite a process for me. When I remembered that I had created a blog, I thought that this would be the perfect way to utilize my "savvy technology skills" to document my progress through posts and video recordings! Danny, who happens to be my brother, and also a guitar GOD, is going to be my critical friend... at his own will. (There were no knives involved in this negotiation.) And at the end, i will treat him to whatever his heart desires for being so patient with this clumsy musician.

And thus begins the adventure...

My Final Project

Eleven hours later, and I am finally finished my final project. Aaaah, feels so good. There were more than a few bumps along the way, and there is no way that I could have completed this assignment without my wonderful camera man and critical friend Robbie. I don't think I can give him enough credit! Viva social learning!
I learned how to use a video camera, use a firewire to transfer the footage into iMovie, and then how to edit the images. I had to download an older version of iMovie since I was told the new one is very confusing, and because my camera was not compatible with the new version anyway. I have learned that video editing is a verrrry tedious task, unless you really know what you are doing when you film in the first place! I had no idea that it took about an hours worth of footage to make a five minute film. I am disappointed by the quality of the actual film, the pixel concentration (if that is the proper term) did not translate to YouTube. Although this project was a lot of hard work, it was so much fun to do it with Robbie, troubleshoot technical issues, and learned about the programs. Here you are, hope you enjoy:
P.s. The bloopers were just added in for fun, and are probably not as funny to you as they were to Robbie and I. :)

Tech Task #3

Like everyone else, I did not know until recently that we were assigned to find a blog that we were interested in. I went on a search and looked in Educational Blogs. I found out that there are many types of blogs, photo, fiction novella, pet's POV etc.. So then, I narrowed my search to literature. Anyone that knows me, knows that I have a very odd obsession... and that is grammar. This blog is highly entertaining in that it covers common grammar errors, etc. I love it, and you should check it out-- perhaps it will help you when you are making your next Facebook status. :)
http://thegrammarvandal.wordpress.com/