Anyways, this week on our 20 time day, I did not actually bring my guitar to school. It was early in the week, rescheduled for a test that happened on Friday, so I hadn't made arraignments for keeping my guitar somewhere yet, since I can't exactly lug it around with me all day. That would either result in a very broken guitar, or some poor kid getting a tooth knocked out in the hallway (I'm rather clumsy). I'll bring it next time.
Instead, I read a book that I found at the local library called Idiot's Guide: Guitar Theory by David Hodge. Supposedly it's "as easy as it gets". I was going to use it for the SSR (sustained silent reading) time we get in class for this project, but even though it seems like a very useful book, I don't think it will really help me all that much. I would want a book for beginners, but after reading the first couple chapters, I got the sense it was geared toward guitarists who, you know, actually know how to play a guitar. Instead of lessons on playing, it was more about applying, like real notes and music theory to guitar music.
I did, however, google the author and check out the website he's the managing editor of and that did seem pretty useful for my current goals. There's videos and articles with guitar lessons and tips. It also includes how-to's for specific songs that I'll definitely come back to sometime. You can check it out at http://www.guitarnoise.com/.
Perhaps I'll return to the guitar theory book once I've learned some more, but for now I'll stick with my back up book: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. It doesn't have anything to do with playing the guitar, but when our teacher said the books had to relate to our project, she used the word "relate" extremely loosely.
Here's how I justified it: guitars are used to accompany songs, and in The Hobbit, there are dwarves...who, like...sing songs. I know. It's a pretty sketchy, convoluted justification, and some would argue that the dwarves don't even use musical accompaniment because they sing a cappella, but those people would be wrong. In the book they totally do use instruments. Page 13 guys, go check it out. (Yes, I went and checked for a page number. In addition to an aspiring amateur guitarist, I'm also a nerd.) I don't know why they did it a cappella in the movie. Maybe the prop department didn't want to go find instruments? Maybe Peter Jackson's just a devout Pitch Perfect fan?
But, I digress. Back to my reasoning behind reading this. This 20 time project is all about taking some time that you wouldn't normally have, to do something that makes you happy and both making music and reading about gallivanting across Middle Earth make me happy. So there.
Oh, and by the way, MY GUITAR CAME! There was a delay due to the awful weather, but UPS came through for me eventually and after a whole weekend of sitting in some UPS facility in Lexington, Kentucky, the large, trapezoidal box arrived at my door. More details and pictures later, but this post has already gotten rather lengthy, so I'll leave you with this photo of the mysterious box.
Talk to you later,
Sarah
Instead, I read a book that I found at the local library called Idiot's Guide: Guitar Theory by David Hodge. Supposedly it's "as easy as it gets". I was going to use it for the SSR (sustained silent reading) time we get in class for this project, but even though it seems like a very useful book, I don't think it will really help me all that much. I would want a book for beginners, but after reading the first couple chapters, I got the sense it was geared toward guitarists who, you know, actually know how to play a guitar. Instead of lessons on playing, it was more about applying, like real notes and music theory to guitar music.
I did, however, google the author and check out the website he's the managing editor of and that did seem pretty useful for my current goals. There's videos and articles with guitar lessons and tips. It also includes how-to's for specific songs that I'll definitely come back to sometime. You can check it out at http://www.guitarnoise.com/.
Perhaps I'll return to the guitar theory book once I've learned some more, but for now I'll stick with my back up book: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. It doesn't have anything to do with playing the guitar, but when our teacher said the books had to relate to our project, she used the word "relate" extremely loosely.
Here's how I justified it: guitars are used to accompany songs, and in The Hobbit, there are dwarves...who, like...sing songs. I know. It's a pretty sketchy, convoluted justification, and some would argue that the dwarves don't even use musical accompaniment because they sing a cappella, but those people would be wrong. In the book they totally do use instruments. Page 13 guys, go check it out. (Yes, I went and checked for a page number. In addition to an aspiring amateur guitarist, I'm also a nerd.) I don't know why they did it a cappella in the movie. Maybe the prop department didn't want to go find instruments? Maybe Peter Jackson's just a devout Pitch Perfect fan?
But, I digress. Back to my reasoning behind reading this. This 20 time project is all about taking some time that you wouldn't normally have, to do something that makes you happy and both making music and reading about gallivanting across Middle Earth make me happy. So there.
Oh, and by the way, MY GUITAR CAME! There was a delay due to the awful weather, but UPS came through for me eventually and after a whole weekend of sitting in some UPS facility in Lexington, Kentucky, the large, trapezoidal box arrived at my door. More details and pictures later, but this post has already gotten rather lengthy, so I'll leave you with this photo of the mysterious box.
Talk to you later,
Sarah
Oops. Can't see the picture, but as always you are detailed and eloquent. I approve the Hobbit. Enjoy it. You deserve a mental break. Additionally, I am proud of your baby steps accomplishment. I can't wait to hear a song! One suggestion for future posts: Break up the large amount of text with space, headings, pictures, etc. so readers don't skip over your beautiful words:)
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