Okay guys, this is it. The last blog post.

     I can't believe it's been an entire semester since we started the 20 Time projects. The end of the year just kind of snuck up on us. I know in the beginning, I said I wanted to learn multiple songs, but with the scrunched time, I've really only focused on one ("House of the Rising Sun").

     That's okay though. Despite the fact that I didn't meet my initial goal, I wouldn't call the project a failure. I still learned the basics of playing the guitar, like how to strum, different chords or which notes corresponded to each string. That's still a lot farther than I was at the beginning of the project.

     Other than the time crunch, I think the part that gave me the most trouble was how different the guitar was from other instruments I was familiar with. When I played the flute, if I got the right fingers on the right keys, then the right sound came out. It was only a matter of getting your lips in the right shape and controlling your breath, but those both stayed pretty constant.

     With the guitar, you can put your fingers on the right frets, but still might not sound right, because of where on the frets they are, what angle your fingers are at, how much pressure you put on the string... It's just a bit more complicated. And, as you change the chord, you have to keep re-positioning your fingers.

     But all this trial and error merely lead me to the learning or practice strategy I used. Instead of taking on an entire song, I'd just do a little bit at a time. I would pick out one measure or a single chord transition and practice it over and over again, until I got it right. Then it was just a matter of stringing all the pieces together.

     The thing about this method is it can get pretty frustrating, just doing the same thing over again until you stop messing up, but I knew that the more I practiced, the easier it would get.

     I do plan on continuing to practice. This summer, with all the free time I'll have, I'm going to practice and by the time school starts, maybe I'll have reached my initial goal of knowing a few songs.

     However, I'm not planning on continuing this blog. So to anyone who's been following my progress, thank you! It's been a fun semester, I've learned so much and I'm glad I could share it with you.

Farewell,
Sarah


(Pocahontas doesn't really have to do with anything, I just thought she had a great goodbye gif :) )


Sources for images:
https://www.guitaritupforgirls.com/community/blog
http://www.camine.us/post/107974785309/practice-like-its-real
http://www.amazon.com/House-Rising-Sun-Animals/dp/B000006ZRA
http://giphy.com/gifs/disney-film-goodbye-p2CHUCfTRCJyg