Day 112: Monday, July 19th 2021
Practice Time – 40 mins
Started the week well with a 40-minute session. Again, really focussing on the F chord. Changing to and from it, from a variety of other chords, trying to get my fingers down at the same time.
Day 113: Tuesday, July 20th 2021
Practice Time – 20 mins
My two toughest chords throughout this experience have been the 4-finger G and the F chords. What do these two chords have in common?
Well, these are the only chords that require all four fingers (including the pinky!).
So today, I feel as though I want to do a little more with my fingers (especially the pinky) in the Open Chord position based around the F chord. So I decided to start playing about with some chord extensions. This got my pinky finger involved and working a little more.
This felt extremely challenging, but it also felt like a step in the right direction.
As well as practising these chord extensions, I also started moving the chord shapes (primarily the F and the C) up the neck. This also felt both challenging and a step in the right direction.
Day 114: Wednesday, July 21st 2021
Practice Time: 20 mins
Another 20-minute session in the bag today.
Still focussing on the F chord! It’s getting there, but it’s slow.
Day 115: Thursday, July 22nd 2021
Practice Time – 20 mins
An exact replica of yesterdays session. The chord extensions and moving the shapes up and down the neck are really giving my fingers a workout. This stuff is a technical level above what I’m used to, but I think my fingers need it.
Day 116: Friday, July 23rd 2021
Practice Time – 0 mins
So this is where my practise ends for the week.
I had a long weekend with the family and lost all sense of guitar practice.
Day 117: Saturday, 24th July 2021
Practice Time – 0 mins
Day 118: Sunday, July 25th 2021
Practice Time – 0 mins
Weekly Round Up
Total Days Practiced: 4
Monday – 40 mins
Tuesday – 20 mins
Wednesday – 20 mins
Thursday – 20 mins
Friday – 0 mins
Saturday – 0 mins
Sunday – 0 mins
Total Weekly Minutes Practiced:
1 hour and 40 mins
End of Week Thoughts:
The F Chord
The F chord is my current nemesis! I’ve pretty much got it if I just strum down once per chord, but things go a bit wonky when changing to the F chord whilst maintaining a basic strumming pattern. So my focus now needs to be on changing to the F chord WHILST strumming.
Improving My Technique In Open Chord Position
So, this week I started adding some chord extensions and playing the chord shapes up and down the neck a little more. This was challenging but as already mentioned, felt like a step in the right direction in terms of further conditioning my fingers!
As a general rule, we need to develop our technique a little higher than the things we’d like to play because this will make what we want to play feel easier.