Week 17: Days 112 to 118

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.

Progress update after 86 Days of Practice.

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.