Practice Makes Perfect

So, as I may have mentioned in my first blog entry, I really enjoy music and everything about it. Whether I am just listening to it and singing along on the radio, or making it myself, I love it. I really love to sing, I played the flute for four years in my high school’s symphonic and marching band, and I was always really involved with the theatre department’s musical productions. More recently though, I have started to teach myself to play the guitar. I am not really any good at all yet, to be completely honest, but I love to try. It is a fun and entertaining way to express one’s self. Eventually though, I think that with much more practice and dedication I will improve immensely.
The other night, I actually took a break from studying and actually practiced the guitar. My friend Steve came to my dorm after he got out of his band practice around 10pm, and he gave me tips and pointers on what I was doing wrong and what I could be doing better. Then, he began to teach me to play the song “anyone else but you” that is in the movie Juno. It is the song that Juno and Bleaker play and sing at the end of the movie. (If you have ever seen the movie, I’m sure that you know the song) And, we also played “Hallelujah.” This song has many versions by a wide variety of artists including Kate Voegele and Jeff Buckley. However, the songs are simple enough that I am able to play them somewhat. Mainly though, they both help me learn to strum better. They also serve as a good way to practice and improve on switching from one chord to the next. The songs have also taught me new chords that I didn’t know before. In other words, the songs will after much practice, help me to improve the basic skills that one needs to play the guitar well. So, thanks to the help from my friend Steve, I am well on my way to improving.