Since my midterm, I learned two new songs, “Someone To Lava” by Misc Cartoons and “Riptide” by Vance Joy. I ended up changing my song choice on my musical goal template sheet a bit, simply because I found 2 of the songs quite difficult to learn and believe that they were out of my skill range. I want to try and learn those songs in a couple of months once I have practiced my strumming and chord skills. I chose to try each of these songs singing because it helped me learn and memorize the chords, as well as kept me strumming on the beat.
To practice, I played for 15 mins almost every day and really focused on playing the strumming patterns and switching from chord to chord. Practicing this skill made singing an easy transition as my fingers knew where to go and what pattern to strum in. My muscle memory became very strong and callouses developed on the tips of my fingers, which makes playing for longer painless and enjoyable. Once I could play the chords without error, I added in lyrics and played in my own groove, and continue to practice my vocal skills. I am not the best singer, but I hope to keep practicing and increasing my vocal range.
When finals came, I decreased my playing considerably and found that after my muscle memory had already weakened. Therefore, I plan on practicing at least twice a week this summer in hopes that I increase my skills and bring them to my future classroom.
Overall, I really enjoyed this class and found all the theory and practice insanely valuable for my future. I plan on strengthening my skills and working on my vocals to feel comfortable playing in front of friends and family. Thank you Hector for a wonderful class, I wish you a great summer!
Goals for the future:
- Practice vocals
- Learn pitch
- Play at least twice a week
- Learn the cello
- listen to a song and determine the strumming pattern
Here is a video of me singing “Someone To Lava”, I hope you enjoy it!!
Here is a video of me playing/singing “Riptide” by Vance Joy.
