New old student

General · 5 replies · 79 views · 7 followers

Alejandro Parrilla

4 days ago

Hello everyone,
My name is Alejandro. I just turned 50 and I decided that learning to play the guitar is going to be my midlife crisis.
I've been playing on and off since I was 15 but I never got past learning basic chords to rock songs, memorizing shapes and not really understanding what progressions are.
Now with age, I would love to be able to play some blues and jazz. I've been watching videos of Tomo on YouTube and I realize how terrible (or non existent) my foundation is.
So I decided to join Guitar Wisdom to remedy that.
I'm both terrified and excited to do this. I notice my hands are not as agile as they used to and my brain is always so busy that I'm struggling to concentrate on the lessons.
I hope this gets better with time.
I just wanted to introduce myself and hopefully connect with some of you so I don't feel alone in this journey.
Thank you for reading.
Cheers.

14 Likes

Clay

4 days ago

Welcome Alejandro! No need to be terrified - many of us have a very similar guitar story to you. The lessons are great. The forum / community is even better. Please feel free to share struggles and successes here. We're all on the same journey with just some different starting points.

8 Likes

Alejandro Parrilla

4 days ago

Thank you, Clay.
Hopefully I'll be able to fill all the holes on my knowledge, one day at a time

6 Likes

Hugo W

4 days ago

Welcome Alejandro. Nice to meet you.

Many of us have similar experience and picked up guitar later in our lives. It's definitely not easy having family duties and getting older. Everyone's progress is different. But this platform is definitely one of the best in helping each others out and we can leverage on Tomo's vast knowledge and experience.

Please take your time. I have joined not long ago and I have been working on the basics non-stop (see Tomo's reply below), every day (only except down time due to allergies). Progress may/will feel painfully slow. Frustrations may come, but never give up! What matters is the journey and who/what/how we ride it with!

Hugo

8 Likes

Alejandro Parrilla

3 days ago

Thank you, Hugo. Your words encourage me. I do feel progress is slow but I trust that I can only get better if I keep working o it, like anything else in life.

4 Likes

Tomo Fujita Mod

4 days ago

Thank you Alejandro for joining Guitar Wisdom! Welcome! Now you can learn about guitar playing and music here! That's so great to hear that! I love blues and jazz too! Thanks so much for watching my YT videos. Foudation ...you can build it! Don't worry anything! You can learn things with your own pace. Please check these lesson videos. You're very welcome and thanks so much for writing about yourself! It is very helpful for us.

1) FT01 Simple Chromatic Scale Exercise 1233 (Learn this with less pressure, soft picking etc)
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/videos/ft01-simple-chromatic-scale-exercise-1-2-3-4

2) ET01 C Major Scale (One String One Finger Approach/Name Of Notes/Intervals/Singing Do Re Mi)
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/videos/et01-c-major-scale

3) ET12 Major Triad (Learn inversions One String Approach first with intervals not shapes and no noises!)
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/music-theory-i/videos/et12-major-triads

Tomo

9 Likes

Alejandro Parrilla

4 days ago

Tomo, what an honor.
I've been practicing the one string approach from your foundation series. Spending some time on the C major scale. Also the triads. The biggest challenge for me is to memorize the notes in the first and subsequent inversions.
Also the muting of the other strings. I've never done that before.
I'll pay attention to the "no noise" part of it.
I set the amp as you suggested in one of the videos, volume at 2, treble all the way up, bass all the way down and the guitar at volumen 8 and no effects.
Hard stuff but exciting. Let's see where this new phase takes me.

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. I feel fortunate to have found you on YT.

7 Likes

Tomo Fujita Mod

4 days ago

Thank you Alejandro! You're very welcome! Good job! That's so fantastic! One String Approach!

Muting techniques. Guitar Method Book Vol One is so good! You alreday learned Amp setting too! Good job! You got it!

Tomo

8 Likes

Alejandro Parrilla

3 days ago

Hi Tomo, what book is the one you're suggesting? Who is the author? I find several with very similar title in Amazon. Is it the one by Will Schmid and Greg Koch | Hal Leonard?

Thanks!

1 Like

Hugo W

3 days ago

It's the Berklee book. The author should be William Levitt (didn't check the correct spelling).

Hugo

2 Likes

Tomo Fujita Mod

3 days ago

Thank you for your question. Please go to this section and read description about this book.
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/sight-reading-series

Tomo

Alejandro Parrilla

3 days ago

Thank you!

Scott Fowler

4 days ago

Welcome, Alejandro! I'm 57 and have had my share of issues I'm overcoming, and I love our Guitar Wisdom community. You are in the right place! Oh, and ditto to what Clay said. Look forward to talking with you.

9 Likes

Alejandro Parrilla

4 days ago

Thank you, Scott.

6 Likes

John Fiers

3 days ago

Good day Alejandro. All kinds of gems and treasures in learning guitar here. What a place to be and great choice for picking up more skills. It takes a bit to get the flow, yet once you do, all the details are there and they are correct. All the best in the journey.
-johno

3 Likes

Alejandro Parrilla

2 days ago

Thank you, John. I've been watching a lot of Tomo's videos on YouTube and I believe I am indeed in the right place.
What I have doubts about is me!😅
It's been a lifetime of procrastinating and using the guitar only as a way to deal with stress. Some chords here and there but I haven't actually played a whole song for many years. Also, I didn't own an electric guitar since the 90's and I was playing a basic Yamaha nylon string guitar for all that long. I feel like a giant with chunky fingers now that the neck is narrower.
But I'm starting to adjust and I'm not going to stop.