The F Chord- Again

           I'm learning to play Forgiven by Skillet. Hopefully I have the rhythm correct. I love this song. The lyrics are easy, and I love to worship with it. Also I know all of the chords fairly well, except for the F chord.

           Well, I know how to play an F chord. But changing from one chord to an F chord? Successfully without any buzzing or muffled strings? Uh, no. But song has a lot of chord changing, so I'm getting my practice in. I found it interesting that the song's chords are mostly C, G, F, and with a little Am. My Dad told me once that my grandpa says you can play most all songs if you know C, G, and F. It's proving to be good advice.

           The chord change is really fast. I finally get my fingers all in the right place, and then I have to change again. I've been working on it for a while, and I can tell that I've progressed some. But still. . . I feel like I'm in a rut. Because I've been trying to perfect this song for the last month or so.

            Sometimes I just drop the song and practice changing the chords instead. Try to find better or faster ways to get my fingers in the right place at the right time. Unfortunately my C chord now buzzes annoyingly, when before I had it down well.

           I did find out that if I stretch my fingers farther apart it normal sounds better, than if I try to keep them close together. Makes sense, since they're all on different frets. Even though my fingers are long, they don't much like parting company. Well, they'll have to get used to it.

           And I've been practicing the F bar chord. Heh, I kind of play the cheater's version now for Forgiven. But I will get there. One day. . .

           So my practice time has been frustrating recently. It's hard to enjoy it. To relax and unwind with it like I used to. Perhaps I try too hard. Maybe it's possible to be over-determined. For some reason I feel behind, like I should've gotten this down by now, so I'm afraid to take a break.

           But last night I played outside. The night was cool and beautiful. With a hint of creepy. I knew the night could be loud, but I wasn't expecting that much noise from the woods. A couple times I could've been certain something watched me from trees. But I played on. It had to be my imagination.

           I let myself try to play other songs. Ones I didn't have the tabs for, but I tried to recall by memory and see if I could come up with something. It was fun, even though I knew I wasn't playing it correctly. It was like I had to give myself permission to mess up. That it was okay to just have fun with it. I alternated between that, practicing Forgiven, and the F bar chord. Definitely less stressful.

          I know the lyrics fairly well, and have played along with Forgiven on my ipod. My timing was better than I had expected on the chorus and my changing chords has improved some in the chorus. So I got brave and tried singing along with it. And I was really surprised-

          I could actually do it! Without messing up on the strumming. Not that I'm great at singing, but- Wow, I could sing and play simultaneously! I had been sure I couldn't do it in a million years. Shows what I know. I was so excited! That helped take away some frustration too. I still can't sing the whole song without losing the strumming pattern (the chorus' pattern is rather easy). All the same, now I know it's not near impossible. I'm actually feeling rather encouraged.

           And just in time, I had been so discouraged because it was taking me awhile to get Forgiven down. And the F chord. God sends you surprises at just the right time.

          I signed up for guitar private instruction this semester. Today my teacher called me about when to meet with me and talk about what we'll be learning. He's trying to convince me to be a part of guitar ensemble. I really want to. I need to be around other people who play guitar. Share in musical comradeship. :) But I need to work too. So I'll pray about it. 

.