Guitar Practice Week Six

We're already up to week six.  That 's almost a month and a half.  I didn't have a lesson last week due to surprise Amanda Palmer concert, which I might try to review at some point this week, and this week I had to cancel for Gordon Webster and Rosh Hashana.  Gordon's probably worth it.

So where am I at today, a month and a half into my guitar adventure?  I've got all the natural open major chords down and most of the natural open minor chords.  I'm pretty darn close to getting barre chords down, and I understand their theory.  I've begun my first forays into power chords and single note lines, and those are coming along.  I'm fairly confident with the major scale, though I will continue to work and work and work at it.

More importantly, my ear training is drastically improving.  I'm beginning to reliably hear major seconds and thirds, perfect fourths and fifths, and octaves quite reliably - at least going up.  Going down, I've only gotten major thirds down so far.  The secret: hearing songs that start on that interval in my head.

• Major Second - Do Ray Me, this one is easy.
• Major Third - When the Saints
• Perfect Fourth - Here Comes the Bride, Chariots of Fire
• Perfect Fifth - So Far Away
• Octave - Somewhere Over the Rainbow
• Descending Major Third - If I Were a Bell

Now I just need to add songs to my head for other intervals.  I'm also becoming better at distinguishing between major and minor third, but I still tend to make mistakes with either very high or very low root notes.  I'm going to keep practicing.

I've decided that ear training is the single most important thing I could be working on, so my progress there is really heartening.  I might become a real musician yet.

Side note: I've been pretty much exclusively using my electric guitar at this point.  It looks and feels so much better than the old Epiphone.