I Will Follow You Into the Dark

[Chasplaya]

Hey good job Suzi. Chord changes are coming along nicely, i think its been said already but the last upstroke/beat of the strum pattern if you lift your left hand off and strum open before placing the next chord it will help the transition plus the barre finger first. When practicing go over just the parts of the tune that incorporate the barres and do them slowly building up speed as you feel more comfortable. The muscle memory will kick in and hey preston no worries.

Good on ya mate!

PS A belated happy Birthday have a karma prezzie

[suziko]

Reiver, Rick and Nemaste- thanks for the encouraging words and the birthday greetings!

Marc and Chas- excellent reminder about the open stroke between chords. One of those things I know in theory but often forget in practice. I think I'll spend some time working on those transitions for a while with one open chord in between.

[Lavallee]

I think a good way to practice the open stroke would be to do it very slowly just alternating 2 chords (somthing simple like E and Am so that you can focus on the strum)to start with and putting emphasis on the open stroke. It will become naural in no time.
Marc

[suziko]

Good idea, Marc. I'll give that a try!

[Lavallee]

Late happy birthday, by the way
Marc

[suziko]

Thanks! And a karma thank-you gift for all of your help

[michelew]

Suzi - Great job on this and your first video. I've awarded you a karma point because it takes guts to post something, especially when you haven't been playing forever like some guys here seem to have and of course as I said I thought you did a great job on both. I learned heaps from Neil's response too.

After watching them, I think you will find a strap really useful. It will free up your hand from keeping the guitar steady and you can experiment with the placement of the guitar and the angle of the neck. You'll find it easier to play barre chords when you angle the neck up and can lower your wrist. (not that I've completely nailed barre chords myself but they are coming along). I actually wear my guitar up fairly high and more in the centre of my body, it would sit on my left leg without the strap. Anyway - if you get the strap you can experiment with the height of the guitar, the angle of the neck and general placement and see what feels best.

See how you go. Good luck.

Michele

[kerryjt]

The Band name is the title of a song. Death Cab for Cutie. The song was written and performed by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, A teen tragedy parody song. It was also played in Magical Mystery Tour, the Beatles film.

Apparently this is where Ben Gibbard got the name

[Yamaha48]

Hello Suziko.

It sound nice on your new guitar.
Taylor is a good brand.
i listen a few times,and then i pick up my guitar and srumming together with you,on the corner of my bed.
Thanks for your video.

Greetz Anton.

[suziko]

Michele,

Thanks for your kind words! Yes, I figured these guys needed to have a beginner post some videos so that they could get things in perspective about their own playing Seriously, though, it has been very helpful for me to post, and everyone has been very kind, even though I'm still such a beginner. I am going to look into the strap. You're right- my guitar moving around is not what I should be worrying about.

kerryjt- thanks for the factoid! I knew at some point I'd read where the name came from (maybe in an interview with BG), but I couldn't remember and Wikipedia was no help.

Anton- Dank u wel, meneer! I hope you are feeling better!