My journey to learn guitar began in August of 2021, when I stumbled across a guitar in my friend Bryan’s basement that nobody was using. He was gracious enough to lend it to me, and then to let me bring it with me to Victoria when I started school in September. Armed primarily with the free application Yousician (see my initial impressions of the app here –> https://kinnonhaufe.opened.ca/2021/09/22/initial-reflections-on-yousician/), I began to play the guitar for 15 minutes each day, the maximum allowed by the app without paying a monthly subscription. I’ve heard that the best way to learn guitar (or any instrument) is to play a little each and every day, and with an externally-imposed time limit on my practice, I’m going to test just how little “a little each day” can be, and how effective Yousician–and more broadly, technology–can be to help me do it.

I began with a healthy appreciation for music and musicians, but precious little experience being one; I received the mandatory elementary education in the recorder, and played trumpet in my school’s band class from grades 5-7, but that encompasses all my experience playing. Fortunately, Yousician has been a fairly robust learning tool so far. The app utilizes pre-recorded videos to both show and narrate major learning points, beginning with how to hold the guitar, which string is which, and what a “fret” is. It took me two days to get to the point of switching between strings, and another day before I was truly comfortable with it. Over the next three days, I played several (ruthlessly simplified) songs, involving a single string for each note, but utilizing different strings and different fingers.

Between when I started and September 22nd–the date this free inquiry project began–I have learned how to play all 6 strings individually, and have learned E, E minor, A minor, C, and G chords. I can jankily move between chords to play simple songs, though it requires far too much thought and uses far too little muscle memory. I have also mostly completed level 2; each level can be thought of as a “unit” with a variety of activities, practice opportunities, and knowledge-building tutorials. Progress has been slow and steady, so please, follow along with me as we see just how much can be accomplished with a little pluck.

Photo by Yogendra Singh on Unsplash