Week's Goals Friday 30th July - Friday August 6th 2010

Now I've created the background notes for posterity, it's time to start setting short, achievable (I hope) goals. So for this week here's what I want to do:
1. Learn how to make a basic recording using the new Audicity software I have just down-loaded.
2. Learn to play the Barre F chord easily, and then the full set of chords for Streets of London ( a song I used to be able to play well!
3. Tick off one learned item on my repertoire.
4. Improve one classical piece on my guitar (I've got three in preparation).

To achieve this I need to work at my strength building exercises on the guitar. Some breathing exercise revision would not be a bad idea either!


So how did I do?
Friday 30th July

• I had a really good session today! At least my sore fingers would indicate so.... I was able to play Streets of London, but I think I need to explore the use of the pick to make this a better accompaniment.
• Experimented with 'Audacity' and managed to record my song. I am not happy with the sound levels though, and can't yet find out how to improve them. A friend I met today (Saturday) reckons Audacity is not terribly good. Still I was relying on the built in microphone on the computer. Maybe I need a separate mike. Will post a query on the forum for some advice.
• Classical pieces went better, and sound was cleaner. 
• One song in my repertoire is as good as I can get it short of having a live band to work with! St Louis Blues is ready to perform.

Saturday1st August - Tuesday 3rd August

• Not a great deal to report so far, except that I have finally put all my repertoire texts into one folder so I can access them easily!
• Had quite a profitable sing through some items to keep them fresh, but CD kept jumping which made practice very frustrating! I guess I need to clean the laser and the discs.
• Barre chords coming along : I can now find F, G, A & C using the fretboard inlays. Need to work on changing chord more fluently.
• Added some old favourite folk number to my guitar repertoire and started working on those.

On reflection not too bad - I seem to have achieved more than I thought I had! Just shows the value of noting it all down!

Friday 13th August


It's been such a busy week with many different things going on that I have not had a chance to return to my practice on a regular basis until yesterday evening.

• I was really pleased to find I could play a short classical piece without too many mistakes! The finger exercises on the fretboard are paying off slowly but surely.
• Three songs are now being worked on - I've got the initial chords sorted, but I have got to work on placing my voice properly! I may have to look at transposing the keys - they feel a bit 'squeaky', but this could also be due to bad breathing again! So I think one target for this next week is going to have to be a return to some basic breathing exercises.

The songs: Streets of London, My Grandfathers' Clock, The Marvellous Toy.

Progress over the years - a few photos!

2006 - singing at a wedding party

Posting these pictures is not about creating an ego trip! I find it really helpful comparing my performances as there is always so much one can learn. Looking at my photographs, I can see how much progress I have made with posture!

We were actually having a laugh in this photograph - I wanted to sing a particular song, but the group and I had never played together before - so we struggled trying to find the tune and the correct key! We did get there in the end!
Moral of the story - make time for a rehearsal with your musicians!!!!

Music in the garden 2006

This was another fairly early 'public' performance. It took place in our garden in July 2006. Lots of friends came, including my singing teacher and one of her musicians, a local drummer and a number of others. It was great fun as each person contributed something to the day and we raised money for our cancer support association. Here I spotted terribly hunched shoulders and my head was jutting forward pretty badly.

2007  Students Concert

One of the great things we have done  as students, is to put on concerts. This one in 2007 was part of the October Rose or International Breast Cancer Awareness month events. As we hosted the concert in our village, I had to open the show. I had chosen to sing a Gershwin number, which I had done before at an earlier concert and messed up! In lesson time and rehearsal time leading up to the show we had really got it sorted! So it  should have been ok.
 The guitarist accompanying me started off, but  could I  find the note? In a word NO!  My teacher came up to help...... Eventually we recognised that I had been given a different starting key! Well we muddled through, but it was not a good start. This is one song I will NOT bring out again!!!!Fortunately I had another couple of songs to perform. These went without a hitch!

Same show - different song and what a difference. Here I am confident, relaxed and clearly enjoying myself. Posture is good, and head is properly placed.

This was a French song by Barbara : "Une Petite Cantata." Since learning this song, my voice has changed and, much as I love it, I have not include it in my repertoire, as it doesn't really suit me any more.

This picture was taken in 2008. I was taking part in a summer concert organised by our Christian Community here in the Poitou Charente. I had been working on getting my guitar playing back together for some time and as well as singing with the aid of play-back tracks, I included a more folky song. I'm not actually performing her, but introducing the song which was 'Daddy's Taking us to the Zoo Tomorrow'

Christmas Eve 2009

For two successive Children's Christmas Eve services, I have helped provide the accompaniment for the songs. In 2008 I used our key-board, but for 2009 I decided to use my guitar. One of the songs was 'Il est né le divine enfant'. I had to sort out the chords, and develop the finger-picking style I wanted to use. It also meant I could try out using  the grid system I had been taught.

Cold fingers on a key-board in 2008 weren't very successful, (but then my key-board playing these days leaves much to be desired!) Playing the guitar with cold fingers was also was tricky, but everyone was very complementary, and enjoyed the speed with which I played this carol. It is very often sung incredibly slowly!

Here's to the next opportunity to make music and, hopefully, give others some pleasure.

Todays goal - update

Great excitement when I came home from the office as the DVD's from Guitar Alliance arrived today. I've now had a good browse, and although I am not a beginner ( the materials are definitely targetted at beginners), I have found some useful items. Mind you I did have an initial problem playing the DVD's as I don't have a DVD de-coder on my system, so the Quicktime/Windows media programme did not work. Fortunately I have another programme VLC media player which did work. It was a pity there were no instructions or guidelines in the package. Rest assured, I have emailed Kenny making this observation!
So where have I got to today?

•  I think I now understand how TAB works - I'll try the exercises on Fretboard Memory DVD tomorrow ( I still believe being able to read the notes in the traditional way is important, but then I did 'cut my teeth learning the piano first)!
• I  understand the purpose of the inlay markings on the fretboard  - and to think I thought it was just pretty decoration! Now  I wonder why my small guitar doesn't have an inlay at the third fret, or two markings at the twelfth?
•  I am feeling more confident with the Barre chord structure. I can find and just about play F, G, A & C using the barre chord at the inlay points. Doesn't half do my hand in at the moment...... and my large steel string guitar - well I haven't a hope! The strings are set too high off the fretboard. That not withstanding, all in all not a bad couple of days! 

Wish my fingernails didn't grow so quickly -  good job I have an emery board to hand on the keyboard!

Todays goal

I am going to make an effort to learn how to read TAB guitar notation. It's not something I have done before, as my music education has been based on reading music! So I have printed off the lesson notes "How to read guitar tablature in 2 minutes"; Will report back later on how I got on!!!!

Had a great session today! My fingers are beginning to loosen up and reach the notes on the fret-board again. Spent a while on stretching exercises and then worked on two classical pieces. These are by no means perfect, and the fingering still causes problems, but oh it is so much better than a couple of weeks ago.

I think I am beginning to understand the tab notation too. Each line represents a string and the numbers represent the frets. I need some simple examples to practise with!

I also did some listening work on Fever. I think I have nearly got this right. Now I need to make it mine - not Peggy Lee's or Elvis's, good as they are, but Linda's!

To crown the day, we enjoyed a fantastic BBC Prom's concert on TV!

Long-term Goals

Vocal Goals

On the vocal front I have at last put together a list of songs that will form my 'available' repertoire. It is a list of 21 numbers falling into three categories:

• Jazz - all English-language classics.
• Others - 3 French items and two English items
• German items - one song from my Grandmothers collection of music that I brought home after my Mum's death.

The full list is on a separate page. I aim to have several of these 'concert ready' before too long.

I work with play-back tapes, some that I have bought and others that I have been given by a friend. I would love to have a fellow musician to work with in real-time! One can get 'trapped' in the regularity of a play-back, and the transition from this to a live group of musicians is really difficult. Suddenly all the clues one has learned are of no use at all! Similarly it is very difficult to be creative with a tape that it is always the same - no opportunity to change tempo or experiment with changes of key....... On the plus side, the quality of playbacks these days is so good that 'Have play-back can do concert!!!'

When I am learning a new song I often go to You Tubes and listen to a variety of performances of the same song. This gives me ideas of what is possible. One thing I try not to do is to mimic an artist. I learned very early on the importance of letting any audience hear me and not an impersonation of someone else.

Guitar Goals

On the guitar front, my immediate goal is to get my fingers flexible again! So I do try to pick up my guitar once a day if only to do some stretching exercises on the fret-board. The left hand is certainly taking some work, but I am happy to note that the finger-tips are hard once again.

I've also been working hard at revising my ability to read music and find the notes on the fret-board.... so I am re- learning a couple of classical pieces I used to be able to play. It is slowly coming back!

My next goal is to try and learn a few more chords so that I can increase my Folk-Song repertoire.....

So far I have mastered C A G E D F D7 G7 Bm7 - and I am just beginning to hold a Barré chord......Not bad for an oldie I suppose!!!!!

A snap-shot of my musical adventure so far

This blog is a whole new adventure! I am starting it because I want to try and keep a record of what I am doing with my music and chart my progress.

First of all here is a summary of what I have done over the years. I started learning to play the piano as a young girl - far too long ago to remember. I had regular piano lessons and did quite well until I was encouraged to try a music exam! It was a fiasco - fingers turned to lead and pieces I could play I massacred - so quite understandably I failed! Never again ...... In spite of this I kept on trying to play as it was always a way to relax. As a young teacher, I even found myself trying to play the hymns in assembly! Now, many, many years later I hardly play as other things have evolved.

When I was about 14 my Grandmother gave me my first guitar. This was a real joy! Since she was a music teacher, she showed me the basics and I carried on teaching myself. I loved learning to play chords and sing songs as well a some classical stuff. I even got to sing in a few amateur concerts.

I always wanted to learn to sing, so when the opportunity arose when I was at college at the age of 18 I took it. The teacher was determined that I was a Mezzo Soprano .... we had a few disagreements about that, and I remember being made to lie flat on my back in order to try and reach a top A! This adventure came to a halt after attending a musical soirée she organised. All her students had to sing something in front of a group of other students. I was not confident at all, nerves took over and I dried up totally! So end of singing lessons at this stage! Meanwhile I continued to tinker about on my guitar, and joined choral societies as well as a church choir.

Many years later, now married, I discovered another singing teacher. This was a whole new ball game. We got on well, and I thoroughly enjoyed developing a fairly classical repertoire. Each year the students put on a concert, and although very nerve-racking I had a great time. I learned to sing solos and duets and of course accompanied myself a couple of times on the guitar. Occasional workshop weekends were also arranged. Fantastic!

A few tears later we moved to France. My husband noticed an advert from a singing teacher in the local pharmacy. Needless to say I was thrilled and followed this up. I remember trying to sing a German folk song. I didn't do it terribly well, but we both liked each other and I decided I wanted to continue. This time I was embarking on a totally new style of music - Jazz -Swing. That was five years ago! All lessons are in French,and I am discovering some wonderful new French songs. I have even had the opportunity of singing with live musicians in concert. This new adventure is providing tremendous challenges, but I feel I have made huge progress in technique - for the first time I was taught about breathing - which is pretty fundamental! I am also having a wonderful time learning about musical theory.

This year my Mum died and I inherited my Grandmothers' lute. Sadly it is in need of restoration,as you can see from the photograph, but I dream of having it done, and eventually playing it as a tribute to both my Grandmother and my Mum. This means that I need to really get back to playing my guitar more regularly! So I have invested in a guitar course which has prompted my to set up this blog! I am just waiting for the materials to arrive, and then - well who knows, one day I might be able to realise the dream....