zeegoeshere

So, I am trying to learn guitar, and surprise: it's difficult! My dad is an excellent teacher, and he's also helping me remember all of the music theory stuff I've forgotten since high school, but it's slow going. Mostly it's just that I have to get past my pride, because right now it's really hard for me to sit down with an instrument that I just don't know and have my own suckitude flaunted in my face when I try to pluck anything out. I'm sort of having the same issue with re-learning piano; any time I sit down with it, I'm just reminded that I'm so much worse than I used to be. Still, at least my hands *know* the piano--if I have a melody in my head, I can figure it out pretty easily on the keys. If I want to play an octave or a minor fourth or whatever, my hands know what to do. With the guitar I just feel like I'm blind, and it's frustrating to be at that beginner stage again.

Playing the guitar is also fucking painful for my hands. I know that when I was playing piano regularly my fingers probably would have been strong enough for all the fret work--the flexibility required to get hard chords on piano is different from the kind required for the frets of a guitar, but still, strong fingers are strong fingers. Right now I just feel so wimpy, and my left hand cramps up if I play any chord for too long. It'll get better eventually, and I know that my dad has stress balls and finger strength exercise things around that I can use to help, but right now--argh.

If I want to learn it quickly I really need to start practicing every day. That kind of discipline is pretty much opposite of my very nature, but for years I was able to do that with piano. Playing piano got to be an everyday habit, just because it was there, and any time I was feeling bored or sad or frustrated or happy that was where I'd go. Practicing your instrument regularly is pretty easy when it's your coping mechanism for teen angst, I guess. I know that if I can train myself to go to my guitar instead of my friendslist whenever I'm bored, I'll be home clear.

I did manage to teach myself the rhythm guitar part of 'Jesus Christ' by Brand New just now, just by ear, all by myself without my dad helping me figure out the notes. So there's that. Small victories and all.

Anyone who lives in Portland, has ever lived in Portland, or just has any fondness at all for the city should see Feast Of Love. Several scenes took place in the stadium off of W Burnside; more took place at PSU, right off the streetcar line; more took place in the Sellwood neighborhood near Reed, and there were several shots of the Max going across the river. It's a good movie and the love stories are sweet, if occasionally unbelievable, but oh man, see it for Portland. *clutches at chest* (Although they did have the geography of the city flat-out wrong in some cases--you can't go on an evening stroll from the stadium in SW to Reed! There's a river in the way!)

(It also made me want a bandom AU that would basically be the movie, all these guys living in Portland and falling in love with each other. I want Frank biking around SE Hawthorne/Division, oh man.)