Learning with an Eastman - New YouTube Channel of a Beginner

[ShawnEastman]

Hey guys & girls, I'm Shawn... & my surname is.... Eastman.
I'm a beginner & I didn't plan to learn with an Eastman, it just happened. I've got an E1OM.

Anyway... I started learning a little over three weeks ago at the age of 38 (with zero instrument experience) & I'm periodically documenting my progress (started from day 1) with video updates on a new YouTube channel: @NewLifeWithGuitar

I've started with self-teaching via online lessons but hope to introduce weekly in-person lessons in the near future.

First reason for this is so I can of course look back at these in years to come & appreciate this journey we're on of continual improvement - second reason is I think it could prove a collection of useful content for other beginners - both now & in the future - as a sort of reference point or somewhere to get the perspective of another beginner who may be at their current level. I already find it more helpful than you may think to see or hear about other learners struggling with the same things I am & then later explaining how they found ways to overcome this, that & the other.... it has already produced a couple of lightbulb moments in my first 3 weeks... but content from a beginner's perspective seems limited for obvious reasons... we're rubbish & generally want to hide away 'till we're half decent.

Anyway, I'll try to remember to post my updates in here. If any other beginner's want to follow along (as well as any of you more advanced curious minds - I'm sure there's likely to be way more of you here rather than learners) feel free to subscribe & offer words of motivation, advice, or even just to have a general guitar chat!

Thanks in advance to anyone who may be interested...!

For now, I'll plough on with my current week of practice/learning/frustration/enjoyment/finger pain etc... the latest vids of me embarrassing myself are below.

Day 1:




Week 1 Update:




Week 2 Update:




Week 3 Update:

[StrayMan]

Welcome Shawn! Great choice of guitar to start with! You have currently learned the 3 chords of the Key of A. A(1 note 0r Chord) D(4) E(5). Try Strumming Up (^) and Down (v)  4 or 8 times (^ v ^ v) then make your chord change.  Plenty of Video's out there to help you!

[sleigh]

Welcome, Shawn.  Keep practicing. You'll be surprised how fast you progress with regular practice. You might look at taking lessons from a teacher; that can help immensely.

[AlanSam]

I've never had a guitar lesson in my life and look what I've achieved! Nothing LOL.

[sleigh]

I took weekly guitar lessons from age 12 or so to 15, though I stopped lessons then and haven't ever re-started. Still, that gave me a decent head start and a solid base.

[AlanSam]

what I think would have helped my development is socializing with other aspiring guitarists. The only musically inclined friend I knocked around with played the flute.

[sleigh]

True indeed, Alan. I started playing in bands in high school, and so others aspiring musicians were my usual gang I hung around. In fact, up until Covid killed the band I was in a few years back, I was STILL playing with several guys I'd been playing with since the late 1960s.

[ShawnEastman]

Thanks all for the welcome! Yes, hooking myself up with a run of lessons with a decent teacher is within my plan for the near future - good point about trying to find other folk to socialise with who are musically inclined as well! Maybe once these first chord changes are a tad better so as to not frustrate them too soon haha!

[sleigh]

Shawn --

You might want to check out your local music scene and get involved with that. Find out where people (especially other guitarists) are gigging and go listen to them—for one, you'll likely notice that most guitarists never just play downstrokes when they're strumming, but vary that with upstrokes, single-note arpeggios, and alternate fingerings. On their breaks, try chatting them up—most musicians are willing to talk about their own experiences and offer some advice. They might even demonstrate what they're talking about on their guitar. 

If there's a local open mic night, that's another good opportunity to listen to and talk to other local and newish musicians... and to even play there yourself once you're feeling more comfortable with your instrument!!

[ShawnEastman]

Shawn --

You might want to check out your local music scene and get involved with that. Find out where people (especially other guitarists) are gigging and go listen to them—for one, you'll likely notice that most guitarists never just play downstrokes when they're strumming, but vary that with upstrokes, single-note arpeggios, and alternate fingerings. On their breaks, try chatting them up—most musicians are willing to talk about their own experiences and offer some advice. They might even demonstrate what they're talking about on their guitar. 

If there's a local open mic night, that's another good opportunity to listen to and talk to other local and newish musicians... and to even play there yourself once you're feeling more comfortable with your instrument!!

Yes I think that's a good shout & once I feel a tad more comfortable I'll scout out what's in my area for sure... I know of a couple of places that are popular for open mic nights. Shame that I don't know any guitarists already so I'll have to go let people know that I'm now their new friend! I know some teachers also occasionally try to group their students together for little jams as well so once I have in-person lessons up & running that'll be a good option to look into.

I've actually introduced some upstrokes this week to my practice for the first time... I have 3 or 4 songs that I run through a few times after my session of focused technical stuff... DDDUDU is my new practice strum of choice... bit more interesting than DDDD ad infinitum & far more challenging, too! Haha!