Guitar

Well I've just started learning how to play guitar. I'm just learning chords, but it's really fun! It's just another thing I can use when I sing. There are a lot of different chords. There's all the major and minor a-z and all the seventh chords. I'm just using my dad's acoustic guitar, but I'm saving up to get my own. So far my favorite song to play is "Keep Holding On" by Avril Lavigne. I saw the song on Glee and kind of fell in love with it. My fingers are really sore from holding on to the strings. I've also been working on this song that a couple of girls sang/played on the guitar at the Especially For Youth talent show last summer. It's called "Heavily Broken" by The Veronicas.

The guitar has six strings: E A D G B E. A memory trick is "Eat A Darn Good Breakfast: Eggs." It's kind of weird, but it helps you remember. To make a chord you put your fingers in between the frets. For example to make a C Major chord you put your ring finger on the 5th string (A) and the 3rd fret, your middle finger on the 4th string (D) and 2nd fret, and your index finger on the 2nd string (B) and the first fret. Then you just strum from all the strings. On other chords you only strum from the 5th or 4th string down. The hardest part is switching chords quickly and making sure you land on the right notes. So what I've been doing is practicing switching back and forth between different chords so I can get used to how to move my fingers. I'm working on getting to the point where I have the chords all memorized.

I already have the Avril Lavigne song memorized. It mostly does G, D, E, C over and over except during the bridge when it also uses A minor. The guitar I'm saving up for is a Yamaha acoustic electric, and it costs around $250. I'm not sure if I'm going to get black or blue. An acoustic electric can do the same thing as an acoustic, but you can plug it into an amplifier and it will sound more electric. I'm pretty excited, so I'm going to be working for my mom's business a lot to earn enough money. And I already have an amp because my brother plays bass guitar.

The reason I've started learning how to play is so I can use it when I sing. Right now I'm just going to different guitar sites that have tabs. It just tells you the name of the chords and where to play them in the song. So far I'm having a lot of fun, and my dad's going to help me while I'm learning. Then after I've worked really hard on it I'll be able to get my own nicer guitar and make it sound cool. Even though my wrists and fingers really hurt, it is way fun! And isn't my future guitar beautiful?