This week, due to the effort I am putting forth to learn "Closer to Fine," I have found myself watching a bunch of different how-to videos. Each teacher has a slightly different method and sometimes slightly different chords. This, along with the original song, has helped me to become a better listener and, I would argue, a better player. I get to hear different chords, and really focus on how they are being used in the covers vs. the original song. Through this I get to decide how I want to interpret and play each part. It adds an element of creativity that I was not expecting.
My greatest discovery in creativity this week has been in relation to strum patterns. When I first started playing guitar, there was very little that I could maintain as far as strumming entire (especially if I wanted to sing at the same time). As I've watched different tutorials in the past weeks, different instructors have shared multiple strum patterns that they like to use, whether for the specific song, or just as a general pattern to use at any time.
Because of this, I have found myself playing around with strumming more and more. What new patterns can I create with a simple chord and a pick? It turns out that once you actually learn two or three of them, it becomes much easier to branch out and play around. I actually began to feel more creative, which I was not expecting.
It feels great.