Here’s some Christmas music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asNJyfDKVlM

A nice little rendition of Last Christmas by Kotaro Oshio.

I hope I can get this song down before Christmas Day but I suck at guitar.

I’ve heard many stories of how people bought guitars and such just to play because they’re sheep and all. I’ve had my guitar for about a year or two now but I never really made that much progress, being lazy and not practicing for months at a time. I found a bit of random motivation every few days that would make me start playing something… Although I would lose it almost immediately because I get tired of playing the few songs I know. I am always looking for new tabs to practice and the skill level for them are usually very high so it would sound like trash. I get extremely bored strumming and playing chords. Easy mode songs like Green Day’s Good Riddance and Oasis’ Wonderwall. They sound nice and all but man is it boring. My preferred style would be fingerpicking where you pick each string with your fingers individually.

One of the things I noticed early on is how Yui managed to play her instrument quite well in such a short amount of time. In episode 5, when she was trying to do vocals at the same time as playing, she plays a short measure, perhaps 20 or so, it still sounded pretty good. Granted that it was just playing four or five chords, strumming them each differently giving an unique sounds but it’s not very noticeable for people with little music background. The timing when you change chords has to be right on otherwise the flow of the song would go off beat. In episode 4, when she begins to show off her progress, the technique that was used use more shredding or just plucking it very fast. I found it kind of funny how she showed a harder technique first. Practicing for 3 months, every night is something that I should be doing. I don’t have any books and I’m only teaching myself. There’s a lot of chords I should commit to memory but I’ve always been pretty bad at that. It can get overwhelming at times. Playing certain chords require a lot of finger dexterity and strength… especially when it came to barring, where you press your finger over several strings. It sounds easy but it really isn’t. If you don’t press don’t hard enough, you will get buzzes and muted strings. It is one of those things that a beginner guitarist has to master early to move forward. I still haven’t got it down fully but I’m still working on it.

There are a lot of Mio pictures.

There’s a few things that are a little off. One would be Yui cutting herself on the string. By then, she should have strengthen her fingers enough so it wouldn’t have. I got my calluses a week in of starting again. The first or second day, the pain in my fingers were almost unbearable, so it wasn’t worth it… in fact, it would have made things worse. The skin on my fingertips were peeling for about a month but it’s all fixed up now and stronger. I probably shouldn’t nitpick too hard on K-ON! It’s just an anime, right?

Got a bandaid?

There are also a few interesting things that I was able to relate to. Not many people realize it but singing and playing is extremely difficult to do. Your rhythm goes wack and you begin to lose your place all over. Vocal practice also takes a while, getting a high pitch and not having it crack in the middle is something you also need to spend time on. Why do you think there’s a lot of shitty singers on those Idol reality shows? They don’t really practice and they think they can sing… all enough to make your ears bleed.

So about the K-ON! effect? This does have a positive effect on me, it made me pick up and play something.. that small motivation is enough to remember why you love to play your instrument. But at the same time, I’m neglecting my course work and practicing is one of the most important things to get good at something. I’m not naturally gifted at anything… and if I am.. I still haven’t found it yet.

Looks like a lot of fun. Rock on Yui~

My random thought process right now is making it hard to make a post that is sequencial so it will be kind of all over the place.

I’ve been mostly reading 4komas and doujins the last month. It has been a nice way to pass time when you’re bored. The Touhou related ones are usually very funny… Following whatever danbooru has to offer. I also download Type-Moon/Tsukihime related ones… mostly by Hiroyuki. Very enjoyable but since it’s an old series… it’s doubtful anything new will ever show up.

I started to practice guitar more seriously. Slowly but surely, I’ve been improving.. Lots of practice put into play even the easiest of songs. I hope to be able to shred like this someday…

I got the impression that many people started to play guitar because of K-ON! However, that isn’t my motivation. It was because my friends encouraged me to play Jumper by Third Eye Blind after watching the Yes-man movie. I was put up a challenge with someone else to see who can play better at the end of the summer. We’re suppose to work on vocals as well but I say screw that. I already found the song I’m going to use and I will probably post a youtube when the time comes so everyone can laugh at me… It was just further motivation for me to keep going. Learning how to play an instrument has greatly appreciate music and the amount of hardwork people put into playing a musical instrument.

As for my gamer status… I’m playing Valkyria Chronicles, very good game. It was a total pain to find a copy of it though. The game has been discontinued and the only hope was to find a used copy. I got to thank a friend of mine to holding it at his EB.

I also started a second playthrough of Persona 4, it’s a great game.. why not? I will try and get the 100% social links and compendium this time around. Been playing a bit of Street Fighter 4 but haven’t really been motivated to get better mostly because I don’t have a stick. I preorded BlazBlue, the one game I want to get good at no matter what. I want a stick before that comes out. The guy hasn’t got around to make one yet… he’s been busy and I’m sort of getting anxious. I’m debating whether or not I should buy the SMT game for the PS2… I was interested in it a few months ago but I’m not sure anymore. L4D is fun and I reached a milestone with some of my friends just recently.

I think I’ll go play some Persona 4 and then start working on that theme. I’ve been putting it off for a while.

This upbeat song has made me fall in love with guitar once again. Too bad I hate my current guitar.. but then again.. you get what you paid for.

The song was originally composed by Kotaro Oshio. A Japanese folk acoustic guitarist. One of those artists that a guitarist should know. He isn’t like Andy Mckee (spelling?) where he slaps the string every couple of beats. I admit that it isn’t an easy thing to do but it just gets kind of boring to watch and listen to after a while. I just like the style of playing Oshio does. Utilizing the “Boom Chick”, a technique coined by Tommy Emmanuel.

Anyways.. here are other songs I like by him played by cozyoskjp (Japan).

Twilight

Passion

Played by ericsonar (Hong Kong).

Oasis

You are the Hero

There is this one Japanese guy whom I’m certain is an otaku who plays electric guitar for anime and video games. It seems like he writes the tabs himself. Many people may already know him but I will save it for another time.

And yes.. I know.. the girl in the picture is playing an electric guitar.