(0:58) Easter Sunday

Did I mention this wasn't a good weekend to start playing guitar?  We normally have some weekend plans, but we were much more busy this weekend than we normally are.

Between a birthday celebration on Friday, watching Gabriel all day Saturday while my wife decorated Easter cookies, and then driving an hour to Grand Rapids to celebrate Easter all day on Sunday it was hard to find time to practice.

Again, I tried practicing early in the morning on Sunday.  Again, Gabriel was just as eager to play the guitar as I was.  He had a late night on Saturday and woke up earlier than normal on Sunday.  He was tired and cranky as a result, and refused to crawl around and play with his toys like he normally does.  My wife was getting ready for Easter Sunday Mass and she was busy throwing up due to morning sickness. 

All around happy times in our household.

I did finally find time to practice, again starting at 11PM, which is when I should have been going to bed.  I put in 41 minutes in total during the day, which was well below the hour I was hoping for.  My practice was fruitful even if it was short.

I went through a second Justin Guitar lesson on the A chord.  I was glad to see that he taught the A chord with the same fingering that my friend had shown me when I first learned guitar.  Most guitar books I've seen show the index finger on the G string (on the guitar!),  the middle finger on the D string, and the ring finger on the A string.  All of these are crammed into the second fret. 

The preferred way to play the A chord is with your index finger on the D string so that it is between the other two fingers; middle on the G and ring on the A.  This allows all of your fingers to sit closer to the fret as well as making it an easy chord change to D.  All you have to do to swap to a D chord is pop your middle finger down to the E string and slide your ring finger over to the third fret.  Quick and painless, as long as your fingers have developed plenty of calluses.

Mine have not.

And they hurt quite a bit.

I haven't been playing any chords using my pinky finger yet, so I have been spending some time just pressing down hard with only my pinky on the thick E string until I can't take the pain any longer.  I'd rather just get all the pain out of the way now and not have it fall behind my other fingers in callus development.