Free Inquiry Week 9-10

Good morning all!

Well, the final couple of weeks are upon us and I am excited about a well-deserved break. As for what I plan to do, considering we are entering another lockdown, my guess is I will be playing a lot of guitar. Sadly, this also means I will not be able to meet with my guitar teacher until this lockdown ends. I have started trying to learn Townes van Zandt’s Waitin’ Around to Die and it has proven extremely difficult. He changes the baseline frequently and the speed at which he picks is exceptionally challenging. I have only been able to do the shifting baseline without any of the melody or chord changes and I still mess it up after four or five bars.

I touched on it in my last post, but I want to return to the notion of progress. I remember someone once telling me that in order to master a skill, it requires ten thousand hours of deliberate practice. I have estimated that over the course of this inquiry project, I have averaged about two hours (at the most) of deliberate practice a week. So that is about twenty-four hours so far—I have got a long way to go. And while I have, in a way, been disappointed with my progress and commitment, I remain optimistic because I have not become bored with playing guitar yet. I am still excited to learn new things and love have even tried picking my own progressions. I have no idea what I am doing, but I have really enjoyed fooling around between practicing songs. Patience is not a virtue I was born with, but I am learning.

The thing I am most happy about is that I know I will continue to play after this inquiry project is over. And I guess that is what its intended purpose was. I look at my peers and what they have accomplished, from baking to pottery, to skating and am filled with inspiration. I can only hope the others are as inspired as I am and will encourage projects like this for our future students. I certainly will.