I started learning the electric guitar in July 2019. Earlier, I had learned the acoustic guitar for 2 years from 2017 – 2019 and I wished to try another variation of the guitar. Music has been my passion since a long time, so exploring another genre of it – rock and pop – was a fun experience. Electric guitar requires a lot of control of your fingers as even the slightest movement can cause loud sounds. I aimed to learn different techniques for composing good music that were not feasible in the acoustic guitar like : sliding, vibrato, hammer – on and pull – off among a few. I applied some of the techniques in some rock songs like November rain, Layla and highway to hell.

LO 1 – Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

• During the learning period, I identified that my strength was my improved hand coordination. My teacher said that I have really long fingers that are beneficial for playing complex chords like bar-chords and power chords etc and also for playing solos. So, realizing this as my strength, I decided to learn as many solos as possible. I started with one that my teacher suggested, November rain, and then moved on to others. Solos give out a clear tune of the song and since one of my weaknesses is not being able to sing, solos attracted me more as I didn’t have to sing and people listening could guess the song easily. On the other hand, my sole weakness was strumming. I would usually lose track of the song and go out of tune. To improve this, my teacher suggested that I should listen to the song multiple time before playing it and that I should learn it in parts. After employing these suggestions, I was able to play several Bollywood songs smoothly and without any difficulties.

LO 2 – Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

• The most challenging thing for me in the whole year of learning electric guitar was practicing continuously. At the beginning, I would get blisters on my fingers because of playing the solos on the electric guitar so much. After just about 20 mins, my fingers would pain so much, that I just wanted to go home. However, my teacher was always very supportive and he would tell me to relax for 2 minutes and then practice again. He also noticed some of the things that I was doing wrong that caused the pain, and he helped me rectify the mistakes. Finally, I now know that technique is the most important thing while learning any skill. By knowing the technique you save yourselves a lot of time and effort. Hence, since then I ensure that I know the proper and apt technique to complete the task or even while learning a new skill.

LO 4 – Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.

• I have always been interested in learning new instruments, however, I always have a hard time committing to the skill and continuously learning it. For example, I had started learning keyboard and even violin, but I just didn’t continue them. Similarly, this time too there were many instances when I wanted to give up because sometimes it would get very difficult to manage with my exams coming up. Furthermore, even in the time of lockdown, I continued with online classes, however I had to learn acoustic guitar as I didn’t have as electric guitar at home.

Learning new skills is always fun and music itself is a very helpful skill.

Learner Profiles – Reflective, Balanced