One-off Challenge 2: Learn A Song On The Guitar

Before we begin, a quick diversion down bonus challenge lane. I was going to travel 100m by pogo stick yesterday. I got the toddlers ready to go the park (where there's a tarmac running track to bounce around), got myself ready and then got out the big kids’ pogo stick.

That was when the problem arose… 

My healthy eating isn't going THAT well!

Turns out there's a good reason for that max limit. Let's just say that it was less bouncy than needed. So an alternative challenge needed attempted for this week.

Enter the guitar…

This challenge is courtesy of…

Andrew Leask.

The challenge

Learn a song on the guitar.

I don't really do is music. I'll often joke that I don't understand “this Earth thing called music”, and it's only a slight exaggeration. While I do sort of see the idea behind it, I don't really “get” it. If you asked me to sacrifice some pleasurable activity that I would never be able to do again, listening to music would be pretty high on the list. It just doesn't speak to me in the way it obviously does to do many people. As a result, I've never put any effort into learning to play an instrument. That changes this week.

Narrator: It would not change.

After some initial discussion, I decided to learn to play House Of The Rising Sun. This was partly because I knew it (at least vaguely) and partly because Andrew offered to help teach me. Unfortunately, due to the whole pogo stick fiasco, I was up against the clock and lacking in Leasks for lessons. Instead I went to the internet for a quick guide on what to play, when.

It was about this point that I discovered that my borrowed guitar had only five functioning strings.

Plus, here's a video showing how to play House Of The Rising Sun “simply”.



Yeah, nah, to quote the Australians in my life.

After lowering my sights a little, I found a song more within my self-teaching range that didn't require the sixth string on my guitar. A bit of strumming and plucking later and I was ready to rock.

But first, I needed a band!



One song learnt on the guitar!

Challenge complete! 


 

Will I be doing it again?

Well, I would actually like to be able to play House Of The Rising Sun, so maybe.

Long-term updates

French words "learned" (according to the memrise app):749

Daily photos taken? Yes.

Swordfighting learnt: We're not making good progress on this one. Life gets in the way. 

I am currently reading: Still reading Daggerspell, but I devoured The Power by Naomi Alderman during a long train journey. It was solidly amazing. Best book I've read in years. 

"Cheat" days on food since last week: None.

"Cheat" days on exercise: You know the answer to this one! 

My favourite drawing: Bit of a break after #Inktober, so no drawings this week. 

Most pull ups in a row: 7 (just).

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