Uncharted waters

I really do enjoy practicing, no matter how painful it is -- and make no mistake, it does get painful. I wonder if I'm pushing too hard with my thumb on the back of the neck. Maybe the muscles just have to develop.

Tonight I decided that I was getting into a rut, so I tried a few barre chords, said oh jesus, and went back to power chords. I ventured onto the fifth string, which I found exceedingly difficult. I blame my teeny tiny pinky. I went back to the 1-2-3 fingering I was using originally, then at the end of practice discovered that thanks to the book not numbering the fingering on that tab only, and me getting confused by them calling the index finger 1, I was supposed to be using 1-3-4. I swore, tried it out, found it easier, and was happy for a second till I realized that a pinky callus was going to have to develop. Tomorrow the new pain begins.

The fifth string power chord I tried was C#, which also takes me further down the neck than I have hitherto gone. Not bad, though trying to look at a tab and the neck and my picking at the same time does lead to some sour chords. It nicely fills out a couple of the songs I've been playing.

Incidentally, in a measure of how far I've come, I tried "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" the other night. When I optimistically tried it two days in, I thought it was impossible. Now, managed to follow along half respectably. Rockabilly, dude.