What skill have you chosen to learn?
My name is Ben Kaufmann and this year I have chosen to learn how to play the acoustic guitar for my in-depth project. Throughout the course of the year, I hope to have learned how to properly read music, how to play some chords and notes, how to play some songs that I enjoy, how to experiment with the guitar and put together some of my own sounds and to have an understanding of the guitar and how to play it. The end goal is to have a good understanding of these concepts and to stay passionate about this and continue to play guitar in the future.
Why?
I really enjoy music, so I have always wanted to learn to play an instrument. I thought this year would be a good time to try this out. I have chosen to learn to play the guitar because of multiple reasons. Firstly, the guitar is an instrument that I really enjoy the sound of, and often when listening to songs I pick out the guitar sound and focus on that. I also have tried out the guitar before. I have picked it up a few times and just played around with it, which I enjoyed. Lastly, it is a convenient instrument for me to learn as I already have a guitar in my household.
How are you going to learn this skill?
I am going to learn how to play the guitar with lots of practice, help from people around me, and with objectives/goals to work towards. When learning the guitar, I will try to practice multiple times a week, or even every day for a little bit. This will help me develop my skills over time. I will also have online meetings with my mentor, Ewan, who is a classmate who has play guitar for many years. I will hopefully learn a lot from him. Finally, I will learn how to play the guitar with goals that I will try my best to accomplish. These goals are the following:
- To learn how to read music
- To learn how to play basic chords and notes
- To learn at least five songs to play on the guitar throughout the year.
- To experiment a lot with playing the guitar.
- To be proud of what I accomplished in the year.
Over time, I may add more goals to this list as I accomplish them, but those are the main ones I have for now. Using the objectives and the other steps above, I will learn how to play the guitar.
What can others do to help you?
I will get the most help for learning the guitar from my mentor. My mentor is a classmate, Ewan, who has played the guitar for many years. He is relatively experienced when it comes to playing the guitar and I am hoping I will learn a lot from him. I can also receive some help from my sister, who played the guitar for multiple years. Additionally, my classmates, teachers, and family can help me learn the guitar by supporting me and giving me the motivation to keep practicing.
Progress report:
So far, I have not done too much when it comes to playing the guitar. Over winter break I practiced a little bit. I played around with the guitar a little bit and learn to play the riff of smoke on the water and another one bites the dust. It is not much, but a good start for me to go on and learn the guitar.