Final Product

The first 4 songs are just me picking simple tunes because I thought this would help me feel more comfortable with changing fingerings and with the guitar in general. The last one I play is a song and I worked on it as I learned the chords and although it still isn't up to speed, I am able to do it a lot quicker after learning simpler songs and practicing a lot.

Songs:
1. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
2. Aunt Rhody
3. Amazing Grace
4. Scarborough Fair
5. Free Fallin'

Switching Between Chords and Avoiding Mistakes

As I have progressed in my learning, the skill that I have found the hardest is switching between chords quickly. At this point, I somewhat have the 8 chords I learned down, however I am not exremely confident with them so I think that is one thing I could do to help switch chords smoothy. I also would like to work on identifying the finger positions chords have in common to make this process easier. In addition, the link below has more tips on changing chords.

I also found another link that was very helpful that talked about the 7 most common mistakes people make when playing guitar. I think this will help me avoid bad practicing habits and be more productive while learning guitar. In addition, some are more advanced skills so they are things I am looking forward to learning in the future. They are as follows:
     1. Not Setting Goals (this will motivate me to imrpove my guitar skills)
     2. Noodling Away Practice Time (focus on new material rather than going over stuff that is super familiar)
               - Set aside Noodling Time!
     3. Strumming/Picking from the Elbow Using all Downstrokes (inefficient: engage wrist!)
     4. Poor Muting (fix to help sounds bleed over one another, makes it sound more clean)
     5. Not Using the Tips of Fingers for Chords (with tips: helps them sound not buzzy and more clear)
     6. Not Learning How to Tune Well (learn how to tune by ear because a tuner may not always be available!)
               - 5th fret method
     7. Not Applying What You've Been Practicing (apply it to real music! does no good to just learn them)

Lastly, the last link below helps not be a lazy guitar player! (you might be a lazy guitar player if...)

SOURCES
Changing Chords: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtz6TOlljbM
Mistakes to Avoid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n49-3i_Cg8c
Lazy Guitar Playing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NkyPB_y3Ow

Strumming

There are many different ways to strum the guitar. Below are the tips I found helpful and some of the techniques I tried while learning:

Strumming with a pick: Index finger and thumb
Strumming without a pick: Finger position is very important!
Different strumming patterns: Many different songs include different strumming patterns. Here are the ones that I found are good for beginners to learn.
    1. Basic Down-Up Strum
    2. Mute Strum
    3. Calypso Strumming
    4. Pop Rock Strumming
    5. Basic Fingerpicking (plucking) Pattern

SOURCES
Strumming Patterns: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv-639c_A9k
Fingerpicking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cj4SBVqsPIo
Strumming Technique: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq9QamxAUHc
Strumming Tips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq-iMoeYIjI
Without Pick: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lv3s0oC0tOo
Pick Tips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMILz1RV_fk

F Major

SOURCES

Image: http://www.justinguitar.com/images/BC_images/142-FMaj7-chord.gif

Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfQ3hvstZzk

G Major

There are many ways to play the G major chord (included in the links below)

SOURCES

Image: http://www.guitarsintheclassroom.com/Chords-G.gif

Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlDXIVxYxBw

Instructions: http://www.wikihow.com/Play-the-G-Major-Chord-on-Guitar

E Minor Chord

SOURCES
E Minor Chord Image: https://ericdelucamusiclessons.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/emin.png
Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Puct4HkXsaE

E Major Chord

SOURCES
E Major Chord Image: http://deftdigits.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/open-e-major-chord-diagram-204x300.png
Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yOtp8XCdaA

A Major Chord

SOURCES
A Major Chord Image: http://deftdigits.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/open-a-major-chord-diagram-204x300.png
Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ChC3GpcFh4

D Major Chord

To play a D major chord, you strum from the D string.

SOURCES
D Major Chord Image: http://media.abhiguitar.com/chords/Dmaj.png
Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7Mgwug0Kzk

A Minor Chord

To play the A minor chord, you strum from the A string.

SOURCES

A Minor Chord Image: http://www.justinguitar.com/images/BC_images/121-Am-chord.gif

Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tajw_obMjjM

C Major Chord

SOURCES
C Chord Image: http://www.justinguitar.com/images/BC_images/132-C-chord.gif
Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA2Kgp1F2ak

Tuning

To tune the guitar, you twist the tuning machines on the headstock and that will tighten or loosen the strings to get them in tune.

One part that got cut off is when I say that elephants and donkeys grow big ears stands for strings E, A, D, G, B, and E.

The link below is primarily what I used to learn how to tune the guitar and also gives tips on practicing tuning.

SOURCES
Tuning Help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqPCtwibgPg

Strings, Frets, Etc.

This image shows the name of the strings from low E to high E (left to right). This is one of the things I need to know before playing the guitar because it will be important when tuning and when learning chords. A good phrase to help remember the names of the strings that I found is (from low E to high E):

Elephants
And
Donkeys
Grow
Big
Ears

There is also a link below that talks about the names of the strings and has another phrase to help remember them. In addition, the numbering link below gives more details on the numbering system for fingers and frets as well as the numbering system you can see on the picture for the strings.

SOURCES
Numbering: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMQE8qO9SSo
Guitar String Names: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV25P2h9vGc
String Image: http://guitarteacher.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/namingguitarstrings.jpg

Guitar Parts

After learning how to properly hold the guitar (see link below) I wanted to learn the parts of a guitar before everything else. I think this will help me when I start to learn strumming and chords because I will be able to clearly understand what the instructor in each video is referring to.

SOURCES
- Guitar Image: http://www.stringswork.com/wp-content/uploads/Parts-of-a-guitar.jpg
- Holding a Guitar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjwdYb2I2oE