For my STEP Signature Project, I decided to learn how to play the guitar. I have been playing the piano for about fifteen years now and wanted to try a new instrument. I received guitar lessons from a professional at Musicologie one hour per week for three months, practiced what I learned about one to two hours a day, and now can play multiple songs. As well as this, I have touched up on my music theory, allowing me to begin composing songs of my own on the guitar.
In order to learn the guitar properly, I had to stray away from some of the habits I picked up from piano. For example, to play most piano songs, a stiffer wrist is required; however, for the guitar, a loose and relaxed wrist is required for strumming. On a deeper level, I learned the value of patience. After having played the piano for so long, I assumed that picking up guitar would be a breeze; however, it took many hours for me to even just get the hang of it. While it was difficult at first, I put in a lot of time practicing, which allowed me to slowly grasp the basics of guitar.
There were a few events that showed me the importance of patience, especially while learning something brand new. It took me forever to break my “stiff wrist” piano habit and adopt a looser wrist while strumming. My guitar instructor pointed out to me my stiff wrist every single week, which was, honestly, a bit frustrating, as I had little patience in myself and in my abilities towards the beginning of my lessons. However, I worked on my strumming hand each week, and, now, my strumming hand is more relaxed; with a little patience in myself, I was able to learn proper guitar strumming techniques.
Furthermore, I had to remember the value of patience while learning the first song that I was taught on the guitar: “Wish You Were Here” by Pink Floyd. It was difficult for me to pick up the quick fingering of the chorus of the song. However, again, with a lot of patience and practice, I eventually was able to correctly play the chorus.
I also had to remain patient as far as COVID-19 goes. As cases grew worse, my instructor and I transitioned to lessons over Zoom. While these lessons were useful, it was much more difficult for me to learn, as my house’s Wi-Fi tended to cut in and out during the lessons. I had to remain patient during these times and maximize on the times where Zoom was working properly.
In conclusion, patience will be important to me later on while I become a Speech-Language Pathologist. I hope to be working with adults who have lost elements of their language after strokes or traumatic brain injuries. I know that for them, it will take a lot of patience while they work on regaining as much of their language abilities as possible; in order for them to succeed, I will need to remain patient as well, encouraging them every step of the way. I am glad that I learned to play the guitar, as I plan on implementing music into my future practice as a Speech-Language Pathologist, utilizing songs to and rhythm to help adults regain what they have lost.
