Now that I have practiced the strumming patterns for Riptide by Vance Joy, I am now moving towards singing while I play. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, so for the past few days I have been saying the lyrics as I strum. It’s becoming easier for me to stick with the pace of the song while I say the lyrics. My slowest transition throughout the song is from Am to G; I had this same problem while playing “Hey soul sister” by Train. With help from my peers, they showed me a faster way to transition to G. After practicing over reading break, my  Am to G transition is improving! I was initially using my ring finger for the Am chord; now I am using my middle finger. Right away there was a noticeable difference of how fast I could transition. Currently, how I am dealing with the slower transition is by slowing down the song in its entirety. Due to the fact Riptide has an andante/moderato tempo, slowing down the song still compliments the lyrics and allows me to put my own twist on the song. However, the ultimate goal is to play the song with its original tempo, as that’s the expectation I stated for myself on my musical growth plan. Dynamics on the other hand are not an issue; I am building towards playing at mezzo forte. As of now, I am most comfortable with the chorus because it is repetitive. Moving forward I will focus my attention on the verses as some of the words still trip me up.

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