I have gotten terribly stalled on learning chords. I am just starting to get to the point where I can make a passable attempt at switching from G to D7 (my first two chords). This hurdle has been terrible for my enthusiasm and I have found lots of reasons not to practice over the last few months.

To combat this I searched online and got chords for “Be Still My Soul.” It requires G, C, Dm, Em, E, and Am. I can play G. The rest of them I peer at the chord chart, reposition my fingers a couple of times, strum, reposition my fingers some more and try the chord again. I think of “Be Still My Soul” as a song with long, drawn-out notes, but in this rendition at least the notes often change back and forth in quick succession before holding on one. In particular it flips back and forth between G and C alot which requires repositioning three fingers. It takes me ten minutes to plunk my way through one verse, which is all I attempt at this for now.

It does help to relieve the drudgery of trying to learn chords because with this song I can feel like it is supposed to be too hard for me and delight myself thinking that one day it will be easy. When I am struggling to play a real song I know why it is hard. When I am struggling to play a simple excercise I feel completely incompetent.