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Brilliant.  I'm going to try this.  "F" isn't that much of a problem for me.  Usually a little slow getting there, and it remains a bit muddy, but I can see a day when I'll be able to play it right.  Probably the same day I get the action on my guitar set up better.  But "B".  There's little hope for me of "B"ecoming a proper mutant. 

- Zurf

I vacationed in Banner Elk, NC once.  Great place.  Also, back in my college days I helped to found a fraternity chapter at my school.  Our sponsoring chapter was at Appalachian State, so those were some fun visits too. 

- Zurf

Elizabeth Cotton played that way.  Here's a picture of the guitar she wrote Freight Train on - encased in a display at the Smithsonian Museum of American History.  Notice how it's worn near the sound hole opposite the pick guard.

Took my kids fishing yesterday at a nearby Izaak Walton League's kids fishing rodeo.  They had a ball.  We got there late, so only fished for about forty-five minutes.  They caught two fish each.  My eldest said, "I caught four fish."  I replied, "No honey, you caught two fish and your sister caught two fish."  My eldest then retorted, "I caught four fish.  Two of them came out of the water."  That's just natural fishergirl dialog, right there.  I didn't teach her that.  But I'm sure as heck going to use it! 

- Zurf

Welcome to the brotherhood, my friend and brother! 

LONG LIVE THE MUTANTS!!!

- Zurf

p.s.  See Russell Harding.  If he's in a good mood, he might grant you B chord amnesty.  I am now fully authorized in writing to play B7 in lieu of B on Russell's very own original song.

I have a couple of comments. 

1. The matter of keeping a rhythm or pattern going is a matter of practice.  Are you practicing the rhythm or pattern, or are you trying to play it without practicing it?  If the latter, then practice it.  That means to dissect it, slow it down, concentrate on that and only that, and then do it until you can do it steadily (albeit slowly) and then speed it up until you can do it quickly and then keep doing it until you can do it without thinking about it.  This is not a matter of 1/2 hour.  It is the matter of 1/2 hour a day for however long it takes.  Some folks who are already adept at learning strum patterns, 1/2 hour may be enough.  For folks who are just beginning to learn them, 1/2 hour a day for a month may not be enough.  But rest assured that it will come in time. 

2. Forget what it's "supposed to sound" like.  Play it the way you like.  Until you've been playing for three decades, have gone to conservatory, and beat out 1,200 other accomplished guitarists trying to get the single studio position to back up a famous lead singer, what "it's supposed to sound like" doesn't mean squat (at least not to me).  I think it's much better to be able to interpret songs to your own style, even if you don't have one yet. 

3. Nothing wrong with simple melodies picked out.  That's something I can't do yet, so don't run yourself down for that.  I'm can get the strumming patterns fairly easily, but not the melodies picked out.  We each bring what we have, and have to learn the rest.  Learning takes practice and time.  You'll get where you want to go if you just relax, put together a plan to get there, and make the effort through relaxed and focused practice. 

- Zurf

Young, rich, and no one to tell them "No."  What other result would be expected? 

I heard a story from some famous football player or another.  I don't recall who, but it was in the 80's, so it doesn't really matter that much.  Anyway, he had options from a bunch of schools.  They were all slobbering over getting him on their team - offering cars, apartments, private tutors, stipends, etc.  Joe Paterno at Penn State looked at his grades and handed him a reading list.  He said that if he read one book per month from that list and sent the book reports in to Joe Paterno for review, that he would consider putting him on the Penn State team.  His parents said, "That's the school for you, boy."  "What about all this stuff I can get elsewhere?"  "Those schools are offering that because they care about themselves.  Joe Paterno is going to make you work for it because he cares about you."   I grew up in Central Pennsylvania and saw shots of the Penn State locker room on the news frequently.  It was common to see one particular college athlete being interviewed, and in the background instead of the other athletes hamming it up and joking around, they were studying.  That's what a college football program should be.  College and discipline first, football second.  And I don't think you can say that over the years, Penn State has suffered for that attitude towards football!  SMU on the other hand...

- Zurf

Easiest song and sounds nice too is Jambalaya in my opinion.  I'm teaching that one to my daughter.  Horse with No Name is a good next song as there's four chords but they are all so similar that she should learn it easily enough.  To be nine and have a mind like a sponge! 

- Zurf

Watch the stage when your favorite band is playing.  Odds are that if the lead singer is playing a guitar, he or she is playing solos, riffs, and leads only when not singing.  Most of the time, if the lead singer is playing guitar, he or she is doing a pretty straight forward, repetitive strumming or picking pattern while singing. 

I don't say this to discourage you from trying to play and sing simultaneously, but more as encouragement that even the elite musicians don't try and do it all.  They let other guitarists play the fill in riffs and the screaming leads (most of the time).  Take a lesson from that.  Keep your playing simple while trying to sing.  It's what the pros do.

Also, both singing and playing while keeping time and thinking ahead to what is the next line and chord change and are you getting to the bridge yet and so forth requires deep, intense concentration.  Skills aside, just learning that intensity of concentration requires practice.  Then you add in the effort to learn the musicianship skills, and you're understanding why many people who go on stage practice for hours a day, and that doesn't include the hour or more they spend doing warm-up exercises. 

The answer isn't just practice.  It's practice a lot while keeping your expectations humble.  Record yourself so that a month from now and two months from now and six months from now you can play the recordings and hear the improvement.  You won't feel it or hear it day to day necessarily.  Parents don't see how much the kids have grown (or are not as surprised by it) as the uncle who only sees them every six months.  Same with practice.

Hope that helps.  It's meant to encourage you to practice and to be patient with yourself. 

- Zurf

That's nice that you have a friend with a bass pond, Bass Viking.  My Dad used to live at a place where the next door neighbor had a bass pond that we had permission to fish.  I loved going over there after dinner and catching a half dozen or so bass before settling down for the evening. 

I've got a couple invitations from folks to take my daughters over to their ponds, and I think it's about time that I take them up on that.  I think they would like that.  Perhaps this Sunday after church. 

- Zurf

Play them Magic Carpet Ride.  Really, really loud.  I'll bet they like it better.  If not, then try Oh Darlin'.  Not Hello Darlin'.  My bad. 

- Zurf