In my continued practice I am still struggling with the same things (tempo, strumming and the change from A minor to G). I have tried to slow down as I play, but have discovered an interesting thing about this.  I am playing “Riptide” by Vance Joy which is a song that I know quite well. Due to this as I am playing I hear the song in my head. I hear the tune, the melody, the lyrics and the tempo. Therefore, when I try to play slower it is really hard. It sounds wrong and I end up rushing the the U-D-U part of the strumming in an effort to accommodate how slow the tempo is.

I have also found that practicing in the middle of a pandemic to be hard. If I already knew how to play it could be a source of comfort, but to be honest, I am already very stressed and adding in practicing and feeling defeated, as my progress has been very slow in this song, makes it hard. I really see the deadline of learning the song and am trying as best I can to push through the negative thoughts. I want playing to be something that I can do to mentally check out of all the other stressors and just zone in on playing.