Hi gang! I'm still excavating myself from a massive backlog at the day job. Trips and holiday weekends are suppose to be fun, but for me they just create WORK! A thousand pardons for updating so late this week, and I'm afraid this post will be extremely brief--but I'll see you all soon.
Guitar 4 last week continued to contemplate the meaning of the word "intermediate," after a somewhat grueling lesson on scales. Remember, WWHWWWH or the weird phone number 221-2221 in order to memorize the intervals that make up a major scale. 1 fret = H, so 2 frets = W. You can play up a single string, or break across strings to stay in one position using either an open or closed scale form. Open scale forms utilize the open strings--hence the name! But they can ONLY be played in one place because open strings are a fixed note/ position. Closed scales on the other hand, are modular and moveable. So long as you know where your root note is, you can use the same finger sequence to from any starting position. Don't forget that the second diagram--the one for CLOSED scales--shows you finger numbers, NOT fret numbers. Very important! We'll put it into further practice tonight with Man Who Sold the World, so hopefully you practiced up on the hammer-ons and chord progression we started with last week.
Saturday's Guitar 3 Rep had some fun with Tom Jones. Here's the video I promised: http://youtu.be/1UxU8s7Au0A The man BRINGS it, you have to give him that. The bridge of that song is an exercise in strength building--which is why you should play it as much as possible! Ziggy's sounding really good now that we have all the fiddly bits added in, so keep that one polished too because we'll definitely hit that this week.
And Sunday's Guitar 2 Rep stood by its man with great aplomb. Her face! I can't even...http://youtu.be/DwBirf4BWew
That alternate bass strumming is brainy work, I know. Add in the little walks connecting sections and you're really in fancy territory, but it sounds SO good. Always consult the worksheets in the front of the packet if you need help.
I'm looking forward to making some great music with you all this week! I hope you know how much I enjoy our classes together. Singing and playing with you is what soothes me and keeps me sane (arguable, I know) after a long week at the day job. Thanks for that!
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Session 3, Week 2 Recap -- ALL CLASSES
Hello friends! Late-breaking update from the desk of a very busy dayjobber who's getting ready for her big annual convention in Seattle later this week. I'm presenting on a panel, so I'll be putting on my teacher hat in another context. As I mentioned to all of you weekend students, that means that you'll have a sub. The awesome Chris Corsale will be your guide. He's up-to-speed on what we've been working on, and I asked him to bring in some fresh tunes for your enrichment. Can't wait to hear all about it!
(Thursday gang, I'm not leaving town until the weekend so you're stuck with me this week)
But enough about the future, let's talk about the past! And last Thursday night in Guitar 4 we went WAY back to the songbook for some finger-pickin' good times. Freight Train in your song book is a great way to work through that T-2-1-3 finger pattern using basic open chords (including little F. No barred Fs here. Phew!)
Don't watch E.C.'s fingers too closely because it'll sprain your eyes and brain: http://youtu.be/43-UUeCa6Jw She plays it upside down and backwards. Also her pickin' is more complex than ours but she wrote the song so she's allowed to get as fancy as she wants.
On Saturday, Guitar 3 Rep got into Green Day and learned our way around the Big G (4 finger G) and the Cadd9. http://youtu.be/CnQ8N1KacJc Remember, I give you permission to keep your pinky and ring fingers down for the WHOLE song. It's a little different than what Billie Joe does, but who cares?! We do what we want. (and I think it sounds cooler with that high drone) The strumming pattern is just a sloppy Golden Strum, with some assemblage of the low strings ringing on the downstrums, and assorted high strings on the upstrums. Don't over think it. You know Green Day doesn't!
We also learned the extensive strumming rhythm that'll see us through the bulk of Ziggy Stardust. You have to subdivide the measure into 16th notes and pay attention to emphasis (on the 1, 2, and 4).
You can break it down like this:
V V^ V V^ V^V^ V V^ (one and a two and a three e and a four and a)
When I get back from Seattle, we'll go through the intro riff and then we'll have ourselves a tune!
And Sunday's Guitar 2 Rep continues to blow my mind by getting all the way through complicated songs in one go! We played Heart of Gold--hammer-ons and all--which are a new technique where you use a percussive action of the finger on your left hand against the fretboard to produce a sound from the string, instead of picking it with your right hand. Here's a handy video tutorial (never mind the "pentatonic" stuff. Just get the concept and try the exercise on any old strings).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=v9xjT9zVVQU
There's some "stop-time" rhythms that you'll see on your song sheet where the asteriks are. You can follow my notes, or you can listen to the man himself in this great clip. It takes him awhile to find the right harmonica, but once he does, boy is he great.
(Thursday gang, I'm not leaving town until the weekend so you're stuck with me this week)
But enough about the future, let's talk about the past! And last Thursday night in Guitar 4 we went WAY back to the songbook for some finger-pickin' good times. Freight Train in your song book is a great way to work through that T-2-1-3 finger pattern using basic open chords (including little F. No barred Fs here. Phew!)
Don't watch E.C.'s fingers too closely because it'll sprain your eyes and brain: http://youtu.be/43-UUeCa6Jw She plays it upside down and backwards. Also her pickin' is more complex than ours but she wrote the song so she's allowed to get as fancy as she wants.
On Saturday, Guitar 3 Rep got into Green Day and learned our way around the Big G (4 finger G) and the Cadd9. http://youtu.be/CnQ8N1KacJc Remember, I give you permission to keep your pinky and ring fingers down for the WHOLE song. It's a little different than what Billie Joe does, but who cares?! We do what we want. (and I think it sounds cooler with that high drone) The strumming pattern is just a sloppy Golden Strum, with some assemblage of the low strings ringing on the downstrums, and assorted high strings on the upstrums. Don't over think it. You know Green Day doesn't!
We also learned the extensive strumming rhythm that'll see us through the bulk of Ziggy Stardust. You have to subdivide the measure into 16th notes and pay attention to emphasis (on the 1, 2, and 4).
You can break it down like this:
V V^ V V^ V^V^ V V^ (one and a two and a three e and a four and a)
When I get back from Seattle, we'll go through the intro riff and then we'll have ourselves a tune!
And Sunday's Guitar 2 Rep continues to blow my mind by getting all the way through complicated songs in one go! We played Heart of Gold--hammer-ons and all--which are a new technique where you use a percussive action of the finger on your left hand against the fretboard to produce a sound from the string, instead of picking it with your right hand. Here's a handy video tutorial (never mind the "pentatonic" stuff. Just get the concept and try the exercise on any old strings).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=v9xjT9zVVQU
There's some "stop-time" rhythms that you'll see on your song sheet where the asteriks are. You can follow my notes, or you can listen to the man himself in this great clip. It takes him awhile to find the right harmonica, but once he does, boy is he great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Eh44QPT1mPE
E-mail me with questions and keep on strummin'!
E-mail me with questions and keep on strummin'!
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Session 3, Week 1 Recap -- ALL CLASSES
Ahhhhh! That new session smell. Welcome back to the school and to this blog! After many weeks of technical difficulties, I believe I can post again (testing? testing?)
Not a moment too soon either, because we've got new things to learn!
In Guitar 4, we buckled down on some fingerpicking using the T-2-1-3 pattern, each finger tasked with a single string (6,4, 5, 3 respectively). The fretting hand just makes simple two-note powerchord shapes. Here's the original: http://youtu.be/7e-sba4tIss
We'll do some more fingerpicking work out of the songbook in our next meeting, so be sure to bring those with you.
And in case you missed it, here's our triumphant 3Rep grad performance. STILL getting compliments!
http://youtu.be/5zt2ftX0ydM
Saturday's Guitar 3 Rep kicked things off with some Itchycoo Park by the Small Faces. Here's the video I mentioned with the fancy footwork and the shorts. http://youtu.be/14ViwvgtvbA
We talked about building dynamics into the tune with some mellowed-out low volume strumming in the bridges, with a small crescendo over the second measure of E the first time, and a much bigger build the second time. There's also the funny split measure in the chorus. Remember that the first chord gets three beats, the G is on the 4, and the D is on the and of 4 inside the same measure, despite the way it's written.
We also learned the chorus of Ziggy Stardust. Barre chords all the way down, with a fast, hard-rockin' 16th note downstrum. Try to grab the G chord for one quick note on your way back up to the Am (that's the 3 in parenthesis on the handwritten tab). We'll carve off another chunk of that tune in our next meeting.
And Sunday's Guitar 2 Rep revisited--or learned for the first time--the calypso strum! It's the same rhythm as our old friend down, down-up, up, down-up; but we change it up by plucking the root note on the one, really deliberately d-r-a-g-g-i-n-g out our strum on the two, and gently muting on the 3rd beat space. The rhythm in this vid is a little different but it's just too good not to share: http://youtu.be/c_cRHw8PAPA
We also got though Picture Book--great job with that, by the way! I don't think I've ever gotten through that in a single class before, let alone as the second song!--with its modular riff pattern (0 0 2 4) that you replicate on successive strings (the 6th, 5th, and 4th strings OR the 5th, 4th, and 3rd strings depending on where you are in the song) before finishing with a 5 5 4 3 walkdown on the high string. The second time through the riff though, you'll stop short with just one hit on the 5th fret. When you play that truncated version, be sure to rest for the duration of the measure so you don't come in early on the next one! Practice the heck out of your C to F transitions, and try not to get lost in all those split measures--especially at the very end.
http://youtu.be/UjDu3E5zDks
See you soon!
Not a moment too soon either, because we've got new things to learn!
In Guitar 4, we buckled down on some fingerpicking using the T-2-1-3 pattern, each finger tasked with a single string (6,4, 5, 3 respectively). The fretting hand just makes simple two-note powerchord shapes. Here's the original: http://youtu.be/7e-sba4tIss
We'll do some more fingerpicking work out of the songbook in our next meeting, so be sure to bring those with you.
And in case you missed it, here's our triumphant 3Rep grad performance. STILL getting compliments!
http://youtu.be/5zt2ftX0ydM
Saturday's Guitar 3 Rep kicked things off with some Itchycoo Park by the Small Faces. Here's the video I mentioned with the fancy footwork and the shorts. http://youtu.be/14ViwvgtvbA
We talked about building dynamics into the tune with some mellowed-out low volume strumming in the bridges, with a small crescendo over the second measure of E the first time, and a much bigger build the second time. There's also the funny split measure in the chorus. Remember that the first chord gets three beats, the G is on the 4, and the D is on the and of 4 inside the same measure, despite the way it's written.
We also learned the chorus of Ziggy Stardust. Barre chords all the way down, with a fast, hard-rockin' 16th note downstrum. Try to grab the G chord for one quick note on your way back up to the Am (that's the 3 in parenthesis on the handwritten tab). We'll carve off another chunk of that tune in our next meeting.
And Sunday's Guitar 2 Rep revisited--or learned for the first time--the calypso strum! It's the same rhythm as our old friend down, down-up, up, down-up; but we change it up by plucking the root note on the one, really deliberately d-r-a-g-g-i-n-g out our strum on the two, and gently muting on the 3rd beat space. The rhythm in this vid is a little different but it's just too good not to share: http://youtu.be/c_cRHw8PAPA
We also got though Picture Book--great job with that, by the way! I don't think I've ever gotten through that in a single class before, let alone as the second song!--with its modular riff pattern (0 0 2 4) that you replicate on successive strings (the 6th, 5th, and 4th strings OR the 5th, 4th, and 3rd strings depending on where you are in the song) before finishing with a 5 5 4 3 walkdown on the high string. The second time through the riff though, you'll stop short with just one hit on the 5th fret. When you play that truncated version, be sure to rest for the duration of the measure so you don't come in early on the next one! Practice the heck out of your C to F transitions, and try not to get lost in all those split measures--especially at the very end.
http://youtu.be/UjDu3E5zDks
See you soon!
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