Yikes, guys! I guess maybe Wednesday is my new update day for this page, since I can't seem to get a window on Tuesdays anymore. (aren't summers supposed to be relaxing?! I'm busier than ever!)
Thursday night's Guitar 4 class--at long last--played The Smiths' "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want." It's in 6/8 time, which is a new concept. Don't think of it like 3/4. It's more like 2/4. Emphasize the first and 4th beats. There's a strumming pattern shown on the songmap but you'll have to double it to make up a full, single measure of 6/8 strumming. There are a few new chords we talked about, most notably G major 7, which can be written as either Gmaj7 or GM7. Capital letter means major, lower case means minor! You play that one by modifying a regular G chord on the 1st string so that you're playing the note on the 2nd fret (F#) instead of on the 3rd fret like you normally would. It's only a half-step different than a regular G chord, but it gets a little finger-tangly so be patient with yourself.
I broke up the class into 1s and 2s and we'll pair up to tackle the first of the fiddly bits next week. You'll only be responsible for either the top line OR the bottom line of printed tableture. You and your partner playing your parts in unison will form the chords. Remember I mentioned that that sequence is written as 4 measures, but it's really only two. The rhythm is: One-and-two-and-three-and four five six (which you do twice).
The second bit of fiddly business--the handwritten one--should be relatively straightforward so I want everyone to learn it. We'll put it all together in class, and also start looking at the Radiohead tune.
Saturday's Guitar 4 class...is a mystery to me! I was having ye olde goode tyme at the Ren Faire with my family, so you'll have to update ME this week. I hope you had a good time with Chris in my absence. We'll work on Man Who Sold the World a bit and also make a start on The Cars tune.
And Sunday's Guitar 3 class finished up with Kodachrome by confronting the double-time section. Remember, I'll count you in with a "one, two, one-two-three-four" to show you where the eigthnotes come in. Those will become your base unit of measure when we change to the down-down-downup-downup strumming pattern on the sixteenth notes. Deep breaths, don't panic. There's a lot of space and time in there--much more than you think. So try and relax through it, stay loose in the wrist, and count.
We also worked on Killing Moon, which is an excellent barre chord strength training exercise! Play the G and Cm in the chorus both as barre chords. You can leave your index finger down on the 3rd fret, while you move an E shape (or an Am shape! Same thing!) back and forth. Conceptually, it's easy, but it's physically difficult--and it's a great way to build up your hand strength. Finish by adding a dramatic upstrum (rake) to the second measure of Em at the end of the verses (krrrrrang!). You can also do it on the first measure of Em each time through the instrumental passage (intro and middle of song). Great work filling in the names of the notes on the bottom two strings on the worksheet! The closer you can get to memorizing that map, the easier it'll be to move barre chords around and feel like a musical master of the universe. CSN is the plan for Sunday and it'll be fussy but fun.
See you soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment