Hi gang!
I'm sorry to say that I think I need to suspend this blog for a little while. I just haven't been able to get to it in a timely enough fashion this session, and I don't want to keep disappointing you each week. The schedule at my new job--and the lack of opportunity to do side work at the office!--has made it really impossible to update this page the way I used to be able to. I sincerely apologize.
If anyone is particularly crushed or horrified by this news, or feel that they won't be able to practice adequately between classes without it, I genuinely want to know that so please post a comment or drop me an email. (Email is doable via my phone when I'm on the go, so it's easier than blogging)
I will continue to look for ways to manage my time that allow for blogging, so don't give up on this page forever. Just give me a few more weeks to try and get organized.
Best,
J
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Session 1, Week 1 Recap -- ALL CLASSES
Hey gang!
Welcome to the brand new session in the brand new year. (Keyword here is: new!)
I have a lot of "new" in my life too, what with the husband and the fresh day job. I'm still getting my rhythms down in those contexts, so it may be that I bounce a little between updating this page on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Either way, you get a mid-week bump! I've just discovered that the library where I just started working stocks musical scores, so I have a new source of material to adapt for class! I'm excited!
Now onto the recaps.
Thursday's Guitar 4Ever (and ever...and ever...) will have to update ME on what happened because I was busy getting married. We'll talk tomorrow about the plan for this session. I know there's a demand to "workshop" some previous material, so we'll figure that out, along with a strategy for hitting some great new tunes I have in mind for you. Get your "desert island" answers ready, 'cause you know that's coming!
On Saturday, Guitar 2 dove headfirst into some new chords. First off is Dm7, which requires you to execute the rather daring maneuver of playing two strings with one finger! Cover the first AND second strings at the first fret with the outside edge of your index finger. It's easier to use that part of your finger because it's harder. If you try to do it with the pad, it's just too squishy to get a faithful sound. Complete the chord with your second finger on the 3rd string, second fret. You only strum the bottom 4 strings, and there you have it. If you're having trouble getting enough pressure for those bottom 2 strings, try adjusting your wrist and thumb position by bringing them down. Moving in and out of that chord will require a sort of deflating-reflating action with your whole hand position. A little muscle pain inside your hand is normal as you build the tone there, but anything shooting down your wrist is wrong, so if that's happening, let go right away and shake it out and start again.
Welcome to the brand new session in the brand new year. (Keyword here is: new!)
I have a lot of "new" in my life too, what with the husband and the fresh day job. I'm still getting my rhythms down in those contexts, so it may be that I bounce a little between updating this page on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Either way, you get a mid-week bump! I've just discovered that the library where I just started working stocks musical scores, so I have a new source of material to adapt for class! I'm excited!
Now onto the recaps.
Thursday's Guitar 4Ever (and ever...and ever...) will have to update ME on what happened because I was busy getting married. We'll talk tomorrow about the plan for this session. I know there's a demand to "workshop" some previous material, so we'll figure that out, along with a strategy for hitting some great new tunes I have in mind for you. Get your "desert island" answers ready, 'cause you know that's coming!
On Saturday, Guitar 2 dove headfirst into some new chords. First off is Dm7, which requires you to execute the rather daring maneuver of playing two strings with one finger! Cover the first AND second strings at the first fret with the outside edge of your index finger. It's easier to use that part of your finger because it's harder. If you try to do it with the pad, it's just too squishy to get a faithful sound. Complete the chord with your second finger on the 3rd string, second fret. You only strum the bottom 4 strings, and there you have it. If you're having trouble getting enough pressure for those bottom 2 strings, try adjusting your wrist and thumb position by bringing them down. Moving in and out of that chord will require a sort of deflating-reflating action with your whole hand position. A little muscle pain inside your hand is normal as you build the tone there, but anything shooting down your wrist is wrong, so if that's happening, let go right away and shake it out and start again.
Summertime also requires an Fmaj7 chord, which I said was sort of like a compressed C chord. You'll put your first finger on the 2nd string at the first fret, your second finger at the 3rd string second fret, and your third finger at the 4th string third fret. Three strings in a row, three frets in a row, three fingers in a row! You only strum the bottom four on that one too, and it should sound kinda dreamy and cool.
Both of these new chords are setting us up for the big news of next week--THE F CHORD! Keep on strumming, because we've got work to do.
Summertime is one of the most covered songs of all time. Do some YouTube searching and take a listen to Janis Joplin and more!
And Sunday's Guitar 4 class got started with Paul Simon's Mother and Child Reunion. Remember to lay back in the strumming to give the song that island feel. Little palm mutes between downUPs will help that too. And the riff at the top of the song has that trip-el-let thing we talked about over beats 3 & 4 of the second measure. Subdivide that space into thirds instead of quarters and it'll sound just right.
We also got started fleshing out the chords for Baby Blue. Slash chords are something I hope you're familiar with. They all require you to alter the normal bass note that supports a chord. Take an advanced peek at the "fiddly bits" on the supplemental page if you'd like, and we'll go over them in detail next time we meet.
Both of these new chords are setting us up for the big news of next week--THE F CHORD! Keep on strumming, because we've got work to do.
Summertime is one of the most covered songs of all time. Do some YouTube searching and take a listen to Janis Joplin and more!
And Sunday's Guitar 4 class got started with Paul Simon's Mother and Child Reunion. Remember to lay back in the strumming to give the song that island feel. Little palm mutes between downUPs will help that too. And the riff at the top of the song has that trip-el-let thing we talked about over beats 3 & 4 of the second measure. Subdivide that space into thirds instead of quarters and it'll sound just right.
We also got started fleshing out the chords for Baby Blue. Slash chords are something I hope you're familiar with. They all require you to alter the normal bass note that supports a chord. Take an advanced peek at the "fiddly bits" on the supplemental page if you'd like, and we'll go over them in detail next time we meet.
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Session 6, Week 7 Recap -- ALL CLASSES
Hi guys!
Another session flew by. No clue where the time went. It just zips past when you're having fun making music with your friends.
Speaking of which, we've all got gigs this week so I'll get to the rundown straight away--after reminding you that my own band Vamplifier (loud rock and roll, for which I play bass and write songs) is playing this Friday the 19th at the Red Line Tap in Rogers Park. Come up to my neighborhood, have dinner at the Heartland Cafe, and stick around for some music. We play at 10pm and the cover is $5.
On Thursday, Guitar 4Ever will tackle a MEDLEY! It'll be some verses of Don't Think Twice, a transition TBD--hopefully covered by harmonica (Ken, hope you're reading this!)--and then There is a Light by The Smiths. Both tunes are capoed at 4 so there's no switching necessary. Those of you that missed The Smiths lesson, never fear. It's easy enough. Just play a quarternote strum on the one, and then eighth notes for beats two, three, and four. (Down, down-up down-up down-up)
When you have split measures, continue that rhythm, transitioning chord shapes on the "and" of two and the "and" of four so that your fretting hand lands on the new chord in time for the ones and threes. There's a fiddly bit you can ignore if you're worried about prepping it in time for the gig. It's not hard, but we don't need everyone playing it. The intro rhythm is:
| One Two and Four | One and Two and and Four |
You're on Dm for the first measure, F for the first two beats of the second measure, and G for the last "and four." You'll likely want to play that G as a barre chord shape you just slide up to from the F for the sake of speed.
That's all there is to it. Sing your sad, sad hearts out and we'll have a winner!
Saturday's Guitar 1 Rep class worked on some festive holiday tunes, just for fun. No real explanations needed on those. Just feel 'em, and share 'em with family next week. For our upcoming show, we narrowed it down to either REM's "The One I Love," or "Time is On My Side" by The Rolling Stones. For the former, concentrate on the riff and the dramatic rakes. For the latter, keep the strumming from speeding up, while maintaining that nice texture--long deliberate strums on the ones and fours, lighter chuck-a chuck-as on the other beats. Perhaps Bill will grace us with a spoken-word bridge if we select that one for the stage? Remember, show will start at noon so tell your guests to grab seats in the concert hall at 11:45am. We'll work together in the classroom until then and head down as a group.
And Sunday in Guitar 4 we worked up The Smiths' "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want." It's in 6/8 time. 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.
As for fiddly bits on the second page, you only need to 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). That slots in over the two measures of Bm. The second bit of fiddly business--the handwritten one--should be relatively straightforward and fits over the GM7 between verses. Here's an awesome video of the song set to a montage of the "it's-just-too-hard-to-do-things-WITHOUT-this-wonder-product" moments from infomercials. Could anything be more perfect?!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U3Rh9mxcoU
For our grad gig, it was a unanimous vote for "Alison," which I'm very excited about. Be mindful of the timing on the intro (see summary a few posts back), and don't rush through the quick change split measures. Savor those! If we do that, and hit the "stop!" chord crisply, I think we'll bring the house down. Our show will start at 12:45pm for any guests you're inviting, but we'll meet at noon as per usual.
Another session flew by. No clue where the time went. It just zips past when you're having fun making music with your friends.
Speaking of which, we've all got gigs this week so I'll get to the rundown straight away--after reminding you that my own band Vamplifier (loud rock and roll, for which I play bass and write songs) is playing this Friday the 19th at the Red Line Tap in Rogers Park. Come up to my neighborhood, have dinner at the Heartland Cafe, and stick around for some music. We play at 10pm and the cover is $5.
On Thursday, Guitar 4Ever will tackle a MEDLEY! It'll be some verses of Don't Think Twice, a transition TBD--hopefully covered by harmonica (Ken, hope you're reading this!)--and then There is a Light by The Smiths. Both tunes are capoed at 4 so there's no switching necessary. Those of you that missed The Smiths lesson, never fear. It's easy enough. Just play a quarternote strum on the one, and then eighth notes for beats two, three, and four. (Down, down-up down-up down-up)
When you have split measures, continue that rhythm, transitioning chord shapes on the "and" of two and the "and" of four so that your fretting hand lands on the new chord in time for the ones and threes. There's a fiddly bit you can ignore if you're worried about prepping it in time for the gig. It's not hard, but we don't need everyone playing it. The intro rhythm is:
| One Two and Four | One and Two and and Four |
You're on Dm for the first measure, F for the first two beats of the second measure, and G for the last "and four." You'll likely want to play that G as a barre chord shape you just slide up to from the F for the sake of speed.
That's all there is to it. Sing your sad, sad hearts out and we'll have a winner!
Saturday's Guitar 1 Rep class worked on some festive holiday tunes, just for fun. No real explanations needed on those. Just feel 'em, and share 'em with family next week. For our upcoming show, we narrowed it down to either REM's "The One I Love," or "Time is On My Side" by The Rolling Stones. For the former, concentrate on the riff and the dramatic rakes. For the latter, keep the strumming from speeding up, while maintaining that nice texture--long deliberate strums on the ones and fours, lighter chuck-a chuck-as on the other beats. Perhaps Bill will grace us with a spoken-word bridge if we select that one for the stage? Remember, show will start at noon so tell your guests to grab seats in the concert hall at 11:45am. We'll work together in the classroom until then and head down as a group.
And Sunday in Guitar 4 we worked up The Smiths' "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want." It's in 6/8 time. 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.
As for fiddly bits on the second page, you only need to 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). That slots in over the two measures of Bm. The second bit of fiddly business--the handwritten one--should be relatively straightforward and fits over the GM7 between verses. Here's an awesome video of the song set to a montage of the "it's-just-too-hard-to-do-things-WITHOUT-this-wonder-product" moments from infomercials. Could anything be more perfect?!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U3Rh9mxcoU
For our grad gig, it was a unanimous vote for "Alison," which I'm very excited about. Be mindful of the timing on the intro (see summary a few posts back), and don't rush through the quick change split measures. Savor those! If we do that, and hit the "stop!" chord crisply, I think we'll bring the house down. Our show will start at 12:45pm for any guests you're inviting, but we'll meet at noon as per usual.
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Session 6, Week 6 Recap -- ALL CLASSES
Hello folk friends!
First off let me say that I am so incredibly grateful to have each and every one of you as my students. The last couple of weeks have been a trial in my non-musical life. As many of you know, I put in my notice at The Field Museum. I thought it was going to be a 30 year career, but the universe had other plans for me and who am I to argue with the universe? Next session, I'll be reporting on my new post at the Skokie Public Library! I hope to have far fewer "Sorry, I'm really stressed about my day job" excuses for late-updates, and far more "Sorry, my day job is just so awesome I got distracted!" ones.
You've all been very patient and supportive of your absent-minded professor as I've been dealing with all of this, and you have my thanks. One of the biggest perks of the new job is the 6 hours per week LESS that I'll have to spend on CTA. Which means 6 hours per week MORE to play music!
In Thursday's Guitar 4ever class, we played some folk music (imagine that!), kept up our chops on Don't Think Twice, and knocked out 99 Red Balloons. Here's the German-language version I didn't get a chance to play in class. http://youtu.be/qfPTC7-wCL8 The first and last verse are sparse and quiet. One strum per measure. Play big, beautiful open/barre chords there. The rest of the verses? Rock out with your, um, wurst out. Power chords, down strums, and rockin' eighthnotes. The riffy stuff I think is fairly self-explanatory. Play each of the lines in the first box twice when prompted. The second box should sound like the vocal melody. Listen to the synth in the video. That's what we're mimicking in those bits. Don't forget the dramatic flourish at the very end. Ausgezeichnet!
On Saturday, Guitar 1Rep polished up the Flaming Lips tune a bit more (see last week's recap for details). Then we tackled the Calypso strum, which you can apply to Bobby Darin's Dream Lover. On the first beat, pluck the root note of the chord all by itself (just like we did on Evangeline). The root note is going to be located on the first string your pick makes contact with when you're strumming a chord, so sometimes it'll be an open string and sometimes it'll be a string with a finger on it as part of a chord shape. Then on beat two, you'll D-R-A-G out your strumming motion just a little bit to give it a more deliberate sound. Finally, to really polish it up, add a mute to the third beat where you aren't strumming anything. So it looks like this all together: Root Drag-Up (mute)-Up Down-Up.
As if that wasn't enough, we also talked about 6/8 time and how Time Is On My Side. Remember that you emphasize beats one and four, so it almost takes on a 2/4 feel. DOWN (down-up down-up) DOWN (down-up down-up). Those little strums are just that--little. Don't worry about snagging the full chord. Just get a few low strings on the way down, and a few high strings on the way up. You'll figure it out in time (time time time...)
And on Sunday in Guitar 4--guys, thanks for your patience and support. Those of you who didn't know Mike Mann probably felt a bit uncomfortable watching me break down when we sang Worried Man Blues. Music HEALS, but so does the patience of students. I really appreciate all of the love in that room, and later at Second Half. Old Town School is a home and a safe haven, and it's there for you when you need it. I'm certainly grateful to have experienced that love firsthand on Sunday. Whenever you strum that tune, think of Mike!
We also worked up Rainbow Connection. For now, it's fine to just stick to playing a waltz rhythm with your pick--pluck the root note on the 1, and strum the chords on 2&3. I did this video lesson for some students last summer with all the banjo-fingers detail work. Note that it's capo'd but I'm much better at singing it (arguably) without so let's not and say we did. http://youtu.be/LmhHTn1kKkY
First off let me say that I am so incredibly grateful to have each and every one of you as my students. The last couple of weeks have been a trial in my non-musical life. As many of you know, I put in my notice at The Field Museum. I thought it was going to be a 30 year career, but the universe had other plans for me and who am I to argue with the universe? Next session, I'll be reporting on my new post at the Skokie Public Library! I hope to have far fewer "Sorry, I'm really stressed about my day job" excuses for late-updates, and far more "Sorry, my day job is just so awesome I got distracted!" ones.
You've all been very patient and supportive of your absent-minded professor as I've been dealing with all of this, and you have my thanks. One of the biggest perks of the new job is the 6 hours per week LESS that I'll have to spend on CTA. Which means 6 hours per week MORE to play music!
In Thursday's Guitar 4ever class, we played some folk music (imagine that!), kept up our chops on Don't Think Twice, and knocked out 99 Red Balloons. Here's the German-language version I didn't get a chance to play in class. http://youtu.be/qfPTC7-wCL8 The first and last verse are sparse and quiet. One strum per measure. Play big, beautiful open/barre chords there. The rest of the verses? Rock out with your, um, wurst out. Power chords, down strums, and rockin' eighthnotes. The riffy stuff I think is fairly self-explanatory. Play each of the lines in the first box twice when prompted. The second box should sound like the vocal melody. Listen to the synth in the video. That's what we're mimicking in those bits. Don't forget the dramatic flourish at the very end. Ausgezeichnet!
On Saturday, Guitar 1Rep polished up the Flaming Lips tune a bit more (see last week's recap for details). Then we tackled the Calypso strum, which you can apply to Bobby Darin's Dream Lover. On the first beat, pluck the root note of the chord all by itself (just like we did on Evangeline). The root note is going to be located on the first string your pick makes contact with when you're strumming a chord, so sometimes it'll be an open string and sometimes it'll be a string with a finger on it as part of a chord shape. Then on beat two, you'll D-R-A-G out your strumming motion just a little bit to give it a more deliberate sound. Finally, to really polish it up, add a mute to the third beat where you aren't strumming anything. So it looks like this all together: Root Drag-Up (mute)-Up Down-Up.
As if that wasn't enough, we also talked about 6/8 time and how Time Is On My Side. Remember that you emphasize beats one and four, so it almost takes on a 2/4 feel. DOWN (down-up down-up) DOWN (down-up down-up). Those little strums are just that--little. Don't worry about snagging the full chord. Just get a few low strings on the way down, and a few high strings on the way up. You'll figure it out in time (time time time...)
And on Sunday in Guitar 4--guys, thanks for your patience and support. Those of you who didn't know Mike Mann probably felt a bit uncomfortable watching me break down when we sang Worried Man Blues. Music HEALS, but so does the patience of students. I really appreciate all of the love in that room, and later at Second Half. Old Town School is a home and a safe haven, and it's there for you when you need it. I'm certainly grateful to have experienced that love firsthand on Sunday. Whenever you strum that tune, think of Mike!
We also worked up Rainbow Connection. For now, it's fine to just stick to playing a waltz rhythm with your pick--pluck the root note on the 1, and strum the chords on 2&3. I did this video lesson for some students last summer with all the banjo-fingers detail work. Note that it's capo'd but I'm much better at singing it (arguably) without so let's not and say we did. http://youtu.be/LmhHTn1kKkY
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Important Announcement! Plus, Session 6, Week 5 recap -- ALL CLASSES!
Hello folks! I hope everyone is recovering from their butter and flour hangovers. I for one renewed my gym membership, and the nagging ache in my bad knee that comes along with jogging. Yay?
It's also been an over-the-top week at the day job, so I'm a bit behind in my update, with sincere apologies.
Ok first things first. DISCOUNT! It's that time again when you're invited to save $15 on your next group class when you use the promo code JINGLE15 when you register. It's only good this week, so don't let it blow away on the blustery winter wind.
Thursday's class did not meet because turkey. But I hope you invited Travis to your holiday and practiced picking!
On Saturday in Guitar 1 Rep, we played I Am A Pilgrim out of the songbook. I like that one because I like to sorta shout the "oh god!" part. It's good for golden strumming. We also tackled She Don't Use Jelly by the Flaming Lips. http://youtu.be/cvfxKbpoxRE The chart needed a little triage, so we penciled in a few things. First of all, we'll do the intro part 4x instead of 2, each time it appears in the song. So that's three updates you'll need to make. Also, we need to add an additional set of the split measure/ whole measure chord sequence to the end of each verse. Finally, you can cross out one of the "magazine"s. We'll just say it 4x instead of 5. For She Don't Use Jelly, the keyword is "dynamics," which is music-speak for volume. Play the intro and the instrumental sections loudly (where the split measures are), and play the verses quiet and gently. In the split measures, strum ALL the eighth ones. But on the verses, strum the chord just once on the one, and let it ring until the 4th beat where you'll hit it again to lead into the next measure. On the measure of A, do a crescendo--which means start softly and get louder--while you downstrum all the eighth notes. I tabbed out the solo for you on the board. You can play it along with the video!
And on Sunday in Guitar 4, we finished the timing of the intro on Alison and put that one all together with sparkling results. Remember, in the intro, measures 1, 3, and 4 all go like this: One....and three...
You play the first chord on one, then switch to the second chord on the and of two and stay on it for beat three. That second measure is counted: OneAnd...And...And. Sorta hiccupy.
We also put all the pieces of Pretty in Pink together and I thought it sounded great! If you haven't worked on the riff parts yet, I humbly suggest you give them a try (and vice versa if you're eschewing the chords). You can always follow the dashes if you aren't sure of the counting. There's one for every eightnote. We change chords on the and of two in the split measures, so that's a little different. But it's still the Golden Strum. And in the chorus---POWER CHORDS! Play the root, and the 5th which is located one string over and two frets up. Works anywhere on the low strings! You can add the octave right next to the 5th on the adjacent string at the same fret. Play rock and roll down strums, only snagging those bass strings that you're fretting. http://youtu.be/pqmTMiIMG74
Did anyone else think that her dress at the end of the movie was sort of...anti-climactic?
It's also been an over-the-top week at the day job, so I'm a bit behind in my update, with sincere apologies.
Ok first things first. DISCOUNT! It's that time again when you're invited to save $15 on your next group class when you use the promo code JINGLE15 when you register. It's only good this week, so don't let it blow away on the blustery winter wind.
Thursday's class did not meet because turkey. But I hope you invited Travis to your holiday and practiced picking!
On Saturday in Guitar 1 Rep, we played I Am A Pilgrim out of the songbook. I like that one because I like to sorta shout the "oh god!" part. It's good for golden strumming. We also tackled She Don't Use Jelly by the Flaming Lips. http://youtu.be/cvfxKbpoxRE The chart needed a little triage, so we penciled in a few things. First of all, we'll do the intro part 4x instead of 2, each time it appears in the song. So that's three updates you'll need to make. Also, we need to add an additional set of the split measure/ whole measure chord sequence to the end of each verse. Finally, you can cross out one of the "magazine"s. We'll just say it 4x instead of 5. For She Don't Use Jelly, the keyword is "dynamics," which is music-speak for volume. Play the intro and the instrumental sections loudly (where the split measures are), and play the verses quiet and gently. In the split measures, strum ALL the eighth ones. But on the verses, strum the chord just once on the one, and let it ring until the 4th beat where you'll hit it again to lead into the next measure. On the measure of A, do a crescendo--which means start softly and get louder--while you downstrum all the eighth notes. I tabbed out the solo for you on the board. You can play it along with the video!
And on Sunday in Guitar 4, we finished the timing of the intro on Alison and put that one all together with sparkling results. Remember, in the intro, measures 1, 3, and 4 all go like this: One....and three...
You play the first chord on one, then switch to the second chord on the and of two and stay on it for beat three. That second measure is counted: OneAnd...And...And. Sorta hiccupy.
We also put all the pieces of Pretty in Pink together and I thought it sounded great! If you haven't worked on the riff parts yet, I humbly suggest you give them a try (and vice versa if you're eschewing the chords). You can always follow the dashes if you aren't sure of the counting. There's one for every eightnote. We change chords on the and of two in the split measures, so that's a little different. But it's still the Golden Strum. And in the chorus---POWER CHORDS! Play the root, and the 5th which is located one string over and two frets up. Works anywhere on the low strings! You can add the octave right next to the 5th on the adjacent string at the same fret. Play rock and roll down strums, only snagging those bass strings that you're fretting. http://youtu.be/pqmTMiIMG74
Did anyone else think that her dress at the end of the movie was sort of...anti-climactic?
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Session 6, Week 4 Recap -- ALL CLASSES
Hey gang!
Sorry for the late update. I took a whole week off at the day job (MUCH needed), and I planned to stay away from technology so I didn't bring my laptop home, but that almost meant missing out on a blog update. I'm borrowing one from a house guest now (a perfect excuse to take a break from the pre-turkey cleaning I've spent all day doing!).
I hope you all have a very happy holiday and get to play some music for and with the ones you love. Or alternately, I hope music is a way to escape from and drown out all the holiday nonsense if it's not your cup of tea! I'm truly thankful for each and every one of you. Getting to play music with you every week is a real privilege.
I think the early registration discount code is getting sent out on Monday. CYBER MONDAY! Don't miss it in the midst of the inbox onslaught.
On Thursday night in Guitar 4ever, we kept up with Don't Think Twice It's Alright, adding in the Am/G walk down (just grab the note on the 6th string, 3rd fret by extending your middle finger across), and the G6 to G7 move. G6 is just a finger on the 2nd fret of the 5th string, and G7 is a finger on the 4th fret of the 5th string. Don't worry about freting anything on strings 4-1 because your picking fingers are only playing open strings anyway! And remember to correct the misprint in that section. The split measure is actually from G to G6, and the full measure is of G7. So it should read: | G G6 | G7
We also got started on Time Won't Let Me by the Outsiders. It's a song that's very close to my heart because it's the tune the go go gals danced to the first night I ever came to their class--and boy was I hooked! Apologies again for the brief brain fart about reading my own tableture (that was a major catalyst for me taking this whole week off at the Museum! OOOF.) Your patience and good nature about your absent-minded professor is always gratefully appreciated. The good news is that the tab is correct! Yay! I can't explain the sets or props in this clip, but it's great. http://youtu.be/Qv8vBwt8zw8
On Saturday in Guitar 1 Rep, we discovered that Sloop John B in the songbook is a perfect Thanksgiving song. And also a great platform for practicing the golden strum! And speaking of strumming, we got our reggae on (sorta) by playing ONLY the upstrums on Three Little Birds. It feels like the hiccups--which makes it great practice for learning to count on the off beats. You can add a downstrum on the ones if you want/ need to to help keep things grounded. But remember to lean back, relax, and sink into the vibe! We also tackled Evangeline. It's in 3/4 time, which is a waltz. You're subdividing the measure into thirds instead of quarters, and giving the first beat a little more emphasis. ONE two three. You'll wanna use all downstrums or you'll get tangled up. For added fun and complexity to the sound, pick the root note all by itself on the first beat. The root note is (usually) the lowest note in the chord, so just figure out which string your pick comes into contact with first when strumming the chord. For E, it's the open E string. For A, it's the open A string, and for D it's--well YOU figure it out. :) Here's beautiful Emmilou and The Band. And some unfortunate fog machine: http://youtu.be/hqDqzGG8ba0
And on Sunday in Guitar 4, we finished the walking mania of the Radiohead tune (see last week's update for more). We also started on Alison. Don't worry about the timing of the intro. That's for our next meeting. The main thing you have to worry about are the unconventional split measures. Follow the exclamation points. Sometimes the first chord gets 2 beats, and the second chord only gets one, followed by a third chord that gets one. In the chorus, you have that one crazy measure where you change chords on every beat! But at least 3 out of 4 of them use the same barre position: F#m, F#7, and Bm. Throw in that little stop chord when the lyric says "stop!" for added showmanship!
Keep fresh on Man Who Sold the World so that you'll be ready to revisit it this weekend.
http://youtu.be/C9GlC9GyF4Y
Sorry for the late update. I took a whole week off at the day job (MUCH needed), and I planned to stay away from technology so I didn't bring my laptop home, but that almost meant missing out on a blog update. I'm borrowing one from a house guest now (a perfect excuse to take a break from the pre-turkey cleaning I've spent all day doing!).
I hope you all have a very happy holiday and get to play some music for and with the ones you love. Or alternately, I hope music is a way to escape from and drown out all the holiday nonsense if it's not your cup of tea! I'm truly thankful for each and every one of you. Getting to play music with you every week is a real privilege.
I think the early registration discount code is getting sent out on Monday. CYBER MONDAY! Don't miss it in the midst of the inbox onslaught.
On Thursday night in Guitar 4ever, we kept up with Don't Think Twice It's Alright, adding in the Am/G walk down (just grab the note on the 6th string, 3rd fret by extending your middle finger across), and the G6 to G7 move. G6 is just a finger on the 2nd fret of the 5th string, and G7 is a finger on the 4th fret of the 5th string. Don't worry about freting anything on strings 4-1 because your picking fingers are only playing open strings anyway! And remember to correct the misprint in that section. The split measure is actually from G to G6, and the full measure is of G7. So it should read: | G G6 | G7
We also got started on Time Won't Let Me by the Outsiders. It's a song that's very close to my heart because it's the tune the go go gals danced to the first night I ever came to their class--and boy was I hooked! Apologies again for the brief brain fart about reading my own tableture (that was a major catalyst for me taking this whole week off at the Museum! OOOF.) Your patience and good nature about your absent-minded professor is always gratefully appreciated. The good news is that the tab is correct! Yay! I can't explain the sets or props in this clip, but it's great. http://youtu.be/Qv8vBwt8zw8
On Saturday in Guitar 1 Rep, we discovered that Sloop John B in the songbook is a perfect Thanksgiving song. And also a great platform for practicing the golden strum! And speaking of strumming, we got our reggae on (sorta) by playing ONLY the upstrums on Three Little Birds. It feels like the hiccups--which makes it great practice for learning to count on the off beats. You can add a downstrum on the ones if you want/ need to to help keep things grounded. But remember to lean back, relax, and sink into the vibe! We also tackled Evangeline. It's in 3/4 time, which is a waltz. You're subdividing the measure into thirds instead of quarters, and giving the first beat a little more emphasis. ONE two three. You'll wanna use all downstrums or you'll get tangled up. For added fun and complexity to the sound, pick the root note all by itself on the first beat. The root note is (usually) the lowest note in the chord, so just figure out which string your pick comes into contact with first when strumming the chord. For E, it's the open E string. For A, it's the open A string, and for D it's--well YOU figure it out. :) Here's beautiful Emmilou and The Band. And some unfortunate fog machine: http://youtu.be/hqDqzGG8ba0
And on Sunday in Guitar 4, we finished the walking mania of the Radiohead tune (see last week's update for more). We also started on Alison. Don't worry about the timing of the intro. That's for our next meeting. The main thing you have to worry about are the unconventional split measures. Follow the exclamation points. Sometimes the first chord gets 2 beats, and the second chord only gets one, followed by a third chord that gets one. In the chorus, you have that one crazy measure where you change chords on every beat! But at least 3 out of 4 of them use the same barre position: F#m, F#7, and Bm. Throw in that little stop chord when the lyric says "stop!" for added showmanship!
Keep fresh on Man Who Sold the World so that you'll be ready to revisit it this weekend.
http://youtu.be/C9GlC9GyF4Y
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Session 6, Week 3 Recap -- ALL CLASSES
Hello my folkie friends!
I hope you're keeping your strumming fingers warm now that the weather has turned frightful. Remember to have a humidity plan for your instrument before it's too late! Pop into Different Strummer any time and ask for advice if you're not sure what to do.
And special thanks to those of you that who nice e-mails this week about Patti Smith, movie tunes, and other fun things. It's always great to hear from you all. Hanging out with you guys is the best part of my week, so it's great to get some bonus time.
Now onto the recaps!
Guitar 4Ever on Thursday has a very short recap--in video form!--because it was all about the Travis picking. Take a look at this pleasant young Canadian fellow's tutorial, which is more or less exactly what I presented in class: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFh-C6upvh8
We didn't get to the slight changes/ fancy filigree stuff he mentions for the intro so don't worry if that's not familiar. Also, he doesn't break down the strumming pattern in as granular a way as I did, so my advice is to always go home to the thumb. Make sure you know where your thumb is going, and make sure it's doing its work on the beats. You've gotta get that down before you add in any other fingers. If you only get as far as the thumb on the quarter notes, you're in GREAT shape! Little bit by little bit the rest will come together. Or, as a wise bard once said, don't think twice it's alright!
On Saturday, Guitar 1 Rep continued to perfect the "Golden Strum." See last week's recap for some more detail on that if you're still struggling a little. That's also where you'll find the clip of Mahalia Jackson singing "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho" that I mentioned in class. Golden Strum is where you'll want to be for the new R.E.M. tune this week. Remember to read the riff at the bottom of the page like this: top number = string number, bottom number = fret number. If the bottom number is 0, that means you play the string open (so you could also think of that as an "O" for "open!")
The timing of the riff is: One...and three and. You let the first note ring for a beat and a half. Throw that riff in instead of the first measure of Em in the "FIRE!" section. And don't forget to add drama to other measures of Em by doing a dramatic upstrum or "rake!"
And Guitar 4 on Sunday made some more progress on Man Who Sold the World. We didn't really introduce any new information into the tune, so see last week's post for the details. Guys, this one is going to take time. I know it's a struggle, but it's great training for your hands and brain. Be patient with yourself and with the process. And when it gets too frustrating...stop! (so long as you start up again after you've taken a break). I gave you the whirlwind overview of Karma Police. Don't despair if it didn't sink in. We'll spend more time on it next week. Just remember to use "little" F# and "little" G so that you can do the arpeggios in the chorus part--down on the G, up on the F#. Two strums per measure on everything else because the tune is in 2/4, and mind the split measure in the chord progression. Check out the way-cool music video for the tune: http://youtu.be/9Ay699qcSb4
See you all soon!
I hope you're keeping your strumming fingers warm now that the weather has turned frightful. Remember to have a humidity plan for your instrument before it's too late! Pop into Different Strummer any time and ask for advice if you're not sure what to do.
And special thanks to those of you that who nice e-mails this week about Patti Smith, movie tunes, and other fun things. It's always great to hear from you all. Hanging out with you guys is the best part of my week, so it's great to get some bonus time.
Now onto the recaps!
Guitar 4Ever on Thursday has a very short recap--in video form!--because it was all about the Travis picking. Take a look at this pleasant young Canadian fellow's tutorial, which is more or less exactly what I presented in class: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFh-C6upvh8
We didn't get to the slight changes/ fancy filigree stuff he mentions for the intro so don't worry if that's not familiar. Also, he doesn't break down the strumming pattern in as granular a way as I did, so my advice is to always go home to the thumb. Make sure you know where your thumb is going, and make sure it's doing its work on the beats. You've gotta get that down before you add in any other fingers. If you only get as far as the thumb on the quarter notes, you're in GREAT shape! Little bit by little bit the rest will come together. Or, as a wise bard once said, don't think twice it's alright!
On Saturday, Guitar 1 Rep continued to perfect the "Golden Strum." See last week's recap for some more detail on that if you're still struggling a little. That's also where you'll find the clip of Mahalia Jackson singing "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho" that I mentioned in class. Golden Strum is where you'll want to be for the new R.E.M. tune this week. Remember to read the riff at the bottom of the page like this: top number = string number, bottom number = fret number. If the bottom number is 0, that means you play the string open (so you could also think of that as an "O" for "open!")
The timing of the riff is: One...and three and. You let the first note ring for a beat and a half. Throw that riff in instead of the first measure of Em in the "FIRE!" section. And don't forget to add drama to other measures of Em by doing a dramatic upstrum or "rake!"
And Guitar 4 on Sunday made some more progress on Man Who Sold the World. We didn't really introduce any new information into the tune, so see last week's post for the details. Guys, this one is going to take time. I know it's a struggle, but it's great training for your hands and brain. Be patient with yourself and with the process. And when it gets too frustrating...stop! (so long as you start up again after you've taken a break). I gave you the whirlwind overview of Karma Police. Don't despair if it didn't sink in. We'll spend more time on it next week. Just remember to use "little" F# and "little" G so that you can do the arpeggios in the chorus part--down on the G, up on the F#. Two strums per measure on everything else because the tune is in 2/4, and mind the split measure in the chord progression. Check out the way-cool music video for the tune: http://youtu.be/9Ay699qcSb4
See you all soon!
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