This is probably the best band photo I've ever been in! (and thanks for requesting that I be included, Thursday G2R!!!)
The Saturday G1R Gents of Distinction!
Sweet Sunday aka G2R!
Ohhhhhh you guys!!!! What a week! Never have I had so much fun at graduation shows, or been more proud of what my students have accomplished! And once again, a ton of people--fellow teachers, OTSoFM staff, other students--pulled me aside to tell me how great my class sounded. I hope you can all appreciate how hard you rocked, and that you'll keep on strummin'! I know I'll be seeing a lot of you next session, and to you and all the rest of you who'll be moving on down the road--it's truly been a pleasure to work with you! Thanks for your patience, hard work, laughing at my lame jokes, and making me a better teacher every week.
Here are some videos. Thanks to John, Mrs. Larry, and...my mom for the videography. (the last person on that list got a little flustered with her phone--and also 'cause I called attention to her from the stage--so there's a little chunk missing from the beginning of the song, but she got most of it!)
Saturday Guitar 1 Rep: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfpBs6-HFs8 (Holy cats I can't believe how awesome the singing is! You were singing so loud and proud that you can hardly hear the riff...which also sounds awesome!)
Sunday Guitar 2 Rep: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPesOOWtHRM (Nice job on the harmonies, Katie! All of you were totally locked into the tempo and you nailed the intro--even if there isn't video evidence.)
Take a bow! And see you this week in the new session.
So...uh...the only reason I haven't updated the blog until today is because I am so completely 100% confident in the rockstar preparedness of all of my classes for graduation this week, that didn't even think it necessary! (And it's totally NOT because I moved last week and it's taken me this long to locate my laptop and its power supply in separate boxes)
Tonight tonight tonight! Thursday's G2R is ready to burn down the stage with EITHER Heart of Gold OR September Gurls. Too bad we can't play both, but them's the rules. We'll meet in our classroom first before heading to the concert hall for a 9pm showtime (tell your friends and family!).
Oh, and hey Sunday? You guys whittled it down to the same two songs. Weird! Our show will start at 12:45ish for any guests you might be bringing, but we'll start in the basement as per usual.
Guitar 1 Rep, I'm very exited to play either The One I Love or Brown-Eyed Girl with you fellas on Saturday at 11:45am-ish, after we meet in the classroom to get tuned-up and make some decisions.
If you've got questions or concerns before show time, send them my way and I'll do everything I can to get you feeling chuffed in time for the show.
It's been an incredibly fun session for me, and I want to thank you all for your hard work, positive attitudes, and general awesomeness. Thanks for being my students, and congratulations on a job well done! Hope to see you next session.
Hello friends! If you're heading to the School on Sunday, please be aware that the parking lot will be CLOSED from 10a-4p. (Our friend Arlo Guthrie is in town and the space is needed for some of the festivities around his visit.) Plan to leave a little earlier to find street parking.
Fellas, we've come a long way!
I enjoyed pausing this week to review where we've come from. It's a nice long list.
We played through Wilco, Bob Marley, The Band, Jonathan Edwards, and The Drifters. An impressive songbag after only 4 weeks on the job.
The new tune this week was R.E.M.'s The One I Love, which features a simple riff. Remember to read the fractions at the bottom of the page this way: top number = string, bottom number = fret.
You play those 4 notes in place of the first measure of Em in the "fire" section. The rhythm is "One...and three and..." and then you strum through the measures of D and Em as written.
Spend some time with that scale worksheet I handed out. If you thought my explanation of scales was confusing, try making sense of it on Wikipedia! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_scale
Sheeeeeeesh! Ignore all that, and just think "Do-Re-Mi..." and you're golden.
Next week, more songs, more riffs, more laughs, more memories!
And don't forget to sign up for the next session by this Thursday night to save yourself $15 with the code "FALLFOLK13." I'll be teaching Guitar 2 on Sundays at noon, SATURDAYS AT 11AM! so let's keep the band together and learn some new chords and skills together without any interruption in the routine!
I'm breaking up the recaps by class this week because egads we covered a lot of turf, so I have many, many videos to post. (and they're all formatting wrong so my apologies for the lack of Feng Shui in this post!)
First of all, here's a live version of the Dylan tune we've been working on (in the Sunday class only. Thursdays, if we get time I'll bring this in for ya later). Watch Bobby's fingers closely and you'll see he's doing the very same C-in-a-G maneuver you're all getting a handle on.
Both classes got a taste of Big Star (and I hope you liked it!). I still can't believe this tune came out in 1974. Sounds like something you would've heard on the stage at Pitchfork this summer--though I bet you anything that all the bands on that bill are Big Star fans! The only thing tricky in that tune is the intro, but if you think of it in terms of moveable shapes, it's simple enough. Start with a D shape at the 7th fret (your 3rd finger will be on the 8th fret). Then make a Dm7 shape--which is like an F minus your 3rd finger--at the 5th fret (2nd finger at 6th fret). Finally, keep your fingers in that shape but slide them down to the 3rd & 4th frets. You'll strum the open D string through all of those moves to create a kind of background drone.
Incidentally, the documentary I mentioned is called Nothing Can Hurt Me. If you get a chance to see it, I highly recommend it. I was lucky enough to see it on the big screen at the Music Box Theater, and I came away completely inspired as a songwriter. It shows you all the beauty and horror, the excitement and the boredom, and all the other polarizing moments that comprise belonging to a band.
After that, we started in on Under the Milky Way, which I know was a challenge. Between new chords and a new strumming pattern, it's a lot to take in! I assure you that the best way to combat your anxieties is to listen to the song over and over again. Once it's in your head, your hands will know how to make sense of the two-measure strumming pattern. Be sure that you're sticking to the open chord version (starts in Am). If you have any question or confusion about any of the special chords in that tune, just drop me a line. Next week we'll go over the version in Em with our capos at the 5th fret (so be sure to bring a one)! It's gonna sound SO COOL when we're playing two different voicings at once!
Don't forget to sign up for next session by this Thursday at midnight if you want to save $15. The code is FALLFOLK13.
In last night's class, we talked about songs/albums we've listened to so many times that we've either driven our families (or ourselves!) insane. I mentioned that there was a comedy bit about what happens when you play Tom Jones for too long on the jukebox...and here it is! It's called "The Best Meal I've Ever Had," by John Mulaney. Set aside 6 minutes for giggles, and press play!
Use code FALLFOLK13 online or mention the code when you register by phone or in person. This promotion ends Thursday, October 10th, 2013 at midnight. This discount is good for 8-week adult group classes in Session 6 only.
Offer expires Thursday, August 8th, 2013 at midnight, so get on it!
If you're interested in a level I'm not teaching, ask me for an instructor recommendation. We have an amazing staff with a diverse array of musical tastes and teaching styles, and I can help you find the person whose right for you (because I've been a student with just about all of 'em myself!).
How in the heck are we halfway through the session already?!? I don't understand where September went. Wowzers.
This week, all of my classes made staggering progress. You're all making it very hard for me to keep up! I'll have to start prepping twice as much material for class because you're zipping through it too fast!
In Guitar One Rep, we took a look at Evangeline again in 3/4 time, plucking the bass notes on the downbeat. Sounded pretty good!
Then we looked at Jonathan Edwards's tune Sunshine. (Here's a little more on him, since I didn't know his background: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Edwards_(musician))
On that tune, we're using the BIGlittle strumming pattern. Play straight eighth notes all the way through, but add some particular emphasis on the 1st and 3rd beats. ONEandtwoandTHREEandfourand. It'll sound like a train going chug-a-chug-a. You can further magnify that effect if you loosen your grip on the frets with your left hand during the "little" strums in order to add a muting effect.
We rounded out the day Under the Boardwalk, with some fun two-part vocals and a bit of stoptime on those final Eminor chords. Boardwalk! Boardwalk!
In Guitar Two Rep, we spent most of the evening hammering out Imagine (with nice, fresh, correct song sheets!), and then took a look at Harry Nilsson's One. Here the trailer for the documentary I was talking about. If you can track it down, I highly recommend it. What an incredible story!
There's nothing terribly difficult in that tune, although the B7s are probably a bit uncomfortable, and the Bminor (alt) likely needs some of your attention too!
Sunday's class also had time to look at a Dylan tune (don't worry, Thursday. We'll look at it this week if we have time). It uses a chord I call the
"C-in-G". Play a regular G chord for the
first down-up pair of eighth notes on beat one, then on beat two you'll
keep your first and 4th fingers where they are (at the third fret of the
6th and 1st string, respectively) but with your index and middle
fingers you'll make the shape of a C chord minus its lowest note. A C
chord IN a G chord. Get it? Alternate between a regular G on beats 1
& 3, and a C-in-G on beats 2 & 4 while strumming through down-up
eighth notes. Substitute that pattern anywhere you see a full measure of G on the songchart.
On the D chords at the end of each verse of the Dylan tune, we
switched to a triplet strumming pattern. That's when you subdivide each
beat into three parts: 1-and-a-2-and-a-3-and-a-4-and-
a (as opposed
to subdividing it into two like we've been doing when we play eighth
notes). You can also think of the word "triplet" as having 3
syllables--"trip-a-let". Say that outloud four times and you'll be
hearing the rhythm of measure of triplets! It's 12 notes altogether, and
you can do them ALL as fast downstrums. It feels very rock and roll.
We also used triplets at the end of the first two verses of Crazy Little Thing Called Love, which we dusted off and added the Bb chord to our vocabulary.
WHEW! That's a huge to-do list. Keep up the incredible hard work, you guys! I'm awfully excited about this session so far, and it's only going to get better from here.
