HoliDAZE (aka week 4 recap--all classes)

Hey gang!
I took this whole week off at the day job (and I'm trying hard to stay offline!) so my blog mojo is all off. Here's hoping that all of you are getting a chance to relax and be merry with your friends and family! I'm hosting a party of 8 tomorrow for the first time, and I guarantee that there will be music.

I am genuinely thankful for each and every one of you! I love making music with you and appreciate your great attitudes and hard work. My classes are the best part of my week!

Guitar 2 Rep played a bit of the old and a bit of the new last Thursday. Tom Petty's Yer So Bad is a fun one to strum through, picking the bass notes on the downbeat, and keeping the rest of the strumming light and jangly through a one two three-and-four-and combination of quarters and eighth notes. Then we tackled I'm Only Sleeping by the Beatles. Use a slow, dramatic upstrum on the opening Eminor chord of each verse for a cool effect. This time the riffs are written as note names instead of in tableture (what, you wanted me to make it EASY for you?) Use the G-chord shape as the base position for your fingers, and you'll find that little melody easier to pick out. The White Stripes and Talking Heads tunes got a little polishing up too. Whew!

Guitar 2 has faced down and bested the Dminor chord (a personal problem chord for yours truly). Be My Baby is a great way to drill that chord into your fingers. We decided on a stomp-and-thigh-slap combo for the opening percussion part, as opposed to the knock-and-clap way it's written on the page. We also started working on The Old Country Waltz. Note the typo--the Eminor in the verses should be changed to regular E major chords. There's only one actual Em in the tune and it's in the very last line. Pick the bass note of each chord and strum the other two beats as usual. It's 3/4 time (hence the "waltz"), so keep it light. You can connect the C and G chords at the end of each verse using the "Where Am I and Where Am I Going?" worksheet in the front of your packet. Replace the measure of C with the little walk, noting the exception explained on the worksheet that for 3/4 time you eliminate the chord strum on the 2nd beat and just keep on a-walking.

Guitar 1 also covered some new stuff and some old stuff this week. We're masters of the G chord now, and we've also tackled C and Aminor! Whew! We're a full week ahead of the standard curriculum with that development! Use the Tear for Fears song to practice moving between those two chords. It's just one finger--your ring finger--that does all the work, but it's probably not used to having to move independently of the fingers around it, so you'll need to practice to build up that dexterity. We talked quite a bit about the musical alphabet, half steps, whole steps, sharps and flats, and why Bill Clinton Eats Fries! Don't worry if that all kinda blew past you. We'll keep on talking about how to find your way around a scale, musical keys and how to switch between them, and scales. It'll click eventually. With those two new chords, you've got a whole new world of songs open to you. Take a flip through the songbook and see just how many tunes are now available since you can play C, G, and Aminor! Between that and the huge list of tunes we've worked through in the handout, you should be able to keep the relatives entertained all day tomorrow!

Hope to see you this weekend but I understand if you're travelling or trapped in a tryptophan coma. E-mail me with questions! I'm trying to stay off electronic machines this weekend but I'll make exceptions for guitar friends.

Week 3 Recap -- ALL CLASSES

Oooof! I'm having one of THOSE weeks, my friends. Got a mammoth delivery of DIY furniture at home that's only 1/3 of the way assembled and my hands may already be permanently clawed by the allen wrench, and the day job sprung a surprise office move on us with 24 hours notice. It's chaos everywhere!

Excuses aside, I'm sorry for not updating sooner and I'm grateful to all of your for your patience and enthusiasm. Those of you who've e-mailed me this week, I'll be responding shortly. If it wasn't for the opportunities to make music with you fine folks, I'd surely go insane.

OK. So Guitar 2 Rep has taken the bold step of putting down their picks and starting to play fingerstyle! Repeat after me: Thumb-one-thumb-two
That's the pattern of alternating fingers we used with our right hands to play We're Going to be Friends by The White Stripes. Your thumb always plays the bass note, which will be the note the chord is named after, and located on one of the bottom three strings. Your first and second fingers cover the 3rd and 2nd strings respectively, EXCEPT when you play the D chord. For that your first and second fingers should scoot over to the 2nd and 1st strings, respectively.

Jack White only uses his thumb and first finger in the clip up there. Do as I say, not as he does! (but do notice the way that he plants the rest of his fingers against the body of the guitar. I do that too and you may find it helpful for keeping that right hand grounded.

We also worked on Satellite of Love. Watch the quick syncopation in the changes and the D-Dsus4-D-Dsus2 run. The best way to learn is by listening (and you'll get to hear Bowie's backing vocals. Bum bum bum!) Listen especially to the way the vibe changes in the bridge--the "Harry, Mark, and John" section. We didn't get that far in class but we'll work on it tomorrow.


Guitar 2 this week was a whirlwind of moveable shapes! We took a look at both forms of Bminor listed on the song chart, and we're going to take the "alt" version as our regular go-to. Remember you can even add a pinky to make it a 4-finger-full chord. (The pinky goes where the 3rd finger is on the chart, and the 3rd finger slots in next to it on the 4th string.) Daydream Believer is a good way to practice both that, and the slide-up-Aminor-2-frets version of the Bmionr chord. Plus...RIFF! Read the top number as the string number, and the bottom number as the fret number in those fractions at the bottom. 0 means no frets, so you can also think of it as an O for "open." We play that riff in place of the two measure of G, so where you see the asterisk, strum the G chord once and then off you go picking the melody. You end with a C chord, which takes you straight into the chorus.

We also talked about capos. We now know how to properly put them on the guitars, what they do, and how to read "Yo Mama's Capo and Transposing" chart in the course pack. Experiment! Take a song you love to play, and mess around with adding the capo. How does changing the key effect your ability to sing the tune? Harder? Easier? Look at the chart and see if you can figure out what key you've switched to by adding a capo. Start to get comfortable with the different keys so you know which ones you like and which ones you don't. Also, play Careless Love from the songbook in the key of C (inside the parenthesis), and then play it again using the shapes listed outside the parenthesis (which would normally be the key of A), but with the capo at the 3rd fret. Same song, same key, two different chord constructions! Neato!

And in Guitar 1 we may have set a record for curriculum covered. Sheesh! First it was two easy modifications of the E chord: E7 (lose the 2nd finger), and Eminor (lose the 1st finger). Another Saturday Night and I Am Trying to Break Your Heart are two songs that'll help you practice those chords, respectively.

We also learned a new strumming patter which combines quarter notes and eighth notes. It goes like this: 1 2 3-and-3-and. The first two beats, you just do a downstrum on the beat. Those are quarter notes. For beats 3 and 4, you'll play through the eighthnotes with a down-up movement on each beat. You can also think of it like this: D D DU DU

As if that wasn't enough to worry about, we talked a lot about the anatomy of the guitar and its particular care and feeding. That could be a class in and of itself! Never be afraid to pop into the Different Strummer Music Store at the School and ask questions about your machine. Do I need new strings? What kind of strings do I need? Is this guitar right for my body shape? What's with that buzzing sound? These are all things that a luthier--someone trained to make and repair stringed instruments--will be able to help you address.

...wait there's MORE?! I'm telling you. I can't believe we made it this far, but we also learned the G chord! There are two fingering options on the chord chart, but I highly recommend you get used to the 2-3-4 version first. Yes, I know it uses your pinky and that's awkward and painful, but you'll be much happier down the line if you can make this your go-to fingering for the G. Getting in and out of it is much smoother when you're in the context of playing a tune. Play through Hobo's Lullaby in the songbook for some good practice. Take it from Woody in the clip above!

Week 2 Recap -- ALL CLASSES

Hello friends!
I hope you had a nice holiday weekend. There are a lot of important songs that pay tribute to our veterans. What are some of your favorites?
I took a brief--and ultra-rare--hiatus from the internet this past weekend, so this update is late for some of you but better late than never!

Last Thursday, Guitar 2 Rep took on moveable shapes, starting with Fleetwood Mac's Dreams. If you know the Fmaj7 chord, you can play the whole song! Just start with that, then slide it up--same shape, same fingers--two frets so your index finger is at the 3rd fret. You have yourself a G6 chord! Switch back and forth between those two chords for a measure a piece, and you have yourself a Stevie Nicks fantasy. Just be sure to keep your crystal visions to yourself.
We took some more time with Psycho Killer after that, which also has room for a moveable shape in the chorus. Slide your F-shape up two frets to make the G! It'll make the leap to that Bminor on the bridge a little easier to pull off.
Finally, spend a little time wrapping your fingers around the Dsus4 and Dsus2 chords shown on the sheet for Satellite of Love, as we'll work on that a bit this week and it'll be helpful if you can make those moves with some speed.

In Guitar 2 last Saturday, we took a bold step forward into guitar playing by tackling the effing F chord! Lay the outside of your index finger across both the 1st and 2nd strings at the first fret, then add your other fingers underneath as per the chord chart. It feels weird, and it cuts into a fleshy bit of your finger that doesn't have a callus yet--but it will soon! If you're having a lot of trouble, check your body position. If your arm is glued to your side or it's resting on your knee, that's your problem. It need to be free to move! Also check that your wrist is dropped, and your thumb is on the back of the neck offering support for your pinching power. Keep at it. It'll take some time to build the muscle tone you need, but it'll come. Practice the Sam Cooke tune, and also our Song of the Session in the book (Dink's Song).
We also talked a bit about musical notation, which you don't have to know how to read to play guitar, but it makes following tunes in the songbook a bit easier. Here's a handy chart of notes and rests that I did not make!

Finally, Guitar 1 is in full musician status now, with enough chords to play songs in the key of A! (A, D, and E--which really ADEs in your coolness! Anyone? Anyone? No?) That A chord probably feels kinda icky, since you have to cram three fingers onto three strings right in a row. It's a good chance to check and make sure you've got good curvature in your fingers so you're playing the strings with the tips. When you get frustrated, play some E chords! I find it just so terribly satisfying to strum all 6 strings and let 'em ring. That's your rock and roll reward for practicing hard. TWANG!
Take flight with John Denver this week, and next week we'll tackle our first minor chord and our first 7 chord. What does all that mean? Come to class and find out!

Guitar 1, Week 1 Recap

"I'm so lonely. I wish somebody would pick me up and practice like their teacher told them to!"

The hardest part is already over. You've sat through your first-ever guitar lesson and you're still alive! You did not die from embarrassment or lack of talent. It's all smooth sailing from here. Trust me.

Welcome to my class, this blog, and the Old Town School family! We're all real glad you came.
If you scroll way back to some of the earliest entries here, you'll find some tips for beginners from when I was a beginning teacher myself!
Here's that clip of Jambalaya I mentioned in class: http://allsixornone.blogspot.com/2013/03/son-of-gun.html

And, though we didn't play it in class, if you stayed for Second Half (and if you didn't, tsk tsk you missed some fun!), or flipped through the song book then you know that Pay Me My Money Down is a tune you can play with D and A7, and it's one of my faves. Here's a post about that:
http://allsixornone.blogspot.com/2013/03/week-1-pay-me-or-go-to-jail.html

Also in the book, take a look at Good News, Skip to My Lou, Oh! Susannah, and My Home's Across the Smoky Mountains. All of those are tunes you can already play! Just remember that the space in between those goal posts is one measure, and one measure equals 4 beats. Play the chord written above the staff for the number of measures shown until it asks you to switch chords. You're reading music!

Remember the names and numbers of the strings? (here's a refresher: http://allsixornone.blogspot.com/2013/03/string-theory.html)

Remember how to number your fingers?

Remember how it's only rock and roll and you're allowed to relax and have fun with this?

If your answer to any of the above is "no," just drop me an e-mail so we can chat it out.
Keep on strummin'!

Guitar 2, Week 1 Recap

Welcome to friends old and new, it's a brand new session of Guitar 2! (poetry is hard)

We hit the ground running with 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.

Gershwin's Summertime and Slade's Cum on Feel the Noize are both good tunes for practicing that chord--though the latter is not good for practicing spelling! I mentioned that there are some admirable outfits in Slade's video oeuvre, so I hope this piques your interest and you look up some more of them. Wow. That's all I can say. We're doing the tune in a different key because, though the gravel in his voice is as manly as it gets, this dude sings HIGH and I can't get up there!

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.

(The video version of Summertime I posted is in a different key and is of course a totally different arrangement from what we're doing, but hey, it's JANIS!)

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.

Night of the Living Guitar 2 Rep Students

"The zombies were having fun..." and I think we did too!
Those of you who were able to make it out to Guitar 2 Rep's SPOOKTACULAR last night--thank you! (The rest of you REALLY missed out)

We played some Halloween favorites: Science Fiction Double Feature, Everyday is Halloween, and the Monster Mash. Along the way, we picked up some simple riffs and a new F#m chord. CHILLING!

So, those three tunes were just some fun novelty songs for the holiday and we probably won't revisit them this session unless you all demand it. On the other hand, the fourth tune is one I want to keep at, so we'll work at it again next week. It's Psycho Killer by Talking Heads. There are a lot of really incredible live versions of this tune on YouTube, each with its own unique variation. This is the radio edit version though, and the one that most closely resembles the chart we're working from. For this one, we have some choppy strumming to master, a simple but satisfying bass melody, a moveable F shape that can be slid up 2 frets to form a different G voicing, and a spruced-up four-finger version of the B minor chord. TERRIFYING! (not really though)
We'll break all of that down again next week for those of you who were all tied up last night. #MummyPun