[Aside: I've decided that 2014 is my "year of music." I'm going to play everyday, sign on to as many gigs as I can (look for future self-promoting posts! I've got 4 shows lined up already!), and challenge myself to do things I've never done before--like lead an Ensemble class, write and play lead guitar parts (gulp!), and play the bass guitar. Whew! Those are my goals...what are yours?]
To those of you who've signed onto this blog for the first time--WELCOME! I try to update once a week, usually on Tuesdays. I post all of my class updates in one place so that you can get a peek at what some of your fellow students are working on at different levels. It's a way to reflect on where you've been, where you are, and where you're going!
Thursday night's Guitar 3 class proudly cut the ribbon on the "intermediate" level, by diving head first into barre chords. Everyone in the (rather crowded) room can now play a B minor by mashing the outside edge of their index finger across 5 strings at the same time--egads!--and dropping an A minor shape over the bar using the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th fingers. Ta-da! It'll sound funky and have weird thuds in it for a looooong time. Never fear. Be patient and practice, and your hands will get stronger every day. Relax, unglue your arm from your side, and drop your wrist so that you can get your thumb on the back of the neck running parallel to your barre finger in a solid clamp.
We will get by with a little help from our friends--which is also the tune you can use to practice B minor. Note: my chart is transposed to a different key so you won't really be able to play along with the boys from Liverpool--unless you get crafty with your capo and figure out their key. (yes, you CAN use barre chords with a capo! Double whoa!)
Remember to try muting each of your strums with a combination of techniques. Palm mute with your strumming hand by lightly laying the squishy part of your hand across the strings near the bridge; also unsqueeze the fretting hand a little. That'll give this tune its distinctive choppiness.
Saturday's Guitar 2 Rep class started off strong with some Shirelles (and, by extension, Carole King). We refreshed our skills with the little F chord--that dickens!--and learned a cool new strumming pattern. Pick the root note all by itself on the one, then really drag out your strum on the two, and finish with a "golden strum" pattern (upstrum on the and of two, skip beat three, upstrum on the and of three, and down-up on the four and). Put another way: Root DRAG-up up-down-up
This live version is a somewhat different rhythm, but...how cool is this clip?! I couldn't resist.
We also took a brief sneak peek at next week's tune: Picture Book. It has a deceptively simple riff that we can play by repeating the fret pattern 0024 on three consecutive strings, followed by 5543 on the last string. It's so easy and so satisfying! We'll nail it down next week, and add a few other fun filigree things to that song.
This live version is a somewhat different rhythm, but...how cool is this clip?! I couldn't resist.
We also took a brief sneak peek at next week's tune: Picture Book. It has a deceptively simple riff that we can play by repeating the fret pattern 0024 on three consecutive strings, followed by 5543 on the last string. It's so easy and so satisfying! We'll nail it down next week, and add a few other fun filigree things to that song.
Finally, Sunday's Guitar 1 Rep also got cozy in the basement with a nice big group of students with diverse backgrounds. Some of us are fresh off Guitar 1, some of us are used to private lessons, some of us are self-taught, and some of us are a little rusty! I'm excited to see how we all come together as a band--and we will! We started off with our old friends A, D, and E. Those three chords are often found hanging out together, because they're what's known as the I, IV, V chords in the key of A. (those are Roman numerals, not letters there folks!) We'll talk more about musical keys and what the heck I mean with my fancy numerals in the coming weeks.
We played the Everly Brother's When Will I Be Loved? (look at baby Dick Clark in that video!) and learned about swing strumming. As opposed to a marching rhythm, swinging means that you put a bit more emphasis on the down strums. Keep your wrist nice and loosey-goosey, and think of it as kind of a gallop. BAH-dum-BAH-dum-BAH-dum-BAH-dum. This gentleman from down-under has an interesting spin on it using a more visual technique that you may find helpful. Check it out!
And finally, for something completely different, here's what the Kill Your Idols ensemble worked on this week. Those kids don't know about this blog, but I thought the rest of you (Ahem, Mick M, Mary B!) might be curious what goes on in there:
E-mail me with questions! And keep on a-strummin'!
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