This session will probably go down as my worst as far as blog consistency, and for that I sincerely apologize. At least this week I have a string of musical excuses (gigs, subbing for other teachers--gotta put back into that karma bank after my own absences, and a visit to the David Bowie Is exhibition from which I am still recovering 24 hours later).
Please forgive my tardiness. I will try to do better.
Now, IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT! Registration is open for next session and this week only you can save $15 if you register with the code "SPOOKYFOLK14" (I don't write them. I just post the news.) It's only good through Sunday night, so don't wait.
I'll be teaching continuations of all my current classes in the same respective time slots. Stick with me if you like, or explore something different (happy to make recommendations!), but TAKE A CLASS!
Here's my class list: http://www.oldtownschool.org/teachers/Jane-Hanna/
Onto recaps.
In Guitar 4ever we spent some time talking about intervals and ear training (because I enjoyed that lesson in my other class the week before, flu-addled though I may have been). There's a handy worksheet that suggests some easy tunes to memorize that can help you recognize intervals when you hear them out in the world, but you can always come up with your own! It's a great way to start realizing the ways that the songs you know have common elements. We also spent some time on Thirteen. I liked what happened when we just strummed the eightnotes straight without worrying about the fussy outside-inside thing. Do it whichever way you see fit!
Guitar 1 spent some time working on transitions in and out of our G chord. You're going to play the G chord SOOOO often in your musical career, there's just nothing for it but to drill drill drill. Moving from G to C and the other way around is such a common maneuver, you should plan to make it part of your regular exercises. Try Hobo's Lullaby in the songbook for some tuneful ways to practice. There's also our Song of the Session, which is Roll Me On the Water. You could also take a look at New River Train and Aragon Mill for additional variety. I'm telling you, that book is a goldmine! We also glanced at the Am chord, which is very closely related to the C chord. Moving between them is also great training to build dexterity in the ring finger--which is one of the hardest one to strengthen. This week we're going to play a C/Am tune, so get ready!
And in Guitar 3rep we FINALLY played Yellow nearly a year after it was requested. The first four measures of A are a special intro which you strum with a One-and Two-and Three-and Four-and-A bouncing downstrum pulse. After that, it's all eigthnotes but being mindful of emphasis so that it doesn't become a wall of sound. Keep the strength on the beat, and back off on the "and" so there's sort of a rolling wave feel to the sound. We added some fiddly bits to the rest of the intro over the paired measures of A, E, and Dmaj7 (remember a slash means play another measure of the same chord). You'll play a single note over the entire first measure (8 counts--because it's eightnotes), plus one more on the first beat of the second measure. So you switch notes on the and of 1. Or in other words, play 9 pulses of the first note, and 7 pulses of the second note for a total of 16 pulses across the two measures. The notes are as follows (first number is the string, second number is the fret):
1/0 (e) and 2/3 (D) -- over the two measures of A
1/4 (G#) and 1/2 (F#) -- over the two measures of E
2/0 (B) and 3/2 (A) -- over the two measures of Dmaj7
1/0 (e) and 2/3 (D) -- over the two measures of A (again)
Remember that the chorus repeats in full where it says "You're skin..." towards the bottom of the page, but the lyrics the change from 'you know I love you so' to 'for you I bleed myself dry' in the second chorus. Note how you return to the intro chords at the end of each chorus, which also means you can return to the fiddly bit outlined above. And also in the chorus, remember to hit the second measure of D in the last line as a stop chord--so just hit it once and let it ring.
Finally the coda (everything after the second chorus) is just 2x through this chord progression A / E / Dmaj7 / -- which is like the intro except you do not play an additional two measures of A at the end, you just go straight back to the start of the pattern. It's a 6 measure progression--which is a little weird. That first A in the very last line of the coda is a stop chord too. Phew!
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