Hey Gang!
Ahhhh that new session smell. For those of you here for the first time (and your returners too!)--welcome! I try my best to update this page once a week on Tuesdays or Wednesday.
I can't believe it's the last session of 2014 already. How in the heck did THAT happen?
I hope you all voted today and sang songs about America on the way to the polls. I know I did.
Onto the recaps!
In Guitar 4Ever we did the Time Warp again. Well, for the first time actually. It was a spooky Halloween one-off with a pragmatic twist. It gave us a chance to revisit the "boogie woogie" oscillations you can do on open E, A, and D chords. It was also a good lesson in listening and following the singer--since some of the changes don't take place on exact counts and you just have to follow the lyrics in whatever time they're delivered. We also took a superfast, top level look at Can't Hardly Wait, but more on that this week. I mentioned that there are two versions of the tune out there, should you choose to listen in advance. The studio album version (off of Pleased to Meet Me) is the one we'll be working with. That's this one: http://youtu.be/Wigclcg3stc There's also a different, more stripped-down demo version (no horns!) on the expanded edition of the album called Tim. It has different lyrics and some other changes and is a really interesting comparison study. More about that in class.
On Saturday, Guitar 1 Rep got to know each other a little bit and stretched out (as much as is possible in our narrow classroom!) our understanding of timing emphasis. For starters, we played through Jonathan Edwards' Sunshine. Here's a bit more on the singer, who I admittedly didn't know much about (odd for me!). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Edwards_(musician) Our strumming pattern is a little simpler than what he plays (http://youtu.be/ScfUfsUlGro) but the emphasis piece is the same: come down harder on the 1s and 3s while strumming through straight down-up eighth notes. It has kind of a chug-a-chug-a train feel to it. Note the "stop chords," which are indicated by an exclamation mark on the song sheet. You hit those once and then mute them, but continue the counting in your head (and with your foot!) so that you're ready to come back in on the next one.
We also took a very quick look at When Will I Be Loved, which has the opposite emphasis on the 2s and 4s, and which features an opening bass riff presented at the top of the pages as a fraction where the first number is the string number and the second is the fret number. We didn't get to the timing piece of that but we'll put it together in class next time.
And on Sunday, Guitar 4 kicked off with Aimee Mann's Save Me. Other than the little variations on E chords (Em, Emaj7--which is and Em
chord with the note on the 4th string moved down a half step to the 1st
fret, and Em7--which is a one-finger chord with your index on the
second fret of the 5th string), there's not a whole lot of fancy
fretwork. Just one little old barre chord in the form of an F.
It's
the strumming that makes this so satisfying (in my opinion). Bounce
twice just on the bass note on beats 1 & 2, strum the chord on 3,
and then snag a little upstrum on the and of 4 on your way to the next
measure. It's a strumming pattern that combines the rhythms that the
bass, guitar, and drums are all playing on the album version--remember,
you're a one-man band in your living room so you have to get creative in
the way you arrange songs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c48vs4lwgc
You'll
also--if you listen carefully--hear some logical opportunities to add
in rakes (dramatic, slo-mo upstrums) in a couple of places. We didn't
talk about those in class, but we'll add that detail when we get
together Thursday. I know some of you love to sing this song, and I love
that so I want to take advantage of it. Hear the background vocals?
There are some wonderful "ahhhhs" and "do-do dooos" in there, not to
mention harmonies. Grab any of those if you feel like it! We don't all
have to sing the same part. Let's work on vocal arranging from time to
time.
We also began the somewhat grueling work of learning major scales using the worksheet. Remember, WWHWWWH or the weird
phone number 221-2221 in order to memorize the intervals that make up a
major scale. 1 fret = H, so 2 frets = W. You can play up a single
string, or break across strings to stay in one position using either an
open or closed scale form. Open scale forms utilize the open
strings--hence the name! But they can ONLY be played in one place
because open strings are a fixed note/ position. Closed scales on the
other hand, are modular and moveable. So long as you know where your
root note is, you can use the same finger sequence to from any starting
position. Don't forget that the second diagram--the one for CLOSED
scales--shows you finger numbers, NOT fret numbers. Very important!
It's confusing at first but we'll talk about it more and it'll sink in over time. We'll also put it into further practice with Man Who Sold the World next time we meet.
Finally, here's my new favorite song: It's a Dream by Neil Young. Patti Smith covered it when I saw her perform at the School last Sunday and it was very moving. She dedicated it to her late husband, Fred "Sonic" Smith who was the guitar player for the seminal proto-punk band The MC5. Her son (with Sonic) was playing guitar with her onstage. I was a bawling mess. And today happens to be the anniversary of Sonic's passing in 1996--as well as the first birthday of Mama Smith's grandson Frederick, who was named for his grandfather.
http://youtu.be/lJNB8fXje3I Excuse me, I have something in my eye.
Keep on strumming, my friends!
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