Session 3, Week 5 Recap -- ALL CLASSES

Why yes that IS Diane Keaton in the original Broadway cast of Hair!

Friends -
The Early Registration pressure is ON! Save $15 on your next class--with me or with another fine teacher!--if you use the code PLAYSUMMER14 when you sign up...but you have to hurry. The discount is only good through this Friday the 6th. Here's a link to my faculty page (now with dramatic B&W photo!): https://www.oldtownschool.org/teachers/Jane-Hanna/

I've also got a few of gigs I want to put on your radar.
- On 6/21, my Glam Rock Ensemble will perform at Independence Tap, along with the Women's Rock Ensemble and the CBGBs Ensemble. Loud, silly, electrified fun for all (and a chance to check out what ensembles are all about if you've never signed up for one before!). Music starts at 8pm, no cover.
- On 6/28, my David Bowie cover band Heroes will perform its finally-final (for real this time) show EVER at Parlour on Clark. It's the eve of the Pride Parade and we're on a bill with a disco band so there will be sweat and glitter and inappropriate behavior for all. Music starts at 9pm...not yet sure about the cover, if there is one.
- On 7/14, I'm performing a set at the Acoustic Explosion open mic series at Silvie's Lounge. These shows sometimes have themes and that one will be--wait for it--MUSICAL THEATER. Come sing along as I giggle my way through some selections from Hair, the American Tribal Love-Rock Musical (the show in which I made my stage debut at age 14--it was a super-edited Reader's Digest version performed at teen theater camp). Show starts at 8pm, I play 9:10ish, and there's no cover.

So down to business.

Guitar 4 continues to valiantly forge ahead through some heavy scale work in Man Who Sold The World. I'm not going to do a lot of 'splaining here because it's all tabbed out for you on the goodies sheet. But I do have some bits of advice. Bit #1: Look for patterns. Your fingers make certain shapes multiple times when you play scales. Look for those and learn to love them. Repetitive motions make life a lot simpler and there are really only like 3 maneuvers you have to make in that tune. Once you've isolated those motions, you repeat them on different string combos, and there you have it. Bit #2: PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE. The only way to take this from confounding to competency is to do it. A lot. Muscle memory is a real thing and your fingers will start to act on their own in the correct way but you've got to train them first and that takes time and repetition. You can't play it once, skip the next 3 days, and expect it to have gotten better. Be consistent and watch yourself improve like magic!

Guitar 3 Rep did a little riffage based around the C chord in The Association's Never My Love. If you remind yourself that the C-shape is home base, and you simply make minor modifications inside that shape, you should be good to go. Also remember that the riff starts on beat 3, so you've got to count in "1 and 2 and" BEFORE you start. Inside the song, you'll be strumming either a C chord or an Am for those two lead-in beats, but in both cases, your fingers are already where they need to be to play the riff (because the C and Am chords are so closely related!) so you don't have to change anything to step right into the riff. We threw in one little walk, just to keep things spicy, and we're using the Golden Strum. It's a lot of work but the song is too pretty not to put in the effort! Take a look at the song of the session--Water is Wide--because we'll do some fingerpicking with that one next week.

And Guitar 2 Rep continues to gobble up material faster than I can bring it in! We fingerpicked our way through We're Going To Be Friends, using a "thumb-one-thumb-two" pattern with the picking hand. Remember that your thumb moves around to find the bass notes, but the one and two picking fingers occupy only two different zones in the song. Zone (or type) 1 is the 3rd and 2nd strings, and Zone 2 is the 2nd and 1st strings. It's a small shift between the two, so don't over think it. You're in Zone 1 for the G, C, and A chords, and in Zone 2 for the D and C chords (when the C chords follow the D chords). Mess around with fingerpicking on the song of the session--Water is Wide--and anything else in the book that strikes your fancy, and the muscles will get more nimble with that pickin' bizniz.

Good work, all of yous! Keep it up!

Session 3, Week 4 Recap -- ALL CLASSES (better late than never!)

Hi gang! I'm still excavating myself from a massive backlog at the day job. Trips and holiday weekends are suppose to be fun, but for me they just create WORK! A thousand pardons for updating so late this week, and I'm afraid this post will be extremely brief--but I'll see you all soon.

Guitar 4 last week continued to contemplate the meaning of the word "intermediate," after a somewhat grueling lesson on scales. 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! We'll put it into further practice tonight with Man Who Sold the World, so hopefully you practiced up on the hammer-ons and chord progression we started with last week.

Saturday's Guitar 3 Rep had some fun with Tom Jones. Here's the video I promised: http://youtu.be/1UxU8s7Au0A The man BRINGS it, you have to give him that. The bridge of that song is an exercise in strength building--which is why you should play it as much as possible! Ziggy's sounding really good now that we have all the fiddly bits added in, so keep that one polished too because we'll definitely hit that this week.

And Sunday's Guitar 2 Rep stood by its man with great aplomb. Her face! I can't even...http://youtu.be/DwBirf4BWew
That alternate bass strumming is brainy work, I know. Add in the little walks connecting sections and you're really in fancy territory, but it sounds SO good. Always consult the worksheets in the front of the packet if you need help.

I'm looking forward to making some great music with you all this week! I hope you know how much I enjoy our classes together. Singing and playing with you is what soothes me and keeps me sane (arguable, I know) after a long week at the day job. Thanks for that!

Session 3, Week 2 Recap -- ALL CLASSES

Hello friends! Late-breaking update from the desk of a very busy dayjobber who's getting ready for her big annual convention in Seattle later this week. I'm presenting on a panel, so I'll be putting on my teacher hat in another context. As I mentioned to all of you weekend students, that means that you'll have a sub. The awesome Chris Corsale will be your guide. He's up-to-speed on what we've been working on, and I asked him to bring in some fresh tunes for your enrichment. Can't wait to hear all about it!
(Thursday gang, I'm not leaving town until the weekend so you're stuck with me this week)

But enough about the future, let's talk about the past! And last Thursday night in Guitar 4 we went WAY back to the songbook for some finger-pickin' good times. Freight Train in your song book is a great way to work through that T-2-1-3 finger pattern using basic open chords (including little F. No barred Fs here. Phew!)
Don't watch E.C.'s fingers too closely because it'll sprain your eyes and brain: http://youtu.be/43-UUeCa6Jw She plays it upside down and backwards. Also her pickin' is more complex than ours but she wrote the song so she's allowed to get as fancy as she wants.

On Saturday, Guitar 3 Rep got into Green Day and learned our way around the Big G (4 finger G) and the Cadd9. http://youtu.be/CnQ8N1KacJc Remember, I give you permission to keep your pinky and ring fingers down for the WHOLE song. It's a little different than what Billie Joe does, but who cares?! We do what we want. (and I think it sounds cooler with that high drone) The strumming pattern is just a sloppy Golden Strum, with some assemblage of the low strings ringing on the downstrums, and assorted high strings on the upstrums. Don't over think it. You know Green Day doesn't!
We also learned the extensive strumming rhythm that'll see us through the bulk of Ziggy Stardust. You have to subdivide the measure into 16th notes and pay attention to emphasis (on the 1, 2, and 4).
You can break it down like this:
V  V^ V V^ V^V^ V V^ (one and a two and a three e and a four and a)
When I get back from Seattle, we'll go through the intro riff and then we'll have ourselves a tune!

And Sunday's Guitar 2 Rep continues to blow my mind by getting all the way through complicated songs in one go! We played Heart of Gold--hammer-ons and all--which are a new technique where you use a percussive action of the finger on your left hand  against the fretboard to produce a sound from the string, instead of picking it with your right hand. Here's a handy video tutorial (never mind the "pentatonic" stuff. Just get the concept and try the exercise on any old strings).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=v9xjT9zVVQU
There's some "stop-time" rhythms that you'll see on your song sheet where the asteriks are. You can follow my notes, or you can listen to the man himself in this great clip. It takes him awhile to find the right harmonica, but once he does, boy is he great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Eh44QPT1mPE

E-mail me with questions and keep on strummin'!

Session 3, Week 1 Recap -- ALL CLASSES

Ahhhhh! That new session smell. Welcome back to the school and to this blog! After many weeks of technical difficulties, I believe I can post again (testing? testing?)
Not a moment too soon either, because we've got new things to learn!

In Guitar 4, we buckled down on some fingerpicking using the T-2-1-3 pattern, each finger tasked with a single string (6,4, 5, 3 respectively). The fretting hand just makes simple two-note powerchord shapes. Here's the original: http://youtu.be/7e-sba4tIss
We'll do some more fingerpicking work out of the songbook in our next meeting, so be sure to bring those with you.
And in case you missed it, here's our triumphant 3Rep grad performance. STILL getting compliments!
http://youtu.be/5zt2ftX0ydM

Saturday's Guitar 3 Rep kicked things off with some Itchycoo Park by the Small Faces. Here's the video I mentioned with the fancy footwork and the shorts. http://youtu.be/14ViwvgtvbA
We talked about building dynamics into the tune with some mellowed-out low volume strumming in the bridges, with a small crescendo over the second measure of E the first time, and a much bigger build the second time. There's also the funny split measure in the chorus. Remember that the first chord gets three beats, the G is on the 4, and the D is on the and of 4 inside the same measure, despite the way it's written.
We also learned the chorus of Ziggy Stardust. Barre chords all the way down, with a fast, hard-rockin' 16th note downstrum. Try to grab the G chord for one quick note on your way back up to the Am (that's the 3 in parenthesis on the handwritten tab). We'll carve off another chunk of that tune in our next meeting.

And Sunday's Guitar 2 Rep revisited--or learned for the first time--the calypso strum! It's the same rhythm as our old friend down, down-up, up, down-up; but we change it up by plucking the root note on the one, really deliberately d-r-a-g-g-i-n-g out our strum on the two, and gently muting on the 3rd beat space. The rhythm in this vid is a little different but it's just too good not to share: http://youtu.be/c_cRHw8PAPA
We also got though Picture Book--great job with that, by the way! I don't think I've ever gotten through that in a single class before, let alone as the second song!--with its modular riff pattern (0 0 2 4) that you replicate on successive strings (the 6th, 5th, and 4th strings OR the 5th, 4th, and 3rd strings depending on where you are in the song) before finishing with a 5 5 4 3 walkdown on the high string. The second time through the riff though, you'll stop short with just one hit on the 5th fret. When you play that truncated version, be sure to rest for the duration of the measure so you don't come in early on the next one! Practice the heck out of your C to F transitions, and try not to get lost in all those split measures--especially at the very end.
http://youtu.be/UjDu3E5zDks

See you soon!

Session 2, Week 4 Recap -- ALL CLASSES

Hey gang!
Sorry again for not updating last week. Day job got the best of me but I won't let it happen again.
I hope you all got the e-mail about the early registration discount. You can save a little if you sign up this week--and only this week!--with the code SPRINGSTRUM14. I'm teaching the same days/ times next session, moving up a half step (one level) on each day so we can all stay together if you like--and I hope you do!

So Thursday night's Guitar 3rep class took it to the next level with Just Like Heaven last week. We broke into 5 small groups to tackle the multi-part intro. I feel like I don't even have to recap it because you all handled it so incredibly deftly. That run-through was a moment I will never forget. You guys are amazing. If everyone could spend some time with BOTH riffs this week, I'd like to figure out how we're going to divvy those up in the transitions later, but otherwise keep on polishing your part and we'll have something great on our hands. Many of you chose to stand and play with a strap which I thought was great. No pressure for anyone to do that who doesn't want to, but you might like it and I encourage you to at least try. Also if you could all come in next week with Robert Smith hair-dos that'd be greeeeat.

In Guitar 3, we finished the nitty-gritty-strummy-strummy of Kodachrome and put that one all together at last. Keyword there is "loose." Don't panic and tense up at the end of the song. Keep it limber and you'll be able to play faster on the double-time coda. We also worked through Killing Moon which has that oh-so-satisfying-but-oh-so-wrist-hurty chorus where you keep your barre finger glued down the whole time to the 3rd fret while you move between a Cm and G chord progression. Remember it's the same shape on different strings, so you can move all three of those fingers together as a unit (theoretically anyway!).

And Guitar 2--you guys are too good! I'm going to have to dig up extra songs because we're just burning through that packet! Daydream Believer is sounding fantastic, and Be My Baby came together like you'd been playing it for weeks! We did change the percussion part from knock knock-knock clap to stomp stomp-stomp knock, but other than that you've got it all there in front of you! Old Country Waltz was a good start. Change those Em chords to Es everywhere except the very last line (the Em7 stay the same). Pick the bass note on the one and then lightly strum on two and three. Connect the C and G chords with a walk down in place of the C chord (consult the "Where am I Going...?" page in the front of the packet for a roadmap but remember to skip the "strum" step when you're in 3/4 time). Do that at the end of every verse, the bridge, and repeat it in the outro EXCEPT on the last two chords, and we'll have ourselves a country tune!

This session is flying by but you're all making incredible progress, so thanks for your hard work and good spirits.

Slight Delay

Gang, the day job is running me ragged and I didn't get a window to update the blog today (and now I'm off to a very long band practice).
Sincerest apologies for the delay. I will try to post tomorrow morning. Thanks for your patience!

Session 2, Week 2 Recap -- ALL Classes

Hey gang!
So sorry I'm tardy with the recap. The day job is really grinding me this week and I haven't been able to come up fro air. (also I've been in a sugar coma from the delicious carrot cake that Jessey and Jacob brought into my Sunday class! Thanks again, guys. I can't tell you how much I appreciated the gesture. It was incredibly thoughtful)

Let's get on with the show!
In Guitar 3rep, we kept it Status Quo with the...Status Quo. Pictures of Matchstick Men has some simple--if a little fussy--licks in it that we worked through. Riffs #2 & #3 are conceptually the same, but the former is based around a D chord and the latter is an A chord. In both cases, you just play a little run on the highest string on which you have a fretting finger. The run is the same fret numbers in both cases, 2-3-2-0-2, but you'll have to use different sets of fingers for each one based on the chord form you're starting from.
This week we may try something bold--standing up! Those of you that have straps for your guitars, bring them tomorrow. (no one will be forced to stand, so don't panic, but consider pushing yourself a little to at least give it a try)

Guitar 3 this week worked on the F barre chord. It's just an E shape with your second, third and fourth fingers, played above a barre at the 2nd fret. It's mean and it hurts, but once you've mastered it, you can move that shape up and down the neck to any position. If you know the name of the note you're barring on the low-E string, you know the name of the chord you're playing! Wanna make it minor? Use the E-minor shape instead.Same rules apply to the Am and A shapes played with a root note barred on the 5th string. If that doesn't quite make sense, don't worry. It'll sink in and we'll work on it each week. But let's get started by completing the homework sheet in the packet. Fill in the names of the notes on the bottom two strings and we'll go from there. Practice the Otis Redding tune to get that F chord into your fingers. (and perfect your whistlin' skills!)

And in Guitar 2 this week, we also learned an F chord--albeit a smaller one. 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 for some excellent practice with that shape. We also 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. Play through the full measures with a shuffle-y pattern of 1 2 3+4, and next week we'll add the riff.