Rock & Roll 101

June 25th, 2013

Abby had a great year! It was fun doing music. Try to go over all the songs and chords through the summer, so you don't forget.

June 18th, 2013

We finished up Rock Around the Clock, and added Alice the Camel.

One week left!

June 11th, 2013

Abbey came a little late today.

We went over "Stand By Me" together a few times. It was pretty good, but it didn't seem to me like she really practiced at all.

We then added another simple song, "Rock Around the Clock".

June 4th, 2013

On Tuesday Abbey and I added "Stand By Me" as a new song to learn.

We also learned G7, and she seems to have better dexterity for playing that chord.

Keep practicing! :)

May 28th, 2013

Today we went over Somewhere together, and she has got much better at switching to the G, but I want her to keep working on it every day.

We will play this song again next week, as well as this new one:

Hey Soul Sister:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JV74i4yvcA

May 23rd, 2013

May 14th, 2013

We went over the song a couple of times, and then talked about ways to learn-- how muscle memory is the trick and that it won't become any easier to switch between chords unless you spend time doing it.

We talked about the pleasure of music, and playing any song you want-- how you need to have a foundation of a few chords first to get over that hurdle and make it fun.

Abbey could be making better progress - if she spent five minutes every day switching between the D, G, and A chords she'd find it much more pleasurable to play.

May 7th, 2013

We finished her song today (she sang a couple of tracks) and I'll upload it later today.

Then she wanted to learn Pink's "Try":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPtlSF4TlJE

The chords switch pretty fast from D to G, so she needs to work on that G chord.

April 30th, 2013

Today Abbey and I played the song that she wrote with me last week, and after going through it a few times together, we recorded it.

She played shaker on it as well and next week will be trying to sing it.

April 23rd, 2013

Abbey and I worked through the three songs she's been learning, but she has not made good progress on learning the chords. In these situations, I find that sometimes the issue is to connect with a passion of the student. I'm not sure what will really motivate her, but if you have ideas, please do share.

I tried writing a song with her, to open up the possibilities of creativity. I asked her what her favourite thing was, and she settled on "Lime Green," so together we wrote a song about the colour, and I used the chords we've been learning in the song.

If she's got it down smoothly next week, perhaps we can try recording it, to give her a sense of accomplishment, and something she can show her family and friends.

April 16th, 2013

Today we added two new chords, A and D... as well as two songs, Row Row Row and Mary Had a Little Lamb.

Continue to work on the other songs, so that you can switch to the chords fast enough.

April 11th, 2013

April 2nd, 2013

We went over the chords from the last couple of weeks, and Abbey really picked them up quickly, especially considering she hasn't been able to practice without a ukulele of her own-- I was really impressed.

I think if she had one, she would be more apt to play it and enjoy it, but if she's not ready now, I certainly don't want to pressure her.

I didn't have a cheque for April, so if you could bring one by-- I do require a one month notice of canceling, or an extra month's payment.

Thanks!
jason

March 26th, 2013

Abbey didn't come in today. Sydney mentioned that her grandfather died, and they were away until Thursday

March 19th, 2013

Today Abbey said she wanted to do Uke again (actually she said she didn't care, but we decided upon Uke).

She learned Dm and E, and we went over the other chords from last time again.

We decided that a good first song is "Imagine," by "John Lennon."

If she can get a Uke, this will make it easier for her.

March 12th, 2013

March 5th, 2013

Today Abbey tried Ukulele, and we learned the part names, and the chords C, G, F, and A minor.

February 26th, 2013

Today Abbey and I went over the note names and chords she's learning.

We did left and right hand, with the right hand playing the triad/chord and the left hand a single note with the thumb.

We started on Cat, playing 8 beats, and switched chords right up to "Ants"

Then we added Trouble by Taylor Swift:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0DfyAIkGw0

Bring a book next week.

February 19th, 2013

Today we tried the piano... we learned the names of the notes, using the characters (cat, dog, bird, grandma, etc).

Then we learned triads, and played the C and D triads

Practice finger strength.

February 12th, 2013

Today we reveiewed the names of the instruments, and then went over the quarter note groove.

Then we added the eighth note beat, and that's including the high hat on the 'and' between counting, like this:

1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and

February 5th, 2013

January 29th, 2013

January 22nd, 2013

January 15th, 2013

These notes are normally sent after every lesson, but I am running behind, so doing them today.

Yesterday Abbey and I started on the drum set, and the first thing we learned were the names of the various parts of the instrument:
1. Snare
2. Tom Toms
3. Floor Tom
4. High Hat
5. Crash
6. Ride
7. Kick

The first step is to learn basic "boom-chuck" beat and we spent some time trying to perfect that. We began without including the high hat, and when she had the kick snare down, we introduced it as well.

After 25 minutes of that, we moved to the Ukulele for the remainder of the lesson. I showed her the C chord, and we tried strumming it.

I then showed her A minor, and explained the difference between major and minor chords. I showed her how they are found on the piano.

She should try to play along with songs on the radio/YouTube using her knees as the snare/high hat and her foot as the kick.