Rock & Roll 101

June 24th, 2014

Today was our last lesson. Ethan had broken his arm, so we talked about music theory, and I showed him some interesting things like how a piano works, the length of a string and how it corresponds to tone, how damping works on a piano, and how to play a 'boom-chuck' drum beat on the kit.

June 17th, 2014

Ethan and I reviewed Hey Brother, and then added "Happy" by Pharrell Williams. I wrote out the TAB for him for the bass line.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-GLuydiMe4

June 10th, 2014

Ethan and I went over Babel a couple of times, and then added a new song: Hey Brother by Avicil:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxIiPLVR6NA

June 3rd, 2014

Ethan and I worked on ONE for a bit, and then decided to try something new. He said he'll work on ONE over the summer.

We added "Babel" by Mumphord and Sons today:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWza_On7ajs

We also talked about another song as a surprise for mom and dad.

May 27th, 2014

We added the next section to ONE today, and Ethan has made terrific progress on the first section.

It's going to start getting really hard soon! :)

May 20th, 2014

We went through "One" today, and I wrote out the tablature for it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSNJ00iAZ7I

We're just learning the first part this week, and when he's got that, we'll add the next section.

May 13th, 2014

Ethan has football tonight, so won't be able to make it.

May 6th, 2014

I had not Internet yesterday when Ethan came (our power was off while the electrician did his thing), and so we played through the songs he'd done over the last few weeks, as a kind of review.

I asked him to pick a couple of songs to learn next, and he mentioned a song "ONE" by Metalica as something he's like to learn.

April 29th, 2014

Ethan returned from his trip to Florida, so we continued where we left off with the Green Day song. We finished the finger picking of the intro, and added all the chords of the song. We played through it at a slower speed (without the recording), strumming the later sections.

He should work on getting it up to the speed of the original song.

^We've also added a new song, Upside Down by Jack Johnson:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYbNkE80NMo

Or was it James Blunt, Postcards?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lsgh-yO_aY

April 22nd, 2014

Ethan didn't show up again tonight. Hope everything is okay?

April 15th, 2014

Ethan didn't make it tonight.

April 8th, 2014

Ethan and I started out working on some finger-picking exercises, and I drew out some example TAB for him to read.

We added "Good Riddance" by Green Day, and worked on the finger picking for that as well.

April 1st, 2014

Ethan is doing well, and has expressed an interest in going deeper with guitar.

I wrote out some options for him to consider- bar chords, finger picking, melodies and lead parts, for example.

He's interested in learning more finger picking... after we went through the songs for last week, and added One Life by Hedley, I gave him some finger picking exercises to work on.

One Life:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeGd0yXEjXw

March 25th, 2014

Ethan is doing terrific!

We worked through "I See Fire," by Ed Sheeran, and then tried to add another song.

Wake Me Up -- Avicii
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Uk2O5Gxd6g

This was a little fast for him, so we left it for now.

We settled on Hedley "Kiss You Inside,"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksrFRkA8J4w

March 18th, 2014

We added I See Fire by Ed Sheeran... beautiful song!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phJo1E94Yk8

Ethan is doing really well!

March 11th, 2014

Joanne was sick on the March 11th week, so I had to cancel lessons that day. This lesson will be made up at some point in the future.

March 4th, 2014

We played through Little Lion Man again, which still isn't quite ready. Work on the F a bit more.

Then we reviewed Guns and Ammunition, which is close, but Ethan is getting a little lost in the song, so he should definitely keep working on that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iU5qp-cAtOU[2]

Finally, we learned a new song by the Black Keys, called Little Black Submarine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wklgehHnDE[2]

February 25th, 2014

Ethan and I added a new song tonight-- I want him to continue to work on Little Lion Man, as it's not quite perfect yet. :)

I've forgotten now what the new song was. Sorry!

February 18th, 2014

Today Ethan and I reviewed last weeks new songs, and I asked him to give another week to Gone Gone Gone, because it's not quite there.

We also added Little Lion Man by Mumphord and Sons:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o30hYd8qw8E

Keep up the great work!

February 11th, 2014

Ethan and I added two new songs today-- the first was Imagine Dragons, "Demons" -- the second was "Gone, Gone, Gone" by Philip Phillips.

He's really doing very well!

February 4th, 2014

Ethan and I took the lesson time to review all the songs we've been working on, and I brought Seth in to play bass, and I played drums on one of the songs-- doing this kind of thing gives the student a sense of playing in a band with other people. We'll do it again in a few weeks.

We didn't add a new song this week, but he mentioned an interest in learning Let Her Go by Passenger.

January 28th, 2014

Ethan and I added Apologize, since he had a capo, and we went over the other songs with the capo as well.

He's coming along very well, and is on par for his learning.

January 21st, 2014

We reviewed It's Time, then Radioactive, then added a couple of more songs. I showed him B for playing without a capo, but it might be worth picking up a capo so he can learn some of these other songs.

I'd still like him to join the kids band if that's alright with you.

January 14th, 2014

Ethan and I worked on Radioactive together, and then added another Imagine Dragons song, "It's Time"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0idI4WiGSg

We also learned three new chords; C7, G7, and Am7.

He wanted to learn a couple of other songs, but needs a capo to do so... if you are around a music store, you can get them for about $20.

I also asked him if he'd join the kids band I've been putting together. We play at the church in Sydenham about once every month and a half. We've got Drums, electric guitar, piano, keyboards, and three singers. We need acoustic guitar and bass still.... if it's okay with you guys that he goes to a church (it's Anglican) then we'd love to have him join us. Rehearsals are two weeks before the date the kids play, on Monday's right after school.

January 7th, 2014

We started with a review of the songs from before the holidays.

Ethan and I learned Imagine Dragon's song, Radioactive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxAdefmFv7M

He was introduced to a new chord B minor, and he is going to work on switching between A and B minor, & E and B minor.

December 31st, 2013

December 17th, 2013

Ethan and I first went over the song from last week, and he's going to keep working on that.. don't forget the 3.

Then we added Jingle Bells, and I wrote out some 7th chords for him to learn.

Then we added Up On the Housetop, and went over it a few times.

He's doing fantastic!! Keep up the great practicing, as it makes all the difference!

December 10th, 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKYb7Juflz0

Today we added four new chords, E, A, Dm, and C.

We'll add B7 next week.

We also learned the starting of White Stripe's Seven Nation Army:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J2QdDbelmY

Ethan is picking this up really fast... great practicing!!

December 3rd, 2013

We learned 3 chords in the lesson and about 4 strumming patterns. We learned the names of the various parts of the guitar, and the difference between notes, chords, and beats.

He should copy the page into his book for next week, and learn the G chord on his own.

He should try to practice everyday, maybe during TV commercials.