Rock & Roll 101

March 22nd, 2016

Scott was unable to come today, and has decided to stop doing lessons.

It has been a fantastic couple of years, I've really loved teaching him, and will miss him!! Thanks Scott, for the hard work you did, and the pleasure you were to teach!

March 15th, 2016

March 8th, 2016

We started with Sting, "Seven Days"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG7_gceIFL4

This is a challenging 5/4 beat meaning there are five quarter-notes in each measure.

We also looked at Sonic Youth's Incinerate:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP3ovD8ZSS4

March 1st, 2016

Scott was away this week.

February 23rd, 2016

Scott was amazing again this week, as usual. We added some new songs, for example:

Flourescent Adolescent by Artic Monkeys:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YLFakwWwt8

Last Nite by the Strokes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOypSnKFHrE

February 16th, 2016

February 9th, 2016

Scott and I added two songs today.

The first was "system of a down's" "Chope Suey"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIdcXsytAyY

It was really hard to hear the bass line.

We turned to another one that had a neat strumming thing in it, with a killer run:

Beastie Boys, Sabotage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ5yKJlhbiA

February 2nd, 2016

Scott and I added three songs this afternoon:

Nirvana - Lythium
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHZ9jh7IhkU

Nirvana - Aneurysm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QD0D7IuriWQ

Nirvana, You Know You're Right:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv96yJYhk3M

January 26th, 2016

We tried a Dead Kennedy's song that we couldn't hear the bass on then did Dinosaurs Wil Die by NOFX:

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

Great song! Hard bass line!

January 19th, 2016

Scott wanted to work on a new song, so we started with Sloan's Coax Me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj6d-CQNJ-c

We then looked at Come Together by the Beatles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTNitq77Utg

I showed him some amazing bass players, like Victor Wooten from
Bella Fleck and the Flecktones, and we watched a video of 10 of the best Beatle's bass lines, etc.

January 12th, 2016

January 5th, 2016

Scott and I went through Epiphany by Bad Religion, Destined for Nothing, and Blink 182's Carousel.

December 29th, 2015

Looks like my note didn't save yesterday.

Scott and I reviewed last week's song, then added two new ones:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-y3h9p_c5-M

and

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

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds is a fun piece that jumps around quite a bit.

December 22nd, 2015

Scott added a new song this week,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s88r_q7oufE

Fun one! Drop C.

We then talked about chord progressions when writing songs.

December 15th, 2015

Today Scott and I added a new song, by System of a Down, called Aerials. Very fun song to play! He wanted to learn a bit about song writing, so in the last five minutes I gave him an extremely crashed course!

We can talk more about that later if he wants.

December 8th, 2015

Scott and I went over the rest of Bohemian Rhapsody and nearly finished but got tired of it-- it's HARD!

We then went over the Ramone's BLitzkrieg Bop in the last five minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iymtpePP8I8

December 1st, 2015

Today Scott and I learned 3/4s of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody! Fun song. We also talked about working on cello. I don't play, but we could learn together-- I do play a bit of violin, so I can help him get started.

November 24th, 2015

We reviewed Holiday in Cambodia, and then Scott wanted to learn to read sheet music, so I have him a very intense first lesson, and he picked it up like it was nothing.

November 17th, 2015

Scott and I added the Dead Kennedy's song, Holiday in Cambodia:

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

This has harmony on the bass, so different, but fun.

I wrote it out on a piece of paper for him.

November 10th, 2015

Scott wanted to learn My Way, so we started with that, and I wrote the notes out for him.

We then talked about adding Where Did You Sleep Last Night, by Nirvana,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OHBEmQtNIg

and this brought up another issue-- I asked him if he'd like to learn how to figure the chords out for himself, which he did.

So we talked about the Circle of Fifths, and how that can be used to help with this.

We practiced this method using the song House of the Rising Sun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxYGeTV6fCw

November 3rd, 2015

Nice Bass! Scotty brought in a new acoustic bass this week!

We added a new song, Karma Police by Radiohead. Sounded great on his bass. He didn't have his book, so we tried to memorize it.

We went through it a few times together.

October 27th, 2015

Scott and I went through Stickin In My Eye once, then added about three or four songs by the White Stripes, including Icky Thump, Apple Blossom, Hello Operator, and Truth Doesn't Make a Noise.

They were all pretty easy, so no need including the URLs probably, but here they are:

Icky Thump: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkxIqxGYTxA
Apple Blossom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWYoTebs1wg
Hello Operator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWYoTebs1wg
Truth Doesn't Make a Noise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlW19NjUuEo

October 20th, 2015

We reviewed Aeroplane a few times, then added a new song, Stickin in My Eye by NOFX:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv4qJwiEjcU

October 13th, 2015

Scott and I worked through the new song, Aeroplane, which is pretty hard-- we figured out a way to play the slap parts by breaking down the bass notes into pieces.

I talked to him about playing bass at church again, but he wasn't too interested.

October 6th, 2015

We worked through Dope Nose by Weezer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpwAwwaufvI

...pretty easy.

Then El Scorcho by Weezer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_XnVHDA0fI

...also pretty easy.

We then looked at Aeroplane by Red Hot Chilli Peppers, which is actually much more challenging. We decided to try to work on this over the next few weeks and really get the slapping thing down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Var1bUrMaHs

September 29th, 2015

Scott and I worked through a song or two from earlier weeks, then practiced the songs for Saturday night (he's playing at church).

He's become such a great bass player!

September 22nd, 2015

Didn't really review the songs from last week, because they were easy. We went straight to new songs, and did:

Lightning Crashes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70_9Zg65g7E

Pipeline stevie ray vaughan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_Lj9JzBizA

September 15th, 2015

We reviewed last week, then added:

Siva:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3wAtWywrP4

Ava Adore:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkQtV0Sbvsk

September 8th, 2015

Scott and I reviewed a couple of songs, but then added three new ones-- TWRP-- they rock!

We looked at The Hit, The No Pants Dance, and Computer Wife.

When practicing this week, Scott, I want you to push yourself to learn the little extras you hear in between the base line-- like the slaps and trills etc.

June 23rd, 2015

We went over Roller Coaster of Love, then tried a Rush song, which was a bit hard.

We then added Transylvania by Iron Maiden:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GY0RZriJ3gk

Amazing song!

If Scott wants to continue lessons in the summer, I'm letting a few of my favourite students continue on a week by week basis. Payment is only due at the lesson, and if you or I need to cancel, it's not a big deal.

June 16th, 2015

We wrapped up Orion (which is amazing, and hard, and Scotty nailed it) and then we added Rollercoaster of Love by Red Hot Chili Peppers

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

This video is the one of the guy playing bass on it... fun song!

June 9th, 2015

Scott was away today

June 2nd, 2015

Today Scott nailed Any Sense of Time, and we added Orion by Metallica.

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

This is a fun and challenging song. I love it that he pushes himself. He could be a professional musician if he keeps applying himself like this! I'm impressed.

May 26th, 2015

Added a new song, by the Imbreds, called "Any Sense of Time"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAQNaA8LEAc

May 19th, 2015

Scott and I reviewed Black Hole Sun to start, and then added two Rush songs.

The first one YYX, was pretty hard, so we tried a different one - Limelight:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l63eixpYRWk

Neat time signatures, a lot of 3/4 to 4/4.

Good job!

May 12th, 2015

Scott's mom came in today, and we did a couple of country songs by Johnny Cash.

We also added a couple of new songs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShiShrR_nh8

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3qdlacgTi8

May 5th, 2015

We added Californication today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQYJRw4R4-Q

Scott did a fantastic job. Hard parts, and he nailed it. I'm so impressed with you Scott. But find your book! ;-)

April 28th, 2015

Scott was sick today.

April 21st, 2015

Today we did Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mbBbFH9fAg

Before that we did Disarm:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1acEVmnVhI

Also reviewed last week's song.

April 14th, 2015

Island in the Sun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVHUjzZZGQ4

Say It Isn't So
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zo-x4PU8S6g

April 7th, 2015

After reviewing Foolish Father, we looked at some Police, At the Hop, and settled on Smashing Pumkins:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-r-V0uK4u0

March 31st, 2015

I missed adding notes for Scott from last week, for some reason. Last week we added Michael Jackson's Billie Jean:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75sx7U6dAB4

We reviewed that, then added a couple of more:
Scar Tissue:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvAn8PzM-c8

Sweet Home Alabama:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye5BuYf8q4o

Foolish Father:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BezYg1QghdU

March 24th, 2015

March 17th, 2015

Scott is away for the week.

March 10th, 2015

Scott and I reviewed The Man Who Saved the World, then added to songs this week:

Being Beige:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=smashing+pumpkins+

1979:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aeETEoNfOg

March 3rd, 2015

Today Scott and I went over Dreaming by Weaver, and finished up the parts we still hadn't worked on.

We then added a new song, The Man Who Saved the World by Nirvana:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fregObNcHC8

February 24th, 2015

Scott was sick today, first missed lesson. Hope you feel better Scott!

February 17th, 2015

Scott and I went over the Only in Dreams song a couple of times, working on the challenging part. Then added a new song:

Dreaming by Weezer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4FaSx5ZSwE

February 10th, 2015

We added Only in Dreams by Weezer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4spkVX8z-vs

We just did the notes, no numbers, and he's picking it up really well. Great job!!

February 3rd, 2015

Today we added a new song, on the Smashing Pumpkins new album, called "Tiberius"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHMSDYtxsu4

I wrote out the chord names instead of the numbers, and explained the login in figuring out the chords on the fret board.

It may be challenging, but keep at it, you'll get it!

January 27th, 2015

Scott and I added a new song this week, and talked about learning more next week so he doesn't start to coast.

We'll focus more on note names in the songs we work on from now on.

The song we added was Weezer's Keep Fishin'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOIsYA1QDuk

January 20th, 2015

Today Scott and I started by going over Today, then Across the Sea. We focused on the last half of the song which is crazy.

We're very close, so perhaps think of another song to learn for next week.

January 13th, 2015

January 6th, 2015

We reviewed three songs today.

The Smashing Pumpkins - Disarm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1acEVmnVhI

The Smashing Pumpkins - Today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmUZ6nCFNoU

Weezer - Across the Sea
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mxEoA3G9Wg

Don't forget to work on using the octave notes (double chess move) to go down lower in the one song (was that across the sea? I forget now...)

December 30th, 2014

Today Scott brought his electric guitar in, so I showed him the basis of the number system for electric guitar, and we learned to play a Weezer song.

He knew the E minor chord, so I showed him E major, and explained how we call that the E form in bar chords. This weezer song had only 1 4 and 5 in it, and at one point changes key to the 5th fret using the same chord pattern of 1, 4, and 5.

December 23rd, 2014

We worked on the Weezer song - he brought the wrong book today, so we had to do a lot of "remembering" the parts. We also really focused on the fast moving part near the end-- the solo part... I think by next week the song should be done, so work on it a bit more and try to get it smooth.

Also start thinking about the next song you'd like to learn.

I mentioned to him that it might be fun to record with his band, so maybe one of the songs we learn could be a band song.

December 16th, 2014

We went over the song from last week, and reviewed some of the little details we'd learned, like part names etc.

Then we added a new song, by Weezer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kjr7US2Z9aY

The song has an octave up part, and so I showed him what I call the "Chess move" and "Double Chess Move" -- for playing a fifth and an octave above a note.

December 9th, 2014

We started out with the first lesson with going over the number system. We played through a few chord patterns, with me calling out numbers, and him changing chords-- it went great, and he picked it up really quickly.

We then decided to do a song, and I wrote out the numbers for him. The song was Everlong by Foo Fighters:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBG7P-K-r1Y

Work on this song this week, and listen to some of the little "extra things" the bass player is doing on the song.