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Diego Lees
Past Notes
June 26th, 2017
June 19th, 2017
Diego forgot his book, so I wrote out "Imagine" by John Lennon for him again.
Here's the audio:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_YXSHkAahE
He wanted to try it with a capo to avoid using the F chord, so I wrote it out in A with the capo on 3, but then he wanted to avoid the B minor and C sharp chord. So we went back to C.
I was a little direct with him saying he can't keep avoiding chords and hard work if he wants to play the guitar. He needs to just bear down and focus and get through the pain of it all.
June 12th, 2017
Diego forgot this week.
June 5th, 2017
Tonight we really focused on playing the bridge correctly. We probably did it 50 times. :)
I'm getting so tired of this song, lol! I can't wait until this audition is over and we can move along. hahaha
May 29th, 2017
May 15th, 2017
We had a string break today - it was stretching and stretching while we tried to tune it, and wouldn't stay in tune, then just snapped. I had some strings so I put a replacement on for him.
We then went through the song three times- once with the recording, and twice with just Diego singing and playing alone.
He's coming along! The C is better-- still not quite there yet though. :)
May 8th, 2017
Diego wanted to work on his audition again today. We went through it a couple of times, and then he played and sang it for me to get used to doing it alone.
This will be good for his confidence... I wish that he would be a bit more accurate in how he played his chords.
May 1st, 2017
Diego and I worked on the channel section today, trying to memorize the order of chords since they go so fast. I recommended he up his practicing this week and try to press harder on the chords, and work on playing that C faster.
April 24th, 2017
Diego wnted to work on his audtion again tonight. We went over Cleopatra and then he wanted to try a different one that had "more acceptable" lyrics to his friend. We tried writing out the words to Nobody, and went over it a couple of times, and he decided to go back to Cleo.
April 10th, 2017
We reviewed Ho Hey and Nobody Knows, then took the last 10 minutes to go over Cleopatra.
We did some drills on the C chord. Ho Hey is doubly hard because it has two really difficult chords: C and F. He should keep focusing on improving the speed and accuracy of those chords. Especially pressing down hard enough that they sound.
April 3rd, 2017
Today we worked on the last couple of songs, and tried to add a new one by the Lumineers, Ho Hey.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvCBSSwgtg4
It has C and F in it, which Diego still really struggles with. I asked him to just focus on those two chords this week, and nothing else-- he can do it, he needs to just put the time into really memorizing those ones.
THANKS! :)
March 27th, 2017
Diego and I reviewed Sleep on the Floor. He's still having trouble with that C chord. If he was to play that chord 20 times every day for a week, I think it would really help.
We also added a new song by the Lumineers, Nobody Knows:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q5Zn_ZkehM
This also has a C in it, so it's important that he work on that chord.
He wanted to do Cleopatra again, so we ended with that one.
March 20th, 2017
We reviewed last week's song, stubborn love... Diego said he'll work more on the F and the C, especially the F needs some attention.
We will come back to this one, but added a new one by the Lumineers, called Sleep on the Floor:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4pi1LxuDHc
March 13th, 2017
March 6th, 2017
February 27th, 2017
We reviewed two songs - Spirits, and Cleopatra, then added a new song:
The Lumineers, Stubborn Love
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJWk_KNbDHo
We didn't have a lot of time to go over it, but he should be able to work on it some - especially the F chord.
February 13th, 2017
We reviewed last week's song, and then added a new one by the Strumbellas, called Spirits:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9kXstb9FF4
He struggles still with F and C, so it was hard to do it in the original key, but we put a capo on 5 so that only one of the chords is his hard one (C).
I'd like him to keep focusing on learning the harder chords.
February 6th, 2017
We went through Angela together, and then tried adding Opheilia, which is a little harder because it has a C# minor in it.
I gave him the option to try it in C, with the capo up high on the neck, but he wanted to give a go to C# minor, kudos to him!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTOC_q0NLTk
We then reviewed Cleopatra again.
January 30th, 2017
We went through Cleopatra a few times. I can see marked improvement in Diego's playing. I don't know if he's practicing more, but he's "getting it" now.
We added a new song, also by the Lumineers called "Angela"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_II0fc7hgNY
January 23rd, 2017
We went over Ex's and Ohs, and then added a new song by the Lumineers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN5s9N_pTUs
Great song, and a good level for him. Don't forget capo on fret 1.
January 16th, 2017
January 9th, 2017
Wow! I'm impressed with Diego tonight! He nailed the chord review, and played this new song nearly perfectly! We're doing an Elle King song, called Ex's and Oh's
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uLI6BnVh6w
Work on the B7, because that's the only weak link.
January 2nd, 2017
We reviewed Cake by the Ocean, and then Elle King's Ex's and Ohs.
He's doing really well. We have been playing these at 85% of the original speed, we need to move them up to 100% by next week.
December 19th, 2016
We reviewed a few Christmas songs, and then went over Cake by the Ocean a number of times, both with chords and with just the iconic theme - which I wrote out as tab last week.
I reminded him that he doesn't need to pluck hard with the right hand, but press hard with the left hand.
We won't have lessons next Monday, boxing day.
December 12th, 2016
Oops! I was looking at the clock wrong, he came! :)
We went through the later songs in his current book, and then reviewed last Christmas' songs in his old book, which he found.
His chord playing is getting better all the time. He should continue to focus on playing his chords accurately the first time (and not after I say 'check your chord' :D
We started a new song, called Cake by the Ocean
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWaRiD5ym74
December 5th, 2016
Tonight we added Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
November 28th, 2016
Diego forgot his song, 12 Days of Christmas, so we added some others - we learned Silent Night, Deck the Halls, and Jingle Bells.
He's still having trouble with his hand sliding around the neck and not being in the right fret- when he practices, remind him to pay attention to where he's placing his hand.
November 21st, 2016
Diego did a great job tonight! He was enthusiastic, and excited about the song, and we went through it once completely, before adding another Christmas song, the name of which eludes me at the moment.
Great job Diego!
November 14th, 2016
November 7th, 2016
My Internet hasn't been working, so we went over 12 Days of Christmas again, which he wanted me to write out for him.
I wrote it out in a little more detail, but it's pretty messy! a long song!
October 24th, 2016
We went over the songs from last week, and added a new Minecraft Song... it has Dm, Am, and G in it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVh2npVv9jo
October 17th, 2016
Diego was chatty tonight! We continued with Ahead by a Century, and then went over the two minecraft songs he had been working on.
October 3rd, 2016
Diego didn't come tonight.
September 26th, 2016
We added E, C, A7 and Asus to his chord book, and then went over a new song the Tragically Hip, and added a new chord for the intro of Ahead by a Century:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE2joQsWXJg
See you next week!
September 19th, 2016
I missed Diego tonight! Hope all is okay. He left his book here last week.
September 12th, 2016
We went over some chords, then reviewed two songs from the end of last year. I wrote them out.
Team Up with You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_l2_rp4oV8
Minecraftable
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Iq4Cb9EXds
June 27th, 2016
June 20th, 2016
June 13th, 2016
Diego was a bit late this week as he was doing homework and lost track of time.
We went through the two Minecraft songs we'd been working on, and added a new one.
There are a number that we'd like to do, but he would need a capo for them. If you have a capo already, maybe send it along. OTherwise we can wait until next year if you'd prefer to wait to buy one then.
Team Up With You:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_l2_rp4oV8
June 6th, 2016
We went over the song from last week for most of the lesson (after our review of chords etc) - we then added a new song, but after doing it once he wanted to return to last week's song for a bit more practice.
The new song has a B minor in it, so it's a good one for him to practice that new chord.
Minecraftable:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Iq4Cb9EXds
May 30th, 2016
Diego wanted to go through Imagine by John Lennon first, since he'd just bought a poster.
We played it through, and he struggled a bit with the C chord still-- but he's getting better.
We then talked about Let Her Go, which he wanted to take a break from because he felt it was too hard.
We then played through all the chords together in his chord list, and added a new song from a Minecraft video:
I am Believing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp1mk8DsLuQ
May 16th, 2016
Diego was chatty again tonight. :)
We went through all the chords in the chord list, then played through a few songs from the past including "Let Her Go,"
May 9th, 2016
Diego and I went through all the chords on the chord page - especially the first two or three lines were really, really good. I know he hasn't practiced in a while, but I'm pleased with how smoothly he's getting with playing those chords.
He should keep working on the second half of the group.
We then went over the Passenger song a few times, and at various speeds. He gets frustrated when he starts playing songs, and wasn't especially forthcoming with me as to what parts he is frustrated with.
We went over the transitions between a few chords that he was struggling with (the transitions I mean) from C to D and D to C for example.
We'll keep working on playing the Passenger song - I think once he gets used to playing through the chords in the order of the song he'll feel better about it.
May 2nd, 2016
Diego missed lessons tonight.
April 25th, 2016
Diego is sick tonight.
April 18th, 2016
Diego wanted to learn a new song this week-- Passenger, Let Her Go:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ginx7WKq5GE
He was especially interested in the finger picking so I showed him the first finger picking excercise and we made a video of it so he could remember how it's done.
I wrote out the chords for the song (without the capo, as he doesn't have one yet).
If he gets a capo, we'll work on the song in a different key to make it sound higher like the original.
April 11th, 2016
We went through the Revenge song together, and added a new song "Friends with a Creeper:"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3TZMIx_NpA
We then went over all the chords together.
Keep practicing!
April 4th, 2016
Diego and I went through the big pages of chords we've been working on. He's doing much better, especially on the initial chords we've learned.
We added a new song, a Minecraft Parody song:
Revenge:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvlLp2WyTXU
March 29th, 2016
I wrote a bunch of more chords for Diego- He said he didn't have much time to practice over the Easter holiday, but he still seemed fairly eager to learn new chords.
March 22nd, 2016
Diego was a little crazy tonight, a chatterbox, lol! It was hard to keep him on topic.
We went through Imagine again, and it is seeing some modest improvement. He should watch for the right finger placement on the C and F chords.
He said he really wanted to just work on chords, so I wrote out a whole bunch of new chords, and we went over them for a while.
March 15th, 2016
March 8th, 2016
Diego and I went over the song he wrote, and also the chords that we've been practicing. We're now ready to learn Radioactive, so we went over it three or four times.
He should practice playing it through, especially the b minor, which is hard to play ...
March 1st, 2016
Diego was a little tired tonight -- had a hard time getting him to sit up straight and play through the chords.
He should keep working on the new chords I wrote out from last week-- they aren't really ready yet, so we'll keep working on those.
He wanted to learn Imagine by John Lennon, so I wrote out the verse for this and we went over it a few times.
February 23rd, 2016
Diego was really enthusiastic and engaged tonight. He enjoyed doing this smaller chord pattern I had written out for him, and we went over it a few times. It's helped him get to the chords faster, I've noticed an improvement.
He was eager to have me to more of these, so I wrote out two more lines of four chords, with two familiar ones and two less familiar ones -- I anticipate this will make a difference for him, and in fact, he said that he feels read to go back to some of the earlier songs we learned to try them again now that he's doing better with the chords.
February 16th, 2016
February 9th, 2016
Diego is on vacation today.
February 2nd, 2016
I gave Diego just a little bit of a sterner talk tonight telling him to work harder at getting the chords to play faster. We took a break from the Cups song and I wrote out some other chords to play through so we could work at playing on time, and changing chords faster.
He said he practiced 15 minutes a day, which is good, so I asked him if he practices playing quickly, and switching quickly, which he looked a bit sheepish about. :)
So I suggested he practice with someone counting or along with drums playing on youtube.
January 26th, 2016
Diego was focused throughout the lesson. I showed him the gamify thing I made and talked about how he can get badges by practicing, bringing his booklet every week, staying focused through the lesson, etc.
We went through the song this week at half speed, and the boss for this doing is to get it up to full speed. He should work on the f especially.
Also, if I can take a photo, or you can send me one, that'd be fantastic.
January 19th, 2016
Diego went through all the chords on the first page of his booklet quite quickly, he's definitely improving.
He learned F on his own for a song he wants to learn, the Cup Song by Anna Kendrick
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmSbXsFE3l8
We talked about 'gamifying' some of the things he's learning to make it more fun to practice.
January 12th, 2016
January 5th, 2016
Diego brought in a CD - we listened to a couple of tracks but found it hard to find one to do. We went over one of them (track 12 maybe?) about 5 times at half speed, and it's okay, but hard to do up-tempo.
It would be great if he could find a song that's maybe a classic rock song, -- perhaps something a little poppy that would be repetitive and not too fast.
December 29th, 2015
We went over the chords at the front of his book a couple of times, and then reviewed some songs.
He was having difficulty being interested in the songs I suggested he learn next so if you could pick a few with him that we might work on that would be great.
Some examples of good songs to learn for beginners are "Down by the Bay," "The Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly", etc.
December 22nd, 2015
Diego and I added the 12 days of Christmas (simplified). It's a bit hard to follow the music, but he should be able to fake it a bit while playing.
We also reviewed the other songs, and he did a pretty good job of not looking at his hands and keeping the beat solid. He should work on not moving his hand up the neck as he switches chords. Also his E ends up looking a bit like an A minor about 50 percent of the time.
God job!
December 15th, 2015
Diego did quite well today, working through the Christmas carols. I can see definite improvement in switching between chords, and he was able to play some of the songs (ie Rudolph) almost without stopping to adjust.
We talked about possibly recording a song or two next week if he has it down well enough.
We tried to add "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" but ran out of time before we were done. We can continue with that next week.
December 8th, 2015
Diego forgot his book at school today, so we didn't have the songs to work on, but we went over switching between chords-- we started with E minor to A minor, then from A to D to E, which he was better at. We finished with switching between G and C.
He seemed a bit distracted tonight, maybe a bit pensive. I kept pointing him back towards what we're working on. Hope everything's okay.
December 1st, 2015
Diego and I went through all of the Christmas songs, and then added two more-- We Wish You A Merry Christmas, and O Christmas Tree.
He didn't like Jingle Bells, because he has a hard time with the C chord. I showed him an alternative C chord, so he can still practice.
November 24th, 2015
Diego and I added three Christmas carols tonight -- well, actually more songs than carols.
Jingle Bells
Deck the Halls (a carol?)
Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer
These are easier to play, so I think he'll find it more interesting to practice.
November 17th, 2015
Diego seemed a tad distracted tonight, but I tried to go with it, keeping in mind his past experiences. After a few minutes of "off topic" conversation, I'd say something like, "is it okay to get back on topic?" and he'd laugh and say yes.
He wanted me to write out a chart for his dad-- it's a bit harder of a song than the one we've been doing.
We'll maybe try something with just one or two chords for next week to get him really moving. :D
November 10th, 2015
We added a bunch of new chords tonight, and a song.
We added D, G, C, B minor, and A, and the song Radioactive by Imagine Dragons.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO_WxYC34eM
The b minor is hard to play-- and hard to get a sound from, but if he just concentrates on putting his fingers in the right place and doesn't worry too much about the sound, it will come eventually.
November 3rd, 2015
This was Diego's first week. We worked through the names of the parts of the guitar, and learned about minor and major chords. We did E minor to start, and then A minor.
He should try to practice 10 to 15 minutes a day, rather than a large chunk once or twice a week, as it has a better impact on learning and improvement.
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