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Carter Bomba
Past Notes
April 30th, 2025
Today's drum songs: Happy Highway to Hell Thriller Every Breath You Take Shivers We Will Rock You LUNCH Dance the Night Instant Crush One Thing Uptown Funk Stayin' Alive
April 23rd, 2025
Carter is not able to come tonight.
April 16th, 2025
Today's drum songs:
Circles
How Far I'll Go
The Ocean
Levitating
Dance Monkey
IOU
Can't Feel My Face
Thriller
Wannabe
Billie Jean
Girls Like You
Butter
Shivers
We Don't Talk Anymore
Legends Never Die
Get Lucky
April 9th, 2025
Today's songs: - Maroon 5, This Love - Keane, Somewhere Only We Know - No Doubt, Don't Speak - Fountains of Wayne, Stacy's Mom - The Verve, Bitter Sweet Symphony - Coldplay, Paradise - Fleetwood Mac, Dreams - Ray Parker Jr., Ghostbusters - Adele, Rolling in the Deep
April 2nd, 2025
Carter did drums today. We did the following songs:
Ghostbusters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq_3duJjxOs
Dreams: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYQ0KHLTCe4
Paradise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_lQJEG-k6U
Bitter Sweet Symphony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p6Fehb3MQQ or https://youtu.be/uwFoBRkw4pE
Don't Speak: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2jnZefJ7NE
Somewhere Only We Know: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jljQAeOV4Og
This Love: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSjNE9JU7pc
March 26th, 2025
Carter brought his guitar, and we went through a guitar playlist on YouTube which had chords on each video. We played through them all for the whole hour!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRK-D4XUfeA&list=PL8Ou-5RjX4EZinHLIdjeqmVAynAoSH_AQ
March 19th, 2025
We did a lot of songs on drums again today:
The Police, Every Breath You Take
Taylor Swift, Delicate
Lady Gaga, Poker Face
Adele, Rolling In the Deep
Guns N' Roses, Knockin' On Heaven's Door
The White Stripes, Seven Nation Army
Stevie Wonder, I Just Called To Say I Love You
Coldplay, Yellow
John Lennon, Imagine
Simon and Garfunkel, The Sound of Silence
The Temptations, My Girl
Bonnie Tyler, It's a Heartache
March 12th, 2025
March 12th, 2025
Carter did drums again today. Taylor Swift, Style https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiA2ugVJz4c (1 time) Nicky Youre Dazy, Sunroof https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAwvdY99DME (2 times) Tina Turner, The Best https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujL_6OUxb8U (2 times) Demi Lovato, The Art of Starting Over https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vYA7e3AsZ8 (1 time) The Weeknd, Can't Feel My Face https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aieFH9ODJGU (2 times) Daniel Boaventura, Can't Take My Eyes Off https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ9_tVJT2wQ (2 times)
March 5th, 2025
Today we did just drums, and played through all the drum songs we've done recently, and also Yellow by Coldplay.
The Scientist
Get Lucky
Passenger Let Her Go
February 19th, 2025
Don McLean, American Pie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXq3b-jMh_c
Van Morrison, Brown Eyed Girl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf5nt7k1kYk
Maroon 5, She Will Be Loved
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UITqjD_c320
Oasis, Don't Look Back in Anger
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSh6cztEDdY
Maroon 5, Payphone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNszPKxgTVM
Christina Perri, Arms
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcmFUhzlUB0
Linkin Park, Numb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0zbDo_MWac
Imagine Dragons, Demons
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4haBjmPRxo
February 12th, 2025
Carter did drums again today. In order, we did:
Rick Astley, Never Gonna Give You Up (1x)
Maroon 5, Sugar (2x)
Mark Ronson (ft. Bruno Mars), Uptown Funk (2x)
Another One Bites the Dust (1x)
Another Brick in the Wall (1x)
Sabrina Carpenter, Please Please Please (1x)
Lady Gaga, Poker Face (2x)
Radiohead, Creep (1x)
Guns N Roses, Sweet Child of Mine (1x)
February 5th, 2025
He played drums tonight and we did the following songs (links below):
1. Dua Lipa, Dance the Night
2. Weezer, Buddy Holly
3. Ed Sheeran, Thinking Out Loud
4. Bon Jovi, Livin' On a Prayer
5. Rick Astley, Never Gonna Give You Up
January 29th, 2025
We started with getting back to Babe I'm Gonna Leave You, but Carter said he didn't take his evening medication(?) and wasn't as focused as last time. He was kind of ready to move on. I said that was fine, and we went to the drums.
We worked through the following songs: (links are below)
1. Goo Goo Dolls, Iris
2. Dua Lipa, Dance the Night
3. Benson Boone, Slow It Down
4. Beatles, Hello, Goodbye
5. Duran Duran, Hungry Like The Wolf
January 22nd, 2025
Exam night for Carter tonight.
January 15th, 2025
Carter isn't coming tonight.
January 8th, 2025
Carter was hyper focused this week, and just continued working on the Led Zeppelin finger picking part. He likely played it straight for 45 minutes! His fingers were really sore by the end!
December 18th, 2024
We continued working through Babe I'm Gonna Leave You today... it's some challenging finger picking, but Carter is getting there! Maybe over the holidays he'll have some time to practise.
December 11th, 2024
Carter won't be coming tonight.
December 4th, 2024
Carter is missing tonight, and is away next week too.
November 27th, 2024
Carter and I went started with trying to find a song to learn, and settled on Taylor Swift, All Too Well. We then did Free Bird by Lynryd Skynrd, and Finally Babe I'm Gonna Leave You, which is a finger picking song.
November 20th, 2024
We started with trying to find a song for Carter to sing for Syds Cafe. I suggested Johnny Cash, Hurt, and we also tried one Carter was thinking about, When I Was Your Man. We went through Set Fire to the Rain.
In the end, we settled on Let Her Go by Passenger. Here's a video with chords:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHzsNxFQ9WM
After that, we went to the drums and worked on Taylor Swift, Style:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiA2ugVJz4c
The sixteenth part of it in the chorus is especially hard for Carter. The left hand needs to play the high hat right after the snare or he loses two sixteenth beats every bar.
November 13th, 2024
Carter isn't coming today because he has an assignment due.
November 6th, 2024
Carter is not coming today.
October 30th, 2024
We started with guitar, playing through Tiny Dancer and Rocket Man.
We then moved to drums this week, and reviewed with Circles and Levitating - old songs from the past!
We then tried some newer ones: Save Your Tears, Hoobastank, the Reason, and Elton John, Rocket Man
October 23rd, 2024
Carter forgot to come tonight.
October 16th, 2024
Carter is away today
October 9th, 2024
Carter is away this day.
October 2nd, 2024
We started at the piano, with a review of minor and major and diminished chords and how to find them. We likely should review this regularly, as Carter struggles with remembering this even from minute to minute.
We then picked a song, Tiny Dancer, and worked through the intro on the piano.
After 30 minutes, we moved to the guitar, and played Tiny Dancer, Have You Ever Seen the Rain, Imagine, and All of Me.
September 25th, 2024
Carter wasn't feeling well enough to come.
September 18th, 2024
September 18th, 2024
We didn't 45 minutes working on Fugger picking, including some hammer-ons for G, Em, Am and D. We then went to the piano. Carter had forgotten some things, like how to find chords on the piano. We did some review and then played through an Adele song a few times.
September 11th, 2024
September 11th, 2024
Carter and I started out with guitar, and switched to bass. For the first half of the lesson we resumed finger picking, using a simple pattern on E minor, G, and A minor.
After that we switched to bass, which he thought would be fun to try. I showed him a "bass by numbers" system I've made and we used it to play through Radiohead, Creep and Green Day, Wake Me Up When September Ends.
September 4th, 2024
September 4th, 2024
Carter was exhausted from an all-nighter and a day of school, so missed coming in tonight.
June 27th, 2024
Carter is unable to come today because he's performing for his graduation.
June 20th, 2024
Today we started learning finger-picking. I showed Carter a few different patterns, and the strategy on how to approach finger-picking. He was having challenges with moving his fingers independently. I suggested he do some exercises to promote strength in his ring finger and pinky finger.
June 13th, 2024
In Carter's lesson we just went through a bunch of songs today. They were, in reverse order:
Blondie, One Way or Another
The Police, Roxanne
Post Malone, Sunflower
The Kid LAROI, Thousand Miles
June 6th, 2024
Carter was having a tough day, so cancelled lessons today.
May 30th, 2024
Carter didn't come tonight, because he was helping at the Loughborough Family Fun Night.
May 23rd, 2024
Carter was at Syd's Cafe tonight, so didn't come. I hope his song goes well!
May 16th, 2024
We went through don't stop believing, and then added Don't Stop Me Now by Queen. It's a bit hard and the chords change too quickly for Carter to feel really comfortable with it.
Actually, earlier in the lesson Carter wanted to revisit Creep by Radiohead. We played through the recording first. He's planning to sing it at Syd's cafe, so I had him sing it through for me as way to help him prepare after that.
He sounded great!
May 9th, 2024
We played through Cruel Summer and then added Journey, Don't Stop Believing
Carter is going to think about whether he wants to do lessons.
May 2nd, 2024
Carter was in his play so didn't make it to lessons.
April 25th, 2024
Carter forgot his book, but we were able to remember the chords for Cruel Summer and went through the song a few times. We ended up chatting at the last part of the lesson, and didn't pick another song for next time.
April 18th, 2024
We reviewed Hotel California, and then added Taylor Swift, Cruel Summer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvRVewcfqSQ
April 11th, 2024
I missed Carter last night. I'm sure the play was keeping him busy!
April 4th, 2024
Carter is unwell today, so isn't coming in.
March 28th, 2024
We spent the first part of the lesson taking about a teacher he is stressed about.
We then went through Piano Man. We added the Eagles, Hotel California.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPDjqZaJmjE
March 21st, 2024
Carter and I reviewed Viva La Vida and Counting Stars, and then added Billy Joel, Piano Man.
This one is a bit challenging in that the sections aren't exactly the same on each repeat (between sections especially).
If he can find time to practise, I suggested he try to learn the way the bottom note of each chord moves throughout the chord changes.
March 14th, 2024
We reviewed Viva la Vida, Counting Stars, and then added a new one by OneRepublic, Counting Stars:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY3wc58yo2A
March 7th, 2024
Carter did well today. There was a bit of delay in transitioning from the last student (sorry), so I let him have 10 minutes into my supper break to make up for it.
Please help him to remember to ask about tickets to his play for my wife and I to come.
February 29th, 2024
We played through 7 Years together, and then added Shawn Mendes, Stitches:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EByFZdw4wEA
This has a different style of playing which we worked on for a bit. It requires some independent movement of the pinky and the ring finger, which is challenging, so we worked on that for a bit too.
See you next week!
February 15th, 2024
Carter played through Creep for me, and then we looked for another song to learn.
We settled on Lukas Graham, 7 Years:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNMhWiOETe0
February 8th, 2024
We went through Let Her Go, and then we added a new one, Creep!
February 1st, 2024
January 25th, 2024
Carter was ready to start working on a song more seriously this week. Over the last few weeks, we've just been playing through simple songs. We started off that way this week too, playing Adele's Someone Like You:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFU-YNN2Ctw
We decided to focus on a bit more complex song, John Legend, All Of Me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngq5Aw0Q6rQ
This has more chords, some of which he hasn't learned yet, so a good teaching song.
January 18th, 2024
Carter had a lot of homework and Julie cancelled for him tonight.
January 11th, 2024
Carter's on a ski trip today and won't make it.
January 4th, 2024
We did lots of great songs today.
Brown Eyed Girl: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNoiPP_B1-4
Stand By Me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjq1xiQggtY
Knockin' On Heaven's Door: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfeHCXCwDhE
Sweet Home Alabama: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQC7W0JBGNc
Jolene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTVnJCa_Kls
December 28th, 2023
Carter forgot to come tonight.
December 21st, 2023
We continued playing through a number of songs this week, including
Passenger, Let Her Go:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPUjA7fZ3tw
Adele, Set Fire to the Rain:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur3nKNFakYQ
Alan Walker, Faded:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ7Q25ik8qg
Coldplay, Viva La Vida:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLDWVH9ydgw
We ran out of time playing The Eagles, Hotel California:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQFcAh_YZ5s
December 14th, 2023
I guess Carter isn't coming tonight. :)
December 7th, 2023
Here are the songs we worked on this week:
Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, Shallow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0d69-Huvrk
The Police, Every Breath You Take https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fj-DoMqxwE
Simon & Garfunkel, Cecilia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10ziwlzBN9Y
November 30th, 2023
Carter is at acting class this week.
November 23rd, 2023
Carter is at Syd's Cafe this week.
November 16th, 2023
Carter seemed much better tonight. We randomly selected a few songs to just jam through. We're not actively learning anything new but I'm just trying to give him an opportunity to enjoy himself and to get back in the swing of things.
November 9th, 2023
Carter came a bit late today. He was struggling with overthinking things. He didn't have his book, so we just found songs online that had chords on them, and played along with a number of them, kind of a "jam session."
He's going to think about going to thirty minutes and will let me know.
November 2nd, 2023
Carter skipped the first half of the class because he's been feeling stressed. I hope I can help make this part of the week a pleasure, and not something to dread. :)
We went over some of the older songs from the past again, and he just did so well on them. I'm amazed at how well he can switch chords and play the right rhythm. I think being on the other instruments has helped him on guitar.
We then added "Free Fallin'" by Tom Petty. We used a capo (on the third fret) so he could play it in D.
October 26th, 2023
Carter was really tired tonight, and struggling with concentration. I felt really bad for him, and tried to just keep things as laid back and fun as possible. We did 30 minutes of piano, and then I let him use my guitar for the second half.
It had been a long time since he did guitar, so first we reviewed all of the chords, and he was able to remember nearly all of them! We then picked a couple of songs from the past and he was enthusiastic and did a great job! I think that helped energize him.
I suggested to him that he try to stress less about the lesson, and that we just think of it as a time to have some fun with music, and if he feels overwhelmed after a while, we can switch gears at any time - maybe try a different instrument, or listen to some music we might do in the future.
October 12th, 2023
Carter is at a football game tonight, so won't be coming.
October 5th, 2023
Carter brought his guitar along thinking he'd do half guitar, half piano today, but we ended up on the piano the whole time.
He was feeling annoyed with the Save Your Tears song, and just kind of bored with it (he said), and so I suggested we leave it and work on a song he loves and will be more likely to practise. I suggested some Elton John, because I know he loves him.
I printed out my arrangement of Tiny Dancer, and we worked through that together for the rest of the lesson.
September 28th, 2023
We started right off working on Save Your Tears. It was hard for Carter to do the chord changes along with the eighth beat bass line because he wasn't using inversions yet. I reminded him how to find them, and we went through the chords one at a time, just working on the inversions, and playing the right hand alone. Eventually he added the left hand too.
It's coming along a lot better now!
We then went over When I Was Your Man and worked out inversions for that too - coming along very good!
September 21st, 2023
Carter and I went through When I Was Your Man together first - it's a good one because he learned it already on guitar, he knows the chords that are in it, etc. He did it with the recording at 75% speed, and with me on the drums.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kON9fn01rUQ
We did that for the first half, then added a new song, The Weeknd, Save Your Tears.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXYlFuWEuKI
September 14th, 2023
Carter's voice is getting low!
We spent the entire lesson on the piano. He picked it up really quickly, able to recall the names of the piano keys, and fairly quickly adapt to my different way of teaching. We went back into his book of past songs, and dusted of When I Was Your Man. He was able to play that on the piano by the end of the lesson.
We also addressed things like minors and majors, inversions and how to find them, and flats and sharps.
Keep up the excellent work buddy!
Piano for full hour
September 7th, 2023
Carter isn't able to make it today.
June 26th, 2023
June 26th, 2023
We went over Don't Stop Believing - and even though he didn't practise this week (since the music was here), he did really well on it. We decided to wrap it up and move on to Any Way You Want It.
This has a hard little guitar lead in it on every C chord and we worked that out together. We played along with the recording at 70%, and Carter did okay.
--
On drums, we started with the new one from last week, Wannabe. It's coming along! We then reviewed Rolling in the Deep, Can't Feel My Face, and Stayin' Alive.
We also added "I Want It That Way." This has some kick parts that are unusual to what Carter has played before, so will take some work to get. We focused just on reading the kick part for a while, then played along at 75% speed to work out the details.
June 19th, 2023
June 19th, 2023
Carter lost his book, and I didn't want rewrite Every Breath You Take, so we added Journey, Don't Stop Believing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k8craCGpgs
Then I asked for next week's song to learn, and he picked Anyway You Want It also by Journey:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLDVTfQGDe4
I asked him to show me his Spotify account, but he didn't want to... maybe if you can take a peek, you can pick some songs that he listens to frequently.
---
For drums, we did Rolling in the Deep (twice), Can't Feel My Face, and Stayin' Alive. Some improvement! Keep working and practising.
We also added (just for fun) Spice Girls, Wannabe:
https://youtu.be/5BJU0gCZgP0
May 29th, 2023
May 29th, 2023
We reviewed Every Breath You Take, adding the E flat on the bridge.
Please remind Carter again to pick some new guitar songs to learn.
For drums: I put my notes in each song below. Reading notes and playing the fills correctly is Carter's biggest need. I asked him to really polish up Rollin' in the Deep this week.
May 15th, 2023
May 15th, 2023
We went over the three Elton John songs, and Carter still hasn'ty made a list of songs (please remind him), so we added a new one: On guitar, we added The Police, Every Breath You Take:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMOGaugKpzs
For the second half, we went over the parts Carter was struggling with last week on Can't Feel My Face. I'm not sure there was a lot of practise on those individual parts, he said he only went over it once or twice.
We spent the lesson trying to focus on those parts, and I saw improvement today.
We reviewed Uptown Funk for the last part of the lesson:
https://youtu.be/SSQg-jrD3yA
May 8th, 2023
May 8th, 2023
Today we continued from where we left off last week.
We did the three Elton John songs before moving to drums.
Here's the Looper Link I was talking about for slowing videos down and showing and changing their speeds:
https://www.looper.tube/?v=aieFH9ODJGU&s=58.9&e=77.7&spd=0.85
We focused most of the lesson on the fills in Can't Feel My Face. Like most drum students, Carter is glossing over the fills and "faking" them a bit. It takes time to focus and work on the parts that are harder (and less frequent in the song).
May 1st, 2023
May 1st, 2023
We went over
Elton John, Can You Feel The Love Tonight:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTtgVSxfr5M
and
Elton John, Your Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FT3D1Cu6g10
on guitar, then added
Elton John, I'm Still Standing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHwVBirqD2s
We ran out of time on the latter and so switched to drums at 5:30.
We started with I Can't Feel My Face, and then added Michael Jackson, Thriller:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPAd-4dzFu0
April 24th, 2023
April 24th, 2023
We started out working on Elton John, Your Song, and played it through twice. Mostly has the song down, though it could use some refinement.
We then added Elton John, Can You Feel The Love Tonight:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTtgVSxfr5M
We switched to drums about 5:35 and started with Rolling in the Deep. He's doing pretty good on it, considering that he said he didn't practise drums as much this week, mostly guitar.
We then reviewed Eye of the Tiger before going on to a new song, "Can't Feel My Face"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aieFH9ODJGU
April 17th, 2023
April 17th, 2023
Carter and I started a new song on guitar today: Elton John, Your Song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FT3D1Cu6g10
I recommend still that Carter make a playlist or a list of songs to learn so we can choose new songs to learn.
At 5:35 we switched to drums. We started things off with reviewing Rolling in the Deep:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIi9glOjygk
We then went to Eye of the Tiger:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpYDVEsuXio
We reviewed Bee Gees, Stayin Alive which is getting really good:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8Fza2ZuRLE
April 3rd, 2023
April 3rd, 2023
For the first half hour, I taught Carter how to take off old strings and put on new strings. Unfortunately, I broke a bit of one of the pins. I will pick up some new pins for you the next time I at the music store.
For the second half hour we went to drums and played Eye of the Tiger and Staying Alive. We then added Adele - Rollin in the Deep.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIi9glOjygk&ab_channel=DRUMMATE
March 27th, 2023
March 27th, 2023
For the first 20 minutes we reviewed the reading. Where he was getting to about level 5 before, he's now making it up to level 8 pretty well. Keep going, see if you can move up to level 10! You're nearly there!
Here's the playlist again:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVR4Pzl5lJZ114koesAVMgpqpH0V8GO2x
We then went through songs, in this order:
We Don't Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUEwepXR5oc (Done. Good Job).
Highway to Hell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJQuqSujhB0
Eye of the Tiger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpYDVEsuXio
Bee Gees: Stayin' Alive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8Fza2ZuRLE
Highway to Hell there was a bit of problem with the kick on the AND of FOUR, but it looked like he was getting a bit discouraged, so I moved on. I think it's just a brain-block, because he gets it sometimes.
Eye of the Tiger is close. Needs a bit of clean up on the crashes especially.
We added Stayin' Alive.
March 20th, 2023
March 20th, 2023
Carter didn't bring his guitar or book because his string is broken. We spent the time working on drums.
I don't think he practised much over the last two weeks, as we struggled with much of what I'd asked him to work on.
First we reviewed the note reading in this playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVR4Pzl5lJZ114koesAVMgpqpH0V8GO2x
I'd like him to keep working on these reading exercises. They will really help if he applies himself to them.
We then went over highway to hell. The kick drum part caused some problems, so we spent time working on that. I cranked the bass on my system so that the kick stuck out really well, and that helped him hear it, but the highhat and kick aren't playing at the same time. Just needs to be practised and listened to more.
Highway to Hell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJQuqSujhB0
We Don't Talk Anymore: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUEwepXR5oc
Eye of the Tiger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpYDVEsuXio
March 6th, 2023
March 6th, 2023
We went over Rocket Man together. Carter should keep working on the F#m to B7 chord change. Other than that, he's getting to pretty good.
We then added Brick In The Wall:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IpYOF4Hi6Q
D minor and G is really all we've done so far... the rhythm is something I want him to work on without moving his whole hand, just his wrist.
PLAYLIST! Make a playlist of songs you want to learn and share it with me, or write out the titles in your book.
Highway To Hell was pretty good-- could use a bit more careful watching of the time. Speeding up was a problem in all the songs we did today.
Eye of the Tiger needs some practice on the fills.
We Don't Talk Anymore was decent. It definitely got better as he played it. Some good reading on the fills especially.
Since I'm away for two weeks, practice the reading exercises that we've done in the past, as well as all the songs.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVR4Pzl5lJZ114koesAVMgpqpH0V8GO2x
February 27th, 2023
February 27th, 2023
Carter forgot his guitar book at home, so we spent the hour on drums.
We added a new song, by AC DC, Highway to Hell:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJQuqSujhB0
We went over it quite a few times, since it has some parts that are kind of tricky.
We then tried Pharrell Williams, Happy but it was too fast.
We then added Survivor, Eye of the Tiger:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpYDVEsuXio
We then added We Don't Talk Anymore by Charlie Puth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUEwepXR5oc
This one is only sheet music, so a good stretch for Carter.
February 13th, 2023
February 13th, 2023
We went through Just The Way You Are once, and then tried to find other songs to work on. He made a list of artists, and we tried Queen and The Rolling Stones first, but he settled on Elton John.
Elton John, Rocket Man:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6hNVizTDWA
After that we went to drums and worked on Piano Man exclusively for the rest of the lesson. He was struggling with a few of the parts so we focused especially on one place where the beat is quite different than he's used to.
February 6th, 2023
February 6th, 2023
Carter did really well on Lazy Song, including the off-beat strumming, (although he got off it a bit once in a while). We added a new Bruno Mars song, Just the Way You Are:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKeua0gnLic&ab_channel=SoundClick
it's pretty simple, so a good intermediary song.
I asked him again to make a playlist of his favourite songs and share with me (or write them down) so we have other things to try to learn.
January 30th, 2023
January 30th, 2023
We went over Talking to the Moon a few times, and then added a new one also by Bruno Mars, called Lazy Song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2o9Yd0uydM
It's fairly easy chord-wise, but the strumming pattern is very different than what Carter is used to... one of Carter's challenges is timing, which I think I will try to focus on more and more.
After guitar, we reviewed Uptown Funk on drums and then Perfect again. Uptown Funk is coming along pretty well. He's still missing the high-hat open/closes, and timing is a little off at times. His reading is improving.
We then went over Perfect, and the triplet kick is still eluding him. I think it might be best to take a break from this particular song, unless he feels really up to practising it. I'll try to find some more 12/8 songs for him to work on so he gets more exposure to this beat.
Here's another 12/8 song, Piano Man by Billy Joel:
https://youtu.be/P0_CeSpiqlY
January 23rd, 2023
January 23rd, 2023
Carter was feeling a little unmotivated by the Ed Sheeran song, Thinking Out Loud, partly because he didn't know or love it already. We decided to find another song that he likes more, and settled on Bruno Mars, Talking to the Moon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-FrQnI3slU&ab_channel=VibeMusic
We wrote out the whole thing, and played it through it a few times. This gave us the opportunity to learn some new repeats:
D.S. al Coda (De Signa al Coda - or to the signa, until the coda sign.)
We then switched to drums, first with reading exercises and then going over Perfect some more.
He is still struggling with the timing of the kick and misses a lot of fills... I think it really just comes down to not practising enough.
We decided to add Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars
https://youtu.be/SSQg-jrD3yA
January 16th, 2023
January 16th, 2023
Carter had no Internet last week, so couldn't practice the new song, but we went over it again during this lesson, and worked out more of it, getting through the intro, verse, pre chorus, and chorus.
Beginner / Intermediate:
https://youtu.be/_ssC7VfkQWE?list=PLVR4Pzl5lJZ114koesAVMgpqpH0V8GO2x
Grade Three Reading:
https://youtu.be/_ssC7VfkQWE?list=PLVR4Pzl5lJZ114koesAVMgpqpH0V8GO2x
We also went over Perfect, which is getting better, but not perfect yet. :) The kick, especially, needs some focus.
January 9th, 2023
January 9th, 2023
In guitar we started by reviewing the Grinch. Some hard chords there, ones he's not used to, so I didn't push it to hard.
After that, we added a new song by Ed Sheeran. I reminded him to make a list of songs he likes.
Here's the guitar song: Ed Sheeran, First Times:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiLT-ne2j4Q&ab_channel=ShootingStar
We next did some sight reading practice on the drums. He's slowly getting better!
Then we added a new drum song, Ed Sheeran Perfect:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heFkdb974DI&ab_channel=DRUMMATE
January 2nd, 2023
January 2nd, 2023
December 19th, 2022
December 19th, 2022
We reviewed Closer, and it's great, he can move on from both guitar songs. I told him to remember to review chords and old songs as part of his weekly work, especially if he doesn't know what else to practice.
We added two Christmas songs, Last Christmas, and the Grinch. The latter is harder, so practice those chords.
For drums we did 10 minutes of sight reading practice, and then 10 minutes of Get Lucky and Levitating.
Reading practice is still super critical. Work through some simple reading exercises and get fluent with reading taas, tees, and tikitikis.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=easy+ drum+reading+excecises
December 12th, 2022
December 12th, 2022
I showed Carter how to use the tuner on his phone that he had downloaded. We tuned up his guitar using it.
We then played through the two songs he has been learning and working on, Thinking Out Loud and Closer.
He has really improved on the syncopation of Closer! Good job!
On drums we did 15 minutes of the reading exercises and then the rest of the time playing through some drum songs.
December 5th, 2022
December 5th, 2022
We started with tuning, and Carter really needs to get a tuner or an app for tuning.
We went over Thinking Out Loud and Photograph. They're pretty good.
I've asked Carter to make a list of songs so we have a resource to pick from when we finish.
We added a new song, Closer, by the Chainsmokers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFblUiJgLj0&ab_channel=SmoothWebbieMusic
This has a hard syncopation on the D chord, but it repeats for the entire song... it's a great one to practise timing.
On the drums we spent the whole lesson on reading, going over the beginner drum reading exercises. This needs more work at home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ssC7VfkQWE&t=12s
November 28th, 2022
November 28th, 2022
Carter and I went through Photograph and Thinking Out Loud together. He's doing pretty well on them, but a little "messy" in the chord playing still. He's getting to the right chords mostly, but sometimes strumming the A string when he shouldn't, or the E string (like when you play a D for example -- don't play the low E string).
We went through Photograph last, and it might need the most work still. He said he didn't practice much this week, so try to pull that guitar out once a day for at least 10 minutes. :)
We then started off with Get Lucky on the drums. Keep working on that. Carter misses the crashes a bit and the ride is late when it comes in.
Here's a sight reading drum video to practice:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF0DqJVwYQg&list=PLVR4Pzl5lJZ114koesAVMgpqpH0V8GO2x&index=1&ab_channel=SightReadDrums
Just work on part 1.
November 21st, 2022
In guitar, Carter played through Take My Breath with me, and did really well on it. We then continued with Ed Sheeran's Photograph, and that one needs another week of work.
We also added a new one, also by Ed Sheeran, called Thinking Out Loud:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDzBQvIUn6o&ab_channel=ChillHarders
In drums he played through 7 Nation Army, and then we went to Get Lucky:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1NiwohhJsw&ab_channel=DRUMMATE
This one needs a bit more work so keep practicing it.
November 21st, 2022
November 14th, 2022
November 14th, 2022
We went over Take my Breath together and finished When I Was Your Man. Keep working on Take My Breath.
We then added Ed Sheeran, Photograph:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkUzCuwAPvM&ab_channel=TajTracks
Work on playing softly, and with holding your palm on the strings to mute them.
In drums today, we went over Seven Nation Army, and then added a new one, "Get Lucky."
It seemed like Carter maybe has forgotten a lot of stuff in the reading of the drum notation, or maybe he was just doing good at faking it before. :) I'd like him to really work on those fills-- not just watching the drummer play them, but also trying to match what's written in the music.
We'll do more reading exercises next week to help with that.
November 7th, 2022
November 7th, 2022
Carter is sick today.
October 24th, 2022
October 24th, 2022
On guitar we went over When I Was Your Man and Let Her Go, and then added Take My Breath by the Weeknd:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnqbCApMsm8&ab_channel=DavidDeanBurkhart
We had done this before, but gave up on it, so it's good to come back to.
On drums we also tried Take My Breath:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSlzWmvpjJs
It was a little hard for him - I asked him to try it a few times but we returned to a different video for Seven Nation Army, which is easier to follow:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e4gn9iPN-g
October 17th, 2022
-
October 17th, 2022
We spent the first 30 minutes working on When I Was Your Man. (Well, we first reviewed Let Her Go once. He can wrap that one up now.
We started at 70% speed, and then went to 75% and then 80% speed. Some of the chords are pretty rough yet, like D7, D minor, F, and B flat. Keep working on this one and try to get it up to speed.
The second half hour we went to drums. Carter said his drums still aren't fixed. Please call me as I'm happy to come over and fix them up for you at no charge. I want him to be practising! :)
In drums we started with Billie Jean again, and then tried a new version of Seven Nation Army, which has drum parts on it. We initially did this song back when he first started drums, but we didn't have music to learn it from.
October 3rd, 2022
:)
October 3rd, 2022
We spent the whole lesson on guitar today because Carter said his drum set isn't fixed yet and he keeps forgetting to mention it to parents to get fixed.
We went over Let Her Go, and he did really well on it! At full speed, and made most of the chord changes on time. We decided he'd do it one more week to refine it.
We also added Bruno Mars, When I Was Your Man:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZrDuMcGRqU&ab_channel=MusicParadise
Lots of new chords in this one!
September 26th, 2022
We continued working through Billie Jean:
Michael Jackson, Billie Jean
https://youtu.be/F3lehTwTOwc
Carter said his hi hat needs adjustment and this is preventing him from working on the parts he needs to. Please feel free to contact me if you'd like me to come up and do the adjustment (free of charge) for you: 613-344-1717 (text or call)
We then did a few times through Levitating for a fun way to end. Let's get Billie Jean up to that level of accuracy! :)
at the end of the lesson we added Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8Fza2ZuRLE&ab_channel=DRUMMATE
See you next week.
September 26th, 2022
We continued with Let Her Go, starting at 70%, and trying up to 90% speed, and working out some issues.
We ended up slowing it down to 80% because Carter was getting lost a bit. He said he'd work on that this week.
Passenger, Let Her Go:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRVTVB94zTg&ab_channel=Passenger
September 20th, 2022
We went over the song from last week, "Save Your Tears" Then added a new one, Passenger, Let Her Go:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRVTVB94zTg&ab_channel=Passenger
I sent a Javascript code to both Carter and Julie, to slow down YouTube videos to any speed.
Good job, glad you're feeling better!
September 19th, 2022
September 19th, 2022
Carter is sick today.
September 12th, 2022
We reviewed Levitating on drums. He did a good job for not practising all summer! There's a half-time bit near the end that needs work.
We also looked at Billie Jean again. It needs a lot more work than Levitating. Focus on getting those high-hats opening on the right place, and the toms as well. Remember the floor tom is right before the snare... the snare stays on the same beat.
September 12th, 2022
In guitar today, we started by printing out a chord sheet I made, because his was getting kind of ratty.
We went over a lot of the chords on it in review, and I checked off the ones I want him to memorize.
We then played through Save Your Tears by the Weeknd, which was a song from last year, but a good one to use as review.
This week try to play through that song at full speed. We did it in less at 70% speed.
June 13th, 2022
For fun we went through a bunch of songs he's learned on drums over the last few months and then tried some other easy ones.
Here's a playlist to practice with over the summer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YA0D5VmyXM&list=PLVR4Pzl5lJZ1AS5TQlGil7jhKO9_x9fGc&index=25&ab_channel=JackYoung
June 6th, 2022
Carter has been having some trouble with his hi hat, so I showed him how to disassemble a highhat and reassemble it, and how to troubleshoot the various problems that might occur. He says he things he understands what to do now to fix it.
Then we went over Levitating and Billie Jean again. They're both better, but I'd like him to keep practising both of them this week.
May 30th, 2022
Good job on Levitating. Please work on it another week, plus this new one, Michael Jackson, Billie Jean:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3lehTwTOwc
Thanks Carter!
May 16th, 2022
We went through Circles and Levitating a few times - Levitating needs some more work. Carter, don't forget to look ahead in the music and see what's coming - try to not be surprised by tom fills etc.
Keep working on Levitating this week.
May 9th, 2022
Good job on the tempos today, Carter! We went through them all again, and then went back to Circles. You said you hadn't worked on Circles this week, so please try to perfect that one.
We also added Levitating by Dua Lipa today. Here's the sheet music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvWTOEVOeno&ab_channel=DRUMMATE
Work on that as well.
Good job! See you next week!
May 2nd, 2022
We started with 60 bpm, working our way through by 10s, up to 120 bpm, where Carter struggled the most. The rest of them he was fine with, but 120 was the hardest for sure.
Here's that tempo, for him to practice along with:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTmKgbT3PFA&ab_channel=LumBeat
If he wants to try the other speeds, here they are:
60 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQoUfeRawX8
70 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SDBJp_B5qQ
80 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uH1MrhJZ2NA
90 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U3RG0JU4Ds
100 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZbM9n9j3_g
110 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrDc_TsmYLI
April 25th, 2022
Carter had struggled since our last lesson two weeks ago, so we rewound things a bit, and I helped him with counting eighth note beats at different speeds. I asked him to really focus just on counting this week, and at trying to play the 8th note beat quickly.
If he gets confident with that, then he can return to trying Circles.
April 11th, 2022
Carter felt like Thriller might be a bit hard for now, so we added Circles:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P69ooyukIKs&list
This one is easier, but even simplify it more to make it doable for you.
April 4th, 2022
Good job! Keep working on Seven Nation Army.
When you have some time, you can try looking at this one some more:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPAd-4dzFu0&ab_channel=DRUMMATE
We went over how to read sheet music together, and I told him to just play the parts in it that he feels he can do.
March 28th, 2022
We reviewed the quarter note and eighth note beats from last week, as well as the other things we'd talked about.
We tried our first song, "Seven Nation Army."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3qy8H6-5WY&ab_channel=CrappyAssDrummer
The above video shows a drummer playing it... play along with it at home so you can practice getting the form for kicking right.
Also don't forget to cross your arms for the snare and hat.
March 21st, 2022
We went over the names of the drums, learned a quarter note beat and an eighth note beat. We learned a flam, to hit in the centre, where to hit the cymbals with the sticks, and drum roll introductions.
March 14th, 2022
Carter is at acting camp this week.
March 7th, 2022
We did zoom lessons today.
We started with reviewing Shivers, which he has down pretty good. After playing through that, we talked again about the F chord, and then went over a bit of the Weeknd's song before running out of time.
See you next week!
February 28th, 2022
Carter did well on his lesson today. We had time to add two songs, but didn't really wrap up the last one.
They were:
Ed Sheeran, Shivers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Il0S8BoucSA
The Weeknd - Take My Breath
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kWbk846N7c
February 10th, 2022
Cancelling today, no charge.
January 31st, 2022
Carter and I went over Perfect together, by Ed Sheeran. I must say I was very excited by how well he did. He is able to switch the chords very quickly, is able to intuit where he should be when he gets behind, and to catch himself up. He follows along with the chord charts well, and remembers parts that are tricky. I am very happy with his progress!
We added some new chords to add to his repertoire tonight, including A7, E7, C7, B7, and D7.
Good job Carter!
January 24th, 2022
We reviewed Rocket Man together, and then added a new song by Ed Sheeran, called Perfect:
Here are the chords:
[: G / / / | Em / / / | C / / / | D / / / :]
Here is the YouTube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-1Ex6mhJZk&ab_channel=RoyalLyrics
The capo goes on fret one for this song, but you can practice without a capo it will just sound off a bit to the recording.
January 17th, 2022
Carter played through Tiny Dancer for me, and then we talked about which song to add next.
He decided he wanted to do Rocket Man.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD2miskgDK4&ab_channel=TheMultiFire
This song requires a capo on the third fret, (Carter doesn't have one yet, but they can be purchased online or at a music store)
The following are the chords to the first half:
Em / / / | A7 / / / | Em / / / | A7 / / / |
C / G / | Am / G / | D / / / | D / / / |
Em / / / | A7 / / / | Em / / / | A7 / / / |
C / G / | Am / G / | D / / / | D / / / |
G / / / | C / / / | G / / / | C / G / |
A / / / | C / / / | G / / / | C / / / |
G / / / | C / / / | G / / / | C / G / |
A / / / | C / / / | G / / / | C / / / |
January 10th, 2022
I guess Carter forgot this week - hope everyone's healthy.
January 3rd, 2022
Carter and I went over Tiny Dancer for the whole of the lesson, making it a practice time. He's got it pretty good, so we're going to add a new song for next week
I asked to keep working on it, but also think of a new song to learn.
December 27th, 2021
I'm glad to hear you had a good trip!
We reviewed the chords and the song Tiny Dancer. I reminded Carter to copy as neatly as he can into his book.
Keep working on switching the chords - go between the chords in the song, doing them back and forth until you're fast.
December 20th, 2021
Carter will be in British Columbia today (Dec 20th) through January.
December 13th, 2021
Carter will be in British Columbia today (Dec 13th) through January.
December 6th, 2021
We went through Under Pressure together, and decided it was time to move on to a new song.
We added Tiny Dancer by Elton John. I recommended that he also spend some time listening to music to discover the kind of songs (and names of them) that he likes.
Also, he said he's lost his booklet, so please find another one to use. I wrote the chords out on a piece of paper this week, but he should copy them into his new book.
November 29th, 2021
Carter is sick today, so won't be coming in.
November 22nd, 2021
Carter came a minute late, and a dad dropped the next student off a 31 minutes early, so we had a bit of a clumsy exchange until we could focus on Carter's lesson and the dad came back up to get her.
We continued with Under Pressure, and played along with the recording at 65% speed.
November 15th, 2021
Carter did really well on Circles! It sounds good. We did it at .65 speed, but that's okay... he's learning.
We added Under Pressure by Queen. This has a cool bass intro which he is learning, but the chords in the beginning are:
D / / / | A / / / | G / / / | A / / / |
He forgot his book, so be sure to write this in, and bring it next time.
November 8th, 2021
at the slower speeds, Carter did well with Save Your Tears - I'd like him to keep working on it, getting more and more accurate with switching chords.
We added Circles by Post Malone, which has the following chords:
[: C / / / | C^7 / / / | F^7 / / / | / / / / :]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnLIGgTaBM0
I also sent him a program I wrote in Javascript which allows him to change the speed of YouTube videos to any number between .5 and 3
November 1st, 2021
Carter did quite well with Ed Sheeran's Bad Habits. The B minor is still a tad slower than I'd like it to be, but I'm seeing improvement.
Please keep working on this one, and all the chords we've learned. We want them to all be in your memory for future songs.
We added a new song, by The Weeknd, called Save Your Tears:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXYlFuWEuKI
It has the following chords:
[: C / / / | Am / / / | Em / / / | G / / / :]
October 25th, 2021
Carter and I continued working on Bad Habits, by Ed Sheeran.
He's coming along. Try to practice every day, Carter - racing yourself to get faster times on your B minor and G chords.
October 4th, 2021
Great job on Believer! It sounded amazing!
Next, we're adding B minor, and potentially D major 7 to play Bad Habits by Ed Sheeran:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orJSJGHjBLI
Try to remember to bring a book so we can write stuff there.
September 27th, 2021
Carter said he practiced twice this week. Considering that, he did not too badly, but I'd love it if he could try to fit in a bit more - ideally is a few minutes every day to really build a habit.
So far he's learned Em, G, C, D, Am, Fmaj7
We added D minor and A today.
He played through his song for me, and then we did the racing game to switch between chords as quickly as possible.
September 20th, 2021
We went over the chords from last week, and then added a new song, Believer by Imagine Dragons
This song has a CAPO on the first fret, but that's not necessary for him to practice it (unless he wants to play along with the recording).
The chords are Aminor for four beats, then F major 7 for 2 beats, and E for 2 beats. This just keeps repeating throughout the song.
See you next week!
September 13th, 2021
Carter has taken guitar lessons before. He had a chord sheet which had 6 or so chords on it. We reviewed them all, and did two strum patters: down, down, down, down, and down, down, down-up, down.
We did the 'racing' game timing oneself against a previous record -- putting a hand on the knee and trying to play the chord as quickly as possible. Do this at home for the three chords we didn't work on (as well as the others).
Then time yourself switching from the previous chord to the new chord, in a similar way, but without the hand on the knee.
Good job! See you next week!
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