Rock & Roll 101

June 22nd, 2015

Kyle was sick tonight.

June 15th, 2015

Kyle did really well on Animals tonight, so we added two new songs (he's getting good!)

I am Believing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp1mk8DsLuQ

All About My Base: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVEqyQjyy1Q

If he wants to record one of his good songs next week, tell him to pick it (and bring the book it's in)

June 8th, 2015

We reviewed last week's song, and then added a new one, a copy of "Animals," but a minecraft song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fauE42qQ07s

I brought Grace and Seth in to play piano and drums along with him once through, just to give him a taste of what could be!

June 1st, 2015

Tonight we did the Minecraft song, but couldn't find the video (it had been deleted).

We added another Minecraft song,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCHo5mvm0yk

May 25th, 2015

We reveiwed the Choco Choco song, then added a new song, a "Minecraft Song"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt0FThoGc50

May 11th, 2015

We reviewed the Gummy Bear song, then looked at the Narwhal song, which was quite easy -- one chord.

We then added another Gummy Bear song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMAoqxN7IYk

May 4th, 2015

Kyle and I went over the last two songs together, and then added a new one-- the Gummy Bear Song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=astISOttCQ0

April 27th, 2015

Kyle and I went through She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain and then added a more challenging song, which has chords changing every two beats.

(I forget the name of the song now).

I showed him how to play the melody for the first couple bars because he expressed an interest in doing that.

April 20th, 2015

Kyle brought in a print-out of a song he wanted to learn. I think it's one we'd worked on before, but I darkened the chords and we went over it a few times.

I also added She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain.

We then reviewed the other songs in his book, and worked on switching chords quickly with some drills.

April 13th, 2015

We went through Somewhere/Rainbow a number of times, after working on drills to play the E minor as fast as he could.

We then reviewed the other songs in his book, and I asked him to pick a new song for next week.

March 30th, 2015

Kyle wanted to not work on Tennessee Waltz anymore, so we added Somewhere Over the Rainbow -- we went through it a few times.

here's the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_DKWlrA24k

I wrote out the chords for him, and though it's a little fast, he's close already.

He should work on the E minor chord to get it as fast as he can.

March 23rd, 2015

Kyle and I worked on O Susanna! a few times, speeding it up each time to improve chord switching.

We also added The Tennessee Waltz as one of the songs we're learning:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9fZqTdLK04

Somebody That I used to Know has been moved to the side for now. :D

I suggested Darryl bring his banjo next week.

March 16th, 2015

Kyle didn't make it this evening.

March 9th, 2015

Kyle and I went through O Susanna! a couple of times, first alone, then with Grace on the piano, then with Seth on drums and Grace on piano.

We then added a new song, Somebody that I Used to Know, and I wrote out the chords that are used in it.

March 2nd, 2015

February 23rd, 2015

Kyle had trouble with the E chord this week, but the others are coming along fine.

We played through all the songs in the book, and I reminded him again to pick some songs to learn that aren't in the book.

Darryl said they pick some together.

February 9th, 2015

I had trouble with my server yesterday, so couldn't make notes.

Kyle and I reviewed all the chords he's been learning, and I'm quite happy with how he's coming.

After going through the chords we went through all the songs in the book, and he played them quite well.

Please pick some songs to learn for next week, and we'll figure them out together.

February 2nd, 2015

Kyle and I went over all the songs in his book, and he's got them fairly down-- he has a natural sense of time. He does have drouble with the G and G7 form, so I really want him to focus on this and work to have it quicker.

Since the book is quite simplistic, it would be a good idea to work on other songs, so I'm going to pick a few for him to learn over the next weeks.

I would prefer if he picked some that HE wanted to learn, but if not, then I'm okay with finding some songs.

Don't forget that I need a cheque from you.

January 26th, 2015

January 19th, 2015

January 12th, 2015

Kyle had a book this week, so I copied his notes from the envelope and scrap paper, and then we went over the chords together. He's getting much faster on his G, and needs to work on his B minor next.

We added a G7 chord today.

We also added the song "Down by the Bay," and I asked him to think of other songs that he might be interested in learning.

January 5th, 2015

Kyle has lost his book, but brought a sheet of paper. I wrote out the chords for him again which he can copy into his new book.

We added two new chords: A and E minor.

We also learned a different strum pattern.

December 29th, 2014

Kyle didn't make lessons tonight.

December 22nd, 2014

December 15th, 2014

Kyle and I played started with the G chord, since he had been having some trouble with it.

We played it while working on some timing -- his speed of strumming was a little inconsistent, so I had him just strum the updown on beat three, while I strummed the other parts. Then we played just the beat three part together.

We played through Jingle Bells a few times, with me holding out notes while he changed chords. We worked on getting to the G faster.

We also added O Christmas Tree to his repetoire, and worked on that for a bit.

Grace came in, and played piano along with him on the chords.

Finally, we worked on the race to get the G chord shape in under 2 seconds. He's close!

Don't use the thumb! :D

December 8th, 2014

Kyle is taking the Ukelele. We started with learning how to tune it, and I showed him the tuning web site (find it by a google search for tuner my ukelele online).

We started with a C chord, and the basic down strum. We then added A minor, and a more complex strum. (down down down-up down)

We then learned Jingle Bells, and added F and G. We experimented with a slightly harder strum pattern.

I encouraged him to play a bit every day, as he'll get further ahead with practice than cramming the day before.