Electric Guitar Ramp Up – Review
It was so great to meet up with these students, two of whom had taken the first electric guitar course and one who was new to it! We started with simple power chords and easy riffs from rock songs (You Really Got Me and Wild Thing) With each song we started with an easy version (single notes), then the next week did an intermediate version with perfect fifths, then the next week learned the “real” version with the root doubled an octave higher (the “real” power chord). We also started a more complicated riff the first week (Day Tripper) which took the students a couple of weeks to get down; once they did, we learned how the riff moves to the IV chord and back, and also learned the chorus of the song. Students also learned a Chuck Berry-style opening lick and how to do a Chuck Berry shuffle in A (12 bar blues). We touched on improvising in G and A minor pentatonic scales, so by the end of the class, students could put together a whole song in a 50s rock-n-roll style. In the last two classes, students were introduced to jazz by playing the melody of Satin Doll.
Students were very excited to play some of the songs – sometimes it took a while for them to get it, and they showed their enthusiasm when they got it down. One of the students played Day Tripper for his class as part of a music assignment. Even though they did not seem to recognize the songs when I first played them, they though they were fun (and their parents recognized all of them which made it fun to play for them). From Franz (parent) – “The lessons are awesome! I hope that post pandemic Hana may be able to join eventually some music school rock band and do a recital concert.” From Hana: “I like bending strings.” “I like Wild Thing and the Chuck Berry” From Eli: “I liked learning Day Tripper.” “I’d like to learn more Beatles songs.” From Aarnav: “I liked Day Tripper and I recorded it for my music class.” (Along with some classical guitar pieces.)
Students developed several skills that will help with their main instrument, such as shifting technique, finger stretching, ear training, and counting. The 12 bar blues also helped them with their theory and understanding of chord progressions. Once we learned a riff (from tab), we would figure out where it goes next by ear. I had students call out the chords for the 12 bar blues. Shifting we did by using different riffs that moved up and down the fretboard. Thank you Mark, parents and kids for creating such a wonderful learning environment with one another!
