Hi Efe and family!
Here is the rundown of today’s material from class.
Efe has done well with maintaining proper posture on the guitar. Keep it up!
Buy this book
Homework
- Page 10 of the above book.
— Songs 17 & 18. These two pieces have all the single notes that we have covered in our lessons so far.
— Practice them at a maximum speed of 65BPM. 1 quarter note per beat. Alternate pick both pieces (down-up-down-up). The only time you down pick two consecutive notes is when you see the half notes at every fourth bar of the Blues piece.
— Outside picking — Song 17 Bar 3, 7, 10, 11, 15-16 and Song 18 Bar 1, 3, 5, 7, 11.
Hard transitions. Pay close attention in these bars. Here, we see examples of what is called outside picking. We discussed this in class. You pick down on the lower pitch string, and up on the higher pitch string. This is hard, because it is a bigger jump to play the higher pitch string with this odd way of picking, rather than inside picking. (Inside picking is when the pick doesn’t leave the area between two strings.) This feels odd right now, because it is a new movement. I want Efe to get used to this type of picking, as well. The reason you must play it like this because you must maintain the alternate picking technique described above.
— Commit to practicing these pieces for 30 minutes a day.
- Chords. Practice all the chords we have covered so far. Both standing and sitting.
— No specific tempo is required for this.
— Continue to be mindful of the posture of the body (including the hands and the arms).
— I want Efe to get used to the shapes of the chords we’re covering. They will soon be ingrained ins muscle memory if he sticks to it.
— Commit to playing this for 15 minutes a day.
Additionally
— I understand if a full 45 minutes of practice is not possible everyday. Do as much as possible. Mainly on the single note pieces.
See you in a week, Efe!