Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Guitar Class: Mike leads the class

I joined the advanced guitar class. This is a continuation of the 2 intro classes I wrote about previously. The class is down to 6. 6 dropped out from the into phase. We are supposed to progress from twinkle twinkle to more challenging songs and concepts.
Once again, it was sort of a train wreck. In fact, I ended up teaching the class to read tab ( see below for a example) style music notation. I have learned to play this way. The bottom staff represents the six strings on the guitar. High E to Low E. The #'s represent what fret to place your finger on. Its a common way to read music for most young learners. The teacher saw me practicing a song before class and asked what it was I was doing. I showed him. I then showed the class, for 30 minutes. :-) Add community ed teacher to my resume!


We were handed 2 songs to work on. Both are songs about addictions.

1. The wacky drug fueled tune " PUFF THE MAGIC DRAGON" ( insert "dude" here)

2. The sage advice song about gambling "THE GAMBLER" pre Kenny "gets a facelift" Rogers.

One more class to go. I will probably find a better teacher to seek out. Still enjoy being around other learners. Oh, by the way...the teacher upgraded his attire with a snappy purple velvet sports coat. Same sweats....sandals.... A stunner!

PS- the pic of the guy on top. That is Carlos Santana. One of my faves. I am going to see him in concert in late April. 3rd row! Last time I saw him was waaaaaay back in 1981. One of my first concerts, probably the loudest show I have ever been to. And the first show where I was offered pot, and of course refused. ( kiddies.....uncle Mike has always been drug free!)

4 comments:

Jacquie said...

i want to learn how to play puff. My dad used to play that for us all the time when we were little. I like it because of the "little Jacquie paper"... haha. Send me the tabs please.

I get to see Tristan Prettyman in April!!! Yipee

Bar L. said...

That's Carlos? Dang it I swear I thought it was you with a new do looking hot.

I think they ought to be paying your to take this class!

I think you should teach them a Van Halen song next week "Hot for Teacher"

Anonymous said...

How much do you charge for lessons? My son wants to play.

Lori said...

Purple velvet? Sweet!
And I love "Puff"...

Good for you on the drug-free...me, too. The only way to be.