Week of October 26 - 30 Spanish Theme

This week we introduced a new warm up based on the 1972 Song, "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple.  On each string we played the following fret progression 0  3  5  0  3  6 5  0  3  5  3  0  to warm up our fingers

On Monday I introduced a favorite song of mine and taught the students how to hold their guitars in classical position

Classical Guitar Position

Then I introduced them to Spanish Theme and have been teaching techniques such as chunking, rest stroke, and adding dynamics to songs.

One of my students recorded me several years ago playing this song (just the left hand) so he could practice it at home.  He posted it on Youtube so I will include the link.  I regret that I was not playing in classical position to demonstrate, but hopefully the fingerings will be of help to my students:

Spanish Theme Link

On Tuesday we also learned an alternating bass technique to accompany songs.  This is in the book on pg 24.

We practiced it with "Monster Mash" (G Em C D )  and brushed up on the simplified chords in "Thriller" (Am D  E7  F  G) with a straight strum

We have Guest Artists coming on Friday