Guest Artist - Swede Larson

Swede Larson 

On Friday we were privileged to have Highland Native, Swede Larson, as a Guest Artist in our class. We were all impressed by his skills and talent  - especially after our taste of classical guitar in learning Spanish Theme.  He talked to us about his experiences learning guitar and practicing long hours even as a young child to achieve his goals.  He was fortunate enough throughout his life to study with masters of the classical guitar worldwide.  Some advice he gave was to learn songs in chunks because the attention span of humans is rather short and learning in chunks allows our brain to have pauses in between segments.  He also taught that by learning the basics of guitar position and technique correctly we can always rely on that to help us when other things fail us.  One thing that I loved learning are the reasons for not "planting" our fingers on the guitar while fingerpicking -  it deadens the vibration of the guitar, it causes your  right hand to tense up and not be able to maneuver as quickly, and I can't remember the third reason....

  Here are a few excerpts from his playing:

The next one is my personal favorite.....

Spanish Theme assessments/ Christmas Songs/ Guest Artist!!

Monday we passed off "Spanish Theme".   Each student played it twice - once for a fellow students and once for me.  The assessment score combined each score + a personal evaluation.

Each student was given a packet of Christmas Songs to learn.  So far we have worked on Silver Bells with a 3/4 alternating bass and Jingle Bells with both a strum pattern and Travis fingerpick.

The classes each earned a Pizza Party through good behavior!  Hurrah and thanks to Little Caesars for providing the Pizza!!

On Friday we have shortened classes because of the State Playoff Football Game.

Nevertheless, we have a treat in store!!  A guest artist, Brandon "Swede" Larsen, an accomplished classical guitarist will be coming in to perform for us and talk to us about his experience in Music.

Week of Nov 3-5 Fingerpicking, College Week, etc

This week we are continuing to practice and polish "Spanish Theme"  which students will pass off from memory next week (Nov 9)

Since this week is College Week, we were asked to talk about college experiences and advice.  I brought in one of my favorite things, a Bongo Board.  To master the Bongo Board it requires balance. So does college life and life in general for that matter.  We identified 5 areas that are important to balance:  Physical (exercise, eating right, adequate rest), Relationships (Family, Friends, Romance, Self/Integrity), Education/work, Spiritual/Emotional (Uplifting and inspiring thoughts, reading, music), and Service.  If we can learn to balance these things, our lives will be much happier and fulfilling.

Fingerpicking

We began learning to fingerpick with the basic Travis Fingerpick

P= thumb, i = index, m=middle finger

The numbers represent the strings on the guitar

We used this fingerpick to play "We Are Going to Be Friends" by Jack Johnson