We are coming to the end of another school year, they just seem to fly by! This year I have been teaching guitar and ukulele at Ilfracombe Junior School, Ilfracombe Infant School, Berrynarbor School, Filleigh School, Chittlehampton School, and new to this year Chulmleigh School. Due to many children moving up to their senior schools and colleges, I will have space for new students in all the above schools. Places will be limited, but I can take your booking now by calling 07866 650015. If you already have lessons with me and intend to carry on, there is no need to contact me. If your school is not on the above list, you could ask your school to contact me, to arrange for me to teach in your school, or you could simply have lessons after school in you own home. Hope you all have a great summer holiday, let's hope for some sun this year.
My old shop 'Flipside', in Church Street. I used to sell CDs VHS videos, and musical instruments. This was the late eighties and early nineties. The inside view. That's me on the right. If you remember the shop, or even better, if you were a customer, please leave your memories in the comments section. Standard Tuning
The notes of the open srings of a guitar in standard tuning are (starting with the thickest string) E, A, D, G, B and E. To remember this, Elephants And Donkeys Grow Big Ears. The easiest way to tune your guitar is with an electronic tuner. They come in various types, but are really cheap these days, and well worth the investment. There are also internet tuners, mobile phone and ipod tuners these days. I use the Polytune app for iPhone/iPod. It is also vital to be able to tune by hear. so this is how it's done. Assuming the 6th string is in or at least nearly in tune, hold down the the note on the 5th fret. The note produced should be the same as the open 5th string. If it is not, turn the tuning peg on the 5th string until the notes produced are the same. Once this is completed hold down the 5th fret on the 5th string. This should produce the same note as the open 4th string. Again if this is not the case, then turn the tuning peg on the 4th string until it is the same. Hold down the 5th fret of the 4th string. This note should be the same as the open 3rd string. Again if it is not, turn the tuning peg until it is the same. This time hold down the 4th fret of the 3rd string. This fret should produce the same note as the 2nd string. If does not, then turn the tuning peg of the 2nd string until it does. Finally, hold down the 5th fret of the 2nd string, this should produce the same note as the open 1st string. If it is not, turn the 1st tuning peg until it is the same. This should have put the guitar in tune. It is not very easy to do and does take practice. For information on guitar lessons http://paulclews888.weebly.com/guitar--ukulele-lessons.html
I caught the bus a 8:45 and got picked up on the way to Paul's house by Paul. We had to go to his dads house so he could alter the bridge on his Kala arch top ukulele. Once that was done we got back to Paul's house to check the ukulele and found that Paul's Amp was broken. After that we went to Ilfracombe infants school for a couple of lessons. During which Paul mainly taught some new chords and then used songs to help them get learned. Then we went to Berrynarbor School and Paul taught someone Three Little Birds by Bob Marley. After that we had a lesson in Northam during which Paul was teaching scale modes and fancy chords using music theory that I had no clue about.
By Jake Cole
I arrived Paul's house at about 9:30 and there I learned some songs with him for his birthday party and he helped me plan for the lesson that I would be teaching later at Ilfracombe Infant School. After that we went to the school and I helped Paul with a guitar lesson. During it I helped the student learn the G and C chords. Then Paul taught him a song, using the chords the student had learned..
Once that was over we went back to Paul's house for a bit. After that we had a lesson just outside Barnstaple in which Paul was teaching some songs from the grade 5 rockschool book. After that lesson Paul had one at Arlington during which he taught Picking and sweeping on the guitar, and House of the Rising Sun by The Animals.
By Jake Cole
I caught the bus and got to Paul's house at about 9:30. There I helped Paul test his lighting equipment, before making a start on testing the PA equipment for a gig the weekend. But before we could finish we had to go to Ilfracombe junior school. There he had two lessons. In the first one, teaching scales and the other teaching Teenage kicks by The Undertones. Then we went back to Paul's house to finish checking his PA. Once that was over me and Paul went round Ilfracombe high street asking shop keepers to put up posters for Paul's ukulele lessons. Then Paul had a lesson in West Down where he was teaching a student major and pentatonic scales. By Jake Cole
Got picked up by Paul from my house at about 8:15am and we drove to Filleigh school. It took about 45 minuets to get there because of the traffic, which was terrible. There Paul taught some students how to change chords whilst strumming. After that we headed to Chittlehampton school where Paul taught someone how to read tab for the ukulele. Once that was over we went back to Paul's home, I had some lunch and then I helped Paul print & laminate some posters. Then we went back to my house so Paul could teach my brother. Just before the lesson I learned a couple of chords on the ukulele and then watched Paul teach my brother some grade 5 rockschool on guitar. Then we drove back to Paul's house.
Me at Filleigh School trying out one of Paul's Kala ukes.
Paul tuning up for a ukulele lesson at Filleigh School.
After spending a couple of hours at Paul's house, we headed to Larkstone cafe for ukulele club. It lasted for 2 hours during which we played songs by artists like The Clash The Beatles and Buddy Holly.
Me at Ilfracombe Ukulele Club held at Larkstone Cafe.
Outside Lakstone cafe with my ukulele.
Me and Paul with Larkstone Cafe in the Background.
Me and Paul just before Ilfracombe Ukulele Club started inside Larkstone Cafe.
By Jake Cole
I got picked up at about 10 o'clock.
Helped Paul sign in on four square (Four Square ID 34843477) at different places as we headed to Chumleigh Primary School. We went in at about 12 o'clock and came out at about 4 o'clock after doing quite a few lessons during which Paul mainly taught different students bass runs on the guitar. After that we went to South Molton to get some fish n chips. Once that was over we headed to a house about 10 minutes drive out of South Molton. There for an hour Paul taught someone some grade 5 rockschool and then we headed home.
Above is a picture of the farm just outside South Molton.
By Jake Cole
Last week I wrote this blog on how to use #DevonHour http://paulclews888.weebly.com/1/post/2013/05/devon-hour.html
Now, does Devon Hour work? Amazingly, I still get people ask me if Twitter works. If you have a business and you're not on twitter, where have you been the last four years? You're losing lots of business. Last week during Devon hour, somebody responded to one of my guitar lesson tweets. They asked me if I could teach 'reading music'. I of course, responded 'yes'. The person who responded to this tweet was not interested in lessons for themselves. They were asking on behalf of a family member. The family member lives only a couple of miles away from me. With a couple of DMs, a couple of emails and a phone call, a lesson was set up. The first lesson happened yesterday. The guy I was teaching, I seem to get on with really well. He'd had two guitar teachers before me. At the end of the lesson the new student said to me 'I've learned more in this hour than I've ever learned from all my previous lessons put together'. I know I left him satisfied, he booked a weekly lesson. That means I have just received a £100 a month pay rise. Does Devon Hour work? Is it worth doing that twitter thing? Twitter is just for twits isn't it? I know who the real twits are! Lol! If you would like to book one of my guitar lessons either in your North Devon home or by Skype click on this link below for more information http://paulclews888.weebly.com/guitar--ukulele-lessons.html
My first electric guitar was a Harmony Les Paul Junior copy. It's the guitar I started to learn seriously on. I bought it from a shop on the outskirts of Walsall. I can't remember the name of the shop, but I'd seen the guitar in the shop window every morning on my way to work. I saved up, then went back one Saturday, parted with £50 (about 2 weeks wages). This guitar took me from knowing next to nothing, to bar F. I bought it purely on the fact that it was the cheapest electric guitar in the shop. This of course is not the way to buy a guitar (See my blog on how to buy a guitar. I've put a link at the end of this blog). It turned out to be not too bad a guitar, I've certainly seen far far worse guitars since.It was at the bar F point, I realised I needed a better guitar. With a little advice decided on a Fender Stratocaster.
By Christmas 1983 I'd saved enough. I sold my Sherpa mini bus to a karate club to raise the remainder, to much dismay from my parents. 'How are you going to get to work with no transport'? 'But you can't even play'! Were just a couple of their kinder comments they suggested to me. I had a dream, or an ambition, and they were dream stealers. Anyway, I knew I wouldn't be able to get the best deal that side of Christmas, so I waited until the January sales. By the time I was ready to buy my second electric guitar, I knew all the guitar shops in the area, I took my friend with me and went guitar shopping. I was looking at all the Strats in all the shops. I ended up in a shop in Walsall on the ring road. Again, it's name escapes me, but not the same shop I'd bought the Les Paul Junior copy from. I asked the guy who worked there if I could try a Fender Strat that had caught my eye. In other words, the cheapest I could find. It was about £300, and I was having it. 'Before you buy that, try this' suggested the guitar shop assistant. He handed me a Tokai Strat. It's a copy I thought to myself, I don't want a copy, I want the real thing. I tried it. It looked, felt, and played just like the fender, but was only £210. 'Before you make your mind up try this'. This time he handed me a Gordon Smith. It was £250. I liked it, but not as much as the Strats. Insistently, I do own a Gordon Smith now, I've had it about 20 years. I ended up purchasing the Tokai on that occasion. I have used it almost every day since, and I am still using it today. If you see a picture of me with a red Strat, that's the guitar. Buying that guitar turned out to be the best investment I could have done. It propelled my learning. The guitar was easier to play, sounded far nicer, and made me feel amazing. Without a decent instrument, it is really difficult to develop as a musician. Without taking that risk of selling my transport to work, parting with what seemed an unjust amount of money for me at that time, would I have managed to learn the guitar to the level I did? I suspect not, therefore what career would I now have? Who knows? But I love that guitar and the business it has given me! It has paid for itself countless times. How to buy a guitar blog http://paulclews888.weebly.com/1/post/2013/02/how-to-buy-a-guitar.html
Information on my guitar lessons http://paulclews888.weebly.com/guitar--ukulele-lessons.html Tokai Guitars http://www.tokaijapan.com/ Fender Guitars http://www.fender.com/en-GB/#/american-standard-stratLH |
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