Today was my third day on work experience, we had a jam packed day like yesterday. We started the day by heading into Barnstaple for ukulele lessons at Sticklepath school. At the school we had three different groups to teach, one of which were quite good. After that we went to Soundpad to buy some lighting equipment for Paul's stage lights. Next we had another 2 ukulele lessons which were fun. Finally we drove back to Exmoor for another ukulele workshop with a group of school kids. Ukulele Wednesday was the best day so far!
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On the 12th April I will be taking part in National Learn an Instrument Day's called Play it Today, hosted by Soundpad in Barnstaple. The idea is to inspire people to take up a musical instrument. I have been invited, as one of the leading local music teachers to be instore to talk to people, and to show them some basics on guitar and ukulele. Often, people do not know where to go for advice when learning an instrument. Play it Today is a great opportunity for people to try a new instrument and get all the advice they need to start playing. If you are interested in taking up music, even if it is not guitar or ukulele, pop along and say hello. Soundpad http://www.soundpad.co.uk/ Facebook event https://m.facebook.com/events/487665374671182 This post will be updated when more information is available, so please check back. YouTube guitar lessons are free. They are worth less than that. Let me explain that comment. I spend an awful lot of my time as a guitar and ukulele teacher correcting students who come to me having tried (some cases for years) this method of learning. They learn bad habits and incorrect information from YouTube. Consequently, time and money is wasted as I put things right again. Students find it harder to relearn than starting from scratch. When I started to learn in the Stone Age, YouTube didn't exist. I'm not saying YouTube is all bad, but sorting the good from the chaff is really difficult as a beginner. Let me give you an example, I searched in YouTube 'how to play G on guitar'. The first 'lesson' I saw was this. The smart ones amongst you will notice it's F. I don't think this would have tripped too many of you up. So let's look at the next video. This time Justin explains how to play a G chord. He rabbits on a bit, has nice graphics. Further on down and you get this. This guy teaches G completely differently. Which one is correct? Very confusing if you're a beginner. If you hit the wrong version first, you could learn the chord the incorrect way, screwing up your guitar playing career before you have really got going. Let me give you a clue, Justin has lovely graphics, but his guitar playing is not so lovely. It's the 2nd video on YouTube. Don't forget, F was the first one. Hopefully you get my point. Here is another. This guy has got hundreds of lessons on his YouTube channel. He does not even know the basics. He does not know what the strings are called, constantly mixing up the top and bottom strings. Please don't waste your time and money trying to learn on YouTube. Get professional advice from someone in the know. I give guitar and ukulele lessons around North Devon homes and schools, Petroc and anywhere else in the world by Skype, FaceTime and Google Hangouts. Win a free half hour guitar or ukulele lesson by Skype, FaceTime or google hangouts. During #DevonHour on twitter, this week only (21/82013), 10 questions about me will appear under the hash tag #SoYouThinkYouKnowMe. Simply tweet the answers back to me. All the answers are in my twitter time line and blogs. The winner will be announced shortly after Saturday 6 pm (24/8/2013) when the competition closes, here and on Twitter. In the event of a tie, I will draw a winner from the most correct answers. Anyone is eligible to play, except me. Good luck! You must be able to get your hands on a guitar or ukulele. No cash alternatives. My decision is final. The rain yesterday at Filleigh Fete kept many visitors away. For those That made the effort, there was plenty to do & see. 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. I have a workshop booked at Clavelshay Barn, North Petherton, Taunton, Somerset,
TA6 6PJ on the 22 July at 7 pm.. It is open to the public. For booking and more information http://www.clavelshaybarn.co.uk/workshops/ukulele-workshop/ 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
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