Bloopers

Homework Song for Session 4 - None But Jesus

This song introduces the key of "D". As we mentioned during this morning's session, if you can master the keys of "G" and "D", with the use of a capo, you will be able to play almost any song in a worship setting.

The only tricky bit with this song is the "push chord". The beat is syncopated and it means that at certain points in the song, you will be changing chords on the "upstroke" rather than the "downstroke".

The female vocals is none other than my lovely wife, Ling.

Music Theory

During Session 3, we started going into some music theory but I suspect that many of you might have found it hard to grasp the concepts. Don't feel discouraged if this is the case because your learning curve has already been very steep in this class!

But do try your best to understand the theory that will be taught in the coming weeks. I encourage you to ask as many questions as you need to. Your tutors are there to help you out as much as they can.

You'd need to learn both the practical and theoretical side of music to excel in the instrument. You'll soon find that a good foundation in music theory will help you learn the practical side because you would understand what you are doing and not simply mimicking finger shapes.

See you all on Saturday!

Darren

Homework Song for Session 3 - Magnificent

The homework song for this week is "Magnificent", strummed in eigths.

We chose this song because it incorporated all the chords in the key of "G", namely G, C, D, Em, Am and Bm.

You will notice that Darren keeps his wrist moving in eights, but he strategically does not "hit" the strings on every stroke. This is just to give the song some "colour". As you get used to constancy in your rhythm, you will naturally get the feel for a song as to when to actually strike the strings with your upstrokes and downstrokes.

I suggest you also try some other songs which appear at the back of your notes in the key of "G" so you have a feel for the different permutations of chord changes between the family of chords.

If you can master changing between these six chords and get a consistent strum going, you can essentially play most of the songs we do at church!

Module 2 is Starting

I hope you've all been practising hard and mastering G, C and D with eighth notes. We've now finished Module 1, and starting this Saturday 31 Oct, we will be into the Second Module.

We will be learning new chords in the key of G, so by the end of this week's session, you should be able to play most songs which are in the key of G. We'll be uploading the homework song for this Session 3 shortly.

You should by now have a thick layer of dead skin on your left hand. Cherish it as a trophy of your hard work over the last 3 weeks. If you don't, you're not trying hard enough! Just kidding!

Remember to keep practising. If you find some songs that you like at the back of your notes, why not try to play them and figure them out for yourselves?

Looking forward to our session this Saturday.

No Class this Saturday

Just a reminder that there is no class this Saturday. We have deliberately scheduled in breaks between sessions to give you time to practise and consolidate what has already been taught.

The only way to improve is to practise in your own time, so we encourage you to pick up the guitar even for 20 minutes a day to go through changing chords between G, C and D and trying to strum in eighths.

We'll see you next week for Session 3!

Note New Dates

Please note that there is a change in date for the last session. It was originally scheduled for Saturday, 28 November. It has now been pushed one week back to Saturday, 5 December.

We will remind you again closer to the date.

Tutorial Groups

Hi everyone

Just a short note to let you know that for this week, please stay in the same tutorial group as last week unless we tell you otherwise. Some of you may be shifted around because your tutor is not here this week or because there are some new students who weren't here last week.

Otherwise, if you keep to the same tute group, that will help us immensely. See you on Saturday!

Session 1 Homework Song - Because He Lives

Hi everyone

Here is the homework song for Session 1 - Because He Lives - played by Darren and sung by me.

Our First Session

We held our first session this morning at the Lighthouse.  What an amazing sight to see 40 people with guitars all in one room!  See if you can find yourself in the picture.

Some of us were more advanced than others, and we had to teach some people to hold their guitars properly (the correct way to hold it is with the strings facing out, Joanna!)

Darren taught us how to change strings, how to tune, and stuff about guitar care before launching into our basic chords of G, C and D.

We then broke off into small group tutoring sessions.

Remember to keep practising your chord changes and strumming with "Because He Lives".  We will shortly post up the song in case forgot how it went!

Can't wait til next week.  In the meantime, keep checking this blog because we are going to add some more instructional material during the week.

Come Early on Saturday Morning

Hi everyone
Just wanted to ask that you come early on Saturday for our first class so that we can sign you off our registrations list and hand you a copy of the notes. 
We've got quite a few people to get through so we will be opening registrations from 9.30am. 
See you there!
Lester

Counting Down....

Counting down now to the first session on Saturday 10 Oct.

We're nearly done putting the notes together and we will be meeting with our tutors this Friday for a briefing. 

I hope you are as excited as we are!

Done Deal

About 20 of our students met with Darren at Just Music this afternoon to buy some guitars and other equipment.

After 2 hours of trying out guitars and gruelling negotiations, our students scored a great deal on a package consisting of a guitar, chromatic tuner, capo, gig bag and guitar stand.  Great job, Darren.

One of our students also walked out of Just Music with well-discounted set of Roland electronic drums.

Peter rounded off the session by asking the owner of Just Music to come to church!  That's gutsy and inspiring stuff!

Here's a pic of Darren trying out a guitar (can't remember which one it is!).

After an exhausting afternoon, there was no better way to finish off the day than with a refreshing pint or two of Fat Yak at Steve's.  Awesome stuff!

Meet Our Instructor

By now, some of you would have received some form of communication, either on this blog, or by email from our instructor, so I thought it was about time that I introduced you to him formally.

Our instructor for this course is Darren Woon.

In July of this year, you may have heard me preach a message on the "Transforming Grace of Worship" where I told the story of a dweeby teenager (sorry Darren) who encountered God in worship and was transformed.

I'm a great admirer of Darren; for some years, I had the honour of sharing the platform with him on the worship team.  We both share a passion for worship and music; moreso he than me because he actually has great musical skill!  It is one thing to be excellent at your craft, but it is another to use it in passionate pursuit of God's glory.  So, God is his greatest fan; and I rank not too far behind.

I remember the times when Darren used to write worship songs and we would hang in his makeshift studio recording them.  He would put in the click tracks, guitar and bass parts, and I would lend the vocals.  Ah, those were the days. 

When I was asked to put on a class to train guitarists, I knew of no better person than Darren.  I believe that he is an anointed and patient teacher, and above all, he will inspire you to greater heights in your craft.
So soak it in guys!  We are in for a fantastic ride!

Lester

Choosing an Acoustic Guitar

For those of you that need to purchase a guitar, here are a few things to consider.

Basically, it all comes down to how much you want to spend and you need to think about this before you come shopping on Saturday. If you are serious about learning the instrument, I highly recommend investing in a good guitar.

TYPE OF GUITAR: Steel String or Classical? We'll be focusing on the Acoustic (steel string) guitar during this course. This is what is commonly used within the church for praise and worship.

TOP: Cheaper guitars come with a laminate top (or sound board). This involves gluing several layers of thin wood together. Guitars of higher quality use a "solid top" which means that the sound board is constructed from a solid piece of wood. Solid top guitars offer superior sound quality and the notes ring out louder and sustain longer. I highly recommend a solid top.

PICKUP: A guitar with a pickup allows you to connect your guitar to an amplifier or PA system. This will not be required for playing in cell group, but you'll need it if you want to play in the main service worship team.

CUTAWAY: A guitar with a cutaway allows access to the higher frets. It looks like part of the body has been "cut away". I personally don't feel it is necessary for an acoustic guitar, but many people prefer it for the novelty and looks.

WOOD: The type of wood the guitar is made from plays a big part in how it sounds (and looks). A Spruce top is arguably the most popular and gives a bright and snappy sound and responds well to strumming. A cedar top gives a warmer and more mellow sound, and is more suited for light finger-style. I would recommend Spruce.

ACTION: The "action" is the distance the strings are from the frets. The closer this distance is, the easier it is to play the guitar. This can be adjusted to a certain degree but the construction/design of the guitar determines how well it can be adjusted.

BODY SHAPE: There are several body shapes available. I will discuss this in more detail on Saturday.

Don't worry if any of these points confuse you. I'll be there on saturday to help you out! Just remember to come with an idea of how much you want to spend.

Cheers,

Darren

We Are Going Shopping

As promised, we are going shopping this coming Saturday 19 September 2009 at Just Music.  Please meet at the Just Music carpark, 552 Stirling Highway, Cottesloe at 2 pm. 

If we have enough people, we might be able to get some discounts on bulk purchases.

If you would like to attend, please email us to confirm that you are coming at fgaguitarfundamentals@gmail.com.  See you on Saturday!

Welcome to Guitar Fundamentals

Welcome to the Guitar Fundamentals blog.  Our team of instructors and tutors are very excited that so many people have signed up to be part of this course. 

This is the first time in the history of Living Stones Ministry that we have taught a course like this one, both in scope, content and delivery method.  So we hope that you will enjoy the journey with us.

The purpose of this course is to equip students with the basics of playing the guitar.  It is hoped that at the end of this course, and with a lot of practise, students will be able to play almost any song.

The larger objective is to raise up guitarists at the cell group level.  In that regard, the context of the teaching will be Christian worship songs.  We will be teaching you to play current worship songs and giving you chords for a whole of other worship songs which will hopefully help more advanced students progress further in their learning.

Finally, we hope to inspire gifts and talents in you which may have remained latent until now.  We trust that not only will you find pleasure in playing the guitar, but it will be a powerful tool in your hands for personal worship and to bring others into the presence of God.

Counting down to the first session....

Lester