Progress Report – Week 3

This is what is Rockin’ this week:

Last week we finished looking at You Give Love a Bad Name by Bon Jovi.  To wrap this tune up we learned the chorus and solo section which we now know are both very similar to the intro. If you want to really get crazy we also briefly discussed the solo.  There is a more in depth discussion of the solo on the online review.

This week we are looking at Day Tripper by the Beatles.  This intro guitar riff is one of the more distinguishable guitar lines in Rock n’ Roll and requires hammer ons to get it sounding just right.  Ask your rock star the difference between a hammer on and a pull off.  The chorus is going to use a new chord shape called a barre chord that is generally a large hurdle that shows up on the path to ROCK.  This session we are going to be working with barre chords frequently and it’s important to remember these are difficult to master and will require patience.  

While these chords are tricky, the payoff is huge.  With just one shape and a minor variation, BAM, they will know all available major and minor chords.  Sweet.  Initially if the barre chord is overly frustrating a power chord can be substituted.  Finally, we reviewed the first position of the minor pentatonic scale and are looking at the next position of the scale, minor pentatonic b3.  This position will show up when we look at the Day Tripper solo.  It’s going to be sweet. 

We recommend a weekly Rock routine of 10-20 minutes, 3 to 5 times per week.  This will allow for a noticeable rate of improvement.