Jimi Hendrix at Monterey - a Guitar Lesson

(The following is an excerpt from the "supplemental lessons" page - September/October edition - for my guitar students. Many more song charts, video tutorials, video drills, text, info, and more available there AND at the official SDML Academy of Guitar website, where you can sign up for a free 60 day trial!)

JIMI HENRIX TRIBUTE

To only mildly over-simplify for brevity, it was his set at the Monterey Pop Festival (June 1967) that made Jimi an overnight sensation.

In tribute, I'm charting a few songs on his setlist from that show below, all cover songs. His opening song was the Howlin' Wolf classic "Killing Floor" (a classic 12-bar blues in A released in '64)), his mid-point song (5 of 9) was "Hey Joe" (the Byrds version was 1966), and he ended with "Wild Thing" (a song made famous just a year earlier by The Troggs)...so he was playing contemporary covers of the day, not classic covers. That is a non-trivial detail worthy of discussion in class!

As these are covers, they can also easily be contrasted with his writing style, which at times used simple structures like we see below (with an emphasis then placed on riffs, fills, licks, and the like), but at other times is far more complex (like "The Wind Cries Mary" from his first album, "Little Wing" - which we looks at last month - "Castles Made of Sand", and more).

Read more about the Monterey Pop Festival at the wikipedia page and more about Jimi Hendrix at his official website.....and see Jimi's Monterey setlist below!

"Killing Floor"

framed with a wicked high speed pentatonic riff, the structure is:

A - - - /A - - - /A - - - /A - - - /

D - - - /D - - - /A - - - /A - - - /

E - - - /D - - - /A - - - /E - - - /

"Hey Joe"

C - G - /D - /A - /

E - E7 - /E - E7 - /

repeat

"Wild Thing"

A - D - /E - D - /

repeat

Jimi's Monterey setlist:

1) "Killing Floor" - Howlin' Wolf

2) "Foxey Lady"

3) "Like a Rolling Stone" - Bob Dylan

4) "Rock Me Baby" - BB King

5) "Hey Joe" - The Byrds

6) "Can You See Me"

7) "The Wind Cries Mary"

8) "Purple Haze"

9) "Wild Thing"

FREE GUITAR / BASS / UKULELE LESSON

HOWDY friends!

For those interested in guitar (or ukulele or electric bass.......or any of our workshops, from songwriting to improvisation to basic keyboard to social drumming and more), I thought I'd make this free mini lesson available so you can get a little taste of how we approach things! The GUITAR VIDEO IS AVAILABLE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE (but the parts of the lessons are not on video, so be sure to read the entire lessons below)....or, if the video isn't displaying properly, you can view it HERE. 

ALSO....the BASS video is HERE and the UKULELE video is HERE.

If you are interested in lessons, contact me directly at sdmusiclab@gmail.com or visit our website for info on the system, instructors (me, Paulie, & JD), needs-based scholarship program, lessons options (group class, private lessons, real-time, pre-recorded, in-person, vitrtual, etc), and more: www.sdmlguitar.com 

Let's break in down into several areas. Several of these items will also be on the video below.

JULY Lifestyle Challenge

We do periodic lifestyle challenges that are always guided but very general. I thought I'd try something different this month. We all have huge lists of daily activities (from work to family to hobbies and more) and often the challenges we do get a tad overwhelming, even if well-intentioned.

So let's try a ONE GOAL PER WEEK challenge this month!

Pick ONE thing per week....hell, pick ONE thing for just this week right now and we'll worry about the rest of the month later!

Visit the May Lifestyle Challenge for ideas if you're new to this.

For me, I'll list them one for each of the 4 weeks of July:

1) I'm just going to try some new organizational tools in an attempt to weed out waste and increase my general productivity & presence. Thanx to my friend Eddy for a great "journaling" idea!

2) TBA

3) TBA

4) TBA

My bonus item: Having ONE gym day that gets heavier than other days (Wednesday, as of late). I go in earlier, do extra cardio, and try to do the regular resistance & body-weight work with some extra focus.

But our goal, remember, is pick ONE thing this week...and each week in July.

As always, you can leave comments on your goals below or contact me directly if you like!

Let's do it!!

The Music of James Bond

James Bond gun barrel design is also iconic!

Ian Fleming's "Casino Royale" was published in 1953 and with it, James Bond became one of the most iconic literary characters in history. The first movie, "Dr. No", was released in 1962, and with it, the James Bond became one of the most iconic film series in history.

Monty Norman was commissioned to compose the theme and John Barry was tasked with re-arranging the theme for "Dr. No", and with that, James Bond music became just as iconic.

In addition to the famous "James Bond Theme" (and the situational Bond themes heard in the series), there has been a tradition of one-off title themes beginning with the second movie, "From Russia with Love". Among the most successful of these songs are "Goldfinger" (1964) by John Barry & sung by Shirley Bassey, "Live and Let Die" (1973) by Paul McCartney and performed by his band Wings, "Nobody Does it Better" (1977) by Marvin Hamlish and sung by Carly Simon, "A View to a Kill" (1985) by John Barry with Duran Duran, "Die Another Day" (2002) written & performed by Madonna, and "No Time to Die" (2020) by Billie Eilish.

Gotta dress sharp to teach Bond.

Let's learn them all, shall we?

May Lifestyle Challenge

WITH EVERYONE STRUGGLING due to the stresses of the COVID-19 quasi-quarantine, I thought I'd skip our periodic lifestyle challenge.

However, in speaking to folks & seeing social media posts about the difficulties of lockdown & re-opening; the disruption and challenges to social, economic, physical, & psychological health; the humorous but telling "drinking at 10am, 3 naps a day, gaining weight" memes coupled with the very real increase in depression & hotline rates; and, bluntly, the people who have explicitly asked me to provide info or assistance with not only music (that's not unusual, obviously) but also diet, exercise, and "how you stay so positive"....well, I thought my initial thoughts might have been mistaken.

Sooooo.....

For those new to the challenges, it isn't to compete against others. It's to push yourself to greater heights, have some company & inspiration along the way, and a few ideas the help get us focused. For example, you can use this waving of the analytical knife to help organize your goals:

1) Exercise/Diet - Set a specific plan or goal(s). Keep us posted weekly (or more) on your progress!

2) Creativity - Music, art, writing, acting...set a goal to complete by month's end. Keep us posted!

3) Personal life - Re-affirm your personal relationships, get to that project/chore you've been avoiding, or just read a book you've always wanted to read!

4) Professional life - Set a work goal or change jobs or....just tell us what it is and keep us posted!

My personal goals include: 

1) Exercise/diet - Keep adjusting my workouts to continually keep my body guessing (without benefit of gym, this has been extremely challenging) and mix my eating up in similar fashion (including periodic short-duration fasts)...and I've been alcohol-free for a little over 2 weeks as I write this.

2) Creativity - Honestly, the majority of my creative output is currently focused on creative ways to generate income. 100% virtual lessons is working nicely, but many students have had to fall back onour scholarship program due to financial hardships...plus all my performance income is obviously gone. So, promoting music lessons, organizing upcoming workshops, doing song requests for tips, and the like has consumed much of my creative energy. And clearly I need to get even more creatove - haha! But challenges are always good, so on I trek!

3) Personal life - Spending extra time with grandkids to make sure they are handling the abrupt adjustments with minimal stress. 

4) Professional life - See item #2 above - haha!

Soooo.....share publicly or priately, and please don't hesitate to reach out for anything you may need!