FREE Guitar Lessons to FC Students

Howdy, all!

We have had an amazing response to the free lessons that we're doing in response to the budget issues at FCPS. We've extended to offer of a free summer guitar classes to private schools & home schoolers who may also be in need.

As of his writing, we have 78 registered students (about 10 in the G4 class, all others beginners), leading us to offer addition class times to accommodate everyone.

If anyone is reading this who has NOT registered, please contact me directly for info (I can be reached at sdmusiclab@gmail.com).

Classes begin THURSDAY, JUNE 6 at Willis Music. After the first class, we will also make a Zoom link available, though I strongly urge everyone to attend in person.

Class times are as follows:

G1 (beginner) students have he option of attending class at noon, or 5pm, or 6pm.

G4 (the "boot camp") students can attend the 4pm class.

Each class is roughly 40 minutes long, and we'll run the session for 8 lessons across 9 weeks (we're off Thursday, July 4). We provide all handouts and such - just bring a guitar and be ready to learn!

Yes, I also offer group classes year round AND private lessons year round. In addition, I teach workshops covering a wide array of topics (improvisation, social drumming, intro to piano, songwriting, etc).

For anyone who is interested in more info about me, my official bio can be found at our academy website HERE.

We have had a couple of guitar donations, so anyone in need, please don't hesitate to contact me to we can attempt to get you a guitar to use!

That about wraps it up for the moment. I'm looking forward to meeting everyone this Thursday at Willis Music! 

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If you value my work and want to support it......contact me for lessons (guitar, electric bass, ukulele, social drumming, songwriting, etc), sign up to my Patreon,  or feel free to leave a tip (one-shot or monthly):

PayPal (one-time or monthly options)
http://www.paypal.me/skinnydevilmusic

Venmo (one-time only)
www.venmo.com/David-McLean-47

RIP Tina Turner

The undisputed Queen of Rock-n-Roll.....RIP Tina Turner.

Her influence began almost immediately, showing young ladies the far boundaries of what was possible in the music business. Tina's career spanned from roughly 1960 until well into the 2000s, and every generation was profoundly impacted by her voice, her music, her style, and her sheer force fighting against all odds.

Performing & recording with Ike Turner & his Kings of Rhythm in the late 1950s, she exploded onto the airwaves with her debut single "Fool in Love" in 1960.

RIP Harry Belafonte

The world lost a huge talent in April of '23 - bigger than most of the 21st century music press realized....

Today, we look very briefly at his life & career (with song charts and video below).

Harry Belafonte was born March 1, 1927 in New York City, his father & mother both born in Jamaica and moved to the US before Harry was born. He spent his first 5 years in Harlem, but then moved back to Jamaica to live with his grandmother and attend school. Moving back to the US in his teen years, Belafonte, he dropped out of school, served briefly in the Navy (serving in WW2), and worked as a janitor throughout the remainder of the 1940s.

It was then that he met Sidney Portier (also completely unknown at the time) and fell in love with theater, radically altering the course of his life. 

RIP Gordon Lightfoot

We'll not give this folk legend a proper biographical showing here so that we can get right to the music, but I strongly suggest reading his bio at his Wiki Page or visiting his website.

In short, Gordon Lightfoot is known for songs like "If You Could Read My Mind" (his first #1 hit), "Sundown" (his first US #1 hit), "Rainy Day People", "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", and many more, all of which appeared on a variety of albums starting with "Lightfoot!" (1966) and across his certified gold & platinum selling albums "Sit Down Young Stranger" (1970), "Sundown" (1974), "Summertime Dream" (1976), "Endless Wire" (1978), and "East of Midnight" (1986), as well as his platinum selling compilation album "Complete Greatest Hits" released in 2002.

Lightfoot was a favorite of artists like Bob Dylan and Robbie Robertson (of The Band), performed at the opening of the winter Olympic Games in Calgary (1988), won 5 ASCAP Awards, one Grammy Award (with 5 Grammy nominations), 16 Juno Awards, the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Order of Canada, an honorary doctorate of music from Lakehead University, and so much more...including a Lifetime Achievement Award from SOCAN in 2014.

Please read more about him and explore his fabulous music, available in music stores and online at all major platforms.

Percussion Workshop: "Found" Instruments

 WORKSHOP: Found Instruments & Body/Vocal Percussion

HELLO! My name is David McLean, and I’m your instructor today. This handout is what you will receive at our "Found Instruments & Body/Vocal Percussion" workshops.

Let’s quickly cover a few items….

The Music of "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"

Mid guitar lesson the other day, my student (and Patreon patron) Kit mentioned the soundtrack to the 2000 award-winning film "O Brother, Where Art Though?" and we decided, during the conversation, I was long overdue in writing a lesson article on the movie's soundtrack (similar to my Black Widow and James Bond lesson articles).....so this writing exists to correct that oversight!

The soundtrack, which also won accolades for its soundtrack (including 2022 Grammy Awards for both "Album of the Year" and "Best Compilation Soundtrack" as well as several other Grammys, CMAs, IBMAs, & more) and hit #1 on the charts and sold over 8 million copies, was produced by legend T Bone Burnett.

Let's leap right in and look at each song (charts provided where there is musical accompaniment, though much of the album features a cappella performances - the term "a cappella", it should be noted, simply means there is no harmonic instrumentation supporting the singers).

FREE Fingerstyle Intro Lesson

FINGERSTYLE REQUEST? I gotcha covered...with a Baker's Dozen! 

Explanatory text is below the following video.

The following is hardly our usual methodical approach (and similarly, is not an exhaustive list of fingerstyle techniques or concepts). At SDML Academy of Guitar we certainly have a framework for fingerstyle playing, and as I write these words, we're also working on a video lesson series.

In addition, I'm currently shooting a short (less in-depth, but extremely challenging) video series for my Patreon Page.

But this introduction is sort of the "old school" approach, if you will. That is, just jump in and "do this"!

Sooo...let's jump in.

The below video is under 12 minutes long, calling by string numbers (low E is string SIX, high E is string ONE), and the patterns are as follows:

1) 5 - 2

2) 5 - 2 - 4 - 3 

3) 5 - 3 - 4 - 2 

4) 5 - 2 - 4 - 3 ***

5) 5 - 3 - 4 - 2 ***

6) 5 - 2 - 3 

7) 5 - 3 - 2 

8) 5 - 2 - 4 - 2 - 3 - 2 - 4 - 2

9) 5 - 2 - 5 - 3 - 5 - 4 - 5 - 3 

10) 5 - 4 

11) 5 - 4 - 3 - 4

12) 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 3 - 4 

13) 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 

That should get you started!!!

If you're interested in more fingerstyle (from patterned approaches to Travis Picking to tremolo picking to independent melody lines to "dead thumb" and more), stay tuned for both the short series on my Patreon Page and the more comprehensive series at the SDML website!

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If you value my work and want to support it......contact me for lessons (guitar, electric bass, ukulele, social drumming, songwriting, etc) or feel free to leave a tip (one-shot or monthly):

PayPal (one-time or monthly options)
http://www.paypal.me/skinnydevilmusic

Venmo (one-time only)
www.venmo.com/David-McLean-47

http://www.skinnydevil.net
http://www.sdmlguitar.com

Guitar Lessons (In-Person & Virtual)

"The beautiful thing about learning is that nobody can take it away from you." - BB King

Howdy, everyone!

Couple of quick notes....including word about our return to IN-PERSON lessons!

1) RECITAL - YES, we're back to in-person student recitals! Full band recitals and solo/duo performances are on different days. August 21 is band recital, August 28 is solo/duo recital!

Current students: You should have info via e-mail AND our supplemental page (drill vids, song charts, etc)!

2) PATREON - I'm building my Patreon page, where I include both public works ("Guitar Gods" interview series, "Sonic Sorcery" songwriting series, etc) and behind-the-paywall works (advanced guitar tips, performance vids, music AMAs, etc...and even some non-music topics!).

If you're interested in supporting my past AND future works, it's only $5/month for ALL ACCESS!

https://www.patreon.com/skinnydevilmusic 

3) LESSONS - Since we're in-person AND virtual, if you or anyone you know - ANYONE, ANYWHERE - is interested in guitar or ukulele or electric bass lessons (or advanced players needing to work on specific skills like technique or theory or improvisation....or just stepping up their game), please contact me (or send them my contact info!

The new GROUP class starts at Willis Music on Thursday, August 18. G4 class is 4pm and the G1 class is 5pm. BOTH have in-person and Zoom option! We're pondering adding a G2 class, also! Sign up form is HERE:

https://forms.gle/sw7tQyLR3hFMZ4tF7


I also chatted with the folks at Hurst Music and we hope to return to some form of in-person PRIVATE lessons before year's end! I'll keep you posted, but for now, I still have a few private lessons slots open using our virtual model (live Zoom, e-docs, supplemental page, pre-recorded video, etc).

That's it for now! See y'all soon!

“I believe every guitar player inherently has something unique about their playing. They just have to identify what makes them different and develop it.” – Jimmy Page (guitarist of Led Zeppelin)

Musician's Gig List!

I'm gearing this checklist towards guitar players (so I won't mention extra drum sticks and drum heads, for example), especially of the singer-songwriter sort, but its easy to modify this to your personal needs.

Now, whether you're brand new to gigging or been doing it a long time, its good to have your checklist either at the forefront of your mind or physically written down to look at before you drive to the gig. And as a bonus.....This same list can be used for your recording studio checklist (though you can subtract the merch & stage announcement stuffs).

Let's jump right in with a Baker's Dozen:

2022 Class - Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame

A hearty congratulations to ALL the nominees and inductees this year!

This piece will explore the music (with song charts) of only a handful of the inductees, but they (and all the nominees) are worthy of your ear! I've chosen a handful based on a guitar-centric approach, but we could easily explore the rhythmic vocal approach or lyrical approach of Eminem or the layered production of Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, for two examples.

First, our list of the entire Class of 2022 (performer section in bold):

Pat Benatar

Eminem

Duran Duran

Eurythmics

Dolly Parton

Lionel Richie

Carly Simon

FREE Group Class & FREE Strings

ALERT: To celebrate our post-COVID return to group guitar lessons at Willis Music Lexington, we're offering an EIGHT week guitar session (eight 40 minute group classes each Thursday at 5pm) absolutely FREE.

BUT it gets better: If you BRING A FRIEND and attend the entire session, you'll BOTH receive a FREE set of guitar strings!

AND...while classes are set up for in-person instruction, we also have a ZOOM option for virtual learning for anyone unable to attend for any reason...including out of state or even out of country students!

Willis Music is at 130 W. Tiverton Way in Lexington....and contact me directly (sdmusiclab@gmail.com) for ZOOM information!

P.S. - I do have (as of this writing) 5 open private lessons slots available (though these are not free). Contact me if interested!

-- 

David M. McLean

SDML Academy of Guitar

Benefactory in the Cyber Age

MUSIC/ART, DIGTAL TIP JARS, & 21st CENTURY BENEFACTORY: I posted a version of this essay last year, but was recently urged to up-date it and share again....so here it is:

It has constantly been suggested to me that I embrace the "subscription model" as an addition to my more traditional biz models. That is to say, I am now offering payment options for anyone who values my work and wants to support it - both one-off "tip jar" model and ongoing "monthly subscription" model.

This is to cover the additional (and unpaid) work that I do, such as the "Guitar Gods" interview series, my "Classic Covers" video performance series, various cost-free lesson articles and "Ask Me Anything" series, un-paid "Jam with the Skinny Devil" invitation open mic gigs, and more....(as a full-time self-employed musician, the overwhelming bulk of my income is through live performance & teaching).

A more comprehensive list is below, but in short, 2021 alone gave me the opportunity to host 36 non-paid invitation open mic gigs giving stage time to almost 50 different players, plus saw me publish 21 articles/lessons at Skinny Devil Magazine, another FIVE at Skinny Devil Universe, THREE "Ask Me Anything" videos, and another 28 performance videos.  More than that if we were counting since COVID struck....and it looks like we're off to a good start for 2022!

Free G4 Class Extras

Howdy, everyone!

WEEK ONE

We covered finger exercises, rhythm drills, scales, chords/chord drill, and more in the first class!

Below is some supplemental material for the free G4 class! We'll expand this a bit each week, but thought we'd give you a LOT this week to kick things off!

Enjoy!

Free G1 Guitar Class Overiews

Howdy, everyone!

WEEK ONE

The below video gives a quick overview. We covered:

1) parts of the guitar

2) holding the guitar

3) up-strokes and down-strokes (or thumb & fingers if not using a pick)

4) basic finger exercise

5) picking patterns

6) basic rhythm drill

7) reading tabs - melody & the C major scale

8) basic open chords

See the video HERE.

WEEK TWO

"Silent Night" Run Thru & Lesson

MY GIFT TO YOU.....

The first video (shot a couple of years back) is the same arrangement I've done for gigs & TV spots for a long time. Super basic the first run through, and then I add a bit of complexity the second time around.

WATCH HERE

The next video was shot a year earlier, and is shorter (one run-through), but the lighting is better to see my hands.

WATCH HERE

The next video is a close up walk-through to teach you the basic arrangement.

WATCH HERE

And the final video is the same thing for ukulele!

WATCH HERE

When I get the tab worked up cleanly, I'll include it, also!

Hope you enjoy the challenge - and remember the pay-off is worth the effort!

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If you value my work and want to support it......contact me for lessons (guitar, electric bass, ukulele, social drumming, songwriting, etc) or feel free to leave a tip (one-shot or monthly):

PayPal (one-time or monthly options)

http://www.paypal.me/skinnydevilmusic 

Venmo (one-time only)

www.venmo.com/David-McLean-47 

http://www.skinnydevil.net 

http://www.sdmlguitar.com 

The Music of "Black Widow"

"Black Widow" marks the first post-COVID return of the MCU, and it sure did it with a bang. It was the number one movie its opening week and the biggest opening week since "Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker", grossing some incomprehensible amount of cash in the US and worldwide.

But we're taking a look at it for the music!

In addition to an excellent and thoughtful score composed by Lorne Balfe (the Hans Zimmer protege who also composed for "13 Hours", "Terminator: Genisys", "Mission Impossible: Fallout", and more), we get 3 songs: "Cheap Thrills" by Sia and Sean Paul, the classic "American Pie" by Don McLean, and a modern cover of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Think Up Anger w/ Malia J.

So, let's take a look at those songs!

"Cheap Thrills" was released by Sia in 2016 (from her 7th album, and the newest song, compositionally speaking, on our list) and it went right to #1 on the charts in over 20 countries and was nominated for a Grammy Award! WOW! 

"American Pie" was released way back in 1971 and charted in 9 countries (including #1 in 4 countries) and in 2017 entered the National Songwriting Registry (of the Library of Congress) for historical & cultural significance!

"Smells Like Teen Spirit" was originally released by Nirvana in 1991, where ushered in the era of grunge (and killed off the 80s hair metal bands that had dominated the rock scene for a decade). The song hit #1 in 5 countries (and charted almost everywhere else) and has since landed on "best of" lusts from Rolling Stone, Billboard, & more, and is a Grammy Hall of Fame song. The Malia J version borrows its pace from the 1990s cover by Tori Amos, but with a modern twist and heavily substituted chords.

Sooo....the song charts:

"Cheap Thrills" Sia w/Sean Paul (2016)

F#m - D - /A - E - /F#m - D - /A - E - /

repeat throughout

"American Pie" Don McLean (1971)

chorus

G - C - /G - D - /G - C - /G - D - /

G - C - /G - D - /Em - - - /A7 - - - /

Em - - - /D - - - /D - - - /

"Smells Like Teen Spirit" Nirvana (1991)

transposed to Em for comparison purposes

verse/chorus

Em - A5 - /G - C5 - /Em - A5 /G - C5 - /

repeat

transition

Em - - - /Em - - - /Em - - - /Em - - - /

"Smells Like Teen Spirit" Think Up Anger w/ Malia J (2021)

verse

Em - - - /C - - - /Em - - - /C - - - /

transition

Em - - - /Em - - - /Em - - - /Em - - - /

chorus

Em - - - /C - - - /G - - - /D - - - /

Em - - - /C - - - /G - - - /D - - - /

repeat

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If you find my work useful & would like to support it....

Monthly support: https://www.patreon.com/skinnydevilmusic​ or https://www.paypal.me/skinnydevilmusic​ (Pay What You Will)

One-shot support: https://www.paypal.me/skinnydevilmusic​ or www.venmo.com/David-McLean-47 (Pay What You Will)

THANX!

TEACHING Newsletter

HOWDY ALL!

Just a quick note about SDML guitar lessons, EKU's Foster Music Camp, and more!

1) LESSONS: I have private lesson slots available NOW and we're also starting a new GROUP session! Haven't taken lessons for a while and wanna get back in the saddle? Stuck in a rut and need to get out? CALL ME!

2) UKULELE & BASS: In addition to guitar lessons, I also offer bass guitar & ukulele lessons....perfect for summer strum fun!

3) VIRTUAL LEARNING: We offer not only group & private options, but also live and pre-recorded options in case your schedule is crazy or if you now live a few time zones away! We hope to return to IN-PERSON learning soon, but we'll maintain the virtual options for everyone for your convenience! 

Lots of info at our website:

www.sdmlguitar.com 

4) EKU Foster Music Camp: This year EKU will be offering a new COMMERCIAL music camp, and I'm honored to be teaching alongside some incredible folks (like Berklee grad & former Exile & Judds keyboardist Lee Carroll, award-winning producer/engineer Duane Lundy, sax-player to the stars Joseph Carucci) as well as special guest artists! 

The camp is 100% virtual and there are scholarships available! Info at:

https://fostercamp.org/commercial-music-camp 

5) WORKSHOPS: I'm turning the songwriting workshop and possibly the improvisation workshop into 8-week classes for anyone interested (though I'll still be doing the one day workshop format), and using the pre-recorded format so you can access at any time, re-wind to review, and the like! Info on that coming soon!

6) SD Magazine Articles: There are several lesson articles that may be of interest to many of you, from stand-alone pieces like "Signature Chords" (discusses "Prince Chord", the "Hendrix Chord", the "Hard Days Night" chord, & more) to the new series "Sonic Sourcery" (a songwriting series discussing melody, progressions,rhythms,& more, and has SONG CHARTS for each song) as well as up-coming "Guitar Gods" interviews to go along with out 80+ interviews already published! 

Visit SD Magazine at: 

https://skinnydevilmagazine.blogspot.com/ 

That's it for now! Have a fantastic week!!!

Mini SDML Songwriting Workshop

Howdy, folks!

This is a miniature version of the songwriting workshops I've been conducting for the past decade or so as an extension of our work at SDML Academy of Guitar. While each workshop is unique (due to the participants, their skill levels, knowledge levels, and interests), the foundation is the same as what I'll be using here (except here, for brevity, there will be no discussion of items like form, prosody, stylistic tendencies, timbrel concerns, texture, dynamics, interplay, time changes or key changes, theme & variations, and the like).

To wit: Our framework will be to explore....

1) Rhythm

2) Melody

3) Chord progressions & Harmonization

4) Lyrics & Literary Devices

Let's jump right in!

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.