The Great American CAGED Shoot Out

Hello everyone.

As I was teaching my teenage students the value of the CAGED system an interesting thing happened; they all began to compete to see who could play all five keys the fastest. It has become a real focus among most of them. So I decided to have a formal competition and see who really is the fastest. 

March 15th at Vocals and More, ( 481 N., Suite 100, Commons Rd, Aurora  630-851-3262,) 7:00 to 9:00, we will hold our Great American CAGED Shoot Out. I'll be sending out emails and fliers once I have to rules formalized. It looks like there will be up to 15 of my teen students competing. After the competition we will try to have one big teen jam, hopefully in blues. Anyone is welcome but only the teens can compete and jam. 

For those of you not up on CAGED, it is a systematic way to learn notes, scales and chords up and down the guitar fingerboard. It makes it easy to learn to play in other positions without brute force memorization.  Many songs use CAGED shape chords and variations so it is helpful to learn these. That cuts down your learning curve for a particular song. And the hand and finger exercises are worth the effort. 

thanks and keep playing guitar.

Terry

Naperville Guitar Lessons Adult Jam

Hi there.

We had another great Adult Jam last Saturday, the 2nd. Everyone had a real good time. Several people sang songs, Anne and Karyn played and sang the Eagles How Long. Karyn did Heart of Gold. I can't remember all the songs everyone sang and played. 

We all did Stand By Me. I led the group in If You Needed Me, and The Last Thing On My Mind.  I showed everyone how to play Harvest Moon , including the introduction. Everyone figured it out. It was lots of fun.

Matt started our 12 bar blues jam with the intro to Pride And Joy, we then moved it into Sweet Home Chicago and then just one big blues jam. Fast and furious. OK, furious!

Here's the link to the photos.

http://napervilleguitarlessons.com/tschafer/photos/

Thanks and keep playing guitar!

Terry

 

Adult Jam

Hi there.

  On Saturday, February 2nd, we will be start our second season of Adult Jams. This is primarily for the benefit of my adult students , but everyone is welcome (no kids please). Most everyone is a beginner and still feeling their way around a guitar. You can bring your guitar and play along but, if you're more than a beginner,  you can't show off. (If you do we'll escort you over to Guitar Center and let you play with the 15 year olds! )

  We always start off with Stand By Me in G. Since it's getting close to Valentine's Day, I'll play a love song or two. Then, at any point, if someone wants to play a song for the group, they are welcome to  do so. No pressure, you don't even have to play if you don't feel like it. We just like getting together and playing some songs. 

  Location: Vocals and More , 481 N. Commons Rd, Suite 100, Aurora IL   640-851-3262

  Time:  7:00 PM to (officially) 9:00 ( or what ever )

  Thanks, hope to see you there!

  Terry

Humidity and your guitar

Hi, Everyone.

With winter in the midwest going back and forth, the two big things you really have to watch out for is humidity and temperature control. I have been discussing humidity with my students and they all know how important it is. At the end of this post is a link to a page on Larrivee's web site that has a lot of information about humidity and your guitar. While it is directed at us Larrivee owners, it has a lot of good information for everyone else! 

Cold is bad for your guitar also. I don't have to tell you to not keep it in your car trunk. As you know, trunks get very cold in the winter and very hot in the summer. But even in the back seat of your car for a half hour can really lower the temperature.     

 When you go into a house that's heated to 70/75 or so and open the guitar case, the poor chilly guitar experiences thermal shock! As the wood, glue, plastics and finish try to get up to temp, they expand at different rates. In extreme cases this can cause cracking of the finish. It's what's known as checking. 

   Allow your guitar to warm up in it's hard shell case. Let it get close to room temperature before you open it. The newer finishes aren't as sensitive but you should still avoid extremes. 

   The bottom line is that your guitar was probably made in a factory that maintained 70 degrees and 50 per cent RH. You want to keep your guitar's environment as close to that as possible.

Thanks. Keep playing guitar!

Terry

 http://www.larrivee.com/5_features/educationEssays/humidityWood_essay.html