March 23, 2012

It was special request week here at TG. I picked out a few songs that
were not on the Recommend A Lesson list (although one was recently)
and got lessons together for them. The first was John Hiatt’s Hold On
For Your Love. This turned into an ear-training lesson as the
progression and strumming patterns were fairly basic. This came to us
through the Recommend A Lesson channel but gathered a lot of momentum
very quickly so I managed to get to it quickly.

The second request came from my daughter Rebecca, who is into a few
things a bit off my radar. She suggested California King Bed by
Rihanna. I figured it would be a good addition to the program and she
would be happy learning it. When I told her I had done the lesson and
asked if she saw it yet, she told me she had already figured it out
anyway.

Neil Young is somebody I am always happy to do lesson on and this week
seemed like the right time to get to On The Way Home. This originally
came out in his Buffalo Springfield days but remains a concert staple
today.

We released a 6-Pack of Badfinger tunes as well. It included the songs
we added to the Target Program over the last few months and is
available at a very special price. We know many students like the
concentrated packs and are happy to be able to offer them as we can.

This week’s Fly On The Wall lessons included another song from the
movie Crazy Heart, The Weary Kind, as well as a short clip of me
helping Sandy practice changing strings. This is something many
students put off too long as it seems like a big project. It doesn’t
have to be, especially if you do it every couple of months.

Our Student Reviews this week included a couple of our earliest Target
songs, Here Comes The Sun and I’d Love To Change The World. I hope
everybody is taking advantage of the comments and suggestions that get
added there as most can be applied to many different songs and
techniques.

As I wandered through songs this week I found myself listening again
to one of my main influences, John Fahey. I hope most of you have
checked out some of his songs and playing, at least on YouTube. He has
a wide range of sounds and textures, some of which are fascinating,
others can be found unlistenable and irritating. In any case, someone
worth checking out.

Until next week

Stay Tuned &  In Touch,

Neil