This week we broke out a couple of classics that I have been showing students pretty much since they came out. We started the week with Joan Baez’ tune Diamonds And Rust- a nice fingerpicking piece that is not really difficult but there are a lot of ways to play it wrong. I figured it was time to get it out there with a bit more accuracy. We also put together a lesson on Fire Lake, by Bob Seger. This was done with a bit of the ‘Work It Out’ method to work on ear training.

A few weeks ago I got on a Cowboy Songs kick, mostly to get some easier songs into the library. This week looked at another set of standards- Oh Shenendoah, The Yellow Rose Of Texas, Red River Valley, and Sweet Betsy From Pike- a cute song about heading to California for gold in 1849.

We also had a couple of student reviews and Fly On The Wall Videos, taking a look at Buddy Holly, Stephen Stills, The Beatles and Zac Brown. If you are not up on the Zac Brown Band you owe it to yourself to check him out.

In case anybody is in the Bay Area over the Labor Day Weekend, I will be playing a set of tunes at a local town BBQ on Saturday, September 3 in Los Gatos, at Oak Meadow Park at 2:00. If you are nearby and available, come on by.

In the meantime, back to practicing…

Stay Tuned And In Touch,

Neil