1. Introduction (10 minutes)
Yesterday we learnt how to strum the song “Our Love Is Loud”, using chords from the key of E. Today, we will learn another song, a slower song this time, “Holy Spirit” by the Planetshakers. To play this song, we not only need to learn some chords in the key of C, but also learn how to play single notes as well as learn how to fingerpick. In the actual song, the piano does most of the work. We call this a piano-driven song. There is an overdriven guitar (electric guitar effect), which plays mostly “fills” (short sequences of running notes), until the second chorus, where the song builds up and it strums. Another guitar plays a short introduction “riff” (slightly longer sequence of running notes) at the start of the song.
2. Warmups (10 minutes)
We will learn a simple warmup exercise to do before playing each time. This exercise will train finger strength/stamina as well as finger independence. Finger strength is measured by how easy you find it to press down on the frets without needing too much effort. Finger stamina is how long you can play before your left hand gets tired. Finger independence is your ability to move only the fingers you want. For example, if you only want fingers 1 and 4 to move, fingers 2 and 3 shouldn’t move as well.
This diagram is called tablature, or tab, for short. The 6 horizontal lines represent the 6 guitar strings, from the thinnest string on the top, to the thickest strings at the bottom. It is as if you are holding the guitar horizontally upside-down facing yourself.
The numbers represent the frets you need to hold. If the number 1 appears on the 1st string (top), you press down the 1st fret on the guitar with your left hand, and play the thinnest string on the guitar with your right hand.
For this exercise, always hold the 1st fret with your 1st finger (index finger), the 2nd fret with your 2nd finger (middle finger), 3rd fret with your 3rd finger (ring finger) and 4th fret with your 4th finger (little finger/pinky)
3. Chords in the Key of C (15 minutes)
As before, let us practise holding each chord, and the transitions between the chord progression C – F – Am – G.
3. Fingerpicking Basics (10 minutes)
Fingerpicking is really easy. At this level, we shall only play the strings 6,5 and 4 (collectively called the bass strings) with our thumb. We shall also only play the strings 1,2 and 3 with fingers 3, 2 and 1 respectively. In other words, you are ONLY allowed to play the 1st string with your third finger (ring), the 2nd string with your second finger (middle) and the 3rd string with your first finger (index).
We will now hold a G chord and play its strings one by one, starting from the 6th string downwards.
4. Fingerpicking Exercises (15 minutes)
