Welcome to the Summer 2024 Paperless Jam Series! Thanks so much for joining me and making this investment in your own learning and musicality. Here’s a recap of the songs and general ideas we covered at our Blues Jam …
Sweet Home Chicago (12 Bar)
Trouble in Mind (8-Bar)
Careless Love (16-Bar)
Other Resources
Zooming In and Zooming Out
Learning a chord progression is not something that comes easily to everyone, but it is one of the essential skills of being able to make music with others, especially in a jam setting. No matter what chords or how many measures, each time you make the effort, you are deepening your sense of musicality and building essential musical skills.
One thing I would encourage you to remember is that learning to play a song together involves both zooming in and zooming out …
- Zooming In / Focus. Learning a chord progression involves counting out beats and measures and working on smooth transitions from chord to chord. There’s a lot to focus on as you put the pieces together. Take the time you need to work on any sticky spots that come up, including strum patterns, tricky chord changes, etc.
- Zooming Out / Big Picture. After giving some time to specifics, make sure you give yourself the chance to sit back, look around you, take a breath, and just play and enjoy the song. If it helps to visualize the chord progression in a particular way, that’s a great way, too, to get your head out of the details and feel and hear the song as a complete whole.
Make Your Own Index Cards
Based on the patterns we discussed at the jam, and videos above, feel free to make your own index card notes from them. The most important thing is that you MAKE YOUR OWN INDEX CARDS so that you are processing the information you find most useful. If you like, you can make some notes on the opposite side about the lyrics. Moving forward, feel free to have these index cards on hand to *remind* you of the chord progression, but once you’ve reviewed the visual, toss it to the side and play! 🙂
Strumming Support
Here are links to tutorials to help you work just on the strum patterns for each song:
Standard v. Slow Rock Strum Exercise