“There’s No End To A Tragic End”
Tag: music education
The Weeknd: “Call Out My Name” Guitar Tutorial.
In order to play The Weeknd’s new song, “Call Out My Name” from his new release, My Dear,Melancholy, you will need to tune your guitar down one-half step to Eb tuning.
Once you are tuned and ready, go back and forth between A Minor and E Minor. Once secure, get familiar with the time signature 6/8.
Think, two sets of three beats each:
1-2-3 4-5-6
Now, count that out accenting beats one and four:
(1) 2 3 (4) 5 6
Cycle through the A minor chord two times:
Am (Am) Am (Am)
(1) 2 3 (4) 5 6 (1) 2 3 (4) 5 6
Next, cycle through the E Minor chord the same way:
Em (Em) Em (Em)
(1) 2 3 (4) 5 6 (1) 2 3 (4) 5 6
Notice that you are playing the chords on the strong beats only.
From here, add step two by strumming on each of the six beats making sure to accent one and four continuously. Check the tab!
Lyrics “Call Out My Name” The Weeknd
We found each other
I helped you out of a broken place
You gave me comfort
But falling for you was my mistake
I put you on top, I put you on top
I claimed you so proud and openly
And when times were rough, when times were rough
I made sure I held you close to me
So call out my name (call out my name)
Call out my name when I kiss you so gently
I want you to stay (want you to stay)
I want you to stay, even though you don’t want me
Girl, why can’t you wait? (Why can’t you wait, baby?)
Girl, why can’t you wait ’til I fall out of love?
Won’t you call out my name? (Call out my name)
Girl, call out my name, and I’ll be on my way
I’ll be on my-
I said I didn’t feel nothing, baby, but I lied
I almost cut a piece of myself for your life
Guess I was just another pit stop
‘Til you made up your mind
You just wasted my time
You’re on top
I put you on top
I claimed you so proud and openly, babe
And when times were rough, when times were rough
I made sure I held you close to me
So call out my name (call out my name, baby)
So call out my name when I kiss you
So gently, I want you to stay (I want you to stay)
I want you to stay even though you don’t want me
Girl, why can’t you wait? (Girl, why can’t you wait ’til I?)
Girl, why can’t you wait ’til I fall out of love?
Won’t you call out my name? (Say call out my name, baby)
Girl, call out my name, and I’ll be on my way
Girl, I’ll be on my-
On my way
On my way
On my way
On my way
On my way
On my way
On my way
On my way
On my way
On my way
On my way
On, on
The Teaching of Improvisation (Introduction)
Another blog post on the teaching of improvisation? Yes. When you consider that we all come from differing backgrounds, training, instruction, and preferences. Mix all of this together and you begin to see how complex it can get. Instructors come to the teaching of improvisation with a set of skills that have been honed through gigging, practice, and study. The study of scales, modes, and chords end up in our mental and physical tool kit and we call upon them when we improvise and when we teach students to do it themselves.
Without question, there have been, and still are, great improvisers in all genres who have had little or no formal training in music in any way but can improvise freely and masterfully. Remember that these musicians have the gift of “hearing” and can play what they hear on their instruments with ease.
For most the best wa
y to learn or improve on improvisational skills is to do it every day. There is no substitute for good old-fashioned woodshedding. The amount of material available today is staggering. So, we should see a great resurgence in improvising and a rise in its popularity right?
Getting students to practice improvising is not easy as it throws them into the “unknown”. This is the land that few dare to travel to especially in the early stages of awkwardness on the guitar. Once self-assuredness and confidence build up, 
skill development in improvisation can blossom.
We will look at the unlimited amount of help that is available with the explosion of music software that is at everyone’s fingertips. Most importantly, approaches must be taken to get students to actively “practice” improvisation on their own. Music, and the guitar need to be an active part of the student’s life at home and with his or her circle of friends and family.
In the upcoming posts I will call upon my teaching and playing experience to dissect a methodology that works as a global template of sorts. This template must, and should, be fluid and adaptable meeting the varied (sometimes severly) learning styles of each student you instruct.
@MarkGTR 