Monthly Archives: January 2025

teaching

Ukulele Karate and Guitar Karate

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With the start of the new year, I wanted to implement something new with my students. Over break I learned about Recorder Karate, created by Barb Philipak, which is a system of awarding different colored strings (representing the different colored belts awarded in Karate)  to recorder students as they progress through nine songs of increasing difficulty. I loved this idea, so I wanted to try it with my students.

Philipak also created “Ukulele Karate”, but I couldn’t find a pre-existing “Guitar Karate”. After looking into her Recorder Karate and Ukulele Karate systems, I decided that I wanted to create my own version. First of all, after looking into the order in which her belts are awarded, as well as looking into other martial arts systems that award belts, I decided on the order: white, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, red, brown, and black. I bought a package of embroidery floss in these colors, and I will be cutting them to a length that can be tied around the headstock, near the nut, behind the strings (or worn as a bracelet if the student prefers). Also, instead of focusing on an individual song as the requirement, I wanted to really challenge my students and hopefully push them past what they might normally work on. My requirements for Ukulele/Guitar Karate incorporate my method books, and focus on chord-strumming, note-reading, and music theory. My hope is that this will give students the motivation to become more well-rounded musicians.

In my Ukulele Karate and Guitar Karate systems, the White Belt requirements focus on the first half of Unit 1 of both the Chord-Strumming and Note-Reading Method Books, and the Yellow Belt requirements focus on the second half of Unit 1 of those same books. The music theory requirement is to memorize the notes of the chords and scales they learn in these lessons. After those two belts the requirements will become increasingly more difficult. For example, the Orange Belt requirements will include all of Unit 2 of both the Chord-Strumming and Note-Reading Method Books, and by the Black Belt, there will be multiple units required. Also along the way I will add additional concepts and techniques such as different strumming rhythms, scales, riffs, finger-picking, etc.

A PDF of my requirements for White Belt and Yellow Belt as well as Note-Reading Unit 1 (part 1 for White Belt, part 2 for Yellow Belt) can be found under FOR MY STUDENTS on the UKULELE and GUITAR pages.

teaching

End of 2024 Lesson Materials

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Happy New Year! Here is an overview of all of my lesson materials that I worked on for the last few months of 2024 (aside from my Christmas Songbooks).

I took my Strumming Rhythms Index out of my guitar and ukulele books (originally I was planning on having it as an appendix in those books) and made it into its own book. After the first page of rhythms in 4/4 time using quarter notes and 8th notes, I added a page of strumming rhythms in 2/4, 3/4, and 6/8 time also using quarter notes and 8th notes (dotted quarter notes in 6/8 time). The next 15 pages incorporate rests on various downbeats (students can either not strum on the rests, or if they are more advanced they can actually muffle the strings on the rests). Originally I didn’t include rhythms that had a rest on beat 1, but I added those rhythms to this new version. I added a section with rests on various downbeats in 2/4, 3/4, and 6/8 time (also including rhythms with rests on beat 1). I also added a new section incorporating what I call “Selective Strumming” which is halfway between strumming and picking, which many guitarists do. Instead of strumming all 6 strings, or picking only one string at a time, I first divide the strings into two sections (three strings each) to create “low” and “high” sounds (notated on a two-lined staff), then in later pages I divide the strings into three sections (two strings each) to create “low,” “middle,” and “high” sounds (notated on a three-lined staff).  To make it simpler, I didn’t add rests to these exercises (for now). Reggae Strumming Rhythms will eventually be a part of this book, but for now it is a separate document. The new Strumming Rhythms Index can be found on both the “Guitar” and “Ukulele” pages under “For My Students”.

I added some introductory pages to my Guitar Beginning Riff and Solo Exercises, to give an explanation for where major pentatonic scales come from and how they are played on guitar and why we use specific finger patterns. I also showed where all of the natural notes are along the low E string (up to the 12th fret) so the students can see where to start any major pentatonic scale. The rest of the unit has exercises playing four-measure phrases using a I IV V progression and 12-bar blues in various keys. I added more riff rhythms (some in different meters), so now there are two pages to go through in each of the keys (the second page incorporates leaps in the beginning or middle of the measure). The new Guitar Beginning Riff and Solo Exercises can be found on the “Guitar” page under “For My Students”.

In my Guitar Chord-Strumming and Bass Guitar Chords method books, I decided to swap Units 3 and 4 so that sus chords are introduced in Unit 3 followed by 12-Bar Blues in Unit 4. I made this change in the Guitar Chord-Strumming book, but I haven’t updated it yet in my Bass Guitar Chords book, so I just removed the old PDFs from the “Bass Guitar” page.

Like my Christmas Songbooks, I started preparing my Guitar Chord-Strumming and Ukulele Chord-Strumming books for publishing and to sell. Guitar Chord-Strumming Book 1 includes Unit 1: Major and Minor Chords, Unit 2: Common Chord Progressions, Unit 3: Sus2 and Sus 4 Chords, and Unit 4: 12-Bar-Blues (23 lessons). Ukulele Chord-Strumming Book 1 includes Unit 1: The Key of C Major, Unit 2: The Key of G Major, Unit 3: The Key of F Major and Unit 4: The Key of D Major (25 lessons).

Finally, I did an arrangement of Amazing Grace in the keys of C Major, G Major, and F Major. PDFs can be found on my “Guitar,” “Mallets,” “Piano,” and “Ukulele” pages under “For My Students”.

Please let me know if you use any of these teaching materials with your students, and if you find them helpful, or if you have any questions or comments.