Tag Archives: bass guitar songs

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July/August 2026 Lesson Materials

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Over the last two months I made many updates to my lesson materials. I updated my BASS GUITAR page with a free PDF of my Bass Guitar Chords Method part 1, a free PDF of my Strumming Rhythms Index part 1, as well as a link to purchase Book 1, a free PDF of my Bass Guitar Note-Reading Method part 1, a free PDF of my Bass Guitar Recital Songs 1 to 6,  and recordings of Recital Songs 1 to 5. I updated my Guitar and Ukulele Karate Belt Requirements by re-distributing the Strumming Rhythms Index (only starting it in Orange Belt so they can get through all of Level 1 first). I also updated my Snare Drum Method Book, Level 1 (Lessons 1 to 4), which now includes 2/4, 4/4, and 3/4 time, and I also added Snare Drum Recital Song 1.

Most of my time was spent adding to my SONGS page, including All Mixed Up by 311 (lyrics and chords), Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2) by Pink Floyd (lyrics and chords), Bad Blood by Bastille (lyrics and chords), Clint Eastwood by Gorillaz (lyrics and chords), Come Sail Away by Styx (piano and riffs), Eye of the Tiger by Survivor (riffs and lyrics and chords, with and without capo), Heathens by Twenty One Pilots (lyrics and chords), House of Gold (with and without a capo) by Twenty One Pilots (lyrics and chords), How Soon is Now? by The Smiths (lyrics and chords), Louie Louie by The Kingsmen (lyrics and chords), Lovesong by The Cure (lyrics and chords), Nutshell by Alice In Chains (riffs) and (lyrics and chords), Radioactive by Imagine Dragons (lyrics and chords), Rainbow Connection by Kermit the Frog (lyrics and chords), Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash (riffs and lyrics and chords, one with the meter simplified), Take On Me (with and without capo and acoustic version) by A-Ha (lyrics and chords), Three Little Birds by Bob Marley (lyrics and chords), and Wild Thing by The Troggs (lyrics and chords). After the addition of these songs, I also updated my Guitar, Ukulele, and Piano Setlist Curriculums.

All of these materials can be found under the FOR MY STUDENTS tab, on the BASS GUITAR, GUITAR, PIANO, SNARE DRUM, SONGS, and UKULELE pages. As always, 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.

teaching

October Lesson Materials

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I decided to rename my newly-created ROCK BAND page, so it is now called SONGS. I didn’t want it to be specific Rock music or to the Rock Band I’m teaching. Instead it is any genre of songs that I’ve come across and decided to transcribe. Also, the songs are suitable for many different ability levels, so there should be something for everyone. Since I want this to be a hub for all of the songs that I have music for, I moved “Songs with One Progression”, “Mary Had a Little Lamb / Hot Cross Buns Medley”, “Amazing Grace”, “Two Hanukkah Songs (Treble Clef and Bass Clef”, and “I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You” from the GUITAR, UKULELE, PIANO, MALLETS, and BASS GUITAR pages to the SONGS page.

With many of the songs I took multiple approaches to how I notated them. The “lyrics and chords” PDFs are similar to what you might find on most websites, except that I edited them and added a simple version of music notation using text (“|” is a barline, “/” is a beat or quarter note, “-” is a sustain, “X” is a quarter rest, etc.). For example, strumming a G Major chord for four beats (quarter notes) would look like this: |G / / / |. Strumming a G Major chord on beat one and letting it ring out for the remaining three beats (whole note) would look like this: |G – – – |. Strumming a G Major chord on beat one and then muffling/silencing it for the remaining three beats (quarter note, three quarter rests) would look like this: |G X X X |. This gives more clarity about what the harmonic rhythm is. The “tab” PDFs have text-based tablature for songs that go beyond chord-strumming and have simple riffs. The “riffs” PDFs use more detailed music notation for songs that have riffs that might be too complex for text-based tab. The “YouTube” links are so that students can listen to recordings of the songs. The “guitar tutorial” links are to YouTube videos of how to play more complex riffs and songs.

All of these materials can be found under the FOR MY STUDENTS tab, on the SONGS page. As always, 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.