LESSON PLAN: Guitar Solo With 1 Finger
Objective
Students will be able to take a guitar solo using one finger to play two notes, while associating rhythm to speaking.
Resources
Guitars, picks.
Procedures
- Have students play the open 1st string (the note E). Then have them play the 1st string 3rd fret (the note G) using any finger. Reverse the order, having them play the the 3rd fret note first, and then the open string. Depending on where your students are in relationship to picking, you may ask them to use alternate picking or not give any instructions for picking at all.
- Get a rock strum pattern going on your guitar using a G chord and ask students to say their names while you strum. Go around the room doing this, having the child say his or her name first, and then repeat the name as a group leading them to associate the rhythm of their name to the rhythm of the strum pattern you are playing.
- Go around the room again, this time having them “play” their name using the two notes you taught them in the beginning of the class. Encourage them by letting them know that everything they create is OK, they can use just one of the notes the whole time, switch between the two notes, whatever! Just like we all have different fingerprints on our hands and we all like different foods to varying degrees, we all like to do things a little bit differently with the music we make. This is their opportunity to begin discovering what sounds good to them by trying things out.
Extension
- Play alternate chords behind the 2 note solo to notice how these same note choices sound differently based on the chord being played. Beside the G Major chord you could also use E minor or E7.
- If you begin to use different chords, ask students to listen to the notes in their two note solos to hear which one sounds better over the chord you’re playing. Tell them that note becomes like the subject in a sentence that other words can describe (like adjectives) but the sentence is still about the main word. Give examples saying things like “the fast blue car”; since the sentence is about a “car”, this is like the note you think sounds best while the other note just helps describe it!
- Play a chord progression behind them, like G going to C, E minor going to A minor or an 12 bar blues in E. The personality of these 2 notes will change as kids hear them over different chords.
National Core Arts Standards (Music)
Anchor Standard 1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work. Example: General Music MU:Cr1.1.2 a. Improvise rhythmic and melodic patterns and musical ideas for a specific purpose. Common Core Correlation: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.4 Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.