Lesson a week

Lesson a Week 18: Creepy Doll

2008-07-09T19:10:00.001-07:00

I'm sorry about all of the delays guys. Life's been pretty busy and it's been hard to get these out every week. I'll do my best to get caught up and stay on top of things when I'm able to. Either way, it's time to get Creepy...

Lesson a Week 18: Creepy Doll

Lesson A Week 17: Shop Vac

2008-06-28T21:35:00.000-07:00

I fell asleep last night before I could post this link, haha. I guess I missed it. I'll try to post two videos this week as a result. Sorry again if this lesson feels rushed, but it's been busy busy in my world, hopefully nothing is too screwed up.

Lesson a Week 17: Shop Vac

Lesson A Week 16: You Ruined Everything

2008-06-21T20:33:00.000-07:00

Another close call, but there's still 90 minutes left in this week. As with any song that is fingerpicked, you can check out my video about fingerpicking technique. Enjoy!

Lesson a Week 16: You Ruined Everything

Lesson A Week 15: Dance, Soterios Johnson, Dance

2008-06-14T17:03:00.000-07:00

Has it really been 15 weeks? Wow! Either way, here's this week's lesson. I skipped explaining the bridge because I did the mini lesson for this one.

Enjoy!

Lesson a week 15: Dance, Soterios Johnson, Dance

Lesson A Week 14: I'm Your Moon

2008-06-07T09:55:00.000-07:00

This week you get the beautiful love song "I'm Your Moon". If you know any planets, here's your chance to seduce them.

Lesson a Week 14: I'm Your Moon

Lesson A Week 13: I Crush Everything

2008-05-31T08:13:00.000-07:00

Whoa, I almost didn't get this posted by the end of the week. It's been a little hectic around here, but I'm glad I still get the lesson up before week's end. I'm running out of hard drive space quickly. I'll probably just buy another one soon, but as usual, I need the money for other things. Either way, this week's lesson is one of the hardest ones yet, but that's mostly because there are just a lot of things to explain. Once you get some of these patterns under your fingers, you'll see that's it's not as hard as it sounds. Next week will be "I'm Your Moon"

Lesson a Week 13: I Crush Everything

Lesson A Week 12: I Hate California

2008-05-22T13:32:00.000-07:00

This week we explore why JoCo hates California. Make sure that you follow along with the alternate tuning to avoid confusion.

Lesson a Week 12: I Hate California

Lesson A Week 11: Better

2008-05-15T21:37:00.001-07:00

I'm a little pressed for time this week so I apologize for the blurry out of focus stuff. I've got 2 shows with my band the next few days so that's been keeping me busy. Next week I'll be doing I Hate California. Enjoy!

Lesson a Week 11: Better

Re Your Brains + Important Technique Lesson

2008-05-07T16:32:00.001-07:00

This week you get another double whammy. I've made a video explaining some technique for fingerpicking. This is going to be very important for upcoming videos as many JoCo songs use some things that I explain in this video, so please make sure you give it a watch. Otherwise, enjoy the zombie goodness.

Lesson a Week 10: Re Your Brains

Guitar Technique: Fingerpicking

Lesson A Week 9: Code Monkey

2008-04-30T23:26:00.000-07:00

It's week 9 at lesson a week! I've survived this far and I hope to continue on as long as my schedule. This week's song is the live version of Code Monkey. Since it's based on a few different performances, some chords or rhythms may vary between versions. Enjoy!

Lesson a Week 9: Code Monkey

The poll is back so vote for next week's lesson now on the JoCo forums!

Lesson a Week 8: Mandelbrot Set + Paul and Storm Goodie

2008-04-21T14:53:00.001-07:00

This week we get mathematical on Lesson a Week! As I'm getting closer to graduating, I'm glad to present a song that has an educational ring to it, but avoids being called "edutainmant" *shudder*. In addition, I decided to do a lesson for one of my favorite Paul and Storm songs "A Better Version of You". If there's enough response I can do more P&S, but at this point, I've got a lot on my plate with the JoCo lessons and the tab editing project. Enjoy!

Lesson a Week 8: Mandelbrot Set

If Dave Taught Guitar: A Better Version of You

I also want to mention that next week's video for Code Monkey (live version) may be the last video I do for a few weeks because I'll be even busier with graduation and stuff. I'll post a poll when I know my schedule a bit better. I definitely want to continue doing these lessons though, so don't worry about that. :)

Lesson a Week 7: Still Alive (Live Version)

2008-04-16T18:37:00.000-07:00

I've got a new lesson for you today for Still Alive, the live version. The one that most people know is direct from Portal, that's not this one. This is just the way JoCo plays the song live. Also, I've been so crunched for time with the whole, graduating from college thing, so I didn't have time to edit out an error I made during the final play-through where I play the Bm chord too early. The verses all have the same number of measures. Sorry for the confusion. As always, drop me a line if you need any clarification.

Lesson A Week 7: Still Alive(Live Version)

Lesson a Week 6: First of May + Mini Lesson 2

2008-04-07T19:07:00.000-07:00

The first of may is only a few weeks away, so now you'll all be able to have time to practice this one and sing it for all your friends when the time comes. In addition to this lesson I did a mini lesson last week for the bridge of Dance, Soterios Johnson, Dance. I made it because I heard that JoCo was having trouble remembering the chords, so in good fun I made this short video. I will have another mini lesson that deals specifically with finger picking sometime in the next week or so. Enjoy!

Lesson a Week 6: First of May

Mini Lesson: Dance Soterios Johnson, Dance Bridge

Lesson a Week 5: Big Bad World One

2008-04-01T16:32:00.000-07:00

Despite all of the school stuff and gigs I've had lately, I managed to whip this one up in one take, no editing. I hope you all can get something out it.

Big Bad World One

Lesson a Week 4: Ikea

2008-03-25T09:48:00.000-07:00

This week I've prepared for this guitar lesson for the song "Ikea". You may drastically improve by eating some Swedish meatballs prior to attempting this song. Let me know if anything needs clarification. Next week I'll be doing "Big Bad World One". If you want to vote for the week after that, make sure you make your way to the forums at JoCo's website.

Lesson a Week 4: Ikea

Lesson A Week 3: I Feel Fantastic

2008-03-17T22:19:00.001-07:00

This week I take you through I Feel Fantastic. This song doesn't have too many hard chords, but playing it up to speed can take a lot out of you so make sure that you work your way up to something comfortable. Next week I'll be cover the song Ikea. Enjoy!

L esson a Week 3 : I Feel Fantastic

Welcome to Lesson a Week!

2008-03-13T15:28:00.000-07:00

Welcome all to Lesson a Week. Every week I plan on releasing a now guitar lesson for a Jonathan Coulton song of your choice. All you have to do is go to the forums on JoCo's website and vote for the song you want me to do in the Lesson a Week thread. Every week around Tuesday, I will be uploading a new lesson. I plan on doing these at least for 2 months, but if I have the time and energy I'll continue beyond that. Every once in awhile I may throw up a mini lesson for some small element of a JoCo song, like a guitar solo. Please feel free to subscribe to my feed to automatically have your videos added when I post new ones.

Here's what's available so far:

Lesson a Week 1: Skullcrusher Mountain

Lesson a Week 2:Future Soon

Mini Lesson: Shop Vac guitar solo