Big Rock Candy Mountain

Harry McClintock singing Big Rock Candy Mountain. 

Beatbox 101

Here's a fine example of hip-hop hootenanny:

http://ed.ted.com/lessons/beatboxing-101-beat-nyc

Beatbox basics:

• Pb Pb Pb Pb
• Ka Ka Ka Ka
• Ts Ts Ts Ts

Mix  'em up and write your own.

Pb ka ka ka ts ts Pb ka ka ka ts ts ka ts ka  Pb.

Fall 2014 Songs

• Sin City: http://youtu.be/ZZorZ7PQGvc
• California Cottonfields--  http://youtu.be/O00Axzw7mhE
• Red Rocking Chair -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rfFGvlGlpk
• Do Re Mi -- http://youtu.be/Vbb6y8Nqc28

Shady Grove

There are lots of versions of Shady Grove around.   Sam thinks this is the saddest song ever, so here are some happy and sad versions to ponder.   As with all old-timey songs, there are a zillion verses.  If you hear a verse you like, write it down and bring it in to class.  We'll use it!

So here are three versions:

1. Traditional and saddish version -Jerry Garcia and David Grisman
This one has the closest lyrics and melody to the version I handed out in class, so sing along with this one. But listen to all of them! 

2. Happy Version - Charlene and the Dillards (The Andy Griffith Show)
PS - PAY ATTENTION JUG PLAYERS!

3. A new spin on an old version - The Avett Brothers (with lyrics)
The Avett Brothers did this as a tribute to Doc Watson, who recently died.   There are some really nice harmonies going on here.

Google Analytics 101

Now that everybody has their Google Analytics set up, here's how to get to it!

First, go to google.com/analytics. Then, click on "Sign in"

Once you've signed in, click on you "all website data". Then, all of your stats should show up. It should look like this-

Post any other questions about this in the comments!

Do Re Mi

This week's song is "Do Re Mi" by Woody Guthrie.  It's one of his many songs about Americans on the move during the dust bowl years.   Here's the original version as sung by Woody.   Do you have the do re mi?

How to Play the Spoons

Here's that amazing SPOONS lesson one more time!   Learn to accent, roll, gallop and more!:

Boil 'Em Cabbage

Boil 'em Cabbage hootenanny:

Here's an amazing SPOONS lesson!   Learn to accent, roll, gallop and more!:

My Darlin' Clementine

Here's a funny video of the very serious song we will learn next week. Think about ways we can make our version interesting.

1st Post + And how to format your post...

For your first post, you can right about pretty much whatever you want. You can write about what your blog is going to be about, or about yourself.

For formatting, here are some things to get you started.

The picture above shows the tool bar when you are typing up a blog post.  Starting from the left, there is compose, which lets you compose the post, and then HTML, which shows the HTML of the post. I wouldn't recommend messing with that unless you know how to.

Next, the black oval has the undo and redo buttons, which will let you undo and redo whatever you just typed or linked. The italic "F" in the black box will let you change the font type, and the "tT" will let you change the font size.

The "Normal" box will let you change whether you want a heading, sub-heading, minor heading, or normal in your post. Normal is fine, but you can use the headings too.

The orange box will let you make the font bold, italic, or underlined. The yellow box will let you strikethrough your text.  The blue box will let you change the color of the font (A), or change the background of your words (little pen tip image).

The pink box will let you put in a link. A link will let you reference another web-page or email address, like a cool project or interesting recipe. To do a link, copy and paste the URL into the URL box, and then type the text you want to display instead of a URL. For an email address, you do the same thing.

Uploading pictures and videos is very fun (green box). You can chose from 6 different places to upload pictures. Your computer, other pictures on your blog, from Picasa Web, from your phone, or from a URL.

The light blue box will insert a jump break, like below, which allows you to cut the post short and it will say "read more", which you can click on and it allows you to read the rest of the post on a separate page.

How to Pick a Blog Name +URL

How to pick a blog name. One of the first things you need to do when you start a blog is pick a blog name. Sometimes one comes to mind right away, or sometimes it doesn't.

But if you can't think of a name, here are a few questions to get you started. (I will write example answers to show how this works.)

What are you planning on writing about?

What is you favorite color?

What is your favorite animal?

What is your favorite plant/flower/tree?

What is your favorite food?

What is your favorite adjective?


You do not need to use every single question. 2 or 3 should be sufficient. Now, for an example.

What are you planning on writing about?

Origami

What is you favorite color?

Green

What is your favorite animal?

Dog

What is your favorite plant/flower/tree?

Rose

What is your favorite food?

Pasta

What is your favorite adjective?

Fun!

Now, your blog name could be "Origami Green Dog Blog" or "Pasta, Dogs, and Fun!".

From there, pick a blog URL that is relevant to the name of your blog, if possible.