by Glen McCarthy | Jan 27, 2014 | Classroom, Education, Principles, Stories, Success Stories, Tips + Tricks
“A Guitar Diary?” JOURNALING – A Rationale Encourage your students to document their progress with writing!In my high school guitar class I require my students to be organized with a three ring binder. In this notebook they can collect the handouts (songs and class...
by Glen McCarthy | Jan 19, 2014 | Classroom, Education, Principles, Stories, Success Stories, Tips + Tricks
Most guitar curriculum begins by teaching the natural notes that fall within the Key of C. It is hard to create ensembles in that key because the F chord is so prominent in the rhythm part. Try these variations of the F chord to help make the Key of C come to life. I...
by Glen McCarthy | Jan 19, 2014 | Classroom, Education, Principles, Success Stories, Tips + Tricks
We’ve stumbled on a little piece of business that may cause some of your students’ eyes to widen: nail shaping. Yes, that’s what helps you achieve optimal tone when playing finger-style. (And remember: finger-style playing isn’t just for...
by Glen McCarthy | Jan 14, 2014 | Classroom, Education, News, Principles, Success Stories, Tips + Tricks
When you feel like you’ve just delivered the lesson to end all lessons and you’re met with blank stares — some not even directly at you — it’s hard not to take it personally. The same music that got you hooked on music is not necessarily...
by Glen McCarthy | Jan 12, 2014 | Classroom, Education, News, Stories, Success Stories, Tips + Tricks
Mute strumming is very effective for teaching various rhythmic strums. I don’t think we spend enough time working on right hand strumming because we are so concerned about left hand notes. Isolating the right hand helps the students advance in their ability to keep a...
by Glen McCarthy | Jan 5, 2014 | Classroom, Education, News, Principles, Tips + Tricks
Many beginning ensemble pieces in the repertoire will assign one or two strings to a part. For instance, part one may be on E and B strings, part 2 on B and G strings and part 3 may get down to the D string. The best way to make sure that students are comfortable in...
