9 Weeks of Classroom Guitar Diaries Compiled

by Glen McCarthy | Jul 31, 2016 | Classroom, Education, Gear, News, Principles, Stories, Tips + Tricks, Uncategorized

School is about to start – if it hasn’t already started. Your kids’ hands are itching to start playing guitar. You have so much to prep! What to do? We’ve got you covered. If you didn’t read Shelley’s Classroom Guitar Diaries as...

7 Real Classroom Questions Answered

by Glen McCarthy | Jul 6, 2016 | Classroom, Education, Gear, News, Principles, Stories, Success Stories, Tips + Tricks, Uncategorized

If you’ve ever attended a Teaching Guitar Workshop, you may have written a question, concern or comment on an anonymous sticky note for one of or guitar-teaching gurus to answer. If you’ve never been to a Teaching Guitar Workshop, that’s how we roll....

Bill Burke’s Sooper-Dooper Warm Up

by Glen McCarthy | Jul 3, 2016 | Classroom, Education, Gear, News, Principles, Tips + Tricks, Uncategorized

Here’s a warm-up routine that works great in the classroom; private lessons; or individual practice. I have also used this in the Teaching Guitar Workshops. In a matter of less than four minutes, this exercise can be performed with great benefit. Some of the things...

Pitching Guitar Class: A Look at the Numbers

by Glen McCarthy | Jun 24, 2016 | Classroom, Education, Gear, Principles, Tips + Tricks

With tight and fluctuating school budgets, it can feel like an impossible mission to pitch a new idea. This is especially true of arts programming, as music educators know. Interested in starting a guitar program at your school? One way is to sell the powers-that-be...

The End Is Near – Time for End-of-the-School-Year Chores

by Glen McCarthy | Jun 9, 2016 | Classroom, Education, Gear, News, Principles, Stories, Tips + Tricks

Just like your students, you are counting the days until the last final exam is taken and those sweet guitarists are on their way to summer! In our district it is very difficult to keep the momentum up during the last month of school. The first major interruption was...

Classroom Guitar Diaries – The Big Test

by Glen McCarthy | May 22, 2016 | Classroom, Education, Gear, Principles, Stories, Tips + Tricks, Uncategorized

Wrap it up! Show me what you know! It’s the day of the big test! I begin by letting kids study with buddies for about 10 minutes of class. They are allowed to ask me any questions and review anything they don’t understand. Students ask about how to tell the...