by Glen McCarthy | Dec 29, 2013 | Classroom, Education, News, Principles, Stories, Success Stories, Tips + Tricks
The Pentatonic Scale allows students to really stretch out and have fun with the guitar. But how do you teach it? Try this: Preliminary ear training experiences: 1. If keyboards are available have the students noodle on the black notes, perhaps one on the bass and one...
by Glen McCarthy | Dec 22, 2013 | Classroom, Education, News, Principles, Stories, Success Stories, Tips + Tricks
I went to Wikipedia to see what they say and can’t improve on the following: “The capo is most commonly used to raise the pitch of a fretted instrument so that a player can perform a piece in a different key using the same fingerings they would use if played...
by Glen McCarthy | Dec 15, 2013 | Classroom, Education, News, Principles, Tips + Tricks
There is a bonding experience that occurs once the class engages in playing as an ensemble. The class transforms from 30+ students playing exercises to a team of guitarists playing ensemble music. I find that this is so important that I wrote some easy duets that can...
by Glen McCarthy | Dec 1, 2013 | Gear, News, Tips + Tricks
1. The Loog Guitar Kit The Loog Guitar arrives as a kit of parts that can be assembled without any special tools or knowledge in about 15 minutes. Read More: http://bit.ly/1gDYPA7 2. The Be Acrylic Guitar Rob O’Reilly’s BE Guitar has two radical features:...
by Glen McCarthy | Nov 17, 2013 | Classroom, Education, News, Tips + Tricks
Most guitar students have not belonged to anything bigger than themselves until guitar class. Few guitar students have the experience of being on a football team, being in scouts, etc. The guitar class is often the first exposure to teamwork and belonging to something...
by Glen McCarthy | Oct 27, 2013 | Classroom, Education, News, Principles, Tips + Tricks
When another teacher requests to remove a disruptive student from his/her class, the logical place to move that student is guitar class. And why not, what kid does not love guitar? This scenario most often occurs when the class is in its tenth week and moving along...
