TEACHING GUITAR WORKSHOPS
Classroom Guitar Blog
The Desire for Mastery
Once a student discovers the “desire for mastery”, s/he is hooked. Students can discover the desire for mastery by attempting to play the simplest melodies. One of my most interesting observations came from teaching students who attend a behavior school. These...
Best Communities for Making Music
Congratulations to the 307 Districts that received the 2013 Best Communities for Music Education designation as part of the Best Communities for Music Education Program! Schools or school district achieves this designation based on responses to the Best Communities...
When Strings Wear Out
The first string to wear out with classroom use is usually the D or 4th string, followed by the A or 5th string and E or 6th string. Changing the bass strings on your class guitars more often will brighten the sound in the room. Bulk single strings can be purchased...
Placing the Capo
Always place the capo a bit behind the fret and fasten it on the guitar tightly. Never slide the capo from fret to fret with out loosening it as this can scratch the guitar neck. Check your tuning after the capo is placed on the guitar neck. If a string should go...
Don’t Let the Students Tune…Yet
Students are not ready to tune a guitar. Save valuable class time by insisting that students do not touch the tuning pegs and have consequences for the students who do. It is only necessary to tune the strings in which the students are playing. If working only on...
Guitar Class Final
Here we are at the end of another semester. Hard to believe! It’s always bittersweet. Nice to see the summer break, but also sad to say goodbye to my guitar kiddos. I feel like we pack so much information into a semester! I made the push this year, to try to get a...
Keep Extra Picks on Hand
When teaching a guitar class, always have a pocket or case loaded with extra picks for class. Students always need picks. A small plastic pick holder which has a self adhesive strip can be purchased for less than $2.00. Each one holds up to ten picks and I place...
Putting Your Guitar Down
Students inevitably need to get up and move around the classroom. The safest way to lay the guitar down is to place it top down with the strings against the floor. The tuners are also facing towards the ceiling and will not be moved as they would be if the...
Teaching Rhythm
When counting off for the class, play the rhythm with a muted strum on your guitar as you count. For instance if we are playing a 16th note warm-up I will strum muted sixteenth notes on the guitar as I count, “1e+a, 2e+a, 3e+a, 4e+a. The students hear the rhythm...
The Shape of Power Chords
Our friends at eMedia have a quick lesson for us on how to do power chords. It's the same shape all along the fretboard and it sounds so cool. Tell your students, "Happy Birthday" when you teach it to them. [social_button button="facebook"...
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