2012 CLASSES

A COUNTRY BLUES SURVEY (Early Intermediate/Intermediate) – J. Miller

We’ll learn songs in a variety of keys and tunings recorded by guitarists from different regions in the period 1925–1980, noting commonly-encountered forms and the different approaches various guitarists brought to their music.  We’ll be working by ear, with lots of in-class repetition, so a portable recording device will be helpful for reconstructing the songs later.  Participants should have some experience finger-picking with an alternating bass.

BUILDING & APPLYING YOUR CHORDAL VOCABULARY – J. Miller

-This class will focus on chord theory and chord voicing, and will build your chordal vocabulary by plugging the chords you’re learning into songs that employ them, so that you learn not only the sense of the chords but their sounds, as well.  We’ll also work on transposing songs, so that you’ll see how the same song can end up using altogether different chordal positions when played in different keys.

SWING’S THE THING & RHYTHM’S WHERE IT’S AT  (Int/Adv) – M. Dowling

Mike will start with solid four-to-the-bar rhythm techniques and jump-style syncopations that are guaranteed to put swing in your strum and bounce in your music.ou’ll learn the basics of 10th chords, diminished chords and chord substitution as a foundation is laid that will prepare you for the next step, improvisation.There will be much time devoted to playing swing classics in class as a guitar band, with Mike inviting the more adventuresome students to take a hand at soloing.This class is designed for the intermediate to advanced guitar student who feels ready to play up the neck. It is not necessary to read music but the ability to read tab will be helpful.

BOTTLENECK BLUES & BEYOND (Int/Adv) – M. Dowling

Mike will start by teaching chords, progressions and turnarounds in open D and G tunings, and introduce the bottleneck slide as a way to add color and texture to your playing. The emphasis will be on tone, phrasing , vibrato and rhythm. Learn how to find the essence of traditional tunes and ways of making them your own by arranging them for bottleneck guitar.

THE C-A-G-E-D SYSTEM (Early Intermediate – Advanced) – Ernie Hawkins

Ever watch a blues or jazz guitarist running effortlessly all over the neck and wonder how it is done? The C-A-G-E-D System is the answer. It has been called the logic of the fretboard. This is an easily approachable, easy to use method that brings theory into your fingers and onto the guitar, and puts it all together. We will start by learning how to play blues in any position on the neck, in any key. This system connects all the chord inversions with the passing chords that connect them. It enables you to move any chord, any chord progression, any scale, any arpeggio, any riff around the neck. If you have wanted to go beyond just learning songs into learning the context that gives these songs their sense and beauty, but have been afraid of “music theory,” this course is for you. This is the kind of knowledge that sets you free!

PUTTING YOUR RIGHT HAND TO WORK - Weslea Sidon and John Tercyak

An intensive class designed to increase your strumming/picking hand’s flexibility, adaptability, and fluidity.   Novice and early intermediate students will benefit greatly from focused attention on the subjects of: strumming (with an emphasis on versatility),  additive rhythmic patterns (quarter notes into eighths into triplets into sixteenths, etc.), and a myriad of other skills.  Please let us know if you are interested in using a pick!