Guitar Ensembles
"Nothing is more beautiful than a guitar, except possibly, two." - Frederic Chopin
Students who have at least one year experience playing an acoustic guitar, can read and play notes on all six stringsand can tune their guitar are invited to join the advanced guitar ensemble aka - Guitar 2.
We meet after school on Thursdays from 3:30-4:30.
Our goal is to learn to play notes smoothly on all six strings as well as the chords c, g, d, f, c7, g7, a, a-min, and e, e-min. We will play a variety of songs, from oldies, folk songs, pop and contemporary in solo and ensemble form as well as two-part. The students also take turns playing the electric bass and usually some of the really advanced students spend the last 10 minutes of our session playing riffs and showing everyone some funky pattern to slide on! Watch your fingering, use picks for chords and your fingers for playing the melody.
Guitar 1 is for beginner students in grades 2-5. We meet on ALTERNATE Mondays (GROUP A, THEN GROUP B) from 3:30-4:00. You may bring your metal string, size appropriate, acoustic guitar to the music room Monday mornings from 8:00-8:30 to tune them and then leave them in the music closet. We will learn the letter names and values of notes beginning with string one and working through string 3, as well as the chords c, g, d.
All students please bring a binder and extra picks. I encourage you to keep your guitar in a case and always have an extra set of strings. You may bring a tuner if you have one and we will learn to tune to the piano, to a tuner and to each other's guitars.
Please work on learning the letter name and value of the notes. I encourage you to review notes and songs starting with the first string (e) and work your way through all the songs each time you practice. You need to become very familiar with placement on the fret bar and build up callouses on your fingers.
Practice, Practice, Practice and Rock On!
Check out these websites:
www.8notes.com
www.gmajormusictheory.org
www.looknohands.com
www.danmanmusic.com
www.tommyemmanuel.com (Tommy Emmanuel rocks on the guitar!)
BEGINNING GUITAR ENSEMBLE SCHEDULE INFORMATION
I OFFER BEGINNING GUITAR INSTRUCTION FOR GRADES 2-5 ON MONDAY'S FROM 3:30-4:00. DUE TO THE OUTSTANDING RESPONSE AND PARTICIPATION THERE ARE TWO BEGINNING ENSEMBLE GROUPS:
GROUP A: ALEX M., JAE S., ELIZABETH H., VICTORIA G., EVANGELINA S., LILY STUMPF, BRANDON O.,
AND YOU MEET ON: SEPT 9, OCT 20, NOV 3 & 17, JAN 5 & 26, FEB 9, MAR 1 & 30, APRIL 13 AND MAY 4 WILL BE YOUR LAST CLASS & WE WILL HAVE A PARTY TO CELEBRATE YOUR SUCCESS!
GROUP B: SYDNEE B., PAUL P., COLBY L-B., REBECCA R., ISABEL J., JOSHUA G., JEN G.,
AND YOU MEET ON: OCT 6 & 27, NOV 10 & 24, JAN 12, FEB 2 & 23, MAR 9, APRIL 6 & 27, AND MAY 11 WILL BE YOUR LAST CLASS & WE WILL HAVE A PARTY TO CELEBRATE YOUR SUCCESS!