Class Guitar A & B

Guitar A

Instructor: Mr. Kevin Beaber

Text: Hands-On Training: First Year Guitar by Leo Welch and Nancy Lee Marsters

Grade Level: 9-12

Prerequisite: none

Course Outline:

This course is open to all students regardless of musical background. Students learn beginning guitar technique including selected major, minor, and seventh chords; basic finger picks and strums; and tuning technique. Music theory and history are studied as they relate to guitar performance.

Course Outcomes:

The student will be able to:

1.      play standard first-position chords including major, minor, and seventh chords;

2.      demonstrate basic strumming and finger-picking patterns;

3.      explain the changing musical and social uses of the guitar from its origin to the present;

4.      read and write standard and tablature notation;

5.      sing a variety of songs wile playing a guitar accompaniment;

6.      demonstrate several methods of tuning the guitar;

7.      evaluate guitar performances representing a variety of styles;

8.      improvise a melody to fit a simple chord progression;

9.      compose, notate, and perform simple music for the guitar.

Grading policy, procedures, etc. are provided in the Guitar Course Handbook.

Guitar B

Instructor: Mr. Kevin Beaber

Text: Hands-On Training: Second Year Guitar by Leo Welch and Nancy Lee Marsters

Grade Level: 9-12

Prerequisite: Guitar A or permission of instructor

Course Outline:

In Guitar B students acquire more advanced guitar performance skills, while continuing to improve their ability to read and write music notation. Students learn all the major, minor, and seventh chords and play melodies in all areas of the fret board. The technological aspects of contemporary guitar playing are studied through demonstrations and recorded examples.

Course Outcomes:

The student will be able to:

1.      perform selected Barre chords;

2.      play and sing an expanded repertoire of folk and popular songs;

3.      demonstrate a variety of strumming and finger-picking techniques;

4.      describe the impact of electronic technology on guitar performance and composition;

5.      listen to guitar performances, describe stylistic and technical features, and evaluate their effectiveness;

6.      improvise melodies within selected scales;

7.      compose, notate, and perform an original song in folk or popular style;

8.      demonstrate routine guitar maintenance operations.

Grading policy, procedures, etc. are provided in the Guitar Course Handbook.

Class Guitar Syllabus Grading Expectations Daily Lessons