Information and FAQ

An amplified guitar ensemble experience for Brisbane Primary and High School students during the summer school holidays.

There will be one program running in January 2025. You are welcome to sign up for either one depending on your availability. 

Guitarists of course! But we will also need one bass player in each ensemble group too. We will not need any drummers as instructor Andrew Kennedy will play drums in each group in an accompaniment role.

Students in Grades 3-12 are ideal. Anyone younger than this may of course apply, but usually students in Grades P-2 need a little more time to develop.

The only restriction is that applicants cannot be students from Cannon Hill Anglican College, where Andrew works as a teacher, as this would represent a conflict of interest. (Students at CHAC have their own guitar ensemble program run by Andrew anyway!).

The Holiday Guitar Program seeks to enhance what students are already doing with their own teachers. As such, students will hopefully develop skills in the following areas:

• Practice. Students will receive instruction on how to practice songs in order to learn them in minimal time

• Aural Skills. In particular, learning how to balance volume and play in time within a group

• Technique. The arrangements have been design to target core aspects of guitar technique particularly alternate picking motions such as 'double escape' and 'upward escape' (as defined by Troy Grady's 'Cracking the Code'). Students will also be encouraged to use all four left hand fingers (including pinky) as part of position playing.

• Rhythm. Contemporary music is is often very rhythmically syncopated, so the arrangements have been selected to hit the sweet spot of difficulty/challenge for each ability level in order to help students develop a deeper grasp of syncopation.

• Reading. While the arrangements are written in tablature, they still contain the same rhythmic and structural cues as standard notaton. Students will improve their understanding of written music and develop the ability to continuously scan and read phrases in 'blocks' or 'chunks' the way that professionals do.

• Professionalism. The ability to be punctual, set up gear effeciently, tune a guitar, conduct themselves appropriately during a rehearsal and take pride in their playing.

JANUARY

• 2 hour Rehearsals on Wednesdays Jan 8th, 15th, 22nd

  • 8:30am-10:30am - Primary Ensemble

  • 10:45am-12:45pm - Intermediate High School Ensemble

  • 1:00-3:00pm - Advanced High School Ensemble

• Concert on the evening of January 22nd (all groups) 6pm-7pm

When you sign up, you can nominate which group you think you fit best. You'll also be asked to upload/send a brief audition video just to confirm your current playing level. Please read the guide below and take a listen to the example arrangements on the Youtube Channel to get an idea of which group would suit you best.

Primary Guitar Ensemble (Example Arrangment - "When I Come Around" by Green Day)

• Ages - Grades 3-6 recommended

• Difficulty - Comparable to AMEB/ANZCA Preliminary/Grade 1 repertoire

• Reading - Ability to read tablature, not required to read notation.

• Pick - Not required to hold pick, but better if you can

• Rhythmic Skill - Ability to read/play basic musical rhythms such as crotchets/quavers (quarter/eighth notes). Demo recordings of each arrangement will help students to interpret the charts.

• Fretboard – Mostly playing below the 5th fret, with some exceptions

• Chords - No chords or strumming required

• Extension - for students who exceed these requirements, more advanced versions of the parts can be provided.

Intermediate High School Ensemble (Example Arrangment - "The Middle" by Jimmy Eat World)

• Ages - Grades 7-12

• Difficulty – Comparable to AMEB/ANZCA Grade 2-3

• Reading - Ability to read tablature, not required to read notation. Standard notation can be provided for students who prefer it.

• Pick - Must be able to hold a pick and alternate pick at moderate speed (8ths @160bpm).

• Rhythmic Skill - Ability to read/play simple syncopated rhythms as found in simple pop song melodies. Demo recordings of each arrangement will help students to interpret the charts.

• Fretboard – Arrangements will use the whole fretboard, but will stick to known box shapes. 

• Chords – Knowledge of Major and Minor open chords C, A, G, E, D, Am, Em and Dm. Some arrangements may use power chords, or simple 3 note chord shapes. Simple strumming patterns only.

• Extension - for students who exceed these requirements but aren't yet ready for the advanced ensemble, more advanced versions of the parts can be provided.

Advanced High School Ensemble (Example Arrangement - "Levitating" by Dua Lipa)

• Ages - Grades 7-12

• Difficulty - Comparable to AMEB/ANZCA Grade 3-5

• Reading- Ability to read tablature, not required to read notation. Standard notation can be provided for students who prefer it.

• Pick- Must be able to hold a pick and alternate pick at moderate/fast speed (16ths @100bpm).

• Rhythmic Skill - Ability to read/play syncopated rhythms as found in pop/rock music

• Fretboard – often required to play up to 12th fret or higher. 

• Chords- Major and Minor open chords, barre chords and power chords (including muting unwanted strings). A variety of strumming patterns

• Other - Improvisation ability would be a bonus

The size of each ensemble group is quite flexible. We can accomodate as few as 4 guitar players, bass and drums. Or we can have over a dozen or more guitarists in a single group.

• Your guitar, preferrably an electric

• Picks, Tuner (check battery), Lead

• Your music

• Your amp - preferably a small practice amp with about 10-20 Watts of power is perfect.

• Snacks/Water to keep you comfortable

• Spare strings, just in case

An electric guitar is preferrable, but if you have an acoustic guitar that can work too. The ideal acoustic guitar is one that has a pickup system in it so that you can plug into an amp. But, if your acoustic doesn't have a pickup, we can provide a 'clip-on' transducer pickup and an amp for you to use. It won't sound as good as a proper pickup system, but it will allow you to be amplified like everyone else. Please mention this when you sign up.

We generally avoid using distortion pedals and effects in a large group. This is becauuse distortion creates a very thick, full sound, which is great on one guitar but quickly becomes overwhelming and muddy when applied to a dozen guitars at once. Distortion also makes it difficult to play with dynamics (loud and soft) which we need in an ensemble. If we did use distortion pedals it would just be so that one or two individuals could play solos or specific parts. 

Most of the guitar arrangements feature two guitar parts (Guitar 1 & 2), a bass part and a drum part. One guitar part will play the melody for the first verse and chorus, while the other is playing either a riff or chords. For the 2nd verse and chorus, the parts swap around so that guitar 1 plays riff/chords and guitar 2 plays the melody. For the remainder of the song, the parts continue to swap so that nomatter which part you've been assigned, you'll get to play a bit of everything. It's close to a 50/50 split and a really fun way to do it.

The aim is for each group to learn about 4 songs each.  You can see the full list on The Songs page.

Every musician doubts themselves sometimes, even the ones who look convident. If you think this program looks fun, but you're not sure if you're playing is at a suitable level, we can help you determine that through an audition video and give you some feedback. There are also a range of support materials in place such as demos/videos and instructionals to help you. We can also provide simplified versions of the charts if necessary. Also, at the first rehearsal you'll probably realise that everyone is starting out with a blank slate just like you and we can all learn the songs together.

Basically, if you really want to participate, we want to find a way to help you do it. Whatever level you're at.

Each rehearsal goes for 2 hours. 

• Gear setup and tuning (10 mins)

• Rhythm/picking/technique warmups and exercises (10-15 mins)

• Learn/Practice/Rehearse all songs (1hr 30mins)

• Packup (5 mins)

Your instructor will help everyone get to know their parts. This may involve focusing on difficult sections, demonstrating recommended fingering or technique, playing sections over and over to smooth them out etc. A typical rehearsal format.

• Ensemble members are to treat others and their equipment with respect.

• Ensemble members are expected to be on time, set up quickly, have all their music and equipment with them.

• While the pieces will be ‘taught’ when initially introduced, it is expected that ensemble members will take the initiative to do most of their learning/practice at home (using resources provided) so that rehearsals can be used for rehearsing rather than practice.

• Ensemble members should try to be aware of their own behavior during rehearsals, particularly in regards to playing and/or talking at times that distract others or disrupt the flow of the rehearsal.

Certainly not. I have my own full time teaching load at Cannon Hill Anglican College where I work and I do not teach privately from home. This program is aimed at enhancing and supporting what the student is already doing with their own teacher.

I would hope not no. 

Having said that, guitarists and guitar teachers are famous for disagreeing on just about everything from technique to tone. So there could be areas where I explain things differently to your regular teacher or I get you try something in a way that you're not used to. Try to see these moments as opportunities to add to your skillset rather than an attempt to change the way you play.

In a nutshell, I will encourage students to use contemporary guitar technique (as opposed to classical) which is appropriate to the styles of music we are playing. There will be more information about this in the student orientation booket and instructional videos once you've signed up. You can feel free to show these materials to your own guitar teacher if you wish.