I’m starting a new home school internet guitar class thorugh SchoolhouseTeachers.com – This beginner guitar class will include weekly written downloadable lessons, with some video and audio files for play-along. In the first few months, we will cover all the basic chords, some scales, and lots of easy strumming songs. There will also be some music theory interspersed throughout. I believe if theory is made part of the learning process early on, then you have more of a platform upon which to build skills not just on guitar, but on any instrument. Reading music won’t be our main focus. But the lessons are written in rhythmic notation, which is half of the battle. It will give you a better foundation for learning melodic reading in the future. By not making reading our main focus, we will be able to dive right into just playing, and getting your fingers and ears working. Styles covered will be blues, rock, country, reggae, and others.
You will need a guitar (electric or acoustic), some medium picks, a tuner, and ideally a music stand, but you can get by without it. I suggest you get the guitar from a music store. Guitars from Toys-R-Us or Sears are not always playable. A music store will also have a staff that knows something about the instrument. So if you break a string or need an adjustment, you’ll have somebody who knows how to take care of it.
The core of our curriculum will come from my beginner book, Guitar 1 – Start Out Jammin’. You can get by without the book, since I will be posting selected lessons from it. But if you have it, you’ll be able to do some skipping around and looking ahead. Plus it comes with a DVD.
I will be available on Skype at a certain time during the week (TBA). If you want to make sure you’re doing something right, such as tuning or playing a chord, I’ll be able to dial you it in. I won’t charge money for our first Skype meeting, although I may have a price for followup meetings. I’m still deciding a couple of things.
Thanks! Looking forward to working with you all.
Jerry Jennings
Jennings PublishingMusic in a Nutshell - Beginner | Intermediate | Pro
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