Guitar QuickStart teaching guide

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• CLASS #1:

What a day the first class is! The teacher is new to the students. Students are new to the teacher. Some are there TO LEARN, and some are just curious. –And then there are the guitars – all kinds of guitars – good and bad – in tune and out of tune– steel-string and classic – full-size and child-size – straight necks (mostly) and warped necks. –And it is YOUR job to make sense of all this as you set the tone of the class for a whole semester yet to come! Rest assured that it can be done!

1 . Start ON TIME with an “icebreaker,” one you are comfortable with: Play something, introduce yourself, ask students to introduce themselves and their music/guitar background.

2 . Ask students to fill out a questionnaire providing the teacher with information on musical and guitar background, if you like. (Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t.)

3 . Tune all the guitars. Ask them to line up at your chair, and use an A-440 tuning fork or other accurate device to set the pitch for each one, even those that may seem to be in tune. This serves several purposes: You can assess the individual guitars and students’ prior background in tuning. Make recommendations as necessary: Guitars may need repairs and/or new strings. You might recommend a different instrument if one is especially bad (perhaps one can be borrowed or rented for the semester), or otherwise warn students of instruments which pose a problem that might seriously hamper their success. I normally tune all guitars the first two classes, then ask students to work on learning the tuning process.

4 . Begin to learn students’ names. Ask first names as they present guitars for tuning. Go over your class list. Knowing names is one of your most important teaching tools.

5 . Teach material of substance. Don’t waste the first session as a “get-acquainted and go buy the texts” time. There is too much to learn, and with one meeting per week, the semester will go by very quickly. Remember that the first class sets the tone for the focused work to come. Present the concepts listed in the Syllabus, (even if some students do not have guitars the first day), and conclude with a brief discussion of the course specifications on page 1 of the Syllabus.

6 . Use handouts to facilitate teaching. Since some students will attend without the text, two handouts are helpful the first day:
1) a diagram of a guitar for learning parts of the guitar, and
2) a 12-fret blank tablature (as on p.12 of Guitar QuickStart) for diagramming the fretboard.

7 . Have students play the guitar as soon as possible. This is why they are taking the course, and the sound and feel of the guitar begin immediately to generate a sense of purpose for the class. After guitars are tuned and the subject for the day is addressed, students can play the strings as they are labelled with numbers and letters. Establish the concepts of “high and low” as sound, not spatial location, from the very beginning, and associate them with what is being played. Students may also play the frets on single strings as the whole- half-step formula is being taught: Establish the second finger opposite the thumb as the basic position for the fretting hand, and ask students to slide the second finger up and down a given string at random while playing. Then apply this technique to learning the letters on each string according to the whole- half-step formula.

Guitar QuickStart™ by Mary Jo Disler ISBN 0-9642229-0-6 All orders: Amazon.com Bookstores may order from • Baker & Taylor, or • Lyra House Music. Complete order and review copy information Flyer Order Form-Individuals Sample pages, extended info Lyra House Music Publications P.O. Box 252132 West Bloomfield MI 48325-2132 Mission Statement Email: Contact4guitar@aol.com Click on logo to download FREE Adobe Reader: S Last update: 3/22/08	:: Home :: Order info :: Syllabus :: Teaching Guide :: Book List :: Free extras :: Teacher's Corner :: Links :: Bach Page ::
		Syllabus Supplement: Class Session Notes These notes are brief supplements to the Syllabus lists for each class day. They augment it with ideas for presentation, but do not discuss each and every item. The discussions in the text Guitar QuickStart are clear and complete. It is wise to teach a technique or concept in class first through demonstration, then refer students to the text pages for study and reinforcement of class work. Demonstrate first, and verbalize afterwards is generally a successful teaching principle. ================================== • CLASS #1: What a day the first class is! The teacher is new to the students. Students are new to the teacher. Some are there TO LEARN, and some are just curious. –And then there are the guitars – all kinds of guitars – good and bad – in tune and out of tune– steel-string and classic – full-size and child-size – straight necks (mostly) and warped necks. –And it is YOUR job to make sense of all this as you set the tone of the class for a whole semester yet to come! Rest assured that it can be done! 1 . Start ON TIME with an “icebreaker,” one you are comfortable with: Play something, introduce yourself, ask students to introduce themselves and their music/guitar background. 2 . Ask students to fill out a questionnaire providing the teacher with information on musical and guitar background, if you like. (Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t.) 3 . Tune all the guitars. Ask them to line up at your chair, and use an A-440 tuning fork or other accurate device to set the pitch for each one, even those that may seem to be in tune. This serves several purposes: You can assess the individual guitars and students’ prior background in tuning. Make recommendations as necessary: Guitars may need repairs and/or new strings. You might recommend a different instrument if one is especially bad (perhaps one can be borrowed or rented for the semester), or otherwise warn students of instruments which pose a problem that might seriously hamper their success. I normally tune all guitars the first two classes, then ask students to work on learning the tuning process. 4 . Begin to learn students’ names. Ask first names as they present guitars for tuning. Go over your class list. Knowing names is one of your most important teaching tools. 5 . Teach material of substance. Don’t waste the first session as a “get-acquainted and go buy the texts” time. There is too much to learn, and with one meeting per week, the semester will go by very quickly. Remember that the first class sets the tone for the focused work to come. Present the concepts listed in the Syllabus, (even if some students do not have guitars the first day), and conclude with a brief discussion of the course specifications on page 1 of the Syllabus. 6 . Use handouts to facilitate teaching. Since some students will attend without the text, two handouts are helpful the first day: 1) a diagram of a guitar for learning parts of the guitar, and 2) a 12-fret blank tablature (as on p.12 of Guitar QuickStart) for diagramming the fretboard. 7 . Have students play the guitar as soon as possible. This is why they are taking the course, and the sound and feel of the guitar begin immediately to generate a sense of purpose for the class. After guitars are tuned and the subject for the day is addressed, students can play the strings as they are labelled with numbers and letters. Establish the concepts of “high and low” as sound, not spatial location, from the very beginning, and associate them with what is being played. Students may also play the frets on single strings as the whole- half-step formula is being taught: Establish the second finger opposite the thumb as the basic position for the fretting hand, and ask students to slide the second finger up and down a given string at random while playing. Then apply this technique to learning the letters on each string according to the whole- half-step formula.
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