Beginning Guitar

DESCRIPTION
This course is for true beginners—or for those who wish to refresh their skills and who are patient enough to start over at the beginning. It’s for ages 9 and up, and parents are encouraged to sign up, too. It will be a very fun-yet-orderly class with lots of humor. Yes, they’ll be learning to play guitar, but along with that also comes a lot of basic musicianship skills, from steady beat to following the Director, and so forth.

We’ll start with the basics, and we’ll be strumming at least two chords by the end of the first class. We’ll also learn to sing along as we play, and we’ll do mostly common folk songs for that. Further, we’ll be learning to play individual notes on the guitar, and not just playing chords—and that’s the difference between being a musician, and being “just a guitar player”!

Registration

Click here to register ASAP
as space is limited.

CODE OF CONDUCT
A Code of Conduct agreement is required for this course. This helps to ensure the positive environment in each class. This document is being updated and will be published this summer.

SCHEDULE
Mondays, 10:50 a.m. to 11:35 a.m.
First Semester runs September 14 through our December 15 concert.
Second Semester runs January 11 through through April 26.

CONCERT DATES
We’ll have some manner of concert appearance each semester, which may or may not be tied to the big Christmas Concert that the choruses are putting on. Concert Dates are to be announced. We are shooting for three big events in the 2020/2021 school year: 1 in mid-October (October 26th?), 1 in mid-December (December 14th?), and one at the end of the school year, around April 20-26th. It may be that this class has its own performance(s) apart from the other events. And perhaps some of the more advanced students from the guitar class will play some special pieces in those bigger concerts.

MATERIALS/INSTRUMENTS NEEDED
Each student must bring a guitar (see details below), soft or medium-soft guitar picks (grab a handful because they break and get lost easily), a method book (see below), and a portable music stand. See the images below for details.

This single volume ($24.99 at Hansen’s) contains all three levels–
and we should cover at least two of these in this two-semester course.
You’ll need an acoustic guitar in good condition (including new-ish strings) for this class. Either a “Classical” (top photo) or a “Folk” (bottom photo) guitar will do, provided it’s of average quality. If it’s a discount guitar, such as from Walmart, it may not hold a tuning well enough. Sorry, but electric guitars, cool as they are, are just too difficult for this class, given their instrument cables and amps and power cords and extra set-up/take-down time. Hansen’s is great for guitar advise and maintenance, if you’re not sure. Also, be sure the guitar is big enough for the student. The guitar Grandpa bought him when he was 8 is likely to be too small for him once he’s 14!

PERFORMANCE DRESS CODE
We have a dress code for our concerts, because we are cool like that! All chorus members are expected to dress in all black as follows:
Boys/Men: Black slacks. Black belt and black shoes. Black long-sleeve, button-down shirts.
Girls/Women: Black bottoms of modest length, whether slacks, skirts, or dresses. Modest black tops, long or short sleeve. Sequins or other sparklies are OK, provided they do not change the color from the basic black look. NOTE: Ballroom gowns are too fancy for this event, and would stick out. Meanwhile, cowboy boots and hats with all black are too un-fancy, and would stick out in the opposite way!

CAPACITY
30 students

LOCATION
This course meets, as do all our courses, in the We, Montana! Great Room.

INSTRUCTOR
Jack Pelham

FEE
This course is part of our Homeschool Program. You’ll find our fee structure detailed here.