Stop Worrying About Teaching Guitar! Turn Your Guitar Class into a

Transcription

Stop Worrying About
Teaching Guitar!
Turn Your Guitar Class into a
Guitar Ensemble (for Free)!
KMEA 2013
Dennis Davis
Basic Questions, Assumptions, and Observations
Do You Really Need To Play The Guitar Well (or at all) To
Teach A Guitar Class Well?
Do You Really Need To Play Every Instrument in a Jazz
Band or Orchestra to Teach Those Ensemble Classes
Well?
You Are an Excellent Musician—Teach Them What You
Know Best!
MUSICIANSHIP & ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE
Missed Conceptions
  1) Many guitarists in HS and MS can already play
their instrument to some degree.
  2) Most guitarists want to be in a “band” and have
never experienced the fun of performing in an
ensemble.
  3) Most guitarists do not want to be the “solo
guitar player.” They are much more comfortable in
a large group (section player).
Missed Conceptions:
Traditional class guitar method
books
1.  Fail to actually “teach” proper guitar technique beyond the two
or three photos and paragraphs in the front of the book.
2.  Do not utilize tablature.
3.  Focus on learning the notes on each string (linear approach)
with boring music exercises that are not fun to practice
(musically and creatively stifling).
4.  Focus on “solo” progress and performance with unison or
teacher accompanied exercises.
5.  Are rarely more than poorly adapted private lesson books.
6.  Introduce chords too early and irresponsibly.
Missed Conception 1:
Failure to actually “teach” proper guitar
technique beyond the two or three photos and
paragraphs in the front of the book.
  Many teachers purchase a book hoping it will teach their
class proper guitar technique (how to physically play the
guitar). Is that really possible with a few pages and
photos in the front of a book?
  The simple truth is that many “guitar methods,” class or
otherwise, do not teach the mechanics of proper guitar
technique.
  If you strip that brief section out of the front of the book,
how much guitar-specific pedagogical information is
actually left? What typically follows is a plethora of simple
solo or teacher accompanied music exercises, as seen in
John Thompson books and other “solo” oriented texts. Is
that similar to the early primers you experienced in your
private lessons?
Missed Conception 1 Solutions:
Failure to actually “teach” proper guitar technique beyond the two
  Do not buy into the hype and do not buy the books to solve that
problem.
  Understand that many of your guitar students can already fret
and hold their instrument. And, the “proper technique and
sitting position” may exacerbate the problems young children
face when playing an over-sized guitar. Even if they have never
played the guitar, let them hold it the way that works best for
them during the early stages of this process. Let them discover
“proper guitar technique” and guide them with the basic
principles that I will provide to you for free. Besides, students
have seen too many guitar videos and guitarists on TV/Internet
to believe that there is only “one right way” to hold or play a
guitar. And, if you analyzed the twenty best classical guitarists
in the world you would find significant differences in hand
positions, guitar angles, and holding devices.
Failure to actually “teach” proper guitar technique beyond the two
  Utilize the plethora of free Internet videos that teach
students how to hold, position, and play the guitar. Many
of these videos are taught buy some of the most
important performers and teachers in the world (for
example, Kanengiser’s: Effortless Classical Guitar Videos
on YOUTUBE). They are also available through ILL.
  However, it is really best not to overly focus on the
mechanics of guitar playing in the early stages, beyond
the common concerns of basic posture and positioning.
you will probably discover, as I have, that MUSIC is the
best way to teach MUSIC! And, good music will teach
good technique (necessity is the mother of invention).
Missed Conception 2:
Failure to utilize tablature.
  Guitar pedagogy is in a sad state of denial. Simply put, Tablature is
not evil. It is one of the oldest forms of notation in the history of
Western music and it is commonly transcribed by growling graduate
students who must study it in “Notation” and “Early Music History”
courses.
  Tablature is the primary way that “uneducated” guitarist learn to play
their instrument. It is the focus of popular song books, magazines,
and websites. It is not uncommon for very young students to already
know how to read tablature.
  Fortunately, it is also the quickest way to teach young inexperienced
guitar students how play the correct pitches on the guitar. And, it is
the easiest way for “non-guitarist” teachers to check that students are
playing the correct pitches on the guitar (WIN-WIN)!
  Begin with easy ensemble music that YOU know well
and like.
  Make numerous copies of Notation/Tablature
manuscript paper (four bars per system and
unbarred).
  Copy the score or parts for the students, assign the
parts, and have them transcribe those parts into
tablature using a Neck/Notation sheet (I will give you
one, but they are free on the Internet).
  It is incredibly easy to turn any MIDI, Finale, or Sibelius
score into parts with notation AND guitar tablature. You
can easily add a Tab staff below each part and create the
Tab part by copying and pasting. Remember that the
Guitar sounds an octave lower than written, so you may
want to either use an Octave/Tenor Treble Staff or
transpose the notation line before copying. This is not a
difficult process.
  For more advanced music (higher range) you will want to
specify the “position” (the lowest fret) that best fits the
range of the phrase or entire part, but this will be fairly
easy to do after finding those notes on the neck chart.
  However, it is even easier and more educationally
productive to do this by assigning the part as written
homework for your students. This is, without doubt,
the best way to wean students away from tablature,
teach them standard notation, and have them
understand and think critically about rhythm. IT IS
THE MOST CRITICALLY MISSED STAGE OF GUITAR
INSTRUCTION-PERIOD.
  Rhythm: Notation software will add the counting
above the tablature and students transcribing their
part should be made to write the counting above the
tablature.
Failure to Utilize Tablature
  Easy ensemble music for guitar ensemble has a range that runs from E
below middle C to A above the staff. These parts will be easily played in
first position and your students will learn them quickly. Since your
students are using tablature, the accidentals and chromaticism will only be
a problem if they do not understand those symbols in notation.
Remember, they are converting notation into tablature at this point, which
actually makes it easier for them to deal with accidentals and key
signatures on the guitar.
  When arranging more advanced parts, either in notation software or as
assignment for students, you will want to find the location (position) on the
guitar neck where all (or mostly all) of the notes in a phrase may be played
WITHOUT shifting. It is critical that students try, from the earliest moment,
to not look at their hands while they read their tablature parts. If the
phrases are “tabbed” in the most appropriate position, the notes should
lay under the four fingers easily with each finger having its own fret.
Failure to Utilize Tablature
  While this may seem complicated, it is really quite logical and most
importantly, the first part of a more complicated work is typically the only
part that needs this type of attention. And fortunately, your more
advanced students will not only already have the technical facility to play
those lines, but they will also know to place those lines in the best
position. If they do not, then you can help them without much effort.
  AGAIN: It is critical to make your students write out their counting over the
tablature. Ideally, they will copy the notation, convert it to the tablature
staff underneath, and then write the counting for their part over the
tablature. Rhythm tends to be the most difficult and often neglected
element when teaching with tablature. That is why notation eventually
replaced tablature historically. The inverse is why young guitarists cannot
count or read rhythms very well.
  Whether you use notation software or student transcriptions, you reinforce
critical thinking and writing is utilized as an important method of learning.
You also have an excellent means of assessing the comprehension of
learning objectives and measurement of learning outcomes.
Missed Conceptions 3 & 4
Focus on learning the notes on each string successively (linear
approach) with boring music exercises that are not fun to practice
(musically and creatively stifling).
Focus on “solo” progress and performance with unison or teacher
accompanied exercises.
  Typical guitar methods, class or private studio, introduce
one string at a time, typically high to low, and use short
exercises to learn the notes on the guitar. The problem is
that the exercises are boring and everyone is playing a
unison part. This process continues for six to eight weeks
until each string is covered individually. This is a private
lesson guitar approach with a very steep and
discouraging learning curve. Since the teacher cannot
work with each student individually, this methodology
places too much responsibility on the student. Many
students become frustrated with the material, pace, and
difficulty of memorizing the note locations on the guitar.
And, many naturally need more time to learn the notes
below the staff.
Missed Conception 3 & 4
Solutions:
  The elegance of using tablature is that the student has an
immediate understanding of where the note is played and the
memorization of the notation location for that note can unfold
naturally over time, and, in the comfort of much better music
that allows students to have their own part in a larger group.
  It is imperative to understand that tablature works across the
guitar neck vertically and horizontally. Meaning, it allows
students to play music on all of the strings of the guitar
immediately, instead of one string per week. This affords a
circuitous, rather than linear, methodology. Playing 0, 1, 3 is
largely the same process on any string. This allows the teacher
to divide the class into one large ensemble (or smaller
ensembles) to learn duo, trio, quartet and larger works.
Solutions:
  It is exciting to watch the immediate gratification that young
guitar students experience after they play an easy ensemble
work in four parts after very little rehearsal. It is also the
quickest way to teach young inexperienced guitar students how
play the correct pitches on all six strings of the guitar
simultaneously. And, it is the easiest way for “non-guitarist”
teachers to make sure that students are playing the correct
pitches on the guitar (WIN-WIN)! You cannot argue with a fret
number...
  The ensemble music replaces the boring exercises and the
focus is on the group and not the individual student.
Missed Conceptions 5 & 6
Guitar class methods rarely more than poorly
adapted private lesson books and, they introduce
chords too early and irresponsibly.
  Few items confirm the misguided nature of many
guitar methods more than the early introduction of
chords. On the surface, many seem to think that
chords are easier because the fingers are stationary
for an extended period of time while the strumming
hand does all of the work.
  Another common misconception is that guitarists
should learn to play rhythm guitar well before they
try to play lead. The real goal of this maxim is for
the young guitar student to learn rhythm, meter,
counting, and tempo control.
Solutions:
  First of all, chords are much more difficult to play than single
note lines and exercises. It is ridiculous to think that chords
develop, exercise, and improve the coordination of the fretting
finger better than isolating and exercising the fingers
individually. The fingers just set still on the neck and then they
must fly to another formation in the blink of an eye. If chords
were easy to play young guitarists would be playing them well
in a short period of time. And more importantly, they would be
changing between them quickly and easily.
  Simply put, chords do more damage to the psyche of young
guitarists then any other single element and many young
players quit because of trying to learn them.
Solutions:
  Beginning guitarists should focus on single note exercises until
they gain the finger independence they need to play chords
well.
  While there are many exercises that will help do this, the
ensemble music you teach them will also do this. And, it will
alleviate the need for the teacher or students to accompany
class guitar songs with chords.
  When chords are introduced, they may also be divided
according to strings and played by the ensemble (three
students play the high string, three the second string, etc). This
way chords can be learned by adding strings, rather than all at
once.
Solutions:
  Beginning guitarists should focus on single note exercises until
they gain the finger independence they need to play chords
well.
  While there are many exercises that will help do this, the
ensemble music you teach them will also do this. And, it will
alleviate the need for the teacher or students to accompany
class guitar songs with chords.
  When chords are introduced, they may also be divided
according to strings and played by the ensemble (three
students play the high string, three the second string, etc). This
way chords can be learned by adding strings, rather than all at
once.
Review
Ensemble Music You Download for Free (Quick Start):
 
Go to one of many websites that offer free guitar ensemble
music, download the PDFs and have the students
transcribe their parts into Tablature. This music is already
for guitar ensemble (no transposing, range, or part
assignment problems).
 
 
 
 
http://www.classicalguitarschool.net/en/
http://www.derek-hasted.co.uk/free-guitar-music/
http://imslp.org/wiki/Special:GenreSearch/guitar
http://www.acguitar.com/lessons/notation/notation.shtml
(Instructional: Session Link)
Review
Ensemble Music You Arrange (Quick Start):
 
Simply take any ensemble music you already have in Finale
or Sibelius, including MIDI files, and transpose the parts to
fit the guitar’s range (think Clarinet), add a tablature staff
for each part, and create the parts.
 
Sibelius will also generate a play-a-long Scorch File and
add “Beat” counting to the Tablature staff. Many scores are
available at the Sibelius web site.
Review
Ensemble Music They Arrange (Critical Thinking/Musicianship):
 
Give them a copy of the parts for easy ensemble works and
sheets of blank notation and tablature paper. Is it really a
problem for students to learn clef conversion and transposition?
Or, is that learning musicianship and critical thinking? You can
also let bass players read bass clef (and use their basses).
 
Divide the class into parts and if you have them, place an
experienced player on each part.
 
Give them a sheet of the notes on the neck in notation (free and
readily available—also in many entry level books as an appendix).
Tell them to stay in one position as much as possible (four frets,
one per finger) and convert the notes into tablature.
Transcribing standard notation into tablature is one of the
quickest and best ways for your students to learn how to read
music. They will naturally want to quit transcribing parts after
they can read notation.
 
Voila! Instant Guitar Ensemble...
Sample Guitar Instructional Internet Site
http://www.acousticguitar.com/lessons/notation/notation.shtml
http://freeblanksheetmusic.org/guitar/
Cancion Sin Fronteras
For 5 Acoustic Guitars
1
Guitar 1
Guitar 2
C
G7
C
G7
C
G7
C
Guitar 3
Guitar 4
1
Bass
5
3
Gt.1
3
Gt.2
C
F
G7
Gt.3
Gt.4
5
BGt.
©2001 D.Kennedy Tel 01997 421124 email [email protected]
G7
-1-
Pescador
(Guitar Quartet)
Arr. Eythor Thorlaksson
1
Spanish folk song
Allegretto
G. 1
G. 2
G. 3
G. 4
5
10
Copyright 2005 by The Guitar School - Iceland
www.eythorsson.com
4020
SEVILLANAS DEL SIGLO XVIII
Federico Garcia Lorca
Arranged for 3 Guitars by
Jan-Olof Eriksson
I
II
III
6
12
4
© JOE 5/2000
Allemande I
Guitar 1
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Haydn Demonstration for
Determining Playing
Positions
  Symphony 104: III
  Menuetto and Trio (Allegro)
Symphony 104, D Major
Menuetto
Allegro
Violino I
Electric Guitar
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Basic Technical Suggestions
1.  Sit Correctly
 
 
 
Edge of the seat with good posture.
Guitar between legs.
Peg head/Tuning gears at ear level via strap or footstool.
2.  Left Hand
 
 
Palm parallel with bottom of neck.
Fret on the tips of the fingers with the thumb across from
fingers 2 and 3.
3.  Right Hand
 
 
Finger Style (Do not anchor fingers on the top or bridge,
thumb ahead of index finger, Segovia triangle, Rest Strokes
before Free Strokes).
Plectrum (hold between tip of thumb and tip of index finger,
keep wrist loose, compare to the act of writing).
Practical Pedagogical Suggestions
1.  If a student already seems at ease playing the guitar, just have
them sit correctly and notice that many technical issues will resolve
themselves over time.
2.  If the guitar does not fit the child, use a capo and have them play
in the higher positions. These situations often require altered
sitting positions (for example, right leg supporting the instrument).
3.  Internet Materials and Instructional Videos. Many of the best
instructional materials and videos are free on YOUTUBE and
Google.
  William Kanengiser Effortless Classical Guitar (highly recommended).
  Hal Leonard and Mel Bay have basic videos, including videos for
 
 
 
younger students.
YOUTUBE has other excellent videos (too many to list). Download them
and watch them before you present them in class.
Simply Search “Free Guitar Lessons” and notice the hundreds of free
instructional videos, theory links devoted to guitar, and printable
resources (tab, manuscript, metronomes, tuning sites, JamCenters,
Accompaniment Tracks, Guitar Pro, and so much more).
http://www.justinguitar.com/en/AA-000-LessonIndex.php
Use Basic Guitar Exercises to Teach Rhythm
1.  Right Hand (Fingers and Plectrum):
  Open string strumming (all strings)
  Single string focus (open string).
2.  Left Hand:
  Non articulated left hand legatos (hammers) on open strings.
3.  Both Hands:
 
 
 
 
Vertical and Horizontal Stretching Exercises (long note values).
Coordination drills (long note values).
Ascending and Descending legatos (hammers and pull-offs).
The Shifting Exercise (quick rhythms—but use layers for less
experienced players).
The Mid-America Guitar Ensemble Festival
(140+ Guitarists: College and High School Ensembles)
Thank You For Attending KMEA!!
Please Email Me If You Have Any Questions!
[email protected]
859-622-5007

Stop Worrying About Teaching Guitar! Turn Your Guitar Class into a

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