Adult Classes

How many strings does this thing have? You will learn this and so much more in this class.

This class is for the adult complete beginner who has never picked up the guitar or only knows a few chords and is having trouble making it sound like something anyone but your mother can love. We will learn:

• Holding the guitar
• Your first 10 chords
• Time signatures and how to keep time
• Bass Lines

Participants of the Campfire Pickin’ ‘n’ Grinnin’ Bootcamp 101 class learn a wide variety of songs. From CCR to Doc Watson to Louis Armstrong to Jimmy Rodgers to The Eurythmics to Jack Johnson, we do it all and have a great time doing it. The songs are written out in a way that there is something for everyone. Beginners can do simple things to participate, learn how chord changes work and follow along. There are also alternate voicings for the chords, scale patterns and some extras to keep the more advanced players experimenting with new stuff.

Chords are included for other instruments such as ukulele and mandolin and others can be adapted, so if you play something other than guitar, you are welcome!

The FingerPicking Guitar Class will explore just that – FingerPicking. It is split up into 4 parts:

Intro to FingerPickin’

Break away from strumming the same pattern all the time and learn about bass lines, fingerpickin’ patterns and a tool box full of licks and tricks to make you sound like a pro! You should have a comfortable relationship with your basic chords before attempting this adventure, but you don’t need to be a pro – that’s what you learn here.

Intro to Travis Pickin’

Merl Travis didn’t invent it, but he sure rocked it enough to have his name put to it. We start with some Travis Pickin’ accompaniment patterns and move on to a playing a melody at the same time as the chords. What?!! Melody and chords at the same time, you ask? It is true.

More Accompaniment Patterns and Chord Melodies

I think you’ll need a bigger toolbox! These are the licks, tricks, rhythms and patterns that will make them name a style after you. We’ll look at Muted notes, Chuckin’, Bossa Rhythms, Melody/Strum Patterns, Chord Melodies and more…

Advanced Travis Pickin’

It gets harder than the intro class? It sure does! Check out Merle Travis (of course), Doc Watson, Richard Thompson, Mississippi John Hurt, Tommy Emanuel, Harry Sacksioni and lots more great stuff. We’ll do new songes each time, so keep comin’ back!!

Students enrolled in Fretboard Harmony Guitar Class will be given training in the idiomatic way the guitar works in all genres – from classical to country. The primary goal of the course is to become familiar with the rudimentary harmonic and melodic patterns used by the musicians we love and to unlock the mystery surrounding the recurrence of these patterns on the fretboard. We begin with fundamental musicianship training and expand that to the guitar. We explore artistic ways to approach improvisation. There is consistency between the musical examples for this class and Campfire Bootcamp 101 so students have an opportunity to put the theory into practice.

Fretboard Harmony Intro to Major Keys:

• The Function of the Notes in Open Position and Pattern Major Scales
• Transposition
• Bass Lines
• Barre Chords and Major and Minor Triads in Major Keys
• Diatonic Chord Progressions

Fretboard Harmony Intro to Minor Keys:

• Application of the Material from ‘Major Keys – Scales and Common Chords in Minor Keys
• Open Position and Pattern Scales, Transposition, Bass Lines, Triads, Chord Progressions
• Dominant and Secondary Dominant Seventh Chords

Fretboard Harmony Improvisation:

• Arpeggios
• Pentatonic Scales
• Chords, Arpeggios and Pentatonic Scales – how they work together
• Applying All this to a Chord Progression
• Dominant Pentatonic Scales

Fretboard Harmony Chord Toolbox:

• Diatonic Sevenths (Major Sevenths, Minor Sevenths, Dominant Sevenths)
• Diminished Chords
• Suspended Chords
• Augmented Chords
• Sixth Chords
• Augmented Sixth Chords

Fretboard Harmony The Rest of the Story:

• Application of the Material to the Rest of the Church Modes – Dorian, Mixolydian, Phrygian, Lydian and Locrian
• The Rest of the Chord Extentions – 9ths, 11ths, 13ths and Variations
• Modulation
• Dominant Chord Substitutions
• Tonic Chord Substitutions

These classes form a curriculum that will be valuable for guitarists at an intermediate to advanced level of any playing style. Reading standard notation is not required because this class approaches the music from a harmonic perspective as it relates to the fretboard. If you are at least a grade 2 level RCM or are comfortable playing songs in the open position and have at least dabled in barre chords and have learned a handful of licks or scales shapes, you will do just fine. You should expect to put in at least 20 min/day (2 – 3 hrs/week) of practice to be successful.

This isn’t a class as much as it is a great place to get together in small groups to play  and share music. It will complement the Campfire Guitar Bootcamp 101 well in that there will only be 1 meeting/month and rather than learning a pile of songs and riding the wave in a big group weekly. There will only be a handful of songs, small groups and proper arrangements. Experiment with songwriting and learn the ins and outs of making arrangements.

• Form
  • Verse, Chorus, Bridge, etc.
  • Intros/Outros
  • Instrumental sections
  • Interludes
• Instrumentation
• Key
• Presentation
• How to have an Effective Rehearsal
• How to Practice

This first ‘class’ will also be setting up the first set of partnerships. After that, the work is on your shoulders – get together, make arrangements, rehearse, practice and rehearse some more

The rest of the sessions will be performing, talking about the performances and working to improve them and setting up the next set of partnerships. We can talk about:

• Arrangements
• Harmonization
• Performance
• Suggestions of Additional Parts
• Lots More …

I expect most of the participants will be acoustic guitarists, but I definitely encourage other instrumentalists and vocalists to participate and perhaps take the opportunity to branch out into another instrument which you’ve been working hard at, should the opportunity lend itself. It could be acoustic instruments, electric instruments, vocalists, anything really!! The groups will be between 2 and 4 people, so in the 8 sessions, everyone will have and opportunity to work with everyone else in the group and in a wide variety of ensembles

The sessions will be on the last Saturday of every month, September to April, but am leaving the maximum registration open so that, should there be too many participants, I’ll open up another session.