The best thing I have figured out over a lifetime of teaching guitar is the right order in which to teach the basic skills we all need to develop in order to play. The trademark of Street Level Guitar is the way that each lesson connects to the next. It is never a random, scattered approach. I put students on a good path for their level and musical interests so that they continually improve and expand in both skill and knowledge. To be honest, I teach the same information that all guitar teachers do. It’s the way I do it that makes all the difference and defines the approach of Street Level Guitar. I am always focused on getting students playing and performing full songs as soon as possible so they get the musical experience they seek. Everything is learned in context. Nobody takes up an instrument because they have a burning desire to do hours of technical practicing. The goal is always to play actual music. Street Level Guitar can do that for a beginner faster than any other method. For someone who already plays, I can get them to greatly expand their musical knowledge, train their ears, and get them to think like an experienced player without forcing them to read traditional notation, although it’s great if they do read coming in.
There are two basic parts to my program, The Basic Toolbox and Musicality and Understanding. Students begin where they need to begin. Nothing is written in stone and each students gets lessons tailored for them. Having said that, here is the fundamental information I cover in each phase and the skills I help build:
LEVEL ONE - THE BASIC TOOLBOX
This is for entry-level students. New players start their guitar-playing journey by working through and attaining a few basic skills that are needed to get up and playing.I sometimes call this the Pre-Music Phase, and it is all about getting your hands to work in a basic way so actual songs can be played. Every musical instrument is an uphill physical battle for a beginner; musical understanding comes later. First and foremost, our hands must learn to make sounds. All else will follow. Outside of guitar skills, this phase also teaches the student to read chord diagrams and guitar tablature (TAB).
The skills I teach in the Pre-Music Phase include:
Open Chords
Power Chords
Major and Minor Barre Chords
Basic Technique and Strumming
Major and Minor Pentatonic Scales
Basic Rhythms and Counting
Reading Chord Diagrams and TAB
If a student can get a handle on these things, we then move on to learning full songs for a while. Building up an ever-growing list of songs they can play all the way through is the ultimate goal of all of this, and the sooner we start on it, the better. No amount of musical learning or theory can take the place of actually playing songs. Think about it: we don’t teach babies to talk by giving them dictionaries and books on grammar. We teach them by saying ‘Mama’ to them until they say it back. It is best to learn music the same way. I want students to focus on the reason they are playing guitar, that being to make music, and not get lost trying to learn a bunch of complicated stuff that is way too much way too soon. Once someone can play 20 or 30 complete songs, he or she can move on to the more advance parts of this thing of ours.
LEVEL TWO - MUSICALITY AND UNDERSTANDING
This is the second level of Street Level Guitar. I often work with more experienced and advanced players who are playing in bands regularly but are looking to improve both their knowledge and skill as guitarists and musicians in general. Many guitar students start off by learning songs by pattern and rote memorization, which works at the outset, but becomes quite limiting as they get better. With these students, I teach a course in understanding the basic elements of our system of music as applied to the guitar. A lot of this is general knowledge that applies to all instruments and singers that is incredibly helpful to know, especially to those who are already performing. This is also where The Basic Toolbox phase described earlier leads to, for those who start learning with me from the beginning. All of this can be done without learning to read musical notation. All a student needs to know is the Alphabet.
The topics and skills covered at this point in the program include:
Basic Fretboard Knowledge
Major Scales
The Circle of Fifths/Fourths
Minor Scales - Natural, Harmonic, and Melodic
Modes
Chord Construction
Ear Training
Chord Progressions
Song Learning and Transposition
Advanced Rhythm and Lead Playing
Songwriting
Live Performance Preparation
The goal of this phase is to understand the bigger picture of the songs being played. Students learn how to determine the keys and identify the chord progressions of the songs they learn so they can better understand how a band functions, how songs are put together, and how they can be better band members. The goals of this is to give a student a true base of fundamental musical knowledge they can use to learn anything they may ever want to play and to build up and maintain a body of songs they can readily perform. Once someone reaches that point, the world is their oyster. Add in some strong desire to play and a general love of music and you end up with a pretty much unstoppable musician.
Of course, I can teach music reading in the traditional way and recommend learning to do it if your goals include music school, jazz stardom, and other highly-evolved musical antics. I just believe that students, especially those past the age of 10 or 11, should concentrate first on playing well, learning songs, and being musical and then get involved with the brain food of reading notes. Once again, this is all about learning things in the right order so they make sense and become useful. Get in touch if this sounds interesting and want more information. My method is unique but it works. Let’s get it on. SLG - Nuts And B
The best thing I have figured out over a lifetime of teaching guitar is the right order in which to teach the basic skills we all need to develop in order to play. The trademark of Street Level Guitar is the way that each lesson connects to the next. It is never a random, scattered approach. I put students on a good path for their level and musical interests so that they continually improve and expand in both skill and knowledge. To be honest, I teach the same information that all guitar teachers do. It’s the way I do it that makes all the difference and defines the approach of Street Level Guitar. I am always focused on getting students playing and performing full songs as soon as possible so they get the musical experience they seek. Everything is learned in context. Nobody takes up an instrument because they have a burning desire to do hours of technical practicing. The goal is always to play actual music. Street Level Guitar can do that for a beginner faster than any other method. For someone who already plays, I can get them to greatly expand their musical knowledge, train their ears, and get them to think like an experienced player without forcing them to read traditional notation, although it’s great if they do read coming in.
There are two basic parts to my program, The Basic Toolbox and Musicality and Understanding. Students begin where they need to begin. Nothing is written in stone and each students gets lessons tailored for them. Having said that, here is the fundamental information I cover in each phase and the skills I help build:
LEVEL ONE - THE BASIC TOOLBOX
This is for entry-level students. New players start their guitar-playing journey by working through and attaining a few basic skills that are needed to get up and playing.I sometimes call this the Pre-Music Phase, and it is all about getting your hands to work in a basic way so actual songs can be played. Every musical instrument is an uphill physical battle for a beginner; musical understanding comes later. First and foremost, our hands must learn to make sounds. All else will follow. Outside of guitar skills, this phase also teaches the student to read chord diagrams and guitar tablature (TAB).
The skills I teach in the Pre-Music Phase include:
Open Chords
Power Chords
Major and Minor Barre Chords
Basic Technique and Strumming
Major and Minor Pentatonic Scales
Basic Rhythms and Counting
Reading Chord Diagrams and TAB
If a student can get a handle on these things, we then move on to learning full songs for a while. Building up an ever-growing list of songs they can play all the way through is the ultimate goal of all of this, and the sooner we start on it, the better. No amount of musical learning or theory can take the place of actually playing songs. Think about it: we don’t teach babies to talk by giving them dictionaries and books on grammar. We teach them by saying ‘Mama’ to them until they say it back. It is best to learn music the same way. I want students to focus on the reason they are playing guitar, that being to make music, and not get lost trying to learn a bunch of complicated stuff that is way too much way too soon. Once someone can play 20 or 30 complete songs, he or she can move on to the more advance parts of this thing of ours.
LEVEL TWO - MUSICALITY AND UNDERSTANDING
This is the second level of Street Level Guitar. I often work with more experienced and advanced players who are playing in bands regularly but are looking to improve both their knowledge and skill as guitarists and musicians in general. Many guitar students start off by learning songs by pattern and rote memorization, which works at the outset, but becomes quite limiting as they get better. With these students, I teach a course in understanding the basic elements of our system of music as applied to the guitar. A lot of this is general knowledge that applies to all instruments and singers that is incredibly helpful to know, especially to those who are already performing. This is also where The Basic Toolbox phase described earlier leads to, for those who start learning with me from the beginning. All of this can be done without learning to read musical notation. All a student needs to know is the Alphabet.
The topics and skills covered at this point in the program include:
Basic Fretboard Knowledge
Major Scales
The Circle of Fifths/Fourths
Minor Scales - Natural, Harmonic, and Melodic
Modes
Chord Construction
Ear Training
Chord Progressions
Song Learning and Transposition
Advanced Rhythm and Lead Playing
Songwriting
Live Performance Preparation
The goal of this phase is to understand the bigger picture of the songs being played. Students learn how to determine the keys and identify the chord progressions of the songs they learn so they can better understand how a band functions, how songs are put together, and how they can be better band members. The goals of this is to give a student a true base of fundamental musical knowledge they can use to learn anything they may ever want to play and to build up and maintain a body of songs they can readily perform. Once someone reaches that point, the world is their oyster. Add in some strong desire to play and a general love of music and you end up with a pretty much unstoppable musician.
Of course, I can teach music reading in the traditional way and recommend learning to do it if your goals include music school, jazz stardom, and other highly-evolved musical antics. I just believe that students, especially those past the age of 10 or 11, should concentrate first on playing well, learning songs, and being musical and then get involved with the brain food of reading notes. Once again, this is all about learning things in the right order so they make sense and become useful. Get in touch if this sounds interesting and want more information. My method is unique but it works. Let’s get it on.
