Music Arts

Guitar II

Guitar II is an intermediate-level music course that immerses students in the technical, innovative, and expressive aspects of the guitar. Building on the fundamental concepts of playing the guitar, the course covers soloing and improvisation, advanced techniques in soloing, becoming an artist (forming a band), recording, advanced use of chords, advanced strumming and fingerstyle, and songwriting. This course also explores music theory and some music history (the great guitarists of the 20^th and 21^st centuries). Through cutting edge media tools, each week includes a variety of playing techniques such as bending, tapping and harmonics; a thorough assimilation of music theory concepts, such as note identification, chord construction and intervallic reading; a variety of music genres such as rock, jazz, and blues; and a panorama of music history through active listening exercises focusing on a famous guitarist. The course emphasizes practical participation. Acoustic guitars are provided to each student to use throughout the course. Director placement required.