Classroom Guitar for School Music Program: Walking in Harmony Level I: Student's Copy

For over twenty years of my professional life, I have taught guitar at all levels from introductory to postgraduate. When I was first asked to teach in the Grades 5-8 School Guitar Program, I was both excited at the prospect and apprehensive about the challenges ahead. I had never taught in such environment before, and I wondered how my knowledge of the guitar world would resonate with large groups of children.

The first year turned out to be a string of mini-disasters, at least from my point of view.Obviously, I needed to change something and, upon reflection, decided to change my Guitar Class to a Guitar Orchestra. In a guitar ensemble, it is less important how difficult the notes are and much more important how different notes are performed together. Once I adopted and implemented this principle, my Guitar Orchestra started sounding much better from the very first note. Instead of playing the same notes together, students started playing in four voice harmony.This approach created more interest and, of course, more attention among students. That initial success was also the starting point of this book.

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