Guitar: Group Lessons Advanced Level
Standard ClassFall/Winter 2020|#1981
Description
This six week, small group course (4 students maximum) aims to further develop knowledge, understanding and application of specific skills and techniques related to acoustic and electric guitar, and also to advance general musical concepts which can be applied to any instrument, style or genre. This course seeks to sharpen the clarity and focus of concepts and techniques already present in the mind, hands and ears of the student, as well as expanding the understanding and application of new ideas. The end goal of this course is to arm the student with the requisite knowledge and understanding so that they may listen to any piece of music, in any genre or style, and make sense of it. With this ability, they can more easily decode songs, play along by ear, communicate proficiently with other musicians, create original songs and compositions, and improvise in various (and eventually any) musical and harmonic circumstances.
During these sessions we will cover concepts and skills such as: major and minor chord shapes/voicings and advanced harmonic extensions with a focus on closed (barre) voicings; advanced use of the CAGED system of seeing, hearing, and understanding moveable chord shapes, allowing for a clearer vision of the fretboard note layout, but with a strong focus on the relationship intervals, chords, and scales; deeper understanding and application of music theory by way of the Nashville Number System, which will allow the student to think in numerical and intervalic relationships in addition to letter names; ear training exercises to develop identification of common chord qualities, harmonic progressions and cliche riffs from popular music; proper physical technique when incorporating new methods of playing, be that string bending, picking technique, palm muting, fingerstyle, etc.; increased understanding of the construction, parts, function, basic physics, proper setup and maintenance of the guitar; basic arrangement techniques and concepts which will guide the student in constructing music with multiple instruments; and hopefully much more.
General Prerequisite skills include the ability to:
Play and name open chords comfortably
Play power chords and barre chords with at least some level of comfort
Basic to intermediate understanding of the note layout of the guitar fretboard
Ability to strum and pick individual notes comfortably
Basic knowledge of scales; ideally the Major, Major and Minor Pentatonic and the Blues scale
Wondering if you are a High Intermediate Level student, and if this class is right for you? I am happy to schedule a short conversation during which I can answer any questions you might have, provide further details about the scope of this course, and ensure that it is the correct fit for the student.
Please email Chris at chrisclaymusic@gmail.com
Chris Lesesne - Instructor Bio
Chris Lesesne is a multi-instrumentalist with more than 15 years of experience playing and studying music. His interest in a wide variety of styles and genres, through all periods of time, provides Chris a wide lens through which he can view and understand music. From visceral and intuitive, to intellectual and analytical, Chris comes at music from all directions. Chris has a specific interest in music theory and enjoys helping others learn to decode the musical language and build a foundation of musical grammar so that they can more easily understand, organize, and communicate their ideas.
Chris has been a full time resident of Girdwood since 2011 and has since been in a number of Alaskan bands, performing all over the state at venues and festivalson guitar, bass, organ, piano, and as a vocalist. He has a background in private tutoring during his high school and college years, but has returned to teaching somewhat recently, hosting private music lessons here in Girdwood for the last five years.
Current and past projects include playing rhythm and lead guitar in Lateral Lines (fronted by Kat Moore of the Super Saturated Sugar Strings); guitar, bass, keyboards, vocalist and composer in The Dirty Hands; guitar in The Ava Earl Band; bass guitar in Chartreuse Noose, and electric keyboard, organ, and harmonica in Big Fat Buddha. Keep an eye out for his his newly budding solo project, St?nEsher. Links to some of Chris’ work can be found through the following links, or by searching these bands on YouTube or streaming platforms such as Spotify and iTunes.
Lateral Lines
https://youtu.be/JjZdurI4YJ0 (2020 Cordova Salmon Jam - performance begins at 36 minutes) into video)
The Dirty Hands
https://open.spotify.com/
https://www.facebook.com/
Big Fat Buddha
https://open.spotify.com/
https://youtu.be/aHobq2dra-8 (Live at Salmon Fest)