Frequently Asked Questions
What age group is the book geared to benefit?
The course will work for middle school through college-level and adult beginners. Middle school students might not be as familiar with the tunes in the book, but the teacher can certainly play recorded examples of the pieces. Original recordings should be acquired easily enough considering the ready availability of the works studied in the book.
How long of a period of time does the course cover?
The course was originally conceived for a sixteen-week program. There is certainly flexibility in how one chooses to progress through the material for either shortening or lengthening the period of instruction.
Could the book be used for one-on-one instruction?
Abolutely. It is not just limited to classroom applications alone. I have also been told by a few individuals that, due to the detail of explaination of the material, they were able to use the books for self-study!
There are numerous method books available for the guitar and a few dedicated to learning in a classroom setting. What make this book different?
While I haven’t read every method book out there, the ones that I have looked at have much in common with each other in terms of how the material is presented as well as stressing the reading of musical notation. And, the instructional process commonly progresses through the learning antiquated pieces of music. This book presents songs similar to those that have become a part of the canon of popular music in a thoughtful skill sequence. There are particular insights in Guitar Smart offered to nurture the beginner through the early learning stages that are largely absent in other materials. The book gives the beginner a strong level of competency for continued advancement in a compelling manner. Someone finishing a course with the book will be able to adapt to a variety of performance situations.
Does Guitar Smart teach students how to read music?
Actually, no, but the second books does. First, I want to be clear that reading is an important skill for the serious musician. What do we call someone who can speak English and understand it when it is spoken, but cannot read or write the language?...functionally illiterate. So, if you can’t read music you are basically a functionally illiterate musician. The obvious argument against such a critical evaluation is that volumes of popular pieces of music from all genres were written by guitarists who could not read a note. While the reading of musical notation is avoided at this level I do, however, believe that there are aspects of understanding rhythm that are important to the beginning player so the book focuses on getting the student to understand the elements of reading rhythmic notation. In popular culture so much of the role of the guitar is as an accompaniment instrument. The guitarist will find themselves in situations of that of an accompanist more often than not. This is the philosophical underpinning for my particular approach to teaching. That being said, there are pieces in the book in which the students do play single note melodies in a quasi-solo fashion. I would like to add that the follow-up to this book, Guitar Smarterfocuses on the acquisition of the skill for reading musical notation utilizing a quasi-classical guitar approach to fingerstyle playing.
I am a music teacher, but I have never played the guitar before. Do you think I could use the method book to stay a step ahead of the students and lead them through the course?
I suppose that might be possible, but I wouldn’t want to take your class. The best case scenario is to provide your students with an instructor familiar with a variety of ways to address problems specific to the beginner. While Guitar Smart has a great amount of detail to guide the beginner through the early physical challenges of learning, it would be best for the students to have that extra amount of experience to help in guiding them through.
Your course is set up with weekly assignments, but my middle school guitar class is scheduled to meet daily during the week. What do you suggest?
That is a difficult question. This is an example of the misunderstanding by administration of the study of an instrument. They figure that since Math and English meet everyday so should guitar! What is a beginner going to do in a day that is significant enough to build upon for the next day? I have been lucky enough to have only taught the guitar course meeting two days a week so after we get started the first day is review of previous material covered and the next day consists of presenting new material for the following week. For me, this is optimal. In a course that meets every day you may stretch out the material so that a week is divided into two applied classes with two review days. Assuming that you are an accomplished player, you could certainly identify similar pieces to any given assignment in the book so that you could augment a given current assignment with others. You also may wish to cover things peripheral to the actual course such as: music theory (although there is some basic theory in the book), transposition of chord progressions, ear training (can they identify a major, minor, diminished, augmented chord – or different types of scales – or the meter of a particular tune); research and share information about the construction of the instrument and/or basic maintenance; history of the instrument; how to change strings, or things of this sort. You are welcome to contact me if you would like other ideas.
I am required to present a student concert at the end of the semester to demonstrate what they have learned. How do I do that with the material in the book?
I love those kinds of concerts where the beginners get to jump up on stage and feel those nerves. Seriously, it should be fun and easy. Assuming you are already a player you could pick anything from songs in the book or from the list of basic progressions covered in the book to holiday tunes. You might have to do a bit of work here writing out some material for the students, but that is what teachers are for: to provide new and different challenges. Some performers could play chords while others play melodies (with a separate group possibly even harmonizing the melody) for a variety of musical styles. The only limit is the teacher’s imagination.
Is there an instructor’s edition?
No. However, there is an available suggested breakdown in detail for how to the cover the material for each individual week. If you reach me through the contact page, I will be happy to provide it for you.
Are there recordings available for the various examples?
Yes. Right here on this website. I almost did not include recorded examples. With a good teacher clearly demonstrating so that the students can model their actions and clearly understand the material, they should do fine without having to have recorded examples. But, they are there for your use, nonetheless.
The course will work for middle school through college-level and adult beginners. Middle school students might not be as familiar with the tunes in the book, but the teacher can certainly play recorded examples of the pieces. Original recordings should be acquired easily enough considering the ready availability of the works studied in the book.
How long of a period of time does the course cover?
The course was originally conceived for a sixteen-week program. There is certainly flexibility in how one chooses to progress through the material for either shortening or lengthening the period of instruction.
Could the book be used for one-on-one instruction?
Abolutely. It is not just limited to classroom applications alone. I have also been told by a few individuals that, due to the detail of explaination of the material, they were able to use the books for self-study!
There are numerous method books available for the guitar and a few dedicated to learning in a classroom setting. What make this book different?
While I haven’t read every method book out there, the ones that I have looked at have much in common with each other in terms of how the material is presented as well as stressing the reading of musical notation. And, the instructional process commonly progresses through the learning antiquated pieces of music. This book presents songs similar to those that have become a part of the canon of popular music in a thoughtful skill sequence. There are particular insights in Guitar Smart offered to nurture the beginner through the early learning stages that are largely absent in other materials. The book gives the beginner a strong level of competency for continued advancement in a compelling manner. Someone finishing a course with the book will be able to adapt to a variety of performance situations.
Does Guitar Smart teach students how to read music?
Actually, no, but the second books does. First, I want to be clear that reading is an important skill for the serious musician. What do we call someone who can speak English and understand it when it is spoken, but cannot read or write the language?...functionally illiterate. So, if you can’t read music you are basically a functionally illiterate musician. The obvious argument against such a critical evaluation is that volumes of popular pieces of music from all genres were written by guitarists who could not read a note. While the reading of musical notation is avoided at this level I do, however, believe that there are aspects of understanding rhythm that are important to the beginning player so the book focuses on getting the student to understand the elements of reading rhythmic notation. In popular culture so much of the role of the guitar is as an accompaniment instrument. The guitarist will find themselves in situations of that of an accompanist more often than not. This is the philosophical underpinning for my particular approach to teaching. That being said, there are pieces in the book in which the students do play single note melodies in a quasi-solo fashion. I would like to add that the follow-up to this book, Guitar Smarterfocuses on the acquisition of the skill for reading musical notation utilizing a quasi-classical guitar approach to fingerstyle playing.
I am a music teacher, but I have never played the guitar before. Do you think I could use the method book to stay a step ahead of the students and lead them through the course?
I suppose that might be possible, but I wouldn’t want to take your class. The best case scenario is to provide your students with an instructor familiar with a variety of ways to address problems specific to the beginner. While Guitar Smart has a great amount of detail to guide the beginner through the early physical challenges of learning, it would be best for the students to have that extra amount of experience to help in guiding them through.
Your course is set up with weekly assignments, but my middle school guitar class is scheduled to meet daily during the week. What do you suggest?
That is a difficult question. This is an example of the misunderstanding by administration of the study of an instrument. They figure that since Math and English meet everyday so should guitar! What is a beginner going to do in a day that is significant enough to build upon for the next day? I have been lucky enough to have only taught the guitar course meeting two days a week so after we get started the first day is review of previous material covered and the next day consists of presenting new material for the following week. For me, this is optimal. In a course that meets every day you may stretch out the material so that a week is divided into two applied classes with two review days. Assuming that you are an accomplished player, you could certainly identify similar pieces to any given assignment in the book so that you could augment a given current assignment with others. You also may wish to cover things peripheral to the actual course such as: music theory (although there is some basic theory in the book), transposition of chord progressions, ear training (can they identify a major, minor, diminished, augmented chord – or different types of scales – or the meter of a particular tune); research and share information about the construction of the instrument and/or basic maintenance; history of the instrument; how to change strings, or things of this sort. You are welcome to contact me if you would like other ideas.
I am required to present a student concert at the end of the semester to demonstrate what they have learned. How do I do that with the material in the book?
I love those kinds of concerts where the beginners get to jump up on stage and feel those nerves. Seriously, it should be fun and easy. Assuming you are already a player you could pick anything from songs in the book or from the list of basic progressions covered in the book to holiday tunes. You might have to do a bit of work here writing out some material for the students, but that is what teachers are for: to provide new and different challenges. Some performers could play chords while others play melodies (with a separate group possibly even harmonizing the melody) for a variety of musical styles. The only limit is the teacher’s imagination.
Is there an instructor’s edition?
No. However, there is an available suggested breakdown in detail for how to the cover the material for each individual week. If you reach me through the contact page, I will be happy to provide it for you.
Are there recordings available for the various examples?
Yes. Right here on this website. I almost did not include recorded examples. With a good teacher clearly demonstrating so that the students can model their actions and clearly understand the material, they should do fine without having to have recorded examples. But, they are there for your use, nonetheless.
