>> back to Classes
Learn Rock Guitar in inner SE Portland
The Difficulty with Rock Musicians in Lessons: Rock musicians, particularly guitarists and bassists, often lack training and the patience to sit through irrelevant jazz or classical lessons in order to better themselves as a player. Rock music is a fusion of styles; it’s very difficult to teach proper theory, as it’s somewhat of a reverse engineering. Music theory, when taught using a rock song in a simple framework, does miss some fundamentals at times, but musicianship and mastery are a process, and we each absorb in our own way, in our own time. Playing riffs along to a beat is sometimes just fun.
Topics Covered: Rhythms, swing beats, straight beats, polyrhythms; rock standards. Chimey jangly indie rock like Johnny Marr (The Smiths), rough folk rock like Neil Young, jazz reggae rock of Andy Summers (The Police), psych blues rock like Hendrix, the modular octaves and angular 80’s melodies of Bernard Sumner (Joy Division, New Order, Electric), swaggering 90’s alt rock like Kim Thayil (Soundgarden), and riffage of players like Joe Satriani, Kirk Hammett, Clapton, Santana, and more. Soloing, playing in key. Classic bends, vibrato, licks; modes and modal playing. Chordal theory, chordal soloing.
Music Theory: Key signatures and sight-reading music notation for those whom wish to read; simplified and easy-to-use music theory for those who wish to rock. Playing in key. Scales, modes; chordal theory and rhythms. Intervals, and interval-related ear training. For vocalists of any sort and age, a capella interval vocalization and creative improvisational composition is encouraged – and possible.
Material and Application: You pick the music.
Instructor notes: The guitar is definitely my specialty. I love the guitar in all forms including blues, rock, jazz, latin jazz, and country, fingerstyle guitar with alternate tunings; psych rock, industrial, kid’s tunes, church songs and traditionals.
You Should Bring: Your guitar, and your friends/parents. After that, you’re welcome to use one of my guitars. I don’t care if you bring your lesson papers back. I prefer that you know the material and leave the papers at home. When we are learning what we love, we memorize it better. That’s why students of all ages guide their own lessons.
About the Instrument: The rock musician should generally be familiar with electric guitars, amplifiers, and effects pedals (delay, chorus, wah, and looping with loop pedals, and more). The studio has an array of pedals.
-Amanda Machina
squirrel at whirling squirrel dot com