To improvise over major chords, a very popular scale of choice is the major pentatonic. Read More.
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Classroom Guitar: Warm-up Exercises for Every Level
Classroom Guitar: Warm-up exercises for Every Level Warm-up exercises should be on the agenda for the beginning of every class. Most likely, many of you have created … [Read More...]
Classroom Guitar: Can Always Play Open – Using a Capo
CAPO is not an acronym for “can always play open.” But, a capo can make it possible to transpose (to change the key) of music that contains open chords, without … [Read More...]
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How to Teach Composition to Guitar Students, Part 4 – How to Write A Melody
Many Approaches to Teaching Students How to Write a Melody There are probably dozens of approaches and techniques for writing a melody. These methods range from starting with chord tones, to having the melody drop out of heaven and land on your ears. Many, if … [Read More...]
How to Teach Composition to Guitar Students, Part 3 – Composition Form
Writing a Story In this installment of How to Teach Composition to Guitar Students, I want to discuss composition form, the form of the song you are writing. Writing a song is like writing a story. Like writing words, the melody and the chords have to work … [Read More...]
How to Teach Composition to Guitar Students, Part 2 – Chord Progressions
The Progression of Chords In the first blog on composition, I talked about finding the chords in major and minor keys by using the chord clock (a modified circle of fifths) found in the Consonus Guitar Fundamentals: Beginning Guitar Complete book. In this … [Read More...]
How to Teach Composition to Guitar Students, Part 1
How to Teach Composition to Guitar Students Some of you may have been to one of my sessions at an MEA conference where I discussed methods of teaching music composition in guitar classes. In this series of blogs on composition I'm going to go into more detail … [Read More...]
Beginning Guitar: Getting Rid of the Buzz
Shouldn't Take a Light Year to Get Rid of the Buzz String buzz can be one of the simplest things to diagnose and solve for beginning guitar students. I say "can be" because the problem may be with the guitar and not the fingers. However, I would say … [Read More...]
Teaching Beginning Composition
Tips for Teaching Beginning Composition for Guitar & Ukulele Start Early I have my students compose from very earlier on in their instruction. Teachers should have their students begin composing by writing chord progressions. The first chords students should … [Read More...]
Basic Ukulele – Announcing the Release of a New Consonus Ukulele Method
Basic Ukulele - Addressing The Ukulele Explosion If you haven't noticed, the popularity of the ukulele is taking the country by storm. The only way you wouldn't have noticed is if you lived on a secluded island. Even then, a ukulele could have easily washed … [Read More...]
Classroom Guitar Curriculum Change Up
Why Change Your Classroom Guitar Curriculum? Changing the way you do something, or the way you teach something, is scary. It's comfortable to continue teaching the same way and using the same materials. So…why change your classroom guitar curriculum? Changes … [Read More...]
Private Guitar Teachers: What to Look For
With summer coming on and your classroom guitar class winding down you may be interested in continuing your guitar studies with a private guitar teacher. In this video blog Guitar Pedagogy Expert Mike Christiansen gives you tips on what to look for in a … [Read More...]
Classroom Guitar: Tips for Tuning the Class
An Easy and Fun Way to Tune Your Class One of the most fun ways to tune is with the video at the top of this blog post. This video, called "Tuning Pitches," is also found in the video library that comes with every course in the Consonus courseware library. … [Read More...]
