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Professional Development & Curriculum for Classroom Guitar

Professional Development and Curriculum for Classroom Guitar
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Blog

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT BLOG

Welcome to the Professional Development Blog

Below you’ll find a wealth of information on teacher training, playing tips, student tips and more.  We’ve also included an archive of our past webinars.  This blog is ever expanding so make sure you check back often!

  • Teacher Training
  • Playing Tips
  • Webinarchive
  • Student Tips

Teacher Training

Improvisation with the Major Pentatonic Scale
Guitar Improvisation with the Major Pentatonic Scale
How to Teach Composition to Guitar Students, Part 4 – How to Write A Melody
how-to-write-a-melody
How to Teach Composition to Guitar Students, Part 3 – Composition Form
music composition with guitar
Teaching Beginning Composition
Beginning Composition for Guitar and Ukulele
Private Guitar Teachers: What to Look For
Finding Private Teachers for Guitar by Mike Christiansen
Classroom Guitar: Tips for Tuning the Class
Classroom Guitar expert Mike Christiansen gives you tips and tricks for tuning your classroom guitar class. Quickly tune your class with the included video. Read more…
Memorizing Music
In this video blog Classroom Guitar expert Mike Christiansen gives you tips and tricks for memorizing music. Watch the Video…
Classroom Guitar: How, When and Why to Use a Capo
Teaching Classroom Guitar: Use of the capo by Mike Christiansen
Classroom Guitar: Silence is Golden
Teaching Classroom Guitar Tips by Mike Christiansen
Blues Licks for Classroom Guitar
Teaching Classroom Guitar Tip: Blues Licks by Mike Christiansen
Practice While You’re Teaching Guitar
Teaching Classroom Guitar Tip: Practice While You Teach by Mike Christiansen
Advanced Warmups
Teaching Classroom Guitar Tips: Advanced Warmups for Guitar by Mike Christiansen
How to Practice Guitar
Teaching Classroom Guitar Tips: How to Practice by Mike Christiansen
Using Consonus Backing Tracks in the Ensemble Concert
Teaching Classroom Guitar Tip: Using the Consonus Backing Tracks in the Ensemble Concert by Mike Christiansen
Combine Chords & Melody
Combining Chords and Melody
Singin’ the Blues
Singing the Blues for Classroom Guitar
Tablature Vs. Standard Notation
Classroom Guitar - Tab vs Standard Notation
Major Pentatonics Classroom Guitar
Major Pentatonics Classroom Guitar
Artist of the Month – B.B. King
B.B. King
Lesson Structure
Lesson Structure
Classroom Guitar: Sequence Every Skill
Classroom Guitar: Sequence Every Skill
Class Assessment: What Do They Think?
Classroom Guitar Assesment Ideas
Engage Your Students with Layered Learning
Engage Your Students with Layered Learning
Hats Off To Educators
Mike Christiansen leading a workshop for classroom guitar teachers
Getting Started With Improvisation On Guitar
Getting Started With Improvisation On Guitar
Load more

Playing Tips

Improvisation with the Major Pentatonic Scale
Guitar Improvisation with the Major Pentatonic Scale
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 making the fingering of the chords more difficult...Read More.
Beginning Guitar: Getting Rid of the Buzz
beginning guitar - finger placement
Teaching Beginning Composition
Beginning Composition for Guitar and Ukulele
Private Guitar Teachers: What to Look For
Finding Private Teachers for Guitar by Mike Christiansen
Classroom Guitar: Tips for Tuning the Class
Classroom Guitar expert Mike Christiansen gives you tips and tricks for tuning your classroom guitar class. Quickly tune your class with the included video. Read more…
Memorizing Music
In this video blog Classroom Guitar expert Mike Christiansen gives you tips and tricks for memorizing music. Watch the Video…
Classroom Guitar: How, When and Why to Use a Capo
Teaching Classroom Guitar: Use of the capo by Mike Christiansen
Rhythm Studies for Classroom Guitar Are Here
Classroom Guitar Classroom Guitar Rhythm Studies by Mike Christiansen Studies
Blues Licks for Classroom Guitar
Teaching Classroom Guitar Tip: Blues Licks by Mike Christiansen
Practice While You’re Teaching Guitar
Teaching Classroom Guitar Tip: Practice While You Teach by Mike Christiansen
Advanced Warmups
Teaching Classroom Guitar Tips: Advanced Warmups for Guitar by Mike Christiansen
How to Practice Guitar
Teaching Classroom Guitar Tips: How to Practice by Mike Christiansen
Using Consonus Backing Tracks in the Ensemble Concert
Teaching Classroom Guitar Tip: Using the Consonus Backing Tracks in the Ensemble Concert by Mike Christiansen
Combine Chords & Melody
Combining Chords and Melody
Singin’ the Blues
Singing the Blues for Classroom Guitar
Major Pentatonics Classroom Guitar
Major Pentatonics Classroom Guitar
Artist of the Month – B.B. King
B.B. King
Classroom Guitar: Sequence Every Skill
Classroom Guitar: Sequence Every Skill
The Muted Strum
The Muted Strum
Skills Development – Fingerstyle Connecting Runs
Skills Development - Fingerstyle Connecting Runs
Skill Development – Bass Run Fills
Skill Development - Bass Run Fills
Creating a Fingerpicking Solo
Creating a Fingerpicking Solo
Chords, Chords, and More Chords
Chords, Chords, and More Chords
Spice Up Your Teaching with Guitar Licks
Spice Up Your Teaching with Guitar Licks
Load more

Webinarchive

Guitar Pedagogy for the Non-Guitarist Music Educator
Guitar Pedagogy for the Non-Guitarist Music Educator
Building a District Guitar Program
Building a District Guitar Program
What Classroom Guitar Teachers Need to Know about the Core Music Standards
What Classroom Guitar Teachers Need to Know about the Core Music Standards
Load more

Student Tips

This section is coming soon. Stay tuned!

Classroom Guitar: Warm-up Exercises for Every Level
Warm-up exercises should be on the agenda for the beginning of every class. In this post classroom guitar expert Mike Christiansen give you numerious options to expand your library of warm-ups...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 making the fingering of the chords more difficult...Read More.
Beginning Guitar: Getting Rid of the Buzz
beginning guitar - finger placement
Teaching Beginning Composition
Beginning Composition for Guitar and Ukulele
Private Guitar Teachers: What to Look For
Finding Private Teachers for Guitar by Mike Christiansen
Classroom Guitar: Tips for Tuning the Class
Classroom Guitar expert Mike Christiansen gives you tips and tricks for tuning your classroom guitar class. Quickly tune your class with the included video. Read more…
Memorizing Music
In this video blog Classroom Guitar expert Mike Christiansen gives you tips and tricks for memorizing music. Watch the Video…
Classroom Guitar: How, When and Why to Use a Capo
Teaching Classroom Guitar: Use of the capo by Mike Christiansen
Rhythm Studies for Classroom Guitar Are Here
Classroom Guitar Classroom Guitar Rhythm Studies by Mike Christiansen Studies
Blues Licks for Classroom Guitar
Teaching Classroom Guitar Tip: Blues Licks by Mike Christiansen
Practice While You’re Teaching Guitar
Teaching Classroom Guitar Tip: Practice While You Teach by Mike Christiansen
Advanced Warmups
Teaching Classroom Guitar Tips: Advanced Warmups for Guitar by Mike Christiansen
How to Practice Guitar
Teaching Classroom Guitar Tips: How to Practice by Mike Christiansen
Artist of the Month – B.B. King
B.B. King
Load more

Mike Christiansen – Curriculum Author

Mike Christiansen classroom guitar and ukulele curriculum authorMike Christiansen, classroom guitar & ukulele curriculum author, is Professor Emeritus in the Music Department at Utah State University. Mike founded the guitar program at USU and was Director of Guitar Studies at USU for 39 years. Read More...

Upcoming Events - featuring Mike Christiansen

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