There are probably dozens of approaches and techniques for writing a melody. The technique I would like to focus on works well with young students and offers a step-by-step approach to early endeavors in composition. Read More.
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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. … [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 … [Read More...]
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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...]
Memorizing Music
In this video blog Classroom Guitar expert Mike Christiansen gives you tips and tricks for memorizing music. Here's a short summary: Before you even play the music...look it over Before you start playing the music take some time to look the music over. Count … [Read More...]
Classroom Guitar: How, When and Why to Use a Capo
In this video blog, Consonus Classroom Guitar Curriculum author Mike Christiansen discusses how, when and why to use a capo. Probably the most common use of a capo is to change key but when teaching very young classroom guitar students, and using a full … [Read More...]
Classroom Guitar: Silence is Golden
When teaching classroom guitar or classroom ukulele having some tools to get your class to quite down can be essential. In this video-blog Mike Christiansen teaches the concept of "rest position" and gives you some tools to help calm the chaos. … [Read More...]
