Concepts of Finger Picking (arranging for Solo Guitar) I

Saturday , December 06, 2008
01:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Location: Elderly Instruments
workshop ($40)

For YouTube sample lessons and free downloads of sheet music click here.

Lest we forget, and first things first: This December 6th "Solo Guitar I" workshop may be taken alone, but guitar players also have the option of purchasing this workshop as part of a two-part series of workshops titled "Concepts of Finger Picking (arranging for Solo Guitar)," and thus attend both workshops--this and "Solo Guitar II" --for the reduced cost of $70.

Bob's goal for each of these "Concepts" workshops is to provide the fundamental concepts of solo guitar playing and arranging in a hands-on, no-frills presentation. [For a description of the "Solo Guitar II" portion of the series, see Bob McCloy's workshop event below, occurring on Saturday, December 20, at the same time, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm.]

SOLO GUITAR WORKSHOP I is designed for "advanced-beginners" and above. Students must have a working knowledge of basic guitar chords in order to sign up for this class. "Foundations of Arranging for Solo Guitar I" offers techniques and concepts for solo guitar arrangements. After an overview of basic left- and right-hand technique, Part I focuses on fundamental rhythmic foundations in developing solo arrangements, using pieces in 4/4, 3/4, and 6/8 time with accompanying instructional studies.

Beginning with two-part arrangements (bass line and molody), each piece is then expanded with additional variation of the melody and bass lines. An introduction of "middle voice" accompaniment is then integrated into the pieces.

Students attending the workshop will receive copies of Bob's own instructional music booklet (containing both standard notation and tablature) and his instructional CD covering all the pieces and exercises in the booklet. In addition to useful exercises, the book/CD tools offer a selection of arrangements of popular folk songs and bluegrass tunes, that will be different from those presented last year.

Bob McCloy has taught private lessons at Elderly in almost all styles and levels on guitar, mandolin, and fiddle, since 1979. His understanding of students' viewpoints and needs has grown from those 27 years and thousands of students, and he has remained a consistently-successful and popular teacher, in part due to his hands-on approach to teaching. He also integrates 30 years of performance--folk, bluegrass, Celtic, country, classical, and swing/jazz--into this workshop series.