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Become a Better Guitar Player by the Time You Leave... EVERY Time!

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Student Materials and Curriculum

Quarter Bend Guitar Studio

All About Our Curriculum

You are going to increase your guitar skills very rapidly at Quarter Bend Guitar Studio! While each student’s learning experience and focus will be individualized, below is an overview by skill level of what students can expect to learn:

Beginners

  • 1st position major/ minor chords
  • Basic dynamics on guitar
  • Basic ear training- major vs minor
  • Basic improv
  • Basic rhythm
  • Changing strings
  • Diatonic chords
  • Effective guitar practice
  • Guitar anatomy
  • Instrument care
  • Isolated right-hand exercises
  • Key signatures
  • Learning popular songs of student’s choice
  • Major scales in 1st and 7th position
  • Meter
  • Minor scales in 1st and 7th position
  • Movable major/minor chords
  • Music theory intro: intervals, scale formulas, enharmonic pitches
  • Note reading in 1st position
  • Pentatonic scales in 5th and 8th positions
  • Simple songwriting on guitar
  • Tablature
  • Transcribing simple melodies
  • Transposing with a capo
  • Triad inversions
  • Tuning

Intermediate

  • Articulation
  • Basic chord analysis
  • Basic composition
  • Basic effects
  • Basic phrasing
  • Bends, slides, hammers, pull-offs
  • Blues scales
  • Borrowed chords
  • Circle of fifths
  • Common guitar harmonies and duets
  • Compound meter
  • Country/bluegrass basics (Travis picking)
  • Dotted rhythms
  • Ear training- intervals
  • Economy picking
  • Expanded practice techniques
  • Fretboard mapping
  • Guitar soloing fundamentals
  • Harmonic and melodic minor scales
  • Improv
  • Intro to classical guitar techniques (finger picking)
  • Intro to home recording
  • Learning to play and transcribe by ear
  • Maj 7, min 7, dom7, min7b5
  • Major 7/minor 7/dominant 7th inversion
  • Movable scales
  • Scale degrees
  • Song form
  • Song structure
  • Song transcription
  • Sus chords
  • Sweep picking triads
  • Transposing
  • Triads and inversions ii
  • Tuning with harmonics
  • Understanding and hearing basic chord progressions
  • Understanding rock guitar music
  • Using above techniques to learn popular songs of student’s choosing

Advanced

  • 7th and 9th chord arpeggios
  • Advanced guitar improvisation
  • Advanced songwriting, recording, and production
  • Advanced theory
  • Altered chords/ tension chords (b9/#11)
  • Arranging for ensembles
  • Arranging other instrumental pieces for solo guitar (i.e. piano, violin, etc.)
  • Basic electronics-fixing broken cables, changing pots, and modifying pedals
  • Basic repairs
  • Borrowing chords and modulation
  • Chord substitution
  • Classical guitar literature
  • Composition
  • Exotic scales
  • Expanding guitar practice techniques
  • Interval ear training
  • Jazz theory and harmony
  • Making dissonance your friend
  • Marketing and booking
  • Modes of the harmonic minor
  • Modes of the major scale
  • Modes of the melodic scale
  • Odd time signatures
  • Phrasing ornaments
  • Recording techniques
  • Right hand flamenco techniques
  • Right hand tapping
  • Simplifying your rig
  • Stage presence
  • Sweep picking
  • Transcribing
  • World music overview

Student Materials to Download

Download the PDFs below for additional materials to help you along in your guitar lessons from Quarter Bend Guitar Studio. Call or text us with any questions!