Specialty & Technique Guitar Classes

This series of workshops include detailed instruction, professional tablature, and audio. These one-off workshops are intended for intermediate players who can read tablature and have experience with fingerstyle guitar. Each workshop will concentrate on a single tune. Take them all or choose the ones you want.

Approach music theory from a guitarist’s perspective. Examine intervals, chord and scale construction, inversions, and progressions in the context of traditional and pop genres. It is highly recommended that all students of the guitar make it a point to enroll at some point in their musical journey. Leave this class with enough material to keep you busy for years. Whether you want to write your own songs, become a hot lead guitarist or just increase your musical vocabulary and ability to jam and make music with others - this is the class for you!

Approach music theory from a guitarist’s perspective. Examine intervals, chord and scale construction, inversions, and progressions in the context of traditional and pop genres. It is highly recommended that all students of the guitar make it a point to enroll at some point in their musical journey. Leave this class with enough material to keep you busy for years. Whether you want to write your own songs, become a hot lead guitarist or just increase your musical vocabulary and ability to jam and make music with others - this is the class for you!

Approach music theory from a guitarist’s perspective. Examine intervals, chord and scale construction, inversions, and progressions in the context of traditional and pop genres. It is highly recommended that all students of the guitar make it a point to enroll at some point in their musical journey. Leave this class with enough material to keep you busy for years. Whether you want to write your own songs, become a hot lead guitarist or just increase your musical vocabulary and ability to jam and make music with others - this is the class for you!

A shoo-in for "Longest Running Class Taught by the Same 1970s Folk Icon". Eddie has been doing this one for years, and still keeps it new, interesting, and fun: Finger Pickin', Blues, Rag, Dylan, Prine, the American Songbook, and an occasional odd-ball tuning all arranged by Eddie! Among other things, this is the class where Eddie tries out tunes before he takes them on stage! Come join the fun for Eddie’s songs and stories.

Fingerstyle Blues 3 classes will take a different decade each session. The classes can be taken individually, or as a series. Session 2 will start with the 1920's when the first Country Blues recordings were made. We will look at both men and women recording artists. Session 3 will be the 1930's Country Blues in the Depression. Session 4 will be the 1940's looking at some Library of Congress recordings. Session 5 will be the 1950's when many of the Country Blues players tried plugging in, yet played the same way. Ending in session 6 will be the 1960's when many of the early Blues artists were re-discovered.

The glorious sounds of Lennon and McCartney, framed for solo fingerstyle guitar. Name your thumb and fingers John, Paul George and Ringo and take a magical musical tour. Upon registration send a song request to Michael. mmiles@oldtownschool.org

Ever dreamed of playing classical guitar but seemed daunted by the word "classical". Fear not, this class will introduce you to the basics of classical guitar through simple exercises and short pieces. Nylon string guitars and ability to read music ARE NOT REQUIRED. All songs will be presented in tab. This class is a hybrid offering - students may attend either in person or by Zoom.

Use your fingers to bring out melody and harmony in your approach to playing guitar. This class will broaden your understanding and application of melody and chord theory as well as help you develop a rich repertoire in this style. Learn to bring your ring finger into the mix. Styles and alternate tunings will be examined including, blues, traditional folk, Celtic, singer-songwriters, and classical music. This is a hybrid class. Students may join in person or online.

In this class, we explore a wide repertoire of fingerstyle instrumentals from popular songs, blues, Celtic, classical and maybe a song or two. Some material will be in altered tunings. The class material will include tablature, audio and sometimes video files. Students must be comfortable with tablature and have some fingerpicking experience.

Electric Guitar Styles Overdrive is an ongoing class for those intermediate guitarists who have the desire to play electric. Our focus will be on advancing technique, rhythm, speed, and tonal control of the instrument. Songs will be presented and taught with consideration to enhancing and harnessing the techniques needed to make each song sound as much like the original as possible.

A class designed to bring your jazz guitar skills to a higher level. We welcome those who have taken Jazz Guitar 1 and are ready to increase their musical vocabulary in terms of harmony and melody. We’ll concentrate on great American Standards as well as variations of Blues. REGISTRATION IS LIMITED TO THOSE WHO HAVE COMPLETED INTRO, JAZZ GUITAR 1. Contact Tony Do Rosario at tdorosario@oldtownschool.org It’s a lifelong journey and we invite you to repeat level as much as necessary before moving on to Jazz Guitar 2.

Melodies. Focus the rhythm techniques learned in Flatpicking 1 into a solid foundation for single note playing. The pick hand mechanics are the same, but instead of playing all six strings you play one at a time. Emphasis will be on down-up pick strokes, tone, and timing. Worksheets and fiddle tunes will be the materials used to build your skills. Tunes tabbed out will be provided.

Follow up to Acoustic Blues Guitar 1. Expand your knowledge of fingerpicking, ragtime, shuffle rhythms, blues chords, riffs, and progressions.Learn songs by the great blues artists in the tradition of Misssissippi John, Muddy Waters, Charley Patton and others.

This level 2 class introduces the music of traditional blues’ great artists. From the ragtime/blues style of Rev. Gary Davis and Blind Blake to the Delta/Chicago grind of Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters. Learn such techniques as: fingerpicking (ragtime, shuffle rhythm), open tuning, bottleneck slide, basic improvising, and more. This is some of the most satisfying music steel string pickers can get their fingers on!

Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Honeyboy Edwards, Magic  Slim, and Big Bill Broonzy all legendary Chicago Blues artists who favored fingerpicking over using a flatpick. In this class we will learn several standard tunes from the "golden age of Chicago blues". Using a 2  or 3 finger right hand technique, learn the secret to making one guitar sound like two!

We'll concentrate on songs where the accompaniment has more than one pattern and has instrumental intros and/or interludes. We'll typically do at least one instrumental per session and get some exposure to altered tunings. The class material will include tablature, audio and sometimes video files. Students must have some experience reading tablature and have some fingerpicking experience.

Nothing fancy here, we’ll just learn some very simple fills that embellish a song you’re singing — how to go from one sung phrase to the next with tasteful and easily executed walks, fingerpicks or a fancy strum or two. Ballads, swing tunes, country hits—we can do them all!”

How do you do a simple strum? How do you make it a little fancier? How do you know which kind of strum goes with which song? We will answer all these questions as we learn basic rhythm patterns good for the beginner and good for those who already play a little guitar.