MS Jazz and Contemporary Guitar Sectional: (open) This class will explore the historic styles of jazz guitar in the U.S. Through transcriptions and listening, we will study and discuss the styles of legendary jazz guitarists such as Charlie Christian, Wes Montgomery, Pat Martino and George Benson. We will also cover basic musicianship and performance skills such as how to develop a good consistent tone, good rhythmic feel, and how to memorize music for performance. We will also cover basic improvisation such as how to improvise with chord-scales, motivic development, improvising by ear, and how to practice these skills in a coherent and practical way. The main idea is to explore our favorite instrument all the while having fun.

HS Jazz and Contemporary Guitar Sectional (open)
This class will explore the historic styles of jazz guitar in the US. Through transcriptions and listening we will study and discuss the styles of legendary jazz guitarists such as Charlie Christian, Wes Montgomery, Pat Martino, and George Benson how they do what they do and how their styles are related. In addition to this we will cover basic through advanced jazz and contemporary guitar techniques, and how to practice these techniques in a coherent and practical way. Topics will include but are not limited to developing a good tone, practical fingerings, good rhythmic feel, musical personality, memorization techniques, and accompaniment skills. In addition to this we will cover improvisation and composition techniques such as motivic development, chord-scale soloing, chord-tone soloing, and stylistically appropriate vocabulary lines. The main idea is to explore our favorite instrument all the while having fun.