The Guitar Workbook: A Fresh Approach to Exploration and Mastery

Increasingly, guitar study is offered alongside band, orchestra, and chorus in school music programs. This development has drawn a new population of students into those programs but has left music educators scrambling to developing meaningful, sequential courses of study that both meet the needs of these new students and align with state, county, and national curricula. Few available guitar methods are designed with the classroom in mind, and fewer still take a holistic approach to teaching and learning the instrument. In short, teachers are left to navigate a vast array of method books that cover a variety of styles and approaches, often without the confidence and experience necessary to know ‘what to teach when.’ The Guitar Workbook: A Fresh Approach to Exploration and Mastery addresses the needs of these educators. Throughout the book’s 20 lessons, students are encouraged to explore the ways various guitar styles and notation systems differ, as well as the ways they support and complement each other. Lessons cover myriad topics including pick-style playing, basic open position chords, finger-style technique, and power chords. Suggested ‘Mastery Activities’ at the end of each lesson support higher-order thinking, contextualize the skills and concepts studied, and provide a jumping off point for further exploration. Additionally, suggestions for further study point teachers and students to resources for extra practice.