Students will receive guidance and direction in solving problems related to playing the guitar at a beginning/advance level and will learn many of the different styles, skills and techniques required to become a successful guitarist. Areas of concentration include: correct posture, note reading, aural skills, flat-picking, singing songs, rhythmic patterns, chord study, finger-picking styles, musical forms, improvisation and performing experiences.

Course Goals:
1. To develop correct posture and hand position
2. To identify the parts of the guitar
3. To demonstrate the proper tuning of the guitar by pitch matching
4. To understand the history and origin of the guitar
5. To learn basic fundamentals of musical notation
6. To learn basic/advance chords and single notes in first position
7. To learn proper strumming, finger style and flat picking techniques and accompaniments
8. To become aware of career opportunities
9. To participate in performance and evaluation of music
10. To demonstrate basic/advance notating skills

Assessment model
1. perform using correct sitting posture and appropriate hand positions
2. play a sixteen measure melody composed with eighth notes at a moderate tempo using alternate picking
3. play on all six strings in first position
4. play melodies in the keys C, Am, G, Em, D, Bm, F and Dm
5. have a tonal range which extends to the A above the staff
6. play major, minor and dominant seventh chords in first position in the keys of C, G, D, A, Am, E, & Em
7. strum rhythms to include whole, half, quarter and eighth notes including simple syncopation
8. play power chords using roots on open sixth, fifth and fourth strings
9. read and understand symbols indicating up and down strokes
10. play arpeggios in a finger-picking style as an accompaniment
11. identify and use p-i-m-a
12. identify and name the parts of the guitar
13. identify basic musical symbols
14. tune the guitar by pitch matching