The Caversham Guitar School syllabus

I want my students to learn a range of skills that will set them up for a lifetime of enjoyment playing music. They'll be a focus on classical technique on classical guitars covering contemporary and classical repertoire. A classical training  is the perfect basis for all musical aspirations. Everything is highly transferrable to other styles.

Reading music is a valuable skill to learn at a young age but it is often overlooked by self-taught rock guitarists.  Learning to play the guitar without learning to read music can be a limiting factor for beginner musicians with broad aspirations. Although I can play and teach electric rock guitar, it will be a secondary focus.

• Inspiration, motivation and aspiration

• Buying, caring for, maintaining and tuning the guitar

• Effective learning

  • Planning a targetted routine

  • Relaxation and breaks

  • Using a metronome

  • Self-analysis and constructive self-criticism

• Technique

  • Lots of different strumming techniques employing thumb and fingers

  • Strokes

    • Rest stroke (apoyando)

    • Free stroke (tirando)

  • Pulgar Indice Medio Anular (PIMA) finger approach

  • Tremolo

  • Plectrum

    • Alternate picking

    • Economy picking

• Typical guitar motifs

  • Rhythmic patterns

  • Alternating root and 5th bass notes

  • Travis picking

  • Walking basslines

• Reading music

  • Reading treble clef and rhythm notation

    • Explanation

    • Exercises

      • Highly effective reading drills using flash cards

      • Learning via notating with pencil and blank staff paper

    • Recommended mobile apps including our own app

    • Tips

      • How practicing scales and triads help reading music

      • Recognising scalar and chordal patterns

      • Rhythmic exercises that can be done anywhere without a guitar

  • Tablature

    • Where it can be valuable as a learning aid but as a secondary focus to traditional notation

• Chords

  • Open chords

    • E shape chords, A shape chords, D shape chords, C shape chords, G shape chords 

  • Barre chords

    • F etc.

  • The value of the CAGED system

  • Extended harmony

    • 7ths, 9ths, 13ths etc.

  • Flamenco

    • Phrygian dominant, flat-9th chords...

    • Compas

• Music theory

  • Importance and value

  • Rules and creativity

  • Chords and harmony

  • Scales

    • Modes

    • Construction

      • Using the tetrachord

  • Harmonised scales

  • Voice leading

  • Effective tips

    • Learning bass clef, learning all key signatures effortlessly etc.

• Fretboard knowledge

  • Arpeggios

  • 3 octave arpeggios

  • Major 7th, minor 7th, augmented 7th, diminished 7th and their inversions from different positions

  • Various approaches to mapping the fretboard using visual patterns

    • Constructing scales and chords

• Ear training

  • How different chords sound especially in context

  • Intervals

• Performance

  • Popular music

    • Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles...

  • Classical music

    • Spanish romance

    • J.S. Bach, Cello Suite No1 (BWV 1007)

  • Jazz

    • Autumn Leaves

    • Improvisation

• Jazz

  • 251s

  • Chord tones, chromaticism, enclosures...

  • Constructing bass lines

  • Joe Pass chord melody style

• Arranging for guitar

• Transcribing

• Ear training

• Live performance

• Harnessing the power of the internet

• Other instruments

  • Basic piano/keyboard skills are invaluable even for guitar players for many reasons

• Advanced rhythmic techniques

  • Using fingers and thumbs on the guitar's body e.g. flamenco doble-golpe rhythm