Note: This is not a beginner class. Learners are recommended to have taken "Acoustic Guitar for Young Learners" Level 1 either live or  in a FLEX class before taking this class. If your child has not taken either class but has some guitar experience, please reach out to see if this class would be a good fit. 

In this class, younger learners will have the chance to build upon basic guitar skills. The class will cover note reading on the first 3 strings of the guitar, along with expanding upon previous knowledge of guitar chords.  

This class does not meet live, but students will receive a class video at the beginning of each week.  In addition to viewing the video, students will be given a weekly question relating to guitar.  Examples of questions are as follows:

1) Post a photo of your guitar, tell us where you got it and what type of guitar it is if you know!
2) What got you interested in guitar and what are you hoping to learn from this class? Have you ever played a musical instrument before?
3) Do you have a favorite song, music genre, or artist?
4)  Moving forward, what do you hope to learn next? Are there any other musical instruments you would also like to learn after this class?
5) What was the hardest/easiest/most fun thing about class each week? Do you have any questions?

Questions are intended to spark discussion among the students and instructor and become an opportunity for students to learn more about the guitar and one another.

At the end of each week, students will also be instructed to post a short video of themselves playing the assigned song, to the whole class if comfortable, or just to the instructor to receive feedback on their guitar playing before moving forward with the next week of class. 

Week 1: First 2 strings review, "Blues"

Students will review the notes on the first two strings of the guitar (B, C, D, E, F, and G) and apply them to a fun blues/rock-inspired song called "Blues" in the Hal Leonard Guitar Method book.

Week 2: Practice with the first 3 strings, "Aura Lee"

Students will review notes G and A on the 3rd string, and apply the notes on the first 3 strings to the song "Aura Lee," also in the Hal Leonard Guitar Method (Parents might recognize this song as "Love Me Tender" by Elvis Presley!)

Week 3: Chord review, tied notes

The first part of class, we will focus on reviewing chords C and G and learning the D7 chord. Students will practice switching chords. 
Song of the week is "When the Saints Go Marching In" from the Hal Leonard Guitar Method. The concept of tied notes will be introduced through this song. 

Week 4: Review

This week will wrap up everything we have learned in class.  We will focus on playing "When the Saints Go Marching In" both with notes and by strumming along with chords.  Students will be introduced to the best methods for playing the full C and G chord (until this point, the class has focused on partial chords for C and G).  

Throughout our 4 weeks together, students are strongly encouraged to practice between 20-30 minutes a day to make the most of their class experience. 

The class will include weekly interactions with the teacher and/or other learners. Learners will be asked to upload a video of them playing the song, either to the whole class or to the teacher each week. There will also be weekly questions to comment on in the classroom.