Many of us crave opportunities to make music socially in a welcoming, accessible community setting. Our guitar group classes are guided by the belief that developing musicians of mixed abilities and musical backgrounds can all benefit from a song-based approach to learning. Students learn new musical skills and techniques in the context of playing new songs together.

While American Roots denotes a broad range of styles, this course focuses mostly on folk and popular song forms, from the ‘60s folk revival through to contemporary Americana, alt-country, folk-rock, and acoustic singer-songwriter craft. In addition to our planned core repertoire, students can suggest a tune for the group to learn to play together.

By the end of the semester, students will have acquired:

• a better sense and confidence playing rhythm guitar
• an expanded set of chords, including dominant sevenths
• an understanding of I, IV, and V chords in common keys
• the ability to follow and create a chord chart
• basic knowledge of major and minor scales
• the “how” and “why” of using a capo
• a new batch of songs under their fingers

Through individualized instruction in a small-group setting, each participant can focus on the techniques and skills that most interest them. By the end of the class, we will be able to play confidently a handful of songs that span the breadth of the ever-expanding American Roots songbook. Moreover, students will gain new ideas, insights, and approaches to playing with others.

Before taking this course, students should have a basic strumming ability and knowledge of some open chords in the commonly used keys of C, G, D, A. Please contact the instructor with any questions!

If interested, please contact the CCM office.

• Age Group(s): 13-18, Adult, Lifelong Learners
• Ages: 14+
• Instructor: Michael Dinallo
• Instrument: strings
• Duration: 60 minutes, 10 weeks/session
• Day/Time: Thursdays, 7:30 - 8:30 pm
• Maximum Enrollment: 8
• Cost: $330