Music in the Oral Tradition

A practice-based examination of the fretboard
theory behind music of the 20th and 21st centuries
including, but not limited to, the origins of the
blues, bluegrass, folk, pop, rock, alternative,
soul and funk as they relate to the electric and
acoustic guitar.

We will look at musical forms and stylistic
approaches passed down from guitarist to guitarist
over the generations, with an emphasis on
instrumental and vocal music that does not easily
translate to and from the written note.

This is a two-semester course; the first semester
is open to non-reading guitarists with an interest
in growing their understanding of the fingerboard.
The second semester is open to anyone interested
in developing an applied modal approach to
improvising and composing music traditionally
originated from the electric and acoustic guitar.