Guitar Performance Techniques (Coursera)

This course begins with daily warm-up techniques that help you prepare for rehearsals, jam sessions, and stage performances. From there, you'll explore chords, time accuracy, tone production, ear training, and the many aspects of jamming with other musicians. Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to confidently interact with other musicians in a group setting and bring your A-game to any jam session you join.

What You Will Learn

- Develop warm-up techniques to prepare for ensemble playing

- Identify and play common chordal accompaniment

- Demonstrate ensemble playing techniques while performing

Learners should complete "Guitar for Beginners" and "Guitar Scales and Chord Progressions" before enrolling in this course.

Course 4 of 4 in the How to Play Guitar Specialization.

Syllabus

WEEK 1

Welcome to Guitar Performance Techniques!

Welcome to the course! Here we will cover all the details about the course and what you'll need to know to get the most out of your experience.

Warming Up

In this lesson, we begin by learning how to warm up for a rehearsal or performance. Warming up effectively is essential to play your best, and you'll find that it will enhance all of your skills in an ensemble setting. It will help you to play more relaxed, get a better tone, improve your time, intonation, articulation, and allow you to focus on listening.

WEEK 2

Developing Your Ears

This lesson focuses on the skills needed to develop “good ears.” Musicians who develop “good ears” are able to adapt to any musical situation, even when they do not know the song, key, or form. We will go over exercises to improve our ears and we will practice learning melodies and identifying chords by ear.

WEEK 3

Tone Production Essentials: Developing Your Touch on the Guitar

This lesson will focus on key elements to develop your unique and personal sound on the guitar. We will discuss how the pick can be used to adjust four essential elements of your guitar sound: timbre, dynamics, note duration, and intonation. These four essential elements, when practiced with focus, will take you on the path to having a great touch and unique approach to sound and tone.

WEEK 4

Performance Preparation

In this lesson, we'll prepare for a performance. Being prepared for a rehearsal or gig can help to create a relaxed atmosphere and better overall performance experience. We will discuss developing a performance checklist as well the importance of knowing your gear. Finally, we'll highlight the importance of listening and blending on stage.