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Celebrating our favorite six-stringed instrument, the Brookline Music School honors the Guitar with a month of fun and free activities.
Guitober at the MFA
Darcy Kuronen, curator of the instrument collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, gave an incredible presentation of their guitars to Brookline Music School students and faculty. It was truly an educational and exciting showcase of the musuem’s impressive guitar collection. Not only was Darcy well informed and a gracious host, but he let us hold and play some of the intstruments.
Thanks Darcy for Guimazing tour!!
- Decorative Parchment used to be used inside guitar sound holes for deocration
- Darcy presenting one of the many guitars at the MFA
- Alex, playing an antique guitar
- Emma examining an antique guitar
- Will shredding at the MFA
- Guitars seemed to have gotten bigger, haven't they?
Darcy Kuronen is the autor of Dangerous Curves, a companion book to the MFA guitar exibit in 2000.
Finger-Style Clinic
Bob Ward & Will Dick led a phenomenal clinic on Finger-Style Guitar playing yesterday afternoon.
Will started things off with a demonstration and explanation of Travis Picking and the Carter Family Flick. Bob Ward, then followed a brief history of finger-style guitar and a demonstration of different techniques. Below are a few assets from the class:
- Travis Pick by Will Dick
- Carter Family Flick by Will Dick
- 1-10 of Mauro Guliani’s 120 Right-Hand Studies
- Scott Tennant’s Pumping Nylon
- Thom Bresh Master Class (from Guitar Player Magazine)
Will Dick
Bob Ward
Songwriting Clinic
Will Dick, led a great clinic on Songwriting today. He talked about some typical & atypical song forms.
Some key topics:
- The 32 Bar Form
- Verse / Refrain Form
- AABA Form
Will showed us some Beatles, Bruce Cockburn, John Denver, & Paul Simon tunes that ranged from traditonal uses of the songform, to very unusual interpretations of standard songwriting.
Will also showed how understanding this common songforms can help in writing our own music.
Thanks for the guitawesome clinic Will!
Duet Clinic Assets
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Brendan & Valerie at the old House of Blues, Boston
Valerie & I had a wonderful time at the Duet Clinic today. The theme of our presentation was on “listening.”
When it comes down to it, playing duets is same as having a conversion with someone. There are ways to be considerate and ways to be rude. Listening to the other player, and giving support when needed is crucial. Having a clear statement when you are the lead voice is also important. Thinking about what you have said and what you want to say in a solo is the same concentration that you use when telling a story about what happened during your day.
We also talked about some concrete guitar techniques. Chord inversions, Tiny Triads and Ranges of Instruments, were just a few of our Guitober Clinic topics. Resources files for the class can be downloaded here:
- Ranges of Orchestral Instruments
- Egg Radio Leadsheet
- Chord Inversions
- Tiny Triads - (From Clinic)
- Tiny Triads – (From Ask Brendan)
Thanks for coming out!
- Brendan Burns
Garageband Clinic Assets
Scott’s Garageband class was a wonderful success last night. He led a great tutorial about the incredible possibilities that Garageband can offer to guitarists. We all learned ways to use this powerful software to help with our practice, recording and composing.
Thanks Scott!
Class Assets:
And remember, Scott teaches Garageband classes at school: Tuesday nights at 5, 6 & 7pm.
Scott demonstrating recording techniques
Scott Pittman is Guitastic!
Guitar Night I
Word on the street today is that last night’s Guitar Night was a success. Thanks to all the performers and attedees.
Guitar Night I Performers:
- George Baldini
- Enrico Micali
- Saba Mostafavi
- Mario Lepore
- Nick Gill
- David Cohen
- Tommy Larkin
- Jonathan Park
Guitabulistic!
Garageband – This Friday
Scott Pittman will be catering his Garageband expertise to specifically enlighten guitarists this Friday evening in Studio J. If you ever wanted to know how to get moving in garageband and interact with you guitar, from writing music, to recording or even practing with this software, than this is the class for you.
This is a BMS student only class. It is free, but you have to register with Hollie Fleming to attend: 617-277-4593; hfleming@bmsmusic.org
Guitober – Week I
This is it!! Guitober rolls in with full force this week.
This Thursday, Guitober 16th @ 7:30PM in Bakalar Recital Hall: Guitar Night I – This is our first Student Concert for Guitober. Contact your teacher if you would like to perform.
This Friday, Guitober 17th @ 7:30PM in Studio J: Garageband for the Guitarist – This is Scott’s Garageband class catered especially for guitarists. Learn how to record, edit, effect & practice your guitar with Garageband. This is a Free class for BMS students, but you must register with Hollie Fleming: 617-277-4593; hfleming@bmsmusic.org
Saturday, Guitober 18th is our First Day of Clinics. (All clinics are Free and open to the Public) Clinics will be held in Studio A of the Kennard House: 25 Kennard Road, Brookline MA 02445
- 3:00 - Duets: Brendan Burns, Will Dick & Valerie Thompson (cellist for Goli & Fluttr Effect ) talk about playing guitar with other musicians. This clinic demonstrates techniques for expanding or simplifying your playing style to fit any situation. It also covers ways that different instrumentalists look at music and how a guitarist should present written music to another musician. A great clinic for those who want to jam, play or write music with other musicians.
- 4:00 - Songwriting: Will Dick & Brendan Burns discuss how to write songs from a guitarist’s perspective. Whether you are writing songs for other people or singing and playing the guitar yourself, a guitarist’s way of writing music can be unique. Will & Brendan demonstrate some common song forms, playing techniques, and compositional exercises to get the songwriter in you out and into the music world. Songwriters are welcome to present material of their own.
- 5:00 - Finger-Style: Bob Ward, Will Dick & Brendan Burns demonstrate the wide ranging stylistic opportunities that finger-style techniques present to the guitar. Classical, Flamenco, Folk, Rock & Jazz styles will be explained and put into context with the a brief history of the finger-style guitar.
The final event for the week is the Tour of Guitars at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston on Sunday, Guitober 19th. This is a very special tour presented by curator Darcy Kuronen exclusively for BMS students. This is a free event, but you do have to get yourself into the museum. And because of space limitation you need to sign up with Hollie Fleming 617-277-4593; hfleming@bmsmusic.org
And stay tuned, there’s more next week.
Guitabulous!
MFA Tour of Guitars
On Sunday, the 19th of Guitober, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston curator Darcy Kuronen will be hosting a private showing of the guitars for the Brookline Music School. This is truly going to be a special event. Be sure to sign up with Hollie Fleming to reserve your spot.
Hollie Fleming (617-277-4593; hfleming@bmsmusic.org)