MENC: The National Association for Music Education

Guitar Class: A Multifaceted Approach

Author(s): Lee R. Bartel
Source: Music Educators Journal, Vol. 77, No. 2, Special Focus: The Making of a Master Music
Teacher (Oct., 1990), pp. 40-45
Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. on behalf of MENC: The National Association for Music
Education
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3397816
Accessed: 19-06-2015 13:25 UTC

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 W henthefirst
article
onguitar teachthemselves
howtoplayitand
appearedin MEJtwenty-five years to beginusingit in theirclasses.
ago, few educatorswould have Manyof the reasonsguitarwas
guessed how popular the idea an attractive optionforjuniorand
wouldbe a decade later.By 1973, seniorhighschoolprograms at that
"guitar class" was synonymous time are still
valid. the
First, guitar
withthemusicteacher'sadaptation class does not need to emphasize
to changingtimes.Thoughmany formalpublicperformance; it can
guitarprograms continueto existin be a "generalmusic" class, devel-
1990,theguitarhas beenovershad- opingmusicianship usingtheguitar
owed by the currentsymbolof a as theprincipal music-making tool.
musicteacher'scontemporaneity: Second, the culturalappeal and
MIDI technology. The guitarclass, stylisticadaptability of the guitar
however, continues to have great make it an attractive vehicle for
potential formusiceducation.The musicaldevelopmentfor students

1
opportunitiesand challenges of who findlittleinterestin band,

I
secondarygeneralmusic,theman- orchestra,or choir programs-or
datedfineartsrequirement, and a forthosewho have notdeveloped
reassessment ofobjectivesforjun- the necessaryskillsforsuch pro-
ior and senior high school pro- grams at the secondary level.
gramsdemanda reexamination of Third,the guitarprovidesa sense
guitarprograms in the schools. of masteryat variousskilllevels.
Thoughtheguitarhas a longand Finally,guitarclass developsa life-
venerablehistory,it was out of skill:because the guitarcan be a
favoras a classical instrument in personal,quiet solo instrument or
the earlypartof thiscentury.Its provideaccompaniment to casual
statusslowlybegan to rise with singing,it is ideallysuitedto the
0
I-
Andres Segovia's first tour of life-styleof people who are not
-C NorthAmericain 1928.Neverthe- involvedwith music in theirca-
less, by 1960 the guitarwas still reersor professions. The appealof
o
strongly associatedwithcowboys, guitarprogramshas resultedin
countrysingers,jazz, and above theirwidespreadadoption,a fact
all, rock and roll. These associa- supported by the 1978 ASTA-
tions with popular culture pro- GAMA school guitarsurvey,by
longedtheguitar'sexclusionfrom AlanJohnJanzen's1980thesis,by
"serious" music makingby the MichaelDecker's 1984article,and
majorityof musiciansand educa- by myown 1984thesis.
torsuntilwellintothesixties. Duringthe past several years,
A well-designed
guitarclass At the end of the sixties the increased basic course require-
anattractive
canprovide ad- the
zeitgeistfavored youth cultureand ments and
of music curricula quirements
mandatedfinearts re-
have introducedprob-
expansion
ditionto the secondary beyondtraditionalensembleoffer- lemsforband, orchestra,and cho-
schoolmusiccurriculum. ings. In this context,the guitar ralprograms inhighschools.These
LeeR. Bartel
discusses
the soon becamethenew panacea for problemshave broughtintofocus
many options
providedbya the generalmusic teacher faced the need for teachersto provide
withmotivating studentshostileto music experiences for students
guitar
programandshows "classical" music and the disci- who have had littleifany consist-
howteachers
callonallfac- plineofthetraditional musicclass. ent music educationin the years
ets ofguitar
pedagogy to Enthusiasm for the guitarat the precedinghighschool or for stu-
end of the sixtiesled manyjunior dentswhowanta meaningful
meettheneedsoftoday's and seniorhighschoolteachersto experiencewithina singlemusic credit
students. course.
Lee R. Bartel is assistant professorof Musicteachersare usingvarious
music education and director of the approaches, includingcomputer/
Canadian Music Education Research synthesizer programs, to deal with
Centreat theFaculty ofMusic, Univer- the problem.Reportsfrommany
sityof Toronto. teachersindicatethata goodguitar

MEJ/October
'90 41

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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

programis one of thebest solutions
to the fine arts requirementprob-
lem. Guitarprogramscan be adapt-
ed to the needs of the studentswho
are enrolled for the firsttime in
four or five years in a fine arts
course.
The popularityof guitarcourses
in the past and the need to provide
single-creditmusic courses at pre-
sent have created anotherproblem
for music teachers-the need to
teach in an area for which they
have littlepreparation.Formal sur-
veys and casual observations re-
veal thatmanyteachersnow teach-
ingguitarhave limitedplayingabil-
ity and only begin to use it after
beinghiredto teach anothertypeof
music; Decker found, in his 1984
study,that85 percentof the teach-
ers he surveyedfitin thiscategory.
Since basic guitarskills are easi-
ly developed, many teachers who
are new to guitarfindit an exciting
teaching area. Although teachers
who have not taughtguitarbefore
should be encouraged to take on
the challenge of a guitarclass, it is
equally importantto advise estab-
lishedteachersof guitarto reexam-
ine or to formulateclearly their
concept of guitarclass. A teacher's
performanceskillon an instrument
does affectthe kind of instruction
offeredstudents-a fact that may
account for the diversityin teach-
ers' approaches to guitarprograms.
Many of these approaches are re-
stricted by a limited concept of
whatguitarclass oughtto be. Each
approach has some unique
strengthsand may offerideas for
teachers new to the instrument;
everyteachershould seriouslycon-
42 '90
MEJ/October
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needa more
eachers comprehensive
sider, however, the limitationsof
each approach in the process of
formulating a concept of the guitar
class that best meets the goals of
music education.
First and foremost, the guitar
programoughtto be a quality mu-
sic education program. It should
seek to attainbroad objectives set
forthe most exemplarymusic pro-
grams regardless of performance
medium.The followingfive objec-
tives, adapted frompages 29-38 of
Charles Leonhard's article, "1984
and Beyond" (see the suggested
readings), illustrate specifically
what such a program should ac-
complish. The guitar class ought
to: (1) enable each studentto devel-
op personal musicianship to the
highest level possible; (2) enable
studentsto discover and develop
theirmusical talent to the highest
level possible; (3) enable all stu-
dents to develop discriminations
thatgive themthebasis forcontrol-
ling the aesthetic quality of their
musicallives; (4) admitall students
to the creative mode-enabling
themto develop the abilitiesneces-
saryforself-expressionand forun-
derstandingthe expressionsof oth-
ers; and (5) enable all studentsto
develop resources for a rewarding
life,positivesocial interaction,and
participationin the ritesand rituals
of society.
Hum and strum
One of the most popular con-
cepts of class guitarcan be identi-
fied as "hum and strum." Pro-
grams of this type are usually de-
signed for the student who will
studyguitarforonly one year and
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
are the kindof programmost easily
introducedby the self-taughtgui-
taristswho primarilyplay first-po-
sition chords. The typical objec-
tives of the hum-and-strumclass
are to enable the studentto accom-
pany folk or popular songs with
basic first-positionchords. In addi-
tion, studentsmay be encouraged
to sing, to studyaspects of folk or
popular music history,or to devel-
op harmonic and rhythmiccon-
cepts. The hum-and-strum ap-
proach gives students skills that
have ongoingutilityin leisure-time
music making and, as such, con-
tributesa life-skill.The objectives
of the hum-and-strum programare
valid, but they often fall short of
attainingmany common goals of
music education. The skill most
commonlyneglectedin thismethod
is the readingof notation.This, in
addition to a neglect of melodic
skill and of concept development,
inhibitsthe students' achievement
of their potential levels of musi-
cianship.
Guitarorchestra
In the "orchestra approach,"
studentsare assigned to sections:
firstguitar, second guitar, and so
forth.Each section plays a mono-
phonic line of music. The guitar
orchestra may have four or five
such parts plus a group of guitars
playingchords, some bass guitars,
and a percussion section that in-
cludes keyboard. Teachers using
this approach are attractedby its
similarityto band and orchestra
programs.Objectives of the guitar
orchestraclass usually include de-
velopingthe abilityto play melodic
 class.
ofguitar
concept

notation, developing ensemble- this approach must attemptto mentof solo players in a class
playingability,developingan un- counterthreeproblems:the small setting.Here,theteacheris usually
derstandingoftheelementsofmu- numbersof studentsthatare opti- a classicallytrainedguitaristor se-
sic,andperforming a widerangeof mumfora class,therestriction
to a riousself-taught playerwho is mo-
literature.The guitar orchestra narrowmusicalstyle,and the fre- tivatedby thedesireto establisha
class can accommodatea large quentlack of developmentof any program based on historicallitera-
numberof students, and thelitera- musicreadingskills. ture,musicreading,and theclassi-
tureperformed can be gradedin cal-soloistmodelofperformance.
so that students'skills
difficulty Jazzensemble In one suchprogram theteacher
and musicalunderstanding can be The jazz-ensembleapproachis meetswitha class of fifteenstu-
developed throughseveral grade similarto thatof the rock band. dents for twentyminutesat the
levels. A problemwith this ap- Thismethodagainrequiresa teach- beginning of the class to tunethe
proach,however,is the manufac- er withspecializedskillsand inter- guitarsandto introduce a technical
turednatureoftheguitarorchestra ests. Classes are typicallyquite or musicalconcept. Studentsare
conceptitself:theguitarorchestra smallandusuallyat thehighschool thendispersedto specifiedareas in
does not exist as an established level. Learningin theclass setting theclassroom,stairwells, halls,or
performingensemblein ourculture. focuseson thedevelopment ofhar- otherplaces to practiceindividual-
Consequently,neitherstudentsnor monicand melodictechnicalskills ly. The teachercirculatesamong
withit,
thepublicreadilyidentifies andtheapplication oftheseskillsin themtooffer instruction
ortolisten
andcomposers andarrangers do not readingjazz arrangements, impro- to pieces. The advantageof this
writeforit. The teachermustar- vising,and performing jazz reper- approachis theabundanceofhigh-
rangeand adaptmostof the class toire.Classes usuallyinvolvebass quality historical literatureand
materialand constantly"sell" the guitar and percussion. Limited methodbooks, the presence of
groupto thepublic. publishedmaterialexists for this clearlydefinedtechnique,and the
jazz ensembleapproach; a good easy incorporation ofa readingap-
Rockband example of such materialis the proach that bringsout both the
A conceptthatgainedconsider- book by WilliamLeavitt(listedin melodicandharmonic potentials of
able popularityamongstudentsin thesuggestedreadings).The tech- the guitar.A disadvantageis the
the early seventies(a popularity nical demandsof the jazz style fact that the methodrequiresa
thatithasmaintained becauseofits meanthata guitarcoursecan either smallclass size and thattheclassi-
connection withthecultureof our be developedoverseveralyearsor cal stylemaynot appeal to many
time)is the rock-bandapproach. can be limitedto highschool stu- students.
This versionof guitarclass has dentswhoare alreadyfamiliar with
particularappeal forstudents out- basic guitartechnique. The inclu- Multifacetedguitarclass
side the mainstream of band, or- sionofmusicreadingand improvi- Everyone of these conceptsof
chestra,and choir. It is usually sation, using both the harmonic guitarclass can be welladaptedto
taughtbyteacherswithspecialized and the melodicfunctionsof the theroleofsupplement to thetradi-
rock-or studio-guitarskills.In this guitar,makesfora music course tionalband, orchestra,and choral
approach, studentsplay electric thatmeetsmostoftheobjectivesof programs, buteach is toolimitedto
guitars,learnbasic bar chordsfor a traditional musicprogram. allow guitarprogramsto develop
rhythm guitarplaying,and develop the kindof maturity thatwill let
lead guitarimprovisationskills.An Classical guitarsolo thembe seen as legitimate equals
advantageof this approachis its One ofthemorecommonguitar- ofthetraditional performance pro-
emphasis on improvisationand class conceptshas a similaraimto grams.Teachersneeda morecom-
performance. Teachers who use thatof class piano: the develop- prehensive conceptofguitarclass:

'90
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a conceptthatcan meettheneeds
of the one-credit course-but one
thatcan also becomea multiyear,
sequentialprogramthatdevelops
students'generalmusicianship.
The five approachesto guitar
class thathavejust beendescribed
place differingemphaseson devel-
oping skills and understandings
thathave to do withmelody,har-
mony, style, improvisation, and
performance. Each of these skills
andunderstandings, however,is an
essentialfacetof a guitarprogram
and mustbe developedsystemati-
cally.
Melody.The guitarcan play a
melodyaccompaniedby another
instrument or by itself.Studentsin
guitarclass shouldlearn to play,
read,and improvise singlemelodic
lines in various stylesemploying
techniquescharacteristicof the
style. This means, for example,
thatstudentscould learn to play
first-positionnotes with classical
apoyandofinger techniqueand em-
ploy this skillin playinga guitar
quartetarrangement ofa madrigal.
The same class mightlaterlearna
bluesscale and use it to improvise
over a twelve-barblues progres-
sion. As studentscontinuestudy-
ingguitar,thedifficulty levelofthe
melodicmaterialshould increase
(as itdoes in orchestralprograms):
more advanced studentsshould
learnto playmelodicandharmonic
materialsimultaneously.
Aural skills relatedto melody
shouldbe developedthrough sing-
ing,playing,and writing activities
relatedto the musicbeingstudied
44 MEJ/October
'90
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bytheclass. A teachercouldbegin certainthat they cannot see the
this by havingstudentshum the fingering),and ask studentsto
tuning pitches,byhavingthemimi- identify thechordsheard.Students
tate blues riffs"by ear," or by shouldanalyze chords and other
writing out thefirst-position notes harmoniccombinationsof notes,
on stringone as theyplaythemin transposeaccompaniments, learn
various orders and with various to perform modulationsfromone
rhythms.Strumming chordal ac- keyto another,and developall the
companiments seems to be a cata- associated aural skills of chord
lystforsinging, so studentsshould identification and production.
be encouragedto singmelodicma- Style.One of the most striking
terialwheneverit is appropriate to attributesoftheguitaris itsidiom-
thestyleunderstudy. atic identification
with more cul-
Harmony.The guitaris an ac- turesand musicalstylesthanmost
companying instrument capable of otherinstruments. In our diverse
six-notechordstructures, so it is society,musiceducatorsmustcap-
usefulinaccompanying singersand italizeon thepotentialoftheguitar
otherinstrumentalists. To develop to exploretraditional and contem-
students'abilityto accompany,the poraryformsoffolk,country, clas-
teacherin the multifaceted guitar sical,jazz, rock,andworldmusics.
class needs to offerinstruction in Substylessuch as flamenco,reg-
chordfingerings and thereadingof gae, and bluesmustbe included.
chord chart accompanimentsto Improvisation.One of the objec-
songs in variousstyles.Classical tives of all music programsis to
fingeringtechnique, three-finger admitall studentsto the creative
folkpicking,and plectrumstrum- mode-to help themdeveloptheir
mingcan all finda legitimate place abilitiesforself-expression
and for
intheguitarclass. Studentsshould understanding the expressionsof
learnto read severallinessimulta- others.The teachercan develop
neouslyas wellas tofollownotated these abilitiesand understandings
chords. fromtheearlieststagesof instruc-
Activitiesin guitarclass should tionin guitarclass. For example,
lead students toexploreandexploit fingerexercisesfor dexterity and
the harmonicpotentialof the gui- handpositionforbeginners can be
tar. Studentsshould develop an conductedusing the blues scale,
aural sense of harmonicprogres- leadingdirectly intoimprovisation.
sion and shouldlearn to identify At an even morebasic level, one
chordtypesand functions. For ex- teacherasked studentsto "findan
ample,whenstudentscan play at interesting sound on the guitar"
least two chords,the teachercan and then had studentsorganize
labelchordsbytheirfunction (such these sounds into collages of
as tonicand dominant),play the sound.
chords for the students(making Performance.As a generalmusic
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 II(uitarclass[develops]
about
program,the multifaceted guitar
program concentrates primarilyon
thedevelopment of individualmu-
sicianship.Performance is an im-
portantmeansto thisdevelopment.
The lack of a traditionally estab-
lishedperformance ensemblecon-
cept means the teachercan and
shouldemphasizea varietyofper-
formancegroupings:classical so-
los,duetsandtrios;jazz ensemble;
guitarorchestra;folkgroups;rock
bands;and so forth.The teacherof
theguitarclass, who is frequently
also the band directoror choral
director,shouldtryto connectthe
guitarprogramwithotherensem-
bles suchas jazz bands,vocal en-
sembles,and stringquartets.
As a good generalmusic pro-
gram,theguitarclass willdevelop
conceptsabouttheelementsofmu-
sic through playing,listening,and
talking.Students willlearn to hear
all musicin historicalperspective
and will learn to thinkcritically
about music and performance.
Regardlessof programlength,a
guitarprogramshouldbe multifac-
eted:emphasizing thedevelopment
of melodicand harmonicskilland
perception,creativity,and per-
formanceskillsin severalmusical
styles.
A guitarprogramthatfostersthe
ofthese skills,under-
development
standings,and appreciationscan
offerstudentsa sequentialcourse
of studyforall six yearsof their
secondary schoolyears.It can also
keep those studentsinvolvedin
musicfortheforeseeablefuture.
As musiceducatorswe need to
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concepts
theelements
ofmusic.
rise above culturalmusicalbiases
thatincludethe unquestioning ac-
ceptance of the mainstream per-
formance programs as theonlyle-
gitimatemusic programsand the
concept that secondary general
music means only listeningand
talking.We need to applyourphi-
losophyof music educationin a
culturallyrelevantmannerusing
one of the most popular instru-
mentsoftoday-theguitar.And,if
we are alreadyusingthe guitarin
class, we need to expandour con-
ceptto makeitan exemplary music
educationprogram.As multifac-
etedguitarprograms growand ma-
ture,theywilltake theirplaces in
theschoolsas seriousand reward-
ingmusiceducationprograms.
readings
Suggested
Bartel,Lee R., and Don B. Doerksen.Get
into Guitar. Winnipeg,Manitoba:Ya-
maha Foundationfor Music Education
[Canada],1973.
."The Identification of Criteriafor
theEvaluation ofJunior HighSchoolGui-
tarPrograms." Master'sthesis,Universi-
tyofManitoba,1984.
Bishop,Bob. "GuitarSolves Problemsin
Two Southwestern High Schools." The
Instrumentalist32, no. 3 (1977),64-66.
Bune, RobertW. "Let the GuitarLight
Your Fire." Music Educators Journal56,
no. 5 (January 1970),83-84,135-37.
Callahan,Clare."The SchoolGuitarClass:
A NeedforRedirection." TheInstrumen-
talist32,no. 11 (1978),60-62.
Decker,Michael."A Surveyof Classroom
GuitarInstructors." Soundboard,11,no. Timmerman, Maurine,and CelesteGriffith.
1 (Spring1984),70-75.
Diekneite, Don. "UsingtheBlues in a Be-
ginningGuitarClass." The Instrumental-
ist36,no. 1 (1981),105-106.
"Using the Blues in a Beginning
GuitarClass: Improvisation." TheInstru-
mentalist 36, no. 2 (1981),90-92.
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"Forty-Four Percentof U.S. SchoolsNow
OfferGuitarProgramming." SchoolMu-
sician50 (December1978),63.
andHermanSlayman.The
Fowler,William,
Guitar Goes to Class. Chicago: The Gui-
tar& AccessoryManufacturers Associa-
tionofAmericaandThe American Music
Conference,1974.
Grossman,Raphael."The ClassicalGuitar:
ItsPlaceintheAmerican School." Music
Educators Journal 49, no. 4 (February-
March1963),140-42.
Grunfeld,Frederic V. The Art and Times of
TheGuitar.London:Macmillan,1969.
Janzen,Alan John."A Surveyof Junior
High Music Programsin the Public
Schools of Manitoba."Master'sthesis,
UniversityofManitoba,1980.
Kozinin,Allan,Pete Welding,Dan Forte,
and Gene Santoro. The Guitar: The His-
tory,The Music, The Players. Toronto:
Musson,1984.
S. "TheA String
Lane,William is Depressed
... But Don't Fret." Music Educators
61,no.7 (March1975),49-52.
Journal
Leavitt, William. The Berklee Guitar En-
sembleSeries. (Boston: BerkleePress,
1968).
Leonhard,Charles. "1984 and Beyond."
Notes 12,no. 1 (1988),29-38.
Love, Beatrice."The Guitarin theJunior
High School." Music Educators Journal
60,no. 7 (March1974),36-37.
"Nineteen Seventy-EightASTA-GAMA
SchoolGuitarSurvey."AmericanString
Teacher29, no. 1 (1979),30-31.
Snyder,Jerry."The Guitar: Friend or
Foe." The Instrumentalist 31, no. 7
(1977),49-51.
Stimpson,Michael, ed. The Guitar:A Guide
for Students and Teachers. New York:
OxfordUniversity Press,1988.
"Surveyof School GuitarProgramming."
Soundboard6, no. 1 (1979),15-16.
"Legitimizing theGuitarin GeneralMu-
sic." Music Educators Journal56, no. 3,
(November1969),75-76.
Zvengrowski, StevenT. "DevelopingCom-
prehensiveMusicianshipwiththe Gui-
tar." Music Educators Journal 66, no. 8
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MEJ/October'90 45