Guitar Classes - ACOUSTIC BLUES by John McGale

Salon Anjou - Hyatt Regency Montréal,
Friday, July 06, 2007 at 4:00 PM

Regular : $ 50.00 - Students: $ 45.00 

Member of the group Offenbach, John McGale has done it all, musically speaking! Guitarist, composer, and winner of numerous awards, he has been in the profession for more than 30 years. An outstanding guitarist, he also plays the flute, saxophone, banjo, dobro, mandolin, drums, percussion, keyboard, bass and harmonica. Phew! That’s what we call an artist! A real one!

Description:

1 - A brief history of slide guitar, its pioneers and its influence on modern music.
2 - Choosing a slide that is right for you, what to look for in making that decision.
3 - The differences and difficulties in playing acoustic slide and why it's much easier on electric guitar.
4 - Why different guitarists use different fingers to put the slide on.
5 - How to make your own slides, fun and easy to do!
6 - Discussing the pros and cons of open tunings
7 - Different techniques and cool tricks!
8 - What gauge of strings works best.
9 - Proper left-hand technique
10 - Question and answer period.

All classes presented this year require that participants be able to play their instruments at the intermediate level – signified by a certain familiarity with basic right-hand techniques (i-m alternation or alternative picking, as appropriate), as well as principal fingering for major and minor chords, with or without 7ths, in open and barre positions.

All workshops will require the ability to read general tablatures (requirements specific to each workshop will be revealed on site). Flamenco and classical guitar classes will require the ability to read traditional notation.

For each workshop, please bring paper, pencils, erasers, a few picks… and of course, your guitar!

Certain workshops will require additional material, which you must supply:
- Acoustic blues with John McGale: bring a slide
- Fingerstyle with Antoine Dufour: bring a thumbpick and an extra set of strings
- Electric blues with Michael Jerome Browne: a slide may be useful.

Happy picking!

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