Evan C. — Guitar Teacher — Etobicoke, Toronto

I'm a highly motivated and passionate musician/guitarist that is interested in dissolving the barriers between theoretical knowledge, technique and expression. I respect the process of honing your craft in this field and I'm constantly evaluating my skill level as a musician. I also evaluate my ability to effectively learn and absorb musical concepts. I believe keeping myself accountable in this way is a valuable asset for a teacher to have as passing on the ability to learn should be the ultimate goal of an educator in any field. I've been playing guitar for several years at this point and in an effort to double down in my career pursuits I made the decision to enroll in the Bachelor of Music program at Humber College. This is a four year all-encompassing program that has the reputation for being one of the best in Canada. The concepts in music theory, ear training, sight reading and technique I'm currently learning in this program have greatly informed my approach to the guitar. This has further added to my foundational toolkit and has aided in my goal of creating a clear and tangible way of approaching the instrument.

This is a lesson plan that shows the general progression of how I may teach my students and the options for what they can learn if there is interest. I'm open to accommodating on a student by student basis depending what their personal interests are Technique: - Lessons on technique depend on the skill level of the student - for beginners I will start with the basic layout of the guitar and how to find and produce notes - I give picking lessons as a way to understand the most effective way to hold the pick and to get used to the feel and resistance of the strings - I explain the proper way to hold the instrument to prevent long term strain on arms and wrist and back - I give a variety of dexterity exercises to train the fretting hand to build gradual comfortability with pressing the strings - For students interested in more advanced lessons on this I will break down technique related to the concepts below of scales an chords - This can included arpeggios(broken chords), strumming and fingerstyle patterns, fretboard tapping Scales: - I begin lessons on scales with the C major scale in the first position. I take C major and break it down by its modes corresponding to each note of the scale (C Ionian, D Dorian, E Phrygian, F Lydian, G Mixolydian, A Aeolian and B Locrian) I then relate each mode to its corresponding chord in the same position - I then move on to the pentatonic scale(five note scale) and its modes followed by pentatonic blues which I relate to a blues chord progression - I then cover all these scales in each key moving through to the circle of 5ths(I will explain this in the lesson) - Once these scales are covered in the first/open position I teach how to map out the fret board playing these scales in each position - In addition to the major, minor, pentatonic and blues scales I can teach more advanced scales if their is interest. This would include the harmonic and melodic minor scales their modes and how they relate to more advanced chords and harmony Chords: - Following my lesson on chords related to the key of C Major and it's modes, I teach all the major and minor chords in open/first position - I then teach the triads(three note chords) of C major and how they can be played over the entire fretboard of the guitar. Then 7th chord triads(shell voicings) beginning in C major and how they work across the fretboard - From these I move onto other chord types such as Sus(suspended), Dominant, 7th Chords and Diminished. I start all of these in the first position then move on to moveable chords including Barre chords Theory: - For music theory I typically relate it in an applied way where I explain the theory behind chord and scale relationships - I will explain useful concepts like the circle of fourths and fifths - I will breakdown all the chords found in a given key(diatonic) - I will talk about melody and harmony, relationships between major and min, and how certain chords work together as a progression - To those who are interested I will talk about more advanced theory like chord substitutions, parallel minors, cadences and jazz harmony Learning tunes: - This is an open ended section of my lessons as I mainly base songs to teach on the interests of the student. If there are no suggestions I choose from a list of tunes based on the age and skill level of the student. - This can be from a variety of genres including pop, rock, R&B, blues, folk and jazz - I will break down tunes like everything else I teach in a manageable way - For example I may simplify the chords of the song at first and gradually work to the original intended voicing