New York, NY (Top40 Charts) For more than 14 years' aspiring musicians from all over the world have travelled to Canada for Guitar Workshop Plus to grow and develop their musical knowledge. The highlight of the sessions are the opportunities to learn and perform with world-class guest artists that have included Joe Satriani, Alex Lifeson (Rush), Steve Vai, Randy Bachman and Andy Summers (The Police).
In addition to classes in rock, blues, jazz, classical, acoustic, country, and complete beginner guitar, classes are offered in bass guitar, drums/percussion, keyboards, vocals and songwriting.
SESSION 1 July 19th - 24th
STAND ALONE ROCK GUITARIST
With special guest Gary Hoey
This seminar will give you the tools to create your own style. Influences are important in a player but learning to cut your own path will give you longevity and get you noticed amongst your peers and listeners. Topics include creating your own guitar lines and phrases by thinking outside of the box and breaking stale practice routines of scales and chords, being able to move freely around the guitar when chording and creating riffs, user friendly theory that can be applied right away, fretboard visualization, and target notes. Techniques such as legato, tapping, economy, alternate, and sweep picking will also be covered.
There will be lots of in class jamming and plenty of examples that you can take home and practice. The great Gary Hoey (top 100 guitarists of all time) will visit and work with this class!
TOOLS FOR THE MODERN DRUMMER
With Mike Siracusa and special guest Dave Langguth
A balanced approach of learning the skills for the modern drummer for beginners through to advanced. All styles will be taught from Rock, Funk, Jazz, Latin, R&B, Progressive and more. Through the study of these styles, students will develop skills in technique, groove, independence, improvisation, theory and reading. Topics include Rudiments, rolls, foot technique, 4 way independence, specific grooves, odd metre, polyrhythms, over the bar line phrases, linear stickings, metronome practicing, notation, reading drum charts, transcribing and much more. Students will also enjoy a visit from Dave Langguth (Nelly Furtado, Gilby Glarke, Rik Emmett). You don't want to miss out on this!
SESSION 2 July 26th - 31st
ALL THAT JAZZ
With Rob Bulger and special guest Mike Stern
Your jazz playing will soar to new heights with this course which will cover guide tones, drop 2 and 3 voicings(chords) and also deal with voice leading the aforementioned voicings. The technical details of scales and modes (major, natural minor, harmonic and melodic minor and the modes and harmony derived from these scales) will be covered along with the rhythmic aspect of comping, aspects of phrasing, and how to play motivically. Improvisation will be high on the agenda and we will spend time on how to develop an improvisation, how to "tell a story". Tunes from the standard jazz repertoire will be used as vehicles for all concepts taught. This course will also feature a visit from jazz legend, Mike Stern!
DEEP BLUES
With
Dennis McCumber and guest Matt Schofield
Are looking to up your blues game? Whether you are looking to develop a deeper understanding of the traditional blues grooves or to create your own, this will be the course for you. We'll not only be looking at different progressions of the 8, 12 and 16 bar blues, but we'll also be deepening our chord vocabulary. We'll shuffle, swing and even funk out. If you are looking to take a step out of that standard blues box, you've come to the right place! We'll look at how to expand our knowledge of the pentatonic scale and it's different positions as well as explore the use of modes and arpeggios to outline the changes. The will be a week filled with knowledge that will take you a year to digest. Blues great Matt Schofield will be a guest in this course!
TORONTO LOCATION
Our program is held at Appleby College in Oakville, Ontario, located 20 minutes west of Toronto. This scenic campus overlooks the shores of Lake Ontario in a beautiful and natural setting and boasts modern facilities including large classrooms, spacious residences, a stage and auditorium, practice rooms, a large dining hall, as well as recreational facilities and athletic fields.
PROGRAM OUTLINE
The week-long intensive program is unique in that they cater the instruction to the student's personal style, level of experience, and musical goals. Each day consists of morning and afternoon classes that involve a hands-on approach, late afternoon clinics, ensemble performances, and evening concerts. Students will also enjoy visits from world-class guest artists and have many performance opportunities. The complete immersion in music allows students to walk away with enough material and musical ideas to last until next year.
Website: www.guitarworkshopplus.com
