You’ll start by learning to play sparse and partially improvised strumming textures, in addition to ones that are dense, regular, and groove-based or ones that are unusual such as offbeat triplets. You’ll then cover topics related to alternate tunings, including how to play and write with open major triad tunings, how to play modal sounds in open tunings, and how to use a variety of more complex tunings beyond major triads.

The course also explores how to practice techniques for fingerstyle melodies and arpeggios, and how to organize and track your fingerstyle technique workout. You’ll learn how to include a melodic line in a Travis pick guitar part, and how to play variations and increase the fluency and groove of your Travis picking. You will also learn how to play a contrapuntal piece – one with several melodic lines happening simultaneously.

Acoustic Guitar Techniques uses a multi-faceted approach, combining video demonstrations, listening to recorded music, analysis, practice with play-along tracks, and access to several different notational and pictorial systems, so that each student can assimilate the material in a comfortable and effective way. Artists featured in the course include Joni Mitchell, The Black Crowes, Nick Drake, the Rolling Stones, Crosby Stills and Nash, Elizabeth Cotton, Fleetwood Mac, Simon and Garfunkel, Indigo Girls, James Taylor, Leo Kottke, Dan Fogelberg, the Grateful Dead, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and the Allman Brothers.

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

• Play and compose in a variety of non-standard tunings, know what each sounds like, and understand why they sound the way they do
• Use a variety of practice techniques to refine your fingerstyle playing and strumming technique
• Employ increased control, evenness, and fluency in your playing
• Understand how to phrase a multi-voiced fingerstyle piece
• Refine your right-hand position and be able to make educated decisions about it through knowledge of the pros and cons of various positions
• Connect your technique and position with the tone you get from the instrument
• Play and compose using a variety of rhythmic and contrapuntal devices, from offbeat triplets in strumming to Travis picking in fingerstyle
• Integrate melodic lines into a strumming or a fingerstyle accompaniment

Syllabus

Lesson 1 Open Triad Tunings

Lesson 2 Building on Travis Picking

Lesson 3 Open Tunings Beyond Major: Going Modal

Lesson 4 “In the Grid” Strumming Techniques

Lesson 5 Fingerstyle Fundamentals

Lesson 6 Strum Possibilities

Lesson 7 Exclusive Advantages of Fingerstyle

Lesson 8 Fun with Triplets

Lesson 9 Tying Up Travis and Beyond

Lesson 10 Tunings Gone Wild

Lesson 11 Fingerstyle Fine Points

Lesson 12 Mixing It Up, Scratching, and Hitting

Requirements

Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements

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General Course Requirements

Instructors

Abigail Aronson Zocher

Author

Abigail Aronson Zocher is an associate professor in the Guitar department at Berklee College of Music, where she teaches the Joni Mitchell ensemble, classes in classical guitar performance, and lessons in singer/songwriter/guitar, jazz, and classical styles. She earned her bachelor’s degree in classical guitar performance from the New England Conservatory of Music, where she studied with David Leisner and received the G.W. Chadwick medal as the outstanding performer of her graduating class. She then earned her master’s degree in jazz studies at the conservatory, studying with Mick Goodrick.

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Norm Zocher

Instructor

Originally from Chicago, Illinois, and referred to as “a guitar legend in the making” as well as being one of “Boston’s best composers” through his work with the Jazz Composers Alliance Orchestra, Norman Zocher is a long-time New England Conservatory and Berklee College of Music faculty member. He has performed with and recorded a broad range of artists, including Maria Schneider, Muhal Richard Abrams, Oliver Lake, John Medeski, Steve Lacy, Bob Brookmeyer, Esperanza Spalding, Bob Moses, Paul Bley, and Dave Holland. The recordings of the Abby and Norm Group with his wife, fellow Berklee guitar professor Abigail Aronson Zocher, gained him international recognition as a composer and an instrumentalist. Other critically acclaimed albums have featured Zocher with Jerry Bergonzi, George Garzone, John Patitucci, and Joey Calderazzo. He is a resident composer and guitarist/pedal steel guitarist for the Jazz Composers Alliance Orchestra.

What’s Next?

When taken for credit, Acoustic Guitar Techniques can be applied towards these associated programs:

Associated Certificate Programs

• General Music Studies Professional Certificate
• General Music Studies Advanced Professional Certificate
• Guitar Advanced Professional Certificate

Associated Degree Major

• Bachelor’s Degree in Guitar