7 To-Do’s Before the June

by Glen McCarthy | Apr 29, 2016 | Classroom, Education, Gear, News, Principles, Stories, Tips + Tricks, Uncategorized

Photo credit: kconnors from morguefile.com You’re just about there! The school year is coming to a close soon, your guitar class is ending, and you and your students are thinking about relaxing in the sun. That’s all good, but don’t check out just...

The End of Noodling or Take Back Your Guitar Class

by Glen McCarthy | Apr 25, 2016 | Classroom, Education, Gear, Principles, Stories, Success Stories, Tips + Tricks, Uncategorized

When a student has an instrument in their hands, they want to use it. However, making “unwanted” sound can be distracting, slow down a class, and if I hear the lick from “Sweet Child of Mine” one more time, I’m gonna….. It’s...

Classroom Guitar Diary – Guitar Sub Plan

by Glen McCarthy | Apr 17, 2016 | Classroom, Education, Gear, News, Principles, Success Stories, Tips + Tricks, Uncategorized

The big question… What do I do with a sub? You could pop in a movie… But, I know that when kids come to my room, they expect to play instruments. Also, there are a ton of resources out there that can instruct anyone to do anything. So, here are some...

Classroom Guitar Diary – Week 7

by Glen McCarthy | Apr 10, 2016 | Classroom, Education, Gear, News, Principles, Stories, Tips + Tricks, Uncategorized

The G and D chords and learning about a progression. I had a restful two week spring break! And so did most of my students so, I was a little worried about how much they would retain. Back to our regularly scheduled classes! I started this week’s lesson letting...

All You Can Eat Guitar Ensemble Music

by Glen McCarthy | Apr 3, 2016 | Classroom, Education, Gear, News, Principles, Stories, Tips + Tricks, Uncategorized

Being a musician helps you see patterns. So, after years of teachers telling us that they wanted more guitar sheet music for their classroom guitar programs, we started to see a pattern. Eureka! All you can eat guitar music. Step up to the buffet and start getting...

11 Ideas for a Big Guitar Program on a Tiny Budget

by Glen McCarthy | Mar 27, 2016 | Classroom, Education, News, Principles, Stories, Tips + Tricks, Uncategorized

You’re a teacher…even better…a school music educator! You have navigated budget cuts and lived to tell the tale, you are used to ambiguity (communicating through dots on a page), and you know you’re going to have to figure out how to run your...