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Mary Luehrsen on the 2017 NAMM Fly-in

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Read More about Mary Luehrsen on the 2017 NAMM Fly-in about Mary Luehrsen on the 2017 NAMM Fly-in
Mary Luehrsen on the 2017 NAMM Fly-in
This past May, NAMM continued its annual advocacy effort in Washington D.C., bringing a contingent of nearly 100 music industry delegates, representing 35 states, to Capitol Hill to advocate for music and arts education in the public schools. An integral figure in the effort is NAMM’s Government Relations and Public Affairs Director, Mary Luehrsen, who’s been an advocate for music programs for well over a decade. Shortly after the Fly-In, GAMA spoke to Luehrsen to learn about the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the current funding fight involving the federal education law, and how NAMM members are making their voices […]

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June 28, 2017
Read More about GAMA Supports Lead Guitar about GAMA Supports Lead Guitar
GAMA Supports Lead Guitar
Lead Guitar establishes and maintains sustainable, year-long classical guitar programs in public schools with low or no access to the arts. Using music and an instrument with “cool” factor, Lead Guitar establishes daily in-school instruction with the aim of keeping kids in school. We also use a method of co-teaching—a Lead Guitar master instructor partnered with a certified music teacher at the school—to ensure that after 2-3 years, the program can continue on its own. We also partner with universities in order to connect Lead Guitar students with on-campus matinee events and, when available, a school assembly from a high-profile […]

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March 21, 2017
Read More about Bob Taylor on CITES about Bob Taylor on CITES
Bob Taylor on CITES
The 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) took place in Johannesburg, South Africa, from September 24 to October 4, 2016. At the conference, the CITES delegates placed more than 250 species of rosewood on Appendix II, meaning they are subject to stringent international trade restrictions. Of particular relevance to the music products industry, the new restrictions don’t exempt finished products, such as guitars. One of the guitar industry’s foremost experts on forestry and sustainability issues is Bob Taylor, Founder of Taylor Guitars. […]

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March 20, 2017
Read More about Vandercook’s Day of Guitar about Vandercook’s Day of Guitar
Vandercook’s Day of Guitar
The 10th annual Day of Guitar, High-School Guitar Ensemble Festival was held at VanderCook College of Music November 15, 2016. Directed by Julie Goldberg, VCM Assistant Professor of Guitar and Teaching Guitar Workshop Instructor, Day of Guitar celebrates the accomplishments of young guitarists, teaches new musical skills and playing techniques, and encourages students to continue playing and studying guitar. This fall, across the Chicagoland area attended DOG. Students rehearsed and performed in the DOG Orchestra, attended a workshop on Improving Practice Techniques, received ensemble coaching from top guitar instructors, and performed in the Participants Recital. With GAMA’s generous support the […]

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January 13, 2017
Read More about Mike Molenda — Editor In Chief: Guitar Player; Editorial Director, Bass Player, Electronic Musician, Keyboard about Mike Molenda — Editor In Chief: Guitar Player; Editorial Director, Bass Player, Electronic Musician, Keyboard
Mike Molenda — Editor In Chief: Guitar Player; Editorial Director, Bass Player, Electronic Musician, Keyboard
Mike Molenda has been the guitar’s editorial anchor almost as long as the instrument has been the category anchor of MI sales. In his youth he spent more time than might have been healthy at Bay Area music venues like the Fillmore, Winterland, The Family Dog, and the Avalon Ballroom, but he was there during the heyday of San Francisco’s music moments (which lasted longer than the commemorative TV-movies sure to come out next year to mark the Summer of Love’s 50th might suggest). His destiny was fulfilled was when he answered a newspaper ad for […]

Read More about Mike Molenda — Editor In Chief: Guitar Player; Editorial Director, Bass Player, Electronic Musician, Keyboard

December 20, 2016
Read More about GAMA Grantee – Guitars 4 Vets about GAMA Grantee – Guitars 4 Vets
GAMA Grantee – Guitars 4 Vets
For just $200, Guitars for Vets can provide one Veteran with 10 weeks of individualized guitar instruction, a new acoustic guitar and a complete guitar accessory kit. A recent grant of $6,000 from GAMA will enable Guitars for Vets to launch six new chapters over the next year capable of providing services to 60 Veterans! In 2007, Patrick Nettesheim, a Milwaukee musician and guitar instructor was introduced to Vietnam-era Marine, Dan Van Buskirk. For years Dan had wanted to learn how to play guitar but felt that the effects of combat, in the form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), […]

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October 26, 2016
Read More about Essential Posters for Your Guitar Class about Essential Posters for Your Guitar Class
Essential Posters for Your Guitar Class
Classrooms should not be dreary places. They should be delightful, engaging, inspired and everywhere you look you should have a chance to learn and grow. That’s why we put together some ideas for essential posters for your classroom guitar program. Notes on the Neck Most guitarists will memorize the notes on the neck up to the 3rd or 5th fret. That’s because they never looked at (or studied) the notes on the guitar. Having a poster of the notes of the neck of the guitar in your students’ notebook or on the classroom wall is like having the alphabet on […]

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October 22, 2016
Read More about 7 Halloween Songs for Guitar Class about 7 Halloween Songs for Guitar Class
7 Halloween Songs for Guitar Class
You’ve been drilling your classroom guitar students for two months; teaching them open chords and the notes on the strings. Well, it’s almost Halloween – time for a crash course in tritones! Halloween brings out the augmented 4th or diminished 5th in music like no other holiday. Here are some scary, magical, and downright fun songs that any guitar player would love and that most can play. And, with an entire month, I’m thinking you may be able to get your guitar class in shape for a Halloween recital. Picture it: a classroom full of kids dressed as monsters, with […]

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October 1, 2016
Read More about Capo Q&A about Capo Q&A
Capo Q&A
It’s a tradition at every Teaching Guitar Workshop to give attendees sticky notes so they can write down questions as they arise. When there is a critical mass of stickies the TGW Clinicians answer all of them. Not surprisingly lots of attendees ask questions about the same subjects – no matter how much we try to demystify classroom guitar. Here’s a collection of questions and answers from teachers like you – and clinicians like us – on capos. How do you introduce students to the concept of the capo and what happens to the fretboard when one is clamped down? […]

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September 25, 2016
Read More about Technology in the Classroom about Technology in the Classroom
Technology in the Classroom
Tech is everywhere…and not just in the hands of your students. Technology can augment your classroom, change the way you teach and in a lot of ways levels the playing field making music education more accessible to more students. We asked some of our TGW people about the technologies that they are using in their classroom guitar programs. Here’s what we heard. Bill Burke • A good drum machine is crucial – I use the Alesis SR-16 – Sometimes the advanced models are not as user friendly. Use Apps that can assist student learning: • The Amazing Slow Downer (ASD) […]

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September 11, 2016
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