Exploring Harmony on the Guitar

Spend five weeks exploring the potential and power of guitar harmonies.

This course will show you how to use the guitar to explore the world of harmony and tap into different sensations and moods within it.

After discussing first principles - ‘what is actually happening when we hear a sustained pitch?’ And ‘what is the significance of the fundamental pitch relations?’, We will then examine how it is possible that such a wide spectrum of sonic effects can be created using these building blocks.

Whether you are a beginner or advanced, it is my Hope that everyone who joins will leave with more colours on their palette to use as a musician and have a deeper sensitivity to the profound effect of sound.

The main goal of this course is to give you the confidence and tools to freely experiment with harmony to enrich your own personal musical experience. Each week will involve demonstration, guided listening, small group exercises and discussion. Participants are encouraged to bring their guitar so they can share any ideas, but this is not essential as there will be much ‘food for thought’ for people to take away and practice in their own time.

This course is suitable for guitarists of all levels, as the emphasis is not on playing technique, rather simply how to use the guitar as a tool to open your ears to different possibilities by combining pitches and applying different modes of thought.

Both electric and acoustic guitars are welcome, and also bass guitar. If you're playing an electric guitar please bring your own amp and we'll keep the volume at a considerate level.

All technical abilities are welcome as the focus is not on performance, rather we are using the guitar as a tool to appreciate various harmonic effects.