SEMINAR DETAILS

Fun Fretboard Tactics for Guitar (NEW!)

Struggling to claim your fretboard? No more. Using fun memory devices and multi-colored visual charts to guide you, this new class offers tangible tools to help you mentally own your instrument. We’ll discover the five sweet gift boxes, the three remarkable rows, and show you how to “ACE” your fretboard with octaves.

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12 Strategies for Tackling Bar Chords (NEW!)

Bar chords got you down? Let’s discuss 12 ways to overcome this common challenge in guitar playing. This new class could “move the needle” for you and get you moving with this essential and inevitable aspect of your musicianship. 

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Unleashing the CAGED Beast for Guitar (NEW!)

If you’ve got more than one rhythm guitar player on your team…if you want to more intentionally leverage your capo to gain full access to any key…if you want to enhance your fretboard knowledge for chords, scales, and more, this workshop about the revolutionary CAGED System will empower you on all fronts.

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Beyond Playing Guitar (NEW!)

What are you doing to enhance your offerings beyond your guitar playing? In this new class, we’ll talk about the art of strumming and speaking simultaneously, posture tips for standing and seated play, and six ways to communicate effectively with your band from your guitar (some without saying a word). 

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Enhancing Your Rhythmic Guitar Artistry (NEW!)

Feel like your strumming has plateaued?  Discover a variety of tools you can use to add texture to your guitar playing as you accompany vocals in worship or songwriting, including: up accents, palm muting, shuffling, fingerstyle, and more.

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Guitar as a Second Instrument

Are you relatively new to the guitar, having previously played another instrument? You may know more than you think you do. Come find out what the guitar has in common with the piano, drums, and other instruments, to give you an extra boost of momentum as you get into the guitar.

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What if my Guitar IS the Worship Band? 

Have you ever had to lead solo from guitar on a Sunday, either because you didn’t have enough volunteers, or your team bailed at the last minute?  Come find some inside tips to make your guitar more versatile to sound fuller as a solo accompanying instrument (without buying more gear).

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I Have a Guitar - Now What?

Learn some great first steps toward getting your guitar playing off the ground.

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Guitar Chords for People Who Aren’t Ready for Bar Chords Yet 

Bar chords are inevitable, but there are ways to work around them if you’re in the early stages of guitar and your hands need to build strength.  Learn some helpful open color chords and capo tricks that will open up options for you, plus 12 strategies for tackling bar chords.
 

Strumming Patterns for Guitar – Wait – There’s More Than 1?

Strumming is essential for rhythm guitar, and there are an infinite number of strumming patterns to be discovered or created.  We’ll discuss the process of identifying important beats in a groove so as to design or assign the right strumming pattern(s).

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​Basic Music Theory: Putting the “Fun” in “Fundamentals”

This open-discussion class will help fill in some of the gaps in your musical knowledge with useful concepts that can immediately be put to use in modern worship and songwriting.  Taught from the perspective of the guitar with some discussion of the piano, this class will begin with the basics (clefs, notes, and intervals) and then we will move on to chord construction and diatonic scale harmonization in major keys.  Based on the pace of the class, we can go as far into at least 25 essential subjects as time permits.  Students will emerge better equipped to read charts quickly and to communicate using the language of music theory.

 

Practicing With Purpose: How to Maximize Your Solo Practice Time

Did you know that how you practice is more important than what you practice?  In this new workshop, discover the effective tools for developing good practice habits that lead to steady and measurable progress.  Learn the hidden secrets of the metronome, how to create a comfortable practice space, how to develop quality repertoire, and more.  (For all instrumentalists with any level of experience).

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The Strumming Fool: A Guitarist’s Guide to Strumming

In this seminar, students will learn multiple useful strumming patterns that can be used immediately.  These patterns (captured in rhythmic notation with a customized strum arrow system) are ideal for multiple settings, including worship and pop music.  The class also features selective palm muting, partial strumming, shuffling, and more. (For students with at least 2 years of experience ages 16 and up.)

 

The Fingerpicking Fool: A Guide for the Fingerstyle Guitarist

This advanced seminar is designed to help the fingerstyle guitarist move to the next level while accompanying a melody as a rhythm guitarist.  Students will learn the Spanish system of using individual fingers with the picking hand, and explore several common fingerstyle patterns in standard tuning and alternate tunings.  The class also includes a section on developing creative new textures with fingerstyle guitar. (For students with at least 5 years of experience, ages 16 and up.)

 

Writing Songs for Thirsty Souls

Learn the key elements of crafting powerful lyrics and edifying music in this exciting seminar.  Concepts include: developing your songwriting toolkit, learning what makes a great song, crafting excellent lyrics, merging words and music, understanding song forms, realizing your potential, preparing for inspiration, and more!  (For songwriters of all experience levels, ages 16 and up.)

 

Rhythm Guitar: The Next Level

Designed to enrich the skills of the rhythm guitarist, whether for worship leading or songwriting, this seminar covers practical aspects that any guitarist will find useful.  Concepts covered include: fretboard mapping, strumming patterns, fingerstyle, bar chords, the CAGED system, chord transitions, and more!  (For students ages 16 and up, with 6 months of experience or more.)

 

The Capo: A Guitarist’s Trusty Companion

Discover how a capo can make things easier, different, or more interesting in this in-depth seminar.  7 different customized capos are examined (Kyser, G7th, Shubb C8B partial capo, Shubb C7B partial capo, Shubb “sawed off ½ open A” capo, the Third Hand capo, and the Glider capo).  These capos (along with a total of 20 ways to use them) are demonstrated, to help guitarists expand their playing and their creativity. (For students with at least 5 years of experience, ages 16 and up.  Bringing a capo to the seminar is highly recommended.)

 

Breaking the Mold: Creativity on the Acoustic Guitar

This seminar is designed for those who want to explore the guitar in new and exciting ways, by thinking “outside the box.”  Concepts explored include: 8 alternate tunings (DADGBE, DADFAD, DGDGBD, DADGAD, DGDGAD, DADGCD, CGCGCD, and FADFCE), 2-hand tapping or the “touch style,” non-traditional playing styles, artificial and normal harmonics, and the use of a loop station to stack and layer live sound.  This is truly a unique and inspiring class that will help broaden your horizons. (For students with at least 5 years of experience, ages 16 and up.)

 

Build Your Own Rhythm Guitar Seminar

This seminar is for students and hosting churches who want a custom-tailored presentation.  In the same manner as choosing your toppings on a pizza, students are able to pre-register and fill out a form where they list their preferences for specific available topics.  The concepts which can be covered range from preparation fundamentals, to harmonic and rhythmic fundamentals.  At least 24 different subjects are available, and David is able to teach them in order of students’ priority, for as long as time permits. (For students with at least 2 years of experience, ages 16 and up.)