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At Altmar-Parish-Williamstown High School students are given an opportunity to expand their interests in a variety of creative outlets through clubs and activities. One of those creative outlets is Guitar Club. Each day for 20 minutes during 5th period, students meet to explore their interest in the guitar with club advisor Eric Lanious, a social studies teacher at the High School. Upon entering the classroom, students get right to work tuning their guitars, warming up, practicing scales, and then right into their lesson. Working in small groups, a variety of levels are represented in the group; beginners, intermediate and even advanced students all with the common link of an interest in music and more specifically, the guitar.
Some of the goals Lanious hopes to achieve through the group are goal setting, seeing something to completion, learning how to learn, music appreciation, a sense of accomplishment as student’s progress, and a sense of cooperation and support of each other. Another benefit of the group is student engagement and a method where students get to know each other through their common interest.
With guitar group, students learn proper technique and specific techniques including finger picking, flat picking, strumming, left hand technique and more. Students learn the names of all the notes, how to read standard notation and tab, and music theory and how to apply it to the guitar. During their lessons, they might learn a song, learn notes and reading music, ear practice with a partner, jam practice in groups, study theory, scales and chords and explore music history.
Through the club, they are exposed to a wide variety of different music styles from Blues, Classical, Folk, and Jazz, to Renaissance and Baroque and are encouraged to participate in an ensemble group. Some of the students perform together in a group outside of school and even compose and perform their own songs.
To learn more about student advisement period and other club offerings contact the high school office for information.
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