Hey Bluegrass Pickers! Welcome to my Beginning Guitar Class. I intend to strengthen your bluegrass rhythm playing, introduce single-note Lead Guitar Flatpicking, teach you a few songs, and provide a simple and practical approach to practicing and making the most of your time with the guitar. We will explore bluegrass strum patterns and bass runs, common chord structure for standard songs and tunes, basics such as tuning the guitar and changing strings, and some simple scales and leads.
We will cover proper technique for the guitar and explore different song styles in the bluegrass tradition. I emphasize good timing in music and will show you how to improve your rhythm and feel the groove in your playing. I will also help you improve your listening skills and learn music by ear. And, of course, I will help you to feel more comfortable in a group setting so you can get out and pick with others! We will be playing in small groups and may interact with the other guitar classes and instructors. I will encourage you to jam outside of class as much as you can. Don’t be shy, we’re all in this together!
Coming into this beginning class I will expect you to know your basic chords, such as G, C, D, Em, and Am. You do not need to know how to read music notation; we will be playing by ear and reading very basic chord charts and tablature, which I will explain if you are not yet familiar.
You can prepare yourself by listening to as much bluegrass music as you can. Check out some classic recordings by Bill Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs, The Stanley Brothers, Reno and Smiley, etc. If you are not familiar with traditional bluegrass please email me for specifics on musicians, albums, and songs to listen to.
Bring an acoustic guitar, flatpick, capo, tuner, paper and pencil for notes, and a folder for handouts. A portable music stand is optional. I strongly recommend you bring a portable recording device to record examples to take home and work on. Audio recording is great, please no video recording of class. I will provide some handouts, a smile, and some inspiration. Feel free to contact me with ANY questions at tylerhgrant@gmail.com.
Instructor Bio
Tyler Grant is an internationally recognized guitar virtuoso, songwriter, vocalist, producer and leader of the band Grant Farm since 2010. Tyler has appeared at most major US festivals and performed thousands of concerts and guitar workshops worldwide. He was an original member of the Emmitt-Nershi Band and a sideman for Abigail Washburn, April Verch, and Adrienne Young. He has produced six solo albums and six releases by Grant Farm for his own Grant Central Records, and also the 2019 release, Kanawha County Flatpicking, with West Virginia music legend Robin Kessinger. The 2014 release Meeting on the Mountain, a collaboration with the band Fruition, spawned the Meeting on the Mountain Live Broadcast, a radio-style musical program, which Tyler hosts.
From 2005 through 2010 Tyler appeared and recorded as a member of the Drew Emmitt Band and the Emmitt-Nershi Band, featuring the frontmen from two of the world’s most popular jam bands, Leftover Salmon and the String Cheese Incident. While Grant Farm is now his main project, Tyler fills his schedule on the side with guitar workshops, and with solo and acoustic bluegrass band performances under his own name.
As a competitive flatpicker Tyler has taken first place honors at RockyGrass, the Wayne Henderson festival contest, the New England Flatpicking Championship, MerleFest, and the National Flatpicking Championship in Winfield. He has been an instructor at CalArts, Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Kamp, RockyGrass Academy, Sore Fingers (UK), Nimblefingers (Canada), and the Grand Targhee Music Camp, in addition to Augusta Bluegrass Week. He is an online instructor for JamPlay.com and has been featured in Acoustic Guitar magazine, Flatpicking Guitar Magazine and Fingerstyle Guitar magazine. He lives in Denver, Colorado, where he writes music, enjoys the outdoors, teaches, and records for Grant Central Records.
Reviewing Tyler’s album Earth and Wood, IBMA Songwriter of the Year Jon Weisberger wrote, “The traditional bluegrass roots of Colorado’s progressive music scene are still nourishing and well-fed. I’ve been a fan of Tyler Grant’s flatpicking for more than a decade now…. But Tyler’s not only a player with a great blend of finesse and strength, he has a keen ear for a cool tune, and he’s a fine singer and songwriter, too.” String Cheese Incident founder Bill Nershi simply calls Tyler “My favorite flatpickin’ man!”
Check out Grant in 2017: