Course Syllabus

Syllabus Class Guitar

2022-2023

Teacher Mr. Drake 

dakota.drake@ucps.k12.nc.us



Class Overview: We will be learning basic guitar skills, chords scales, strumming, fingerpicking, improv, music writing, and the history of guitar.  We will practice all of these to become proficient by the end of the course in hopes that you will continue playing after the course is complete, while providing the means to continue getting better on your own. 

 

Rules:

Respect everyone and everything

Participate in all classroom activities

Support classmates through the learning process

 

Grading

A – 100-90

B – 89-80

C – 79-70

D – 69-60

F – 59-0

 

Grading Procedure:

Students grades will come for the following factors

 

Tests/Performances 60% 

Classwork/Homework 40%

 

What to expect:.  

  • Each day we will play guitar in class to improve our skills.
  • You will also be expected to practice at home on the days you do not have class, this will help you advance much faster and become a better guitar player
  • You will learn scales and drills to practice guitar skills
  • You will learn chords to songs that you could sing along with or friends could sing along with.  We will be learning songs based on your ability level, iconic guitar songs that most guitar players learn in their first moments as a guitar player.
  • You will be expected to play guitar in a group and alone.
  • We will cover some musical history of the guitar and some major guitar influencers that have greatly impacted the guitar community.
  • It will be tough to practice at first because your finger will need to get used to pushing the strings, however that will get easier and you will be able to play for longer as the semester progresses.
  • There will be some performances, not sure what those will look like yet, more info to come.

 

Final Exam - will consist of playing guitar for a classroom performance along with a sort written exam with questions pertaining to playing the guitar.

 

Tutoring: Tutoring will be offered, by appointment, on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school or before school.

 

Canvas: The majority of assignments not completed on paper will be submitted on our learning platform, Canvas. Assignments can be submitted a variety of ways including, uploading files, typing into text boxes, and sharing Google documents/presentations. Students will be shown how to submit assignments on Canvas as needed. Individual assignments will indicate which method of submission on Canvas is expected. If students need a refresher or have questions, they can access the Canvas Student Guide for specific instructions. It is the student's responsibility to ensure assignments are submitted on time and to contact the instructor if there is a problem. Please note that student activity is logged while in Canvas so instructors will be able to see if the student opened the assignment, if there was any activity including a log of student activities during online tests and quizzes. Students are not allowed to leave the testing window during assessments. Doing so is considered cheating and will be handled as set forth in the Porter Ridge HS handbook. NOTICE: Although many assignments are submitted and graded in our learning platform, Canvas, the "final" grades shown may not be properly weighted and do not contain assignments that were not graded in Canvas. For the student's official grades, please continue to access the parent portal through Powerschool. Login information is usually sent home with the students at the beginning of the year, and should be the same as last year. If you need assistance accessing the parent portal, please contact the school.

 

Supplies

Students will need the following items daily: Guitar (provided) Chromebook, Notebook for taking notes, pencil, Guitar tuner (app on phone or clip on works great), Guitar capo (optional at first but will need later on), guitar picks (some will be provided at school but everyone’s preference will be different)

Capos can be found on amazon for $6, you can choose what you like, it does not have to be anything crazy fancy or expensive.

Clip on tuners can also be found on amazon for less money or phone apps for free.  

 

If guitars provided by the school are damaged or broken, it is the responsibility of the student to pay for repair or total replacement ($205)

 

If there are any questions please email me.    dakota.drake@ucps.k12.nc.us

Course Summary:

Date Details Due