Higher Education And The Young Guitarist
Part I - Classical Guitar By Thomas Amoriello and Matthew S. Ablan Flemington Raritan School District
tamoriel@frsd.k12.nj.us
n recent years the guitar has come to prominence in middle and high school music programs, but many music educa- tors are ill-prepared to offer guidance to young guitarists wishing to continue their studies on the university level. Many mu- sic educators are qualified to offer advice to band, orchestra, and choir students but lack the appropriate information about guitar because they themselves are not “main stream” players. Thus, a good deal of music educators are not as well-versed in the “guitar culture” as someone whose sole focus has been on the instrument. When a student is considering studying guitar at the university
I
level, there are several styles to choose from: classical, jazz and contemporary guitar. Each of these playing styles corresponds to that particular style of music (as the name implies) and has a unique way in which that style is approached. This article is the first of three which will identify for music educators what students can expect when pursuing guitar studies on the collegiate level. It is set in a table format allowing one to easily compare and contrast guitar studies in 2 and 4 year college music programs and inform how such educational programs differ from conservatory training. Future articles will approach guitar studies from the jazz and contemporary viewpoints. For a more in-depth explanation of the “basics” when applying to college music programs please consult the October 2011 TEMPO article; Some Items To Know When Auditioning For A
Bucknell
www.bucknell.edu/music TEMPO
Music Program For Higher Education, by Lawrence De Pasquale. De Pasquale outlines areas of the audition process such as ear training, keyboard skills and written theory, which all potential music students should be familiar with. The article presented here focuses on classical guitar studies.
Classical guitar has a historic repertoire from the Renaissance Period to Modern Day “classical” and is a style of playing defined by the use of a nylon string acoustic guitar by which the strings are plucked with the fingers. In recent decades the guitar has surged in popularity and most college and university music programs have adopted the classical guitar as an instrument of study. Once considered simply a “folk instrument” the guitar has earned a place beside instruments like the violin and piano in the halls of higher learning. To gain insight from different areas of higher educational clas- sical guitar instruction, we interviewed three instructors: Stanley Alexandrowicz from Cumberland County Community College in Vineland, NJ; Jerry Willard from The State University of New York at Stony Brook in Stony Brook; NY, and Jason Vieaux from The Cleveland Institute of Music in Cleveland, Ohio. Each was asked about their program and what a university level player might antici- pate, with the focus related to undergraduate studies with an empha- sis on the performance major.
expressive performance creative improvisation discovery and invention
cultural and historical analysis Bachelor of Music in:
Performance Composition Music Education
Bachelor of Arts
“Creative risk-taking is a hallmark of studying music at Bucknell; it’s exciting — and just a little bit dangerous.” 28 JANUARY 2013
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