Course Syllabus

Welcome to Wellesley High School Guitar Class!

Guitar Class is for students with little or no prior musical experience, who are interested in learning to play guitar in a moderately-paced and comfortable environment. Students will learn basic chords and strumming patterns on the guitar. We will gradually add more chords as students progress, including bar chords, as well as common scales used for soloing. Students are encouraged to bring their requests for songs they want to learn; and as we are ready, we will research the chords, rhythms and riffs required to play them.

Guitar_Play Along.pdf

Unit 1: Foundations (Weeks 1–4)
Goal: Get comfortable holding the guitar, tuning, and playing first chords.
Week 1:
Parts of the guitar, tuning (with tuner apps).
First chords: E minor, A minor, D.
Song: Horse with No Name (America) – intro to two-chord songs.
Week 2:
New chords: G, C.
Strumming basics: downstrokes in rhythm.
Song: Leaving on a Jet Plane (John Denver).
Week 3:
New chord: E major.
Switching between Em–G–C–D.
Song: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan / Guns N’ Roses).
Week 4:
New chord: A major.
Strumming: down-up patterns.
Song: Sweet Home Alabama (simplified chord version, Lynyrd Skynyrd).
Unit 2: Core Progressions (Weeks 5–8)
Goal: Learn common 3–4 chord progressions used in countless songs.
Week 5:
Review: G–C–D progression.
Song: Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond).
Week 6:
Add D7 and A7 (easy dominant 7th).
Song: This Land Is Your Land (Woody Guthrie).
Week 7:
Add F major (easy version first: Fmaj7 or partial barre).
Song: Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison).
Week 8:
Chord family practice: C–F–G–Am.
Song: Stand By Me (Ben E. King).
Unit 3: Expanding Repertoire (Weeks 9–12)
Goal: Play with confidence, try more strumming variations, and expand chord vocabulary.
Week 9:
Introduce D minor.
Song: House of the Rising Sun (The Animals).
Week 10:
Introduce B7 (gateway to blues & rock).
Song: La Bamba (Ritchie Valens).
Week 11:
Rhythm focus: shuffle feel, rock strumming.
Song: Bad Moon Rising (Creedence Clearwater Revival).
Week 12:
Review all chords to date.
Song medley day: play along with class favorites.
Unit 4: Barre Chords & Power Chords (Weeks 13–16)
Goal: Introduce movable shapes and more rock-driven songs.
Week 13:
Introduction to E-shaped barre chord (F major at 1st fret).
Song: Wild Thing (The Troggs).
Week 14:
Introduction to A-shaped barre chord (B minor at 2nd fret).
Song: Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd).
Week 15:
Simple power chords (E5, A5, D5).
Song: Smoke on the Water (Deep Purple).
Week 16:
Rock review: switching between open & power chords.
Song: Sweet Child O’ Mine (simplified chords, Guns N’ Roses).
Unit 5: Putting It Together (Weeks 17–20)
Goal: Solidify skills, build performance confidence, and prep for final showcase.
Week 17:
New chord: G7.
Song: Twist and Shout (The Beatles).
Week 18:
Songwriting intro: create a 3-chord song as a group.
Week 19:
Small group rehearsals of chosen rock/folk songs.
Week 20:
Final performance showcase — each student or small group performs a full song.

Core Song List (Used Throughout)
Horse with No Name – America
Leaving on a Jet Plane – John Denver
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door – Bob Dylan
Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd
Sweet Caroline – Neil Diamond
This Land Is Your Land – Woody Guthrie
Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison
Stand By Me – Ben E. King
House of the Rising Sun – The Animals
La Bamba – Ritchie Valens
Bad Moon Rising – CCR
Wild Thing – The Troggs
Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd
Smoke on the Water – Deep Purple
Twist and Shout – The Beatles
*Student-choice songs encouraged on a daily basis throughout this course!

*Warming up on my Gretsch 5120 before the 2015 Billboard Hot 100 Festival at Jones Beach, NY (Justin Bieber in the background getting ready for soundcheck).

Steven Scott has been teaching instrumental music and songwriting at Wellesley High School for the past twenty-eight years. Ensembles under Mr. Scott's direction have received state and national recognition—performing at venues including Boston Symphony Hall, Mechanics Hall in Worcester, the Boston Hatch Shell, Fenway Park, Berklee Performance Center, Groton Hill Music Center, Manhattan School of Music, and at Lincoln Center with master classes from Wynton Marsalis. Ensemble accolades include consistent gold medal ratings at MICCA Concert Band Festivals and MAJE Jazz Festivals, being named a National Finalist for the Charles Mingus High School Competition, and four times a National Finalist in the Essentially Ellington Competition. Mr. Scott has also served as a Teaching Associate at Boston University teaching music technology and instrumental repertoire. He and the WHS Wind Ensemble have been featured performers at the Massachusetts Music Educators Association All-State Conference where Mr. Scott has also been a music technology presenter in the past. Mr. Scott has taken part in a number of music education conferences and has had master conducting classes with Herb Pomeroy and Peter Loel Boonshaft. He earned a B.S. in Music Education from The College of St. Rose in Albany, N.Y. where he was named the Theodore Presser Scholar, and a M.A. in Music Education from the Eastman School of Music where he studied with composers Sidney Hodkinson and Fred Sturm. He recently completed a second masters degree – an M.M. in Music Production at Berklee College of Music where he was awarded the iZotope Award for Innovation in Music Production.