Course Descriptions
Guitarlab’s courses fall into two categories: Core “labs” taught by Guitarlab faculty members, and topic-specific workshops taught by Guest Artists. Core Labs are daily and aim to help students gain and improve fundamental skills. Workshops are once daily and include presentations, opportunities for feedback, Q&A, and take-home resources.
Labs
Technique Lab
Whip those fingers in shape as Guitarlab faculty Bokyung Byun and Jaxon Williams share their secrets to building a strong technique, guide you through custom-made technique "workouts", and answer any questions you may have about building a better technical foundation.
Sight Reading Lab
Improving sight reading skills can open up worlds of opportunity for a classical guitarist! We all say we want to get better at it but never make the time; so let's do it together! Guitarlab faculty Bo and Jaxon will guide you through a more systematic approach to sight reading with activities, reading excerpts, and fun games!
Flamenco Guitar Lab
Back by popular demand, the Flamenco lab will take place again this year! Join guitarlab faculty Jaxon Williams, direct from Spain, as he takes you through various parts of a particular "palo" (substyle) of Flamenco. By the end of the lab, you'll be able to impress all of your friends and family with flashy new flamenco chops and music to show for it!
Building an Effective Bio
A concert artist isn't much use without concerts! Learn what it takes to make your bio stand out so you can get that opportunity on the big stage. Fresh off her GFA concert tour, guitarlab faculty Bokyung Byun will take you through examples of good and bad bios, and will even review submitted bios of guitarlab students!
Workshops/Masterclasses
Walking the Tight Rope: navigating a career in the classical guitar world” (Adam Levin)
Join one of the most prolific classical guitarists active right now as he shares the inner workings of the classical guitar world and gives a rare view into what it looks like to make a living as a professional classical guitarist. Whether it’s competitions, grants, recordings, non-profits, teaching, or starting your own thing, Adam has been there, done that, and is ready to share his secrets and answer questions!
Efficient Guitar Technique (Gohar Vardanyan)
This workshop will concentrate on the movements of both hands to develop the most efficient and tension free technique that allows the student to reach their individual potential on the guitar. Topics will include guitar and hand position, and all the basic techniques necessary to play most of our repertoire - arpeggios, rest-stroke and free-stroke scales, and tremolo.
Choosing Your Repertoire, Finding Your Own Voice (Dragos Ilie)
Romanian guitarist Dragos Ilie is becoming known for bringing fresh interpretations and new exciting repertoire to the concert and competition stage. Join Dragos as he shares his thoughts and advice on not only how to see whats out there, but choosing the best repertoire for a variety of performance situations from auditions to concerts to competitions, and everything in between.
Other Events
Zoom Hang!
At the end of each day, students, faculty, and guest artists are all invited to stick around for a fun 30 minute zoom "hang". This is our opportunity to let our hair down and talk about anything we want! Hangs usually begin with a rousing game of "Hi Five", where everyone asks the day's guest artist any question they can think of for 5 minutes. After that, anything goes! From deep conversations to jokes and memes, to our classic nerdy "classical guitar guessing games", what happens in the zoom hang stays in the zoom hang!