Similkameen Dreams Studio provides finger style guitar lessons - beginner and intermediate (folk pattern picking, flamenco rasguado, country thumb and fingers brush, arpeggiated patterns, Travis picking, melody over chords, folk baroque, classical technique); computer electronic notation (software, midi, composition); and, creative song improvisation techniques.

Programs of Instruction

Programs

Finger Style Program

  • Classical Finger Style – Chords, Arpeggios, Tremolo, Rest Stroke And Free Stroke, Damping Notes
  • North American Folk – Finger And Thumb Brush, Arpeggios, Pattern Picking
  • Country And Western – Atkins Picking, Travis Picking
  • Flamenco – Progressions, Rhythmic Forms, Rasguado Strumming, Tapping
  • Song Accompaniment Program
  • Arpeggios, Strums For Pop Music, Folk Music, Soft-Rock, Bluegrass

Instrumental Playing Program

  • Learning Instrumental Pieces From Various Traditions Such As Classical Guitar,
  • North American Folk Songs: e.g., Simple Gifts
  • United Kingdom Folk Songs: e.g., The Water Is Wide, The Silkie
  • Classical European: e.g., Malaguena (Traditional), Romance (Anonymous), Canarios (Traditional),
  • Pop: e.g., Classical Gas (Mason Williams), Blackbird (The Beatles) , The Rose (Amanda McBroom, Performed By Various Artists), Angie (Davy Graham), Angie (The Rolling Stones), If I Were A Rich Man (Fiddler On The Roof)
  • United Kingdom Folk – Fiddle Tunes, Celtic Tunes, Old Songs: e.g., Bonnie Banks O’ Loch Lomond (You Take The High Road), Auld Lang Syne
  • Religious Tunes: e.g., Amazing Grace, Simple Gifts
  • Christmas Tunes: e.g., Silent Night, Good King Wenceslas
  • Kids Tunes: e.g., Found A Peanut, Happy Birthday, The Cat Came Back
  • Melody On Chord And Solo Improvisation Program
  • Learning How To Develop Your Own Instrumental Pieces By Building Melodies On Top Of Chords Up And Down The Neck
  • Learning How To Spontaneously Produce New Musical Pieces Based On Chords, Scales, Progressions, Melodies

Core Theory Program

  • Keys, Scales And Chords
  • Progressions And Harmony
  • Rhythm
  • Voicing

Reading And Writing Tablature Program

  • How To Read And Write Tablature For Guitar, Using The Free Software Program Tux Guitar.
  • How To Find Tablature On The Internet

Reading And Writing Notation And Basic Midi Program

  • How To Read And Write Notation For Guitar, Using The Free Software Program Tux Guitar.
  • How To Convert Amongst Tablature, Midi, And Notation Formats Using Tux Guitar
  • How To Find Midi Files On The Internet

Song Writing Program

  • Basic Concepts: Melody, Harmony, Rhythm, Lyrics, Song Forms, Rhyme, Metre

Musical Styles Covered

  • Pop/Rock
  • Classical, Baroque, And Renaissance
  • North American Folk
  • United Kingdom Folk
  • Folk Baroque
  • Country and Western
  • Flamenco
  • Others

Not Covered

  • Jazz
  • Heavy Metal
  • Electric Guitar
  • Hip Hop
  • Reggae
  • Hard Rock
  • Anything Similar To The Above