MUSC 32500 - Commercial Applied Guitar - Rock And Pop

This course is private instruction to promote and cultivate advanced guitar techniques with emphasis on Rock and Pop, including an introduction to real-world commercial applications that include sight reading, improvisation, scales and arpeggios, derivative styles, and style-appropriate soloing and technique. Each semester of study will explore genre-specific repertory and interpretive skills.

Preparation for Course
P: Department permission required. Restricted to students admitted to a program in the School of Music.

Cr. 2.
Notes
May be repeated for credit.
Lab fee for material costs and studio maintenance.
Student Learning Outcomes
1. Create improvised melodic solos that target guide tones; defend note-choice and phrasing using inversions of major/minor pentatonic, natural/mixolydian/dorian, and chord-tone arpeggios.
2. Sight-read and interpret standard notation through VII-IX position (syncopations, ties, tuplets, articulations), choosing fingerings that preserve lines.
3. From chord charts/lead sheets/Nashville numbers, realize rhythm-guitar parts (riffs, hooks, pedal tones) and create a chord-melody intro/outro; justify voicing and register choices.
4. Select and adapt equipment/tone (pickup choice, amp gain/EQ, compression, delay/mod), demonstrate idiomatic voicings (triads on string sets, add9/sus/power chords, 6ths, octave lines) and techniques (alternate picking, palm-mute, slides, double-stops, bends/vibrato), then evaluate style fit.
5. Prepare and perform a working set (e.g., one pop hook tune, one rock riff tune, one ballad), analyze form and harmonic function, and reflect on phrasing, dynamics, and hook economy.
6. In an ensemble setting, plan and integrate parts with keys/second guitar-layered textures, complementary registers, dynamic swells, cue hits-and assess blend and time.
7. Render solo arrangements that mix homophonic/polyphonic textures (bassline + chords + melody), chord/melody for a pop ballad, and phrasing shaped by dynamics/tone color; defend fingering/voicing decisions.