Unit 1: The First Four Chords

By the end of Unit 1, students in Guitar I will know the following:

- Proper Guitar Posture
- How to tune a Guitar
- Left Hand Technique: Em, G, D and C chords
- Right Hand Technique: Simple quarter and eighth note strumming patterns in 4/4
- Literacy: How to decode a chord chart (strings, frets, individual fingers)
- Rehearsal/Practice Strats: Rest Removal Method
- Other: How to navigate the digital audio workstation BandLab

During Unit 1, students in Guitar I will do the following:

- Perform a "4-Chord" song of their choice (that uses Em, G, D, and C chords in any order)
- Rehearse their chosen song using progressive practice strategies (including the Rest Removal method)
- Collaborate/Compose a fully digital composition in BandLab with a partner, in preparation for future recording projects.

Students create a folder on their individual Google Drive accounts to serve as their individual portfolio of cumulative growth. In this folder, students upload artifacts that document their progress as they learn the guitar. The portfolio will contain photos, videos, audio recordings, and journal reflections from different moments in the process to both motivate students and to provide a varied demonstration of the multiple skills musicians need to be successful.