Guitar

Complete These 2 Required Courses

• Guitar Scales 101 (OGUIT-121 • Level 1 Course)

  Develop your technique, and learn to confidently navigate the guitar fretboard by gaining a firm understanding of scales and modes.

• Guitar Chords 101 (OGUIT-120 • Level 1 Course)

  Add dynamics and expression to your playing and gain a greater feel for your instrument through Berklee’s approach to constructing chords and chord voicings.

Choose 2 Guitar Skills Courses

• Basic Improvisation (OPERF-110 • Level 1 Course)

  Learn an approach to improvisation that applies to all styles and instruments by studying legendary players and finding your own style by learning to develop solos on the fly.

• Gary Burton: Jazz Improvisation (OPERF-312 • Level 3 Course)

  Learn the art of jazz improvisation from Gary Burton, one of the most renowned improvisers in the jazz world.

• Getting Your Guitar Sound (OGUIT-223 • Level 2 Course)

  Learn to use your ears, hands, and the tools of the trade to play jazz, rock, blues, country, and other genres, with an authentic guitar tone.

• Guitar Chords 201: Chord Melody and Inversions (OGUIT-320 • Level 3 Course)

  Improve your style, technique, and tone as you learn open triads, 7th chord structures, open triadic shapes, and inversions in a variety of musical styles

• Guitar Fundamentals (OGUIT-105 • Level 1 Course)

  Guitar Fundamentals is a comprehensive introduction to the instrument. The course explores basic techniques for chord-playing and melodic improvisation, and introduces a variety of chord forms and scale patterns.

• Guitar Improvisation Techniques (OGUIT-420 • Level 4 Course)

  Learn to play a great guitar solo! Guitar Improvisation Techniques is for guitarists who may know the technical aspects of playing, but lack the theory needed to build a solo that moves listeners.

• Music Technology for Guitarists (OGUIT-110 • Level 1 Course)

  Learn how to use a DAW and master guitar amplifier modeling and effects processing, in addition to several other digital technologies applicable to recording and live performance.

Choose 4 Guitar Styles Courses

• Acoustic Blues Guitar (OGUIT-351 • Level 3 Course)

  Explore acoustic blues guitar, from fingerpicking melodies to soloing over independent bass patterns, to performing in the acoustic bottleneck slide style.

• Acoustic Guitar Techniques (OGUIT-350 • Level 3 Course)

  Strengthen your rhythmic strumming, use of alternate tunings, and fingerstyle playing, and improve your fluency, tone, dynamics, and control.

• Advanced Blues Guitar (OGUIT-352 • Level 3 Course)

  Learn how to play rhythm guitar parts and solos over a variety of blues progressions, grooves, and tempos in styles such as shuffles, funky blues, soul, and more.

• Blues Guitar (OGUIT-222 • Level 2 Course)

  Learn the techniques and licks of blues legends such as T-Bone Walker, Lightning Hopkins, B.B. King, and more to explore the form, feel, and harmony that will help to bring a blues sound to your playing.

• Classical Guitar 101 (OGUIT-210 • Level 2 Course)

  Gain a foundational, working repertoire for classical guitar and learn techniques including tremolo, rasgueado, slurs, and percussion effects.

• Classic Rock Guitar (OGUIT-225 • Level 2 Course)

  Elevate your playing by learning the styles and techniques of the architects of classic rock guitar: Hendrix, Clapton, Beck, Gilmour, and Page.

• Country Guitar (OGUIT-228 • Level 2 Course)

  In Country Guitar you will learn how to play guitar in the country music style. The course begins with the basic tools and techniques that are essential for any country guitar player and gradually gets more complex as we work through the various sub-genres of country music, including western swing, fingerstyle, truck-drivin’ songs, and modern pop/rock country. The course covers techniques for developing, practicing, and performing melody lines, various country style rhythms, soloing, and improvisation, as well as playing melodies and bass lines while simultaneously playing through chord progressions.

• Funk/Rock and R&B Guitar Soloing (OGUIT-328 • Level 3 Course)

  Learn the appropriate scales, the best use of effects, and the rhythmic and melodic timing to create an authentic funk-based solo and sound.

• Guitar Ensemble Techniques (OGUIT-460 • Level 4 Course)

  Explore the many creative and technical considerations you need to know to mix music in today’s production environment.

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• Jazz Guitar 101 (OGUIT-327 • Level 3 Course)

  Study the styles of some of the most influential jazz guitarists, and learn the basics behind language, building melodic tension, and improvisation techniques.

• Jazz Guitar 201: Advanced Jazz Guitar Improvisation (OGUIT-427 • Level 4 Course)

  Develop your jazz guitar performance skills by learning advanced techniques to improvise over chord changes, both in traditional standards and modern harmony.

• Metal Guitar (OGUIT-227 • Level 2 Course)

  Master solos and rhythm parts in the metal/progressive rock style by learning scales, shapes, and theory on the guitar fretboard.

• Rhythm and Groove Guitar (OGUIT-226 • Level 2 Course)

  Expand your chord knowledge and learn to construct original rhythm guitar grooves that you can apply to a wide variety of music styles.

• Solo Guitar: Performance, Accompaniment, and Arranging (OGUIT-340 • Level 3 Course)

  Learn harmony as it relates to the guitar fretboard, rhythm as it relates to different musical grooves, and improv concepts to build a solo guitar piece.

• Steve Vai Guitar Techniques (OGUIT-415 • Level 4 Course)

  Gain a deep understanding and command of the playing styles, repertoire, techniques, and musical concepts of guitar legend and Berklee alum Steve Vai.

Elective Requirements

Choose any 4 elective courses from our course catalog

View our entire course catalog.