I'm pleased to report that last week's test of the Zoom platform was a raging success, at least according to the dozen brave Confidentialistas who volunteered to test it out and, theoretically at least, learn a little along the way. Enthusiasm ran so high, in fact, that in a fit of pedagogical zeal I agreed then and there to move my plans for a more in-depth workshop up to early September, and offered said volunteers first crack at enrollment. Which leads me to the following good new/bad news/good news scenario:
Good news: this Friday, August 30th, I'll be opening enrollment for my first small-group six-week online workshop, Blues Chord Substitutions, which will meet via Zoom on Thursdays from 7:00-8:30pm CST from September 5th through October 10th.
Bad news: to keep things interactive and give everyone in the class time to participate, enrollment is limited to 12, a few spots of which have already been spoken for by those brave volunteers.
Good news: As enrollment fills I will keep keep a wait list going. If there's sufficient demand, I'll open a second section of the workshop earlier in the day, for the next twelve people. Bonus: students in the U.K. and Europe, this second section will likely take place at a much more reasonable hour for you, which should also suit anyone in the U.S. who would rather learn during working hours.
More to the point, what's it all about? Here's the scoop: The workshop will introduce you to blues chord substitutions for fingerstyle guitar through a mix of instruction, Q&A and master class-style on-screen participation. In particular, I will cover how to:
- Apply secondary dominants, altered and diminished chords and tritone substitutions to the blues progression
- Find and connect chord voicings up the neck and in open position
- Incorporate chord substitutions into steady bass and alternating-thumb improvising
- Transpose chord substitutions into different keys
- Use chord substitutions to evoke various styles of blues and jazz
The class will stream live online via the Zoom platform., and a recording of each session will remain archived online for three months after the course concludes in October. Tuition for the six week workshop is $300 per student, payable via Paypal or Stripe.
To answer questions about the workshop and preview of some of the material, I'll be conducting another free Zoom meeting this Thursday at 1pm. You can sign up below and I'll remind you when I'm about to go live:
Register for the Workshop PreviewI'm pretty excited about this new format. I've always loved teaching in a workshop setting, and after sending nearly 100 Youtube videos out into the void over the past few years, it was really great last week to open up the video feed and hear people play, answer questions and have some real back-and-forth. Even if you just want to lurk and listen this Thursday, I hope you'll swing by to learn a few voicings and check out what your fellow subscribers are up to.
More soon,
David
