|
SGS Hosted Event:
Tipping the Scales: A Workshop
Sunday, October 6th 1:30-3:00 p.m. CLARA Center
A Workshop and performace Facilitated by Dr. George England
Cost: A donataion of $20 or more to cover costs of the event.
Scales: You loathe them. You love them. Regardless of your feelings about practicing scales on the guitar, these much-touted tools can be extremely helpful on your path towards mastering the instrument. Join your fellow guitarists in this participatory workshop led by George England. Participants will learn a method for scale practice aimed at increasing joy and creativity while learning the fretboard and building skills necessary for improvisation and sight-reading.
Workshop Overview:
-
Objective: This hands-on workshop introduces a unique approach to practicing your scales. The goal is to help you establish a strong foundation for your practice, enabling you to create variations in the weeks, months, and years to come.
- Participants will be guided through:
- Fingering patterns for executing individual pitches, dyads, and triads.
- A fun and encouraging atmosphere designed to inspire practice.
- Minimal improvisation through simple ‘Call & Response’ exercises.
- Pre-Workshop Preparation:
- Link to Workshop material will be provided
- Recommendation: While not required, viewing this material beforehand will facilitate a more enjoyable session for participants.
Participant Requirements:
- Recommended Skill Level:
- Near-beginners to early advanced guitarists with 1 year or more of classical and/or fingerstyle experience.
- Who May Be Too Advanced:
- If you have advanced proficiency with all Segovia, CAGED, and Three-Notes-Per-String approaches, and can easily execute all major triad qualities on all strings in all positions without hesitation, this workshop might be too basic for you.
- All are Welcome to Audit and Observe:
- Everyone is welcome to audit and observe the workshop, even if you feel your experience on the guitar lies outside the parameters above.
About your in instructor:
Dr. George England is highly sought-after as a chamber musician and soloist on guitar, performing on both modern and historical instruments. He has collaborated with groups ranging from Brooklyn Composers Collective, The Cantanti Project, Ensemble Musica Humana, Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera, and Sinfonia Spirituosa.
George is the Lecturer in Classical Guitar at the School of Music at California State University, Sacramento, and leads guitar studies at Napa Valley College, where he also lectures in other musical topics. He has served on the faculties of California State University, Northridge, Yuba Community College, Diller-Quaile School of Music in Manhattan, 92nd Street Y, Third Street Music School, NYC Guitar School, and Music Stream Center in Davis. In 2024 he established Sacramento Guitar School, which offers beginning through advanced instruction on guitar.
George holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Stony Brook University, where his culminating studies focused on the analysis and interpretation of French and Italian lute works of the 17th century, as well as 20th-century serial compositions for the guitar. He earned his Master of Music degree from Sacramento State and his Bachelor of Music, cum laude, from CSU Northridge.
| 
