“This course has really opened up the guitar to me. I’m much more confident about playing chords up the neck of the guitar and playing in different genres. An unexpected outcome of this course is the ability to play modal music as well. This course also, unexpectedly, taught me ALOT about using improvisation with clients as well, something I was not comfortable with before. The material was easy to understand and quick to pick up on. I’ve wanted to learn how to do some of these techniques for years, but could never seem to find someone who could explain it in a way that made sense. It was so easy, I can’t understand why it was so hard to figure out before! I really enjoyed Ryan’s relaxed teaching style. He explained things so simply and easily it really made the material and skills attainable quickly. I can’t say enough how much I loved this course!!”
“This course gives the music therapist so many tools to put in their tool box to pull out and use to meet there clients needs in effective and easy ways. This course re-instilled in me a love for the guitar, and helped me better understand what a diverse instrument it is. I even found discovered a couple other chords that I have never played before. I ignited my curiosity to push my guitar skills and understanding. Honestly, I now look forward to, and already have, used several of these techniques to facilitate my own expression and processing of feelings. I’m not practicing now, but when I do, I am excited to have so many unique tools to use, especially for improvisation!”
“I would
absolutely recommend this course. Even the most veteraned guitar player could learn a new style, tip or trick from this course.
I enjoyed all of it, and I will definitely revisit my notes and continue to learn. After taking this course, I plant to be more experimental with my guitar playing and less rigid with “sticking to as written.”
This is a wonderful course!”
–Amber Ellis, MT-BC | Windsor, NY
“I am very happy with this course, and would recommend it to anyone who would like to improve their guitar skills or experiment different progressions and strumming styles. I enjoyed watching Ryan interact with his clients. It was very useful to see how he used the techniques he was sharing with us, as students. The print outs are also very, very handy to have as a reference. I have already used the well-formatted chord progressions with my students. I have also used these same chord progression during improvisations with my clients.”
–Shelley Allen
“Would I recommend this course to others? Yes, absolutely! It has challenged me past my comfort zone but provided enough guidelines and support to make sure I’m successful! This class really made me feel like a rock star! I wrote a new song, which I haven’t done in a while, and felt so confident that I was immediately able to share it with friends! After taking this course, I will continue to use the very handy worksheets to review these chords and learn to incorporate them more into my clinical setting, providing more diversity in the way I approach the music in my classroom and the diversity of offerings I can bring to my clients.”
–Amanda Burchfiel, MS, MT-BC | Lynchburg, VA
“I really enjoyed this course. I thought Ryan did a great job breaking things down, and it was very helpful to be able to go back or rewind and watch things again for clarification. I thought the information was really great. I really enjoyed the clips of applications of the playing techniques in Ryan’s sessions. After taking this course, I will certainly incorporate several of the learned techniques in my practice. I think after practicing, my playing will be more diverse sounding and I will become more comfortable improvising with clients. I think that there are several music therapists who could benefit from these techniques and would find them helpful in their practice.”
–Candace Deshler, MT-BC | Spotsylvania, VA
“I would recommend this course to others, because it is the only guitar course I have taken that has connected every skill learned with a meaningful application in the therapeutic setting. After taking this course, I foresee much more client-centered music-making experiences that will take place in the future.”
–Rachel McCready, MT-BC | Oak Grove, KY
“I would absolutely recommend this course, it was terrific! I feel my playing will have much more variety now. I really liked the 4 key system of chords up the neck. I also really liked all the examples and clips of clients – watched them several times. I spent a lot of time on the course – watched every video at least twice, and really enjoyed it!”
–Marilyn Leeseberg, MT-BC | Rockville, MD
“This course was well structured. The material was easy enough to learn fairly quickly with some practice. It presented guitar techniques specific to music therapists that is hard to receive from traditional guitar teachers. It is very difficult to explain to guitar teachers what kinds of skills we need for our profession. I also really enjoyed the video clips of work with clients. I now plan to use the guitar more often for improvisation, which in turn will make me use improvisation as a technique more often.”
–Kim Gilbert, MT-BC | Henrico, VA
“This is a great course and instructor! It offers clear, thorough, practical techniques, and effectively allows the participant to utilize the material. I loved the client clips! These were essential in seeing and hearing the material come to life in a therapeutic setting. It sparked my creativity as well! After taking this course, I foresee more use of guitar in an improv setting, as well as a greater feeling of tonal/color diversity in my playing!
–Diana Maddox, MT-BC | Riverside, CA
“Once I saw this course, I wanted to take it! Anyone who wants to improve their guitar skills should take this course. My guitar skills have improved and since practicing and implementing some of the exercises in my own groups, I have seen a change in how I provide an accompaniment for my clients. I have been using guitar more and am focused more on my clients. I loved this course and felt I was able to learn a lot! Ryan does a great job teaching and making it simple to learn.”
–Jennifer Hezoucky, MT-BC | Jacobsburg, OH
“I would recommend this course to others. It is common sense and very practical advice for using various guitar techniques and for moving out of the standard I-IV-V rut that is so easy to fall into. He also showed various therapeutic reasons to use different techniques. I enjoyed the instructor’s easy manner. He made it seem doable and fun. This course is giving me the boost I need to refresh my guitar skills and to improve them to be relevantto the population at the prison where I work now. Thanks for the course! Each one is beneficial, but this one, at this particular time when I am interested in improving guitar skills to incorporate in sessions is particularly helpful.”
— Cynthia Shawcroft, MT-BC | Elk Grove, CA
“Ryan provides specific guitar skills and techniques to practice regularly, which helps me to be able to instantly begin applying these techniques to my sessions. Although this isn’t the field I work in, it helps so much to see how music therapy impacts people and how it is being used. It gives me inspiration and helps me think of ways to use these techniques with my own population. I would absolutely recommend this course. There is something in here for everyone and it can really be applied to all populations.”
–Andrea Roule, MT-BC | Johns Island, SC
