Two 1-week sessions of summer guitar circles for kids 8 and older!

Details and registration here.

Students at Gatewood and Thornton Creek Elementary Schools are invited to sign up now for Guitar Circles that the SCGS will be conducting at their schools this Spring!

Gatewood Elementary School
Guitar Circle Club
Mondays 7:30-8:25am
Registration due March 23

Seattle Circle Guitar School introduces a unique approach to music instruction: developing cooperation, attention, and skill in a creative and playful musical environment. Your child will play guitar in a circle as an ensemble and experience music making as part of a group. No experience necessary.

Thornton Creek Elementary School
After-school Guitar Circle
Tuesdays 3:40-4:25

Seattle Circle Guitar School instructors introduce a unique approach to music instruction, developing cooperation, attention, and skill in a creative and playful musical environment. We play in a circle as an ensemble. We will experience music making as part of a group. The class is appropriate for returning and new students and is open to kids in grades 3 – 5.

Class concept

• no experience necessary
• kids will compose and perform music
• develop attention and listening skills in a musical context
• learn the fundamentals of guitar and musicianship
• learn to play guitar as a member of an ensemble

Classes details

• Kid sized guitars will be provided.
• Classes held in the Performance Room
• Beginning on April 5 and running through May 24
• $98 for 7 sessions
• space for 9 students

Seattle Circle Guitar School has begun its Winter Term. We are currently conducting three circles; one on Fridays during the school day with third graders at Salmon Bay Elementary, one after-school program for third to fifth graders on Tuesdays at Thornton Creek Elementary, and the third is a before-school class for third to fifth graders on Mondays at Gatewood Elementary in West Seattle.

If you are interested in exploring the potential of a guitar circle at your kids school, contact the SCGS at guitarschool@seattlecircle.org.

Seattle Circle Guitar School has begun its Autumn Semester. Currently there are two circles at Salmon Bay Elementary, and one after-school program set up for Thornton Creek Elementary. One more class is currently under discussion for an elementary school in West Seattle, and another at a cooperative elementary school in Seattle – specific information will be posted as soon as it is available.

If you are interested in exploring the potential of a guitar circle at your kids school, contact the SCGS at guitarschool@seattlecircle.org.

From June 10-15, the Seattle Circle Guitar School presented a daily workshop at Billings Middle School in Seattle. The class was part of a summer program at Billings, which provides activities for children over the break. We were invited to create this program by one of the organizers of the summer session, who was aware of our work from a class Curt had led there during the 2010 school year.

Areas of focus were: circulation, learning a song, composing music together, teaching each other music, working in small and large groups, chord work for those who wished, listening to music, preparing and restoring the space, improvising together, and recording. Along with this, there were opportunities to take constructive breaks, and to reflect on and recapitulate the experience. Every part of the program was intended to provide an opportunity for experience and insight into being a musician and the act of musicking, including the parts we improvised, the snacks, and the breaks.

The success of the camp has also led us to consider an alternative model for going into the public schools. In addition to offering an extended period of one-hour-per-week sessions over a number of weeks, we can offer to go into a classroom for one week, 2 hours a day for example.

And above all, we had some fun!

The "band photo" on the final day of the camp

On Thursday April 14, 2011, as the culmination of the term’s class, The Salmon Bay Kids Guitar Circle performed as the opening act for Tuning the Air. There was a short reception following the show. Video of the performance will be posted on the SCGS website soon. For now, they can be viewed on YouTube. Enjoy!

Seattle Circle Guitar School will be presenting a one-week intensive immersion class at Billings Middle School (Greenlake), open to players at all experience levels. Rather than say “Go practice!” we say “Go start a band!” The class will be conducted by a team of teachers from the Seattle Circle Guitar School, allowing us to learn songs, write and rehearse music, play together, and perform, whether we can play one note or hundreds. Grounded in the tradition of Guitar Craft, the SCGS staff has 25 years of experience working with what it takes for a group of guitarists to come together and make music. All work will be done on steel-stringed acoustic guitars.

You do not have to be a Billings student to take part. For details and registration info, contact the Billings Middle School Summer Program.