Playing by Ear - A Guitar Workshop with Eric Knutson

Stop relying on incorrect, indecipherable chord charts and tabs you find online. Learn to identify the key and the chords to your favorite songs, then move them into the key that works for your voice. Students will become familiar with the tools and techniques necessary to learn the basic chord accompaniment to songs, purely by ear, then adjust the song key as needed to fit the singer's key. While this will require more practice to master, the goal is for students to leave the workshop understanding the process and how to work through it slowly on their own. 

This is a 3 hr workshop. Students must bring a guitar and a capo.

Prerequisites:
-basic command of open-position chords: C, A, G, E, D and their minors
-basic ability to play and sing a few songs
-some familiarity with naming notes on the fretboard
-some familiarity with music theory: Major/minor chord basics, diatonic chords of the major scale a plus

Eric Knutson is a graduate of the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music, where he earned a degree in classical guitar. After graduating, Eric moved to Nashville, TN, where he developed a career as a guitar-player-for-hire, both on the road and in the studio. Eventually landing a staff songwriter position with Cal IV Publishing and Spirit Music, Eric considers it an honor to have had the opportunity to write hundreds of songs, with fantastic cowriters, in a town devoted to the craft. After several years on music row, grateful for his time in Nashville but ready for a change, Eric relocated to Charlottesville in 2018. Eric’s teaching philosophy is rooted in a deep passion for helping students understand how music works. He focuses on breaking down complex musical concepts to give his students the tools they need to create the music they hear in their heads, empowering them to translate technical understanding into their own artistic expression.