The most accomplished rock guitarists, from Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix, to David Gilmour and Jonny Greenwood, learned to create an immediately recognizable sound by drawing from a broad musical palate rich in the fundamentals. Berkleemusic’s Professional Certificate in Rock, Rhythm, and Blues Guitar will train you to become a versatile rock guitarist by exploring a variety of genres—Classic Rock, Rhythm & Groove, and Funk and R&B. You’ll study the legends and master the tools and techniques specific to each type of music, while finding and perfecting your own unique style.

You’ll start by bringing your skills up to speed in Getting Your Guitar Sound. You’ll develop your own technique—and an authentic and persuasive tone—by learning the pentatonic, blues, major, melodic minor, and harmonic minor scales and their modes in most keys. You’ll build customized rigs using AmpliTube 2 modeling software, and recreate the exact guitar parts from a wide range of landmark recordings by artists including Buddy Guy, Kenny Burrell, Brent Mason, Neil Young, U2, Soundgarden, and more. You’ll also learn to identify and incorporate various sounds produced through selecting, programming, and arranging effects, and study the characteristics of hollow body versus semi-hollow body and solid guitars.

You’ll then learn Berklee's approach to the construction of chords and chord voicings in the award-winning Guitar Chords 101, where you’ll gain more freedom and a greater feel for the instrument by learning how to visualize chord structures anywhere on the neck of the guitar. You’ll learn an extensive chord vocabulary, including triads and basic seventh chords, which will prove invaluable in pursuing any style of music.

With the fundamentals behind you, and with a handle on your own style, you’ll start to explore the most recognizable genres of guitar.

You’ll start in Classic Rock Guitar, where you’ll study the styles of the classic rock giants, including Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Duane Allman, and David Gilmour. You’ll analyze these players’ signature works, and learn methods of improvisation, phrasing, and sound conception that are essential to the classic rock guitar technique.

Next, in Rhythm and Groove Guitar, you’ll gain the rhythmic and chordal tools at are the foundation of groove-based music, but can be used to further any style. You'll start by expanding your chord knowledge and constructing original rhythm guitar grooves using Root 5, Root 6, Major7, Minor7, and Dominant 7th chords. By playing along with artist recordings (featuring the groove greats like Herbie Hancock, Government Mule, John Scofield, and Medeski, Martin and Wood), groove loops, and instructor-generated exercises, you'll learn how to effectively use tension, muted rhythms, repetition, and chordal licks (hammer-on / pull off) to your advantage. You’ll also cover more advanced rhythm concepts, including syncopation, triplets, right hand techniques, and diatonic harmony. The rhythmic foundation you build in this course will help further your improvisational abilities in a duet setting, as well as strengthen your solo playing.

You’ll wrap up your studies in Funk/Rock and R&B Guitar Soloing. This soloing-focused course covers articulation and picking/plucking techniques, pedal effects, pentatonic superimposition, and creating new scales with string bending. You’ll also gain the skills needed to solo with greater proficiency and awareness—how to develop new ideas, how to make your solos more interesting and melodic, and how to use scales—whether you’re performing live or in the studio. Throughout the course, you'll study examples from artists such as James Brown, Curtis Mayfield, Isaac Hayes, Ohio Players, Stevie Wonder, Sly and the Family Stone, and Prince to develop a greater understanding of how to apply the techniques you’ve learned.

By the end of this program you will have a thorough background in rock, blues, funk, and rhythm, the skills to create the exact sound you are looking for to match any particular style of music, and an expansive internal chord library perfect for live performance as well as studio work.

(Please note: Guitar Chords 201 will be an acceptable substitution for Guitar Chords 101 if necessary prerequisite requirements are met)