Guitar

The Guitar Master Certificate Program is Berkleemusic’s most extensive guitar-focused program. With 8 courses presented over two years, you’ll fully immerse yourself in the structural fundamentals of chords and scales, and learn the major elements of three popular guitar styles: Blues, Rock, and Jazz. Once you have this wide breadth of guitar knowledge under your fingers, you’ll choose three electives to take your playing in any number of directions.

The Guitar Master Certificate begins with the basics: scale and chord study. In Guitar Scales 101 you’ll develop your technique by learning the pentatonic, blues, major, melodic minor and harmonic minor scales and their modes in most keys. You’ll apply these scales to performance-based weekly musical examples, and open up a world of possibilities within the guitar's fretboard by learning how to play these scales at different positions along the neck. In Guitar Chords 101 you’ll study Berklee’s world-renowned approach to the construction of chords, a method that focuses less on the shape, and more on the individual notes that make up the chord. You’ll gain the ability to visualize chord structures anywhere on the neck of the guitar, and learn to construct and play triads and 7th chords - the basic foundations guitarists use to write or perform in any number of different styles.

After you’ve internalized this extensive scale and chord vocabulary, you’ll move onto learning the intricacies of three of the most popular guitar styles: Blues, Rock, and Jazz. You’ll begin your style study by learning the techniques and licks of classic blues players, such as T-Bone Walker, Lightning Hopkins, B.B. King, and Magic Sam in the Blues Guitar Workshop course. You’ll build a foundation in form, control, and harmony, and learn to add more depth and feel to any other style of music. You’ll build on the blues background in the Classic Rock Guitar Workshop, where you’ll study the styles of the classic rock giants, including Hendrix, Page, Clapton, Duane Allman, and David Gilmour. You’ll analyze these player’s signature works, and learn methods of improvisation, phrasing, and sound conception that are essential to the classic rock guitar technique. Rounding out the required courses in the program is the Jazz Guitar course, which teaches you the basics behind the jazz language: chord/scale usage, building melodic tension, and improvisation techniques. Through the use of transcriptions and slowed-down examples, you'll study the styles of some of the most influential jazz guitarists over the past 50 years (including Grant Green, Wes Montgomery, John Scofield, Mike Stern, and Pat Martino), and learn to infuse these techniques into your playing as quickly and thoroughly as possible.

As with all master certificate programs, once you’ve completed the required coursework, you can personalize and direct your guitar studies in anyway you wish. Suggested electives for this program include Rhythm and Groove Guitar, Recording and Producing for Guitarists, Getting Your Guitar Tone, Basic Improvisation, and Basic Ear Training.

By the end of this program you’ll have an incredible skill set that will provide you with a greater feel for your instrument, and the ability to add more dynamics and personality to your playing.

Substitutions may be requested for electives. Please contact our Continuing Education Registrar at registrar@berkleemusic.com or call (617) 747-2146 to see if your request suits the overall academic requirements for your chosen program.