Jerry Snyder's Guitar School, Teacher's Guide Book 1: Guitar Book & Online Audio

This guide stands out because it acknowledges the reality of teaching guitar in schools: students learn differently, and flexibility matters. Rather than forcing one path, Snyder lets you teach chords first or note reading first, or weave them together. The 48 reproducible worksheets mean you spend your planning time on teaching, not creating handouts.

Organized and empowering. The Teacher's Guide gives you the confidence that comes from having a thoughtfully designed system in place, complete with practical answers to real classroom questions. The ensemble pieces inject genuine joy into practice sessions by moving students beyond solo exercises into actual collaborative music-making.

This guide is designed for teachers introducing guitar to classroom groups or private students, particularly those new to teaching guitar or building a program from scratch. It works equally well for music educators in band or orchestra programs who want to add guitar as an elective or exploratory course.

• Organize your course structure early using the curriculum guidelines in the guide; decide whether your classes will start with accompaniment, note reading, or simultaneous instruction before the first day
• Use the background information on guitar class and teaching tips to address common management challenges (like handling multiple skill levels or limited classroom instruments)
• Reference the National Standards alignment sections when documenting student learning outcomes for administrators or accreditation purposes
• Photocopy and distribute the worksheets strategically throughout the term rather than all at once, matching them to the sequence you've chosen for your curriculum

Use this guide to establish your guitar curriculum framework at the start of the year, then refer back to it as a resource for organizing lessons and addressing the pedagogical questions that arise during teaching. The reproducible worksheets integrate directly into your lesson planning, giving students consistent practice materials that reflect the method's structure.

• Chord recognition and accompaniment patterns (major, minor, dominant seventh)
• Standard notation reading on the treble clef staff
• Basic music theory concepts aligned to National Standards for Arts Education
• Ensemble playing through duets, trios, and quartets
• Flexible learning pathways (chords-first, reading-first, or simultaneous approaches)