Boulder and Longmont Guitar Lessons by Joseph Brenna

Joseph is taking a short break from performance while developing new solo and band songs. Please click the box below to receive updates when new shows are scheduled.

One of the most difficult things about guitar playing is visualizing harmonic and melodic relationships across the strings and up and down the length of the neck. Jimi Hendrix solved this problem by using simple triads and pentatonics as a framework for his music, as did the Nashville studio musicians who pioneered the CAGED method. Jazz guitar greats including Joe Pass employed CAGED as the kernel they used to master complex harmonic and melodic music on the guitar.

Understanding tonality as a mandala -  a situation in which each note has a unique quality and function in relationship to the key center, and to all other notes of the key – brings greater meaning and utility to the forms employed in the CAGED method.

In this workshop, master guitarist & composer Joseph Brenna will introduce participants to the Mandala of Tonality and the CAGED method, and demonstrate how to gain mastery of melody and harmony on the guitar through the application of these principles & forms to rhythm guitar, solos, chord-melody, and composition.

Joseph Brenna has been recognized as a virtuoso guitarist and composer whose unique voice incorporates music from jazz and blues to classical, folk, rock, and world music. He is a recording artist on the What Are Records? label, and a Naropa University faculty member since 2000. Joseph has toured extensively in the US and received critical acclaim for both his performances and recordings.