Music Theory & The Fretboard

Hello! My name is Denisse Vallecillos and I’m a teacher, conductor, and professional violinist. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education and a Master’s Degree in Orchestral Conducting. I teach and direct orchestra ensembles at all levels. However, for 5 years and with the help from a local guitar teacher (Chris Paul), I taught a High School-level introductory guitar class.

When I started the class, I did a lot of research on pedagogy and guitar methods. The recommended learning path as outlined by the National Association for Music Education is one that is based on classical music and performing as an ensemble. I was already directing 5 orchestras and just did not have the time to take on yet another performing ensemble. Additionally, the guitar class was unofficially the pre-requisite for the AP Music Theory class if students wanted to learn some foundational concepts first. Therefore I decided that the class would focus on popular music. After about 8 to 12 weeks (depending on the size of the class), we were strumming along to Hotel California. It was a very popular class because we had fun! And yes, we still learned how to read standard notation (sheet music). If you purchase the ebook, one of the bonus sections will teach you how (and why) you should learn this valuable skill.

Anyway, this series of books (Music Theory and The Fretboard) simply contain my theory lesson plans that I taught to my high school students. And it’s because I found so much success with my classes that I felt like other people would like the way that Chris and I explain these theory concepts.