It was long rumored that Duane Boyer had a guitar in his hands when he was born,. but his mother swore that she knew for a fact that wasn’t really true. However, as soon as he could crawl, at every available opportunity, he would head toward an old guitar sitting in the corner. Duane taught himself to play in junior high, and he and several of his classmates formed a folk group with 2 guitars and bass. He started playing other instruments in high school, and began playing banjo in college. He and several college classmates formed a Bluegrass band, which was featured for several years in a touring musical group sponsored by what was then known as Eastern Oregon College of Education. After graduating with a degree in music education, he was hired to teach banjo and guitar classes at Eastern Oregon University, and has been there since, teaching over 4000 students to play, He has also taught numerous workshops at festivals, summer camps, and other venues throughout the northwest, and was also often involved as a performer at those events.
Guitar class: Guitar Boot Camp
Duane’s class will be geared towards the beginning guitar player who is age 10 or older. He will teach simple chords in basic keys (which use open strings as part of the chord fingerings), basic strumming techniques, and then apply these skills in simple song accompaniments. Please bring your guitar, capo, and music stand if you have one handy, not a necessity.
Course objective: To learn all the basic chords using proven techniques of physical economy and efficiency to master the chords and chord changes as quickly as possible, to incorporate them into song accompaniments to be used with students in the other instrument sections, and to become involved playing with other groups and instruments.