Chris Rupp
About
Chris Rupp is a Berklee alumnus, Ultimate Guitar Instructor, and the founder of GuitArmy. With over 100's of million views and 500k followers on social media, chances are you’ve come across one of Chris’s popular guitar videos. Driven by a deep passion for music and guitar, Chris loves teaching and helping students improve their skills. Open to students aged 13 and older.
Teaching Style
I tailor my lessons to achieve the goals of each student. My lessons are fun and relaxed. I like my students working from a book along with material that I provide. My goal as an instructor is to teach you the physical skills as well as the music theory information you need to achieve your goals. I find that if I teach very solid guitar skills to a student they are prepared to perform any music genre they come across. I like to teach the music theory behind the skills but I'm also very big on using and demonstrating those skills. I love teaching students the songs they wish to play. I also like to spend time on improvisation and creating music. Whether you're a total beginner, intermediate, advanced guitar player, songwriter, lead guitarist, etc. I can help make you a better guitar player.
Curriculum
Your lesson plan will be tailor made for what you are interested in learning. I can teach you from books or you can create your own path by choosing things you need to improve upon. Below is a list of some things I teach my students.
scales: major, minor, modes, advanced scales, pentatonic scales, chord tones, arpeggios
music theory: understanding scales and how to use them to figure out your diatonic chords, improvise, write a melody, harmonize, etc.
sight reading: learning how to read music on the staff really helps you understand the vocabulary of music along with giving you the ability to read a piece of music
reading tablature: learn how to read guitar tablature and understand all of the symbols
rhythm studies: understanding how to strum properly and read rhythms
improvisation: learn how to solo like your favorite guitar players and create your own solos
chords: learning your open chords, barre chords, triads, seventh chords, other advanced chords.
songs: learn the songs you want to play
your choice: you can choose what you want to learn. you don't have to just learn the above topics. you can create your own areas of study so you get the most out of your lessons for your particular needs.
Books that I use with students:
Hal Leonard Guitar Method Book (books 1-3)
Hal Leonard Bass Method Book (books 1-3)
A Modern Method for Guitar (Berklee Press) Volumes 1-3
Alfred's Basic Guitar Method Complete
Hal Leonard Jazz Guitar
Hal Leonard Fingerstyle Guitar
Hal Leonard Blues Guitar
Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory (books 1-3)
Hal Leonard's Easy Pop Melodies (books 1-3)
I have a lot of other books as well. But this gives you an idea of the main books I usually use with students. A student does not have to work from a book if they don't want to. It's not required.
Credentials & Affiliations
Bachelors of Music degree from Berklee College of Music. Guitar instructor at Menchey Music for 25 years. Owner of GuitArmy where I've been teaching online lessons for over 6 years. Online guitar course instructor of over 25,000 students at Ultimate Guitar, GuitArmy, Skillshare, and Udemy.