Exploring Harmony on the Guitar
Online booking will be available on Monday 2 March.
Spend five weeks exploring the potential and power of guitar harmonies.
This course will show you how to use the guitar to explore the world of harmony and tap into different sensations and moods within it. After discussing first principles – ‘what is actually happening when we hear a sustained pitch?’ and ‘what is the significance of the fundamental pitch relations?’, we will then examine how it is possible that such a wide spectrum of sonic effects can be created using these building blocks. Whether you are a beginner or advanced, it is my hope that everyone who joins will leave with more colours on their palette to use as a musician and have a deeper sensitivity to the profound effect of sound.
The main goal of this course is to give you the confidence and tools to freely experiment with harmony to enrich your own personal musical experience. Each week will involve demonstration, guided listening, small group exercises and discussion. Participants are encouraged to bring their guitar so they can share any ideas, but this is not essential as there will be much ‘food for thought’ for people to take away and practice in their own time.
This course is suitable for guitarists of all levels, as the emphasis is not on playing technique, rather simply how to use the guitar as a tool to open your ears to different possibilities by combining pitches and applying different modes of thought.
All technical abilities are welcome as the focus is not on performance, rather we are using the guitar as a tool to appreciate various harmonic effects.
About the tutor:
Tutor Ray Garner has been playing guitar passionately for nearly 20 years and has been teaching professionally in Leicester for several years. Last year Ray taught our Blues guitar course here at Attenborough Arts last year and we’re delighted to welcome him back with this new course for 2026.
Further information:
Participants must be aged 16+. Under 18s must be accompanied by a paying adult at all times.
This five-week course will run on Saturdays, 11am-1pm, starting on 18 April and ending on 23 May 2026.
If the course/workshop you’d like to book is sold out, we do operate a waiting list – simply contact our box office team on 0116 252 2455 / arts-centre@le.ac.uk and ask to be added to the waiting list. We’ll then contact you if a place becomes available, with absolutely no obligation to accept it if you’ve made other plans!
Please ensure that you agree to our updated Terms & Conditions before booking as courses/workshops are non-refundable if cancelled within 21 days of the start date for any reason.
We aim to make all our sessions as accessible as possible and carers/PAs are very welcome – just remember to book their free place when you book your session. If you’d like to talk to us in advance of booking or attending your sessions to discuss your access needs, our Box Office team is here to help! Email arts-centre@le.ac.uk, pop in or call 0116 252 2455, open 7 days a week.
We have four blue badge parking spaces outside Attenborough Arts Centre, plus double yellow line roadside parking very close to the building for blue badge holders for up to three hours if our parking spaces are occupied.
Free parking for all customers is available after 5pm on weekdays and all day at weekends in the University of Leicester car park next door to Attenborough Arts Centre on Lancaster Road.
The closest public car park for parking at all other times is Victoria Park, 5-10 minutes walk from us.
