How does the Pareto Principle (also known as the 80/20 rule) apply to learning guitar? The principle applies extremely well and is about learning to focus your time in the right areas to for maximum results. Let me clarify. Playing guitar and learning guitar are not to be confused. When you play guitar you are performing. A performance…

When I was a teen learning to play drums and guitar I saw students as either naturals or un-naturals. The naturals were those who seemed to be able to learn their instrument with ease and apparent joy whereas the un-naturals were those of us who lacked this natural ability and spent much of the time…

1. Fill in your practice Log. FACT: Students who fill in their practice logs almost always progress at a faster rate and are more likely to stick with guitar long term. The practice log shows your commitment to the guitar. It keeps a track of your investment therefore giving you a way to compare your results compared…

Scientific research on the effects of music on children is always a common subject among educators and parents. Compared to the long history of research on language, our scientific understanding of music is relatively new. What they do know is unborn babies respond to music in the womb from around 17 to 19 weeks. Research…

As a child I couldn’t wait to get to my guitar lesson each week. It was the highlight of my week. I would hang out with other musicians at my local music center and by age 14 years was regularly jamming and even gigging. By 17 years old I had a network of musicians who…

I would have to say that around 4 out 5 people who stop guitar lessons stop guitar completely despite the fact that most intend to continue playing and practicing. In a recent study on dieting in the USA they reported that people who are on a program with a coach are far more likely to…

For children repetition is key to developing skills especially in music but this can sometimes be challenging for those who have to listen. As adults it can become a little aurally challenging to hear the same song again and again. Children on the other hand like repetition for several reasons. This is a topic that…

Taronga Zoo‘s (Sydney, Australia) magazine ‘Wild Life’ (WL)  featured an article about training seals to do tricks. Throughout history animal training was largely based around cruelty but most of today’s animal trainers  have learned to use positive reinforcement techniques. In WL the author says “Today’s training is based on operant conditioning where seals change their…

We often underestimate the value of a coach.  In the NRL St George have now won 2 straight premierships under the coach Wayne Bennett. Whether you like the sport or not one can’t help but admire a great coach. Wayne Bennett has miraculously taken a team that has not won a premiership in over 30…

One big determining factor between children who succeed on guitar and those who give up is parent involvement. It is the emotional support from parents that makes this critical difference. This is especially true in the early phase. Statistically children of musical parents have a higher chance of success. A great example is Mozart whose father Leopold was…

The well known saying ‘An hour of planning is worth 3 hours of execution’ most definitely applies to learning guitar. Think of it like climbing Mt Everest (assuming you have never climbed Mt Everest of course) its hard to know what to expect and how to prepare for it. Having prior knowledge of the climb…