Why learning guitar can make you happy

Is it just me or do people who play guitar seem happier than average? It seems there may be a very good reason for this fact. It’s no coincidence that ‘The Blues’ became synonymous with guitar. The very act of learning guitar helps you to focus and take your mind off your worries. Recent research…

The many benefits of a guitar teacher

Learning guitar from a book, DVD, Youtube or the internet are all worthy contenders and usually offer in their own right some valuable information. A keen student will source their information from wherever they can get it and not depend wholly and solely on one source but as research shows again and again in almost…

Parents – How to inspire your child to learn guitar

Bruce H. Lipton Ph.D. in his book ‘The Wisdom of Cells’ describes how a child’s brain from birth goes through different stages of learning starting  from the low frequency of ‘delta’ in the first 2 years (a frequency in adults that only occurs when sleeping or unconscious) to the next stage from ages 2 to…

Will your child will be a success on guitar?

In 1997 University of Melbourne Music Education Professor Gary McPherson  randomly selected 157 children to choose and learn a musical instrument. McPherson was trying to identify the traits of those children who went on to become accomplished musicians and those who did not. Expected indicators like I.Q., a sense of rhythm and aural ability surprisingly played no…

Guitar lessons – Private v Group

The answer from the majority of guitar students is private tuition is better than group. In fact to many this seems blindly obvious. They argue that getting one on one with a teacher means they get to work on the areas that matter to them most. Being in a group either means waiting around while…

Focus on effort not results

” Don’t measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability.” – Coach John Wooden We live in a society that celebrates results.  Whether it be from our sports teams, our fitness program, school exams, our financial investments or hitting your targets at work. It seems everywhere we turn…

Are You Serious About Guitar? Take the 365 Day Challenge

“Don’t be afraid your life will end; be afraid that it will never begin.” – Grace Hansen It’s almost guaranteed that all guitar beginners no matter what their initial level of enthusiasm about practicing and learning guitar will want to quit at some point and if statistics play a roll its likely sooner rather than later….

Why won’t my child do her/his guitar practice?

Very good question and one that I often hear from frustrated parents. In fact all parents will usually have to ask this question at some point because rare is the child who conscientiously practices without the need for parent intervention. Let us say your 6 year old has come home from school all excited asking…

Seeking perfection on guitar

“Artists who seek perfection in everything are those who cannot attain it in anything.” – Eugene Delacroix (1798 – 1863)  There was a time when I believed being called a perfectionist was a compliment. To my former self perfectionism meant taking care of the details and never settling for anything less than a perfect result but…

Progress Takes Time

I think its important to understand firstly that as a guitar student your first and only real priority is to practice. I say this because many guitar students are fixed on their progress. It’s the classic “Are we there yet?” question. Many students are not interested in the journey, only the destination. Why is this…

The first 6 months of guitar is make or break

 “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will.” Vincent T. Lombardi Sadly the majority of people who decide to take up guitar will not get past the first 6 months. I came to realize this fact in my…

Priming yourself for guitar practice

In a university research study a class of students were instructed to look at the lecturer with interest when he was standing on the left side of the room and with disinterest when on the right side of the room. The lecturer was unaware of the experiment but gradually he spent more and more time…