When I was a young child I thought my parents and teachers knew everything. Overtime my adult delusion turned to reality. Of course this is just part of growing up and realizing the Tooth fairy was Mum and Santa Claus was Dad in a red suit and cartoons were drawings done by actual people. In…
Tag: music
“Why can’t I just learn songs?”
Let’s face it. The reason we learn guitar is to play songs. No one in their right mind takes up guitar to play boring old exercises. In my first few years as a young teen I learnt many songs and most sounded pretty bad. I couldn’t understand why the kid down the street (let’s call…
Spend time listening to music. I mean really listening.
I can’t remember the number of times I read or heard interviews with great musicians being asked the question about what advice they would give young music students and they almost always mention answer listening. Becoming a great musician begins with listening to music. If you or your child are not inspired to pick up…
Are you prepared to quit guitar?
In Seth Godin’s book ‘The Dip’ he gives a very good analogy on achieving true success which fits perfectly with guitar. The dip is basically the period between the initial enthusiasm of starting a new challenge and achieving your ultimate goal. Almost every imaginable challenge involves a dip. The make or break period if you like. Those…
Understanding Scales – For Beginners
Understanding scales may at first seem daunting mostly because of the overwhelming number of possible scales. The trick is to start with one or two and when you feel confident move add a new scale to your repertoire. Also keep in mind that certain scales are used the majority of the time. Some blues players…
Achieving begins with believing…especially on guitar
Do you really believe you can be a great guitarist? Neuroscience researchers are building a growing body of evidence that our minds play a very powerful role in our physical and mental health and perhaps life outcomes. In fact in some cases the evidence is so strong that it’s surprising how little media attention these…
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…
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