Did you know pride actually increases willpower? According to the book ‘The Willpower Instinct‘ imagining yourself in the future reaching your goals creates a sense of pride which increases willpower.  It actually makes perfect sense because the only reason any of us picked up the guitar in the first place was because we imagined our…

1. Make sure your guitar is in tune before the lesson starts-this means at home tune before your teacher gets there, or tune either once you get to the studio/store or at home before you put your guitar in the case. This saves valuable minutes-especially if you take 30 min lessons! 4-5 tuning minutes can…

To reach your goal of succeeding on guitar limit your options. Thomas Schelling a behavioral economist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 believes that to reach our goals we must limit our options. We live in a world where the options seem infinite and are rising rapidly every year. Life in the 1920‘s…

Basic Introduction to Modes Modes are simple in theory but can take a little time to understand. Think of the major scale as the first of 7 modes known as Ionian. If you were to play for example a C major scale you would also be playing a C Ionian mode. The 7 mode names…

When I speak to students many say that they are not interested in online lessons because it feels strange and impersonal. I then follow up by asking if they have tried an online lesson and in almost every case the answer is no. I now teach exclusively online as do many teachers across a range…

I know you love Facebook and nothing compares to the hours of pleasure you get but hear me out. Facebook has been shown to be addictive, largely time wasting and offers little in return for the time invested (the exception being if you are in business).  Our brain produces dopamine when it anticipates pleasure. We…

Here is a list of our top 5 most requested Christmas songs by G4 GUITAR students. Ask your teacher to help you with the strumming and timing and you will be ready in time for Christmas day. Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer Jingle Bells Santa Claus is Coming to Town Amazing Grace Auld Lang Syne Rudolph the red-nosed…

Most guitar students have good intentions when starting out but over time the motivation tends to fade but why don’t we just stay motivated? We still love music and we still want to play but our motivation for practice tends to wane over time. I wanted to understand this question so many years ago I…

Early on in my guitar teaching career I realised many of the guitar students who came to me grew increasingly disappointed with their progress on guitar over time. This made me question my own ability as a teacher and led me to try and understand why. The answer became more obvious as I researched the…

One day for one of many possible reasons you decide to learn guitar. You say to yourself “How hard can it be? After all every second person and there dog seems to be able to play something on guitar.” You buy yourself a guitar, a guitar book and maybe even some lessons with a guitar teacher. The salesperson in…

While there is no exact answer to this question the best answer I can offer you is 2 years if you practice 30 minutes a day based on average expectations but there are definitely ways to decrease this number. Deliberate Practice The term ‘deliberate practice’ in terms of guitar practice refers to practicing the guitar…

Put the process before the goal. The above concept is one that many of us find difficult but is a critical factor in learning guitar. The percentage of students of guitar  who actually reach their goals compared to the number who actually  take up guitar would have to be one of lowest compared with other…