Whenever a new student would begin lessons I would spend a portion of the first lesson asking them to fill in a daily practice log. Now most were happy to go along with my request but not all. Some students would feel it unnecessary, pointless or even over the top. Comments like “Guitar is just…
Tag: school
What’s your 5 year guitar plan?
You can become an amazing guitar player in 5 years if you have a plan. The odds are you have no 5 year plan for your guitar. Once we have clarity about where we want to be in 5 years from now we are more likely to take the right action today. Students without a…
Online guitar lessons are here
We now live in a time where guitar lessons will take a radical shift. Up until the last few years learning with a guitar teacher online was impossible. The technology required for a fast clear connection via webcam is only now coming online. In the next few years we will see a big leap forward…
Focus on doing quality practice and the progress will come.
The whole purpose of learning guitar is to progress but the irony is that the more we focus on progress the more frustrated we often become. There is actually a very good reason for this. We don’t really have control over progress. We hear all the time that we can achieve this or that if…
5 misconceptions about learning guitar. No. 5
Children can’t start learning guitar before age 7 years. This is common misconception with no factual basis. You only have to look at an instrument like violin which in my opinion is more difficult and starting at age 2 years is almost the accepted norm. Children can start whenever they can hold a small guitar…
5 misconceptions about learning guitar. No. 4.
Starting guitar as an adult is too late. Many people assume that if they didn’t start guitar lessons as a child they have missed the boat. While it is true that growing bodies and brains have advantages the reality is learning guitar successfully can be done at any age if you are physically capable and…
Satriani Drinking the Magic Elixir
Joe Satriani is much more than just a great guitarist. What I admire as much as his playing is his teaching. I only just found out by watching this series of video interviews that Joe’s mother was a teacher which makes sense. Joe was always comes across as a natural teacher and its probably due…
5 misconceptions about learning guitar. No. 2.
People with short fingers don’t make good guitar players. I distinctly remember as a teen people commenting on the size of Jimi Hendrix’s hands. To a naive beginner with average fingers playing Hendrix style guitar seemed impossible. This affected me so much so that I didn’t even bother with Hendrix at the time and just…
5 misconceptions about learning guitar. No.1.
You need a certain amount of natural talent to play guitar. After more than 25 years of teaching guitar I can confidently say that natural talent is seriously over rated and more often than not is mistaken for early music exposure. In other words those children who are labelled with natural talent actually come from…
Learning guitar using a system
Guitar teachers tend to fall into two camps. Those who teach using a system and those who do not. I belong to those who use a system of teaching guitar but it wasn’t always the case. For over a decade I would teach each student by asking them what they were interested in and would…
“How do I get my child to practice music without the tears?”
If you are a parent with a child who refuses to practice their musical instrument it can at times feel like a pointless waste of time. Most parents in this situation are left wondering what to do and whether there really is a solution. There are two common schools of thought in this debate. Lets start…
Why are you just dreaming about guitar?
What astounds me are the millions of people who watch shows like The Voice or Idol wishing they too could be up there. Its as though the people standing on stage playing guitar and singing are from a different planet and totally out of reach for everyone else. I think chasing fame is one thing…
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