It makes sense that if you want to play like a pro you need to be practicing like one but how exactly do they practice? This complexed question can’t be answer easily but I can offer some insights. Pro players are first and foremost consistent. They are unlikely to miss a day of practice. They…
Tag: school
Is your teacher more of a friend than an effective teacher?
Many students build up a strong friendship with their guitar teacher but instinctively know that the teacher is not really effective. It could be that the teacher spends more time maintaining the friendship than planning lessons and tracking progress. This is not uncommon because planning lessons and tracking progress usually require a lot more work….
Start or join a guitar community
If you are truly wanting to ramp up your guitar skills I can think of no better way than being part of guitar or better still a music community. There are numerous options such as placing notices at music shops or looking on Facebook for other guitar players in your area. My preferred option is…
Keep your guitar dreams alive
Successful marketers know that to keep you buying their products they have to constantly advertise. Think of how many KFC ads or bank ads you are likely to see in a week. You probably don’t even realize but they are everywhere from TV to radio to billboards. It’s no wonder so many people eat KFC…
Guitar is not rocket science
I must admit that when I started learning guitar it may as well have been rocket science. It completely baffled me and it seemed every time I had a question answered it led to 5 new questions. I had no clue why certain chords were used in combination or what modes were or how any…
3 habits of top guitar students
If learning guitar was a 3 legged stool these would be the legs in my humble opinion. 1. Consistent guitar practice. My best students are consistent with practice. They rarely if ever miss a day. They understand that daily practice is essential for long term success. 2. Follow instructions. My best students stick to the course and…
How hard is it to learn guitar?
Guitar teachers often get stuck on this question because there is no simple answer. Beginner guitar students likely have their mind set on some kind of general goal. For me it was being able to play Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Pink Floyd, The Eagles, Queen, Kiss and others. When I began I had no idea what…
Are your kids watching too much TV? Guitar might be the answer.
According to an article I recently read a TV station aired over 200 junk food ads during the Saturday morning children’s shows. Junk food is now big business and it’s literally poisoning our children. This is not about to change and if anything the junk food companies are getting more aggressive. They know that parents…
Why guitar jams are more than just fun
As a teen I was totally unaware of the benefits of jamming. To me a jam was just fun. Sure there were good and bad jams but overall they generally left me feeling good. A jam was a chance to crank up the volume and feel like a rock star. Simple riffs backed with a…
5 ways to motivate yourself to practice guitar.
1. Get a Guitar stand. Keep your guitar out on a stand not in it’s case. Just seeing your guitar will increase your motivation to practice guitar. 2. Create a song list. Find those guitar songs that motivate you and put them into a list and listen to them before your scheduled practice time. 3….
3 classic mistakes made by beginner guitar students
1. They try to do too much. One of my pet hates is when I hear someone refer to a guitarist as being able to play everything. Firstly no guitarist can play everything but more importantly it’s irrelevant. I just want to know if they can something well. Quantity comes a distant second to quality….
How did Eddie Van Halen get so good on guitar?
The obvious answer of course is practice but Eddie was not your typical guitar student. Where most guitar students do 30 minutes to an hour a day Eddie was more like 6 hours a day. The Van Halen brothers were fortunate because their father Jan was a trained musician who played clarinet, sax and piano. As…
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