While some children will practice everyday without any prompting many parents know that getting their child to practice is at times a challenge. Chances are if you leave it up your child to decide to practice when they feel like it you are going to be disappointed when they guitar becomes largely neglected. Forcing your child to practice…
Tag: school
Expectations
The majority of students who take up guitar will give up in the first 6 months. In fact I was go as far as to say that 80% of people who take up guitar will give up lessons in the first 6 months with most of them putting their guitar in some hidden cupboard. Sorry…
Right handers should mimic while lefthanders should mirror
I received an email from a left handed guitarist wanting lesson materials specifically for left hand players. While this is great the reality is 99.9999% all books and learning material are written for the right handed guitarist. I then suggested to the following; I understand how you feel as I have taught quite a few…
Choice is not necessarily a good thing
In recent years there have been many books written on the subject of choice. Probably one of the best reads is ‘The Paradox of Choice‘. The basic message is that choice is not necessarily always a good thing. We believe that no choice is a bad thing and that the many choices are good. In…
We don’t need another Hendrix.
I find it amusing when someone is hailed as the next Hendrix or Segovia. Why be the next when you can be the first. With success on guitar one can easily get lost in the idea that by possessing the same level of skill as Hendrix you will rise to the same level of success….
Which are the most popular guitar chords?
Zipf’s law basically suggests that the frequency of the number one item will often be double that of number two and so on. Of course this is not a hard and fast rule but it’s surprising how often it shows up. For example when we think of successful bands it would be hard to argue…
Why positive motivation is essential to learning guitar
Who is in the driver’s seat? Motivation is like driving a car but who is actually doing the driving? Your positive or negative motivation? Positive motivation could be hearing a great song and rushing out to buy it on iTunes whereas negative motivation might be paying off your credit card to avoid a late payment….
Understanding the G4 GUITAR METHOD
The question of what is the G4 GUITAR METHOD is among the most common we receive. I think a better question is what does the student need to know to ensure success. The G4 GUITAR METHOD is a basically a format based around what we call the 7 Essential Skills plus songs. Each level comes with a checklist and the goal for…
Musicians wanted…
Want a career in music? Now is the time. We all know the sound parental advice of get a steady job preferably with a reputable company doing routine work and you will do just fine. If you choose the arts you are probably headed for a life of poverty. Well I am happy to say…
Advice on being a creative guitarist
In the book Flash foresight written by American futurist Daniel Burrus he advises that to succeed you should try looking in the opposite direction. When you look in the same direction as everyone else you see the same thing. Going in a different direction often leads to new discoveries and sometimes amazing breakthroughs. Google are…
3 and 4 chord songs
On guitar most songs can be arranged in easy to play keys using a handful of chords. This doesn’t mean the song will sound exactly like the original but in most cases it will do the job. In music there are 12 keys which are all identical except for the pitch. In other words any…
Why environment matters
If you want to play guitar or music or would like your child to play you need to consider your environment. Anyone can become a great musician given the right environment. Let us say you are an adult and you decide to take up guitar. You work 5 days a week, have an active social…
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