Learning to Read Music – Tips for Tackling a New Piece of Music So you are getting ready to learn a new guitar piece. You sit there staring at the notation or tablature. Then you jump in, trying to play through the piece. Ouch, it sounds pretty terrible to your ears! Maybe it sounds so bad, you just… Read More »
It’s always a challenge for a parent to find the perfect Christmas guitar, so here are a few suggestions you might want to try out: First really think about what your child wants to play. Do they really want to learn to play classical guitar or do they want to rock out? Most of the time, they think… Read More »
Videos and on-line lessons are a great source of help and inspiration when learning how to play guitar, but can they replace a personal guitar teacher? I think there are some lessons that just need the personal touch. I often run into private lessons that simply need to have the hands-on approach. Each individual has a personal learning… Read More »
The Most Common Excuse I Hear from Adults for Not Practicing! Let’s face it – they have long passed the old excuse, the Dog Ate My Homework. However, they still feel guilty about not practicing. The first sentence out of their mouths is usually, “I was so busy, I only practiced once this week!” They feel they have… Read More »
Recently I was having a conversation with my Mastermind Group. We were discussing goal setting, a very important component of any Mastermind Group. One of the members suggested we explore the idea of pursuing “desire” instead of “goal setting”. Wow, that instantly gave me a big shift on my perspective regarding learning to play the guitar! Over the… Read More »
It’s the New Year! Which is better: Setting goals or making resolutions? I personally find it is more beneficial to set goals than to make resolutions. Probably because everybody knows when they make a resolution, they are leaving the door open, just a crack, to fizzle out shortly after they get started. Somehow to me, a resolution doesn’t… Read More »
Guitar Heroes Come on, admit it – you’ve got ‘em. We all do. Guitar Heroes. My first guitar hero was George Harrison. I didn’t know a thing about the guitar back then, in fact, I had to use a badminton racket and pretend it was a guitar. But I sure did love that Gretch guitar he was playing… Read More »
I’m running into this question more and more. So I think it might be a good idea to look at some of the issues surrounding on-line lessons. There are many ways to take on-line lessons. Lots of music schools today have on-line tutorials which can be purchased for a fee. Sometimes there are free videos to view as… Read More »
In Part One I discussed the pros (there are no cons!) of learning to read musical notation, or playing by ear. I also hinted that there is a missing link between reading music notation and playing by ear. So let’s explore what the link may be. You have heard the major scale. You may not be aware that… Read More »
To read or not to read? Is is better to play by ear or learn to read music? This question has plagued people for ages! My answer is — learn to do both! Reading musical notation is absolutely a worthwhile pursuit. Here are two reasons why: Learning to read music can be a real stress-buster. After a hard… Read More »