January 12, 2010

Although I have been playing the guitar for a long time, I’m always seeking more learning information. It was becoming quite painful and creating too much anxiety spending so much time sifting through the endless online guitar lessons claiming everything from play like Jimi Hendrix in 30 days to learn to play easy guitar songs overnight.
I’m looking for a certain type of lesson. I have been a student of the guitar since I was 11 years old. I’m 56 years old now. My first four years of guitar lessons were classical guitar. My last 5 years of lessons have been electric guitar. Some of my friends call me a purveyor of online guitar lessons. I really enjoy the few on the level lessons and generally buy the courses I think might have something to teach me.
Remember I’m not a beginner guitar player, so I’m looking for  intermediate level information for the most part. So after examining in detail, I decided the learn to play the guitar course that arrived recently, had exactly what I was looking for to learn more advance guitar skills. The first thing that caught my attention was how well structured the ‘learn to play guitar’ book for beginner guitar players was. It took me back to my favorite teacher who had an iron cased method of teaching that I loved. I loved it because I got positive results fast as a beginner. (He was a graduate of Berklee Music School).
In essence the course that arrived has solid well structured information in several well planned DVD’s and a huge 400 plus page book with big writing. The book also comes on a CD, so you can view it on your computer. The best part is the teacher has an etched in granite structure of teaching that is almost exactly like taking up where i left off. And is excellent at putting everything in understandable terms. In fact, one of the basic music theorems, which I have never been able to understand, was explained in a manner that I totally understand . The course was worth it just for that. He also has a support phone number given out to course owners for more information, free.
I really think that the days of actually driving to a guitar lesson four times a week and paying from $75 .00 to more than $100.00 per month is going to become less popular. I love having my guitar course and information right in front of my face and being able to replay it or look back as many times as necessary to understand it. That is real important to me since I rarely remember anything the first time around.
I don’t think I’m the only one who would rather stay at home and learn how to play the guitar than traipsing around town to a music studio every week. Think about all the money you will save in the long-run. Not that it is a cheap course by my standards, but over the long-run, a great deal of money will be saved by not going to a lesson every week. It’s possible you may advance even faster, if you have a built in knack for playing the guitar, why hold yourself back by having a guitar teacher throttle your creative needs and unusual skills. If you are not gifted (like me) than you can take as much time to go over essentials until you get it. Remember it is not a race.
The last thing about this wonderful course is that there is no hassle money back guarantee if you don’t like the course, for any reason.

June 5, 2008

When it comes to practicing your guitar, there are literally thousands  of online guitar lessons using all teaching methods available. Basic, logical and effective practice habits are an essential building block for any guitarist. You can’t get away from the concept of dedicating a certain amount of time everyday with out any excuses to practice your discipline.

Guitar tools considered standard tools for practicing the guitar, such as a metronome and tuner are indispensable, however there may be ways to improve your skills right under your nose. People can be very imaginative, and come up with some terrific, out of the box practice methods that are quite unique and helpful.

Perhaps it is not unique, but one method I use and really enjoy since it is not as much work as a structured practice session, is to play to the television. The strategy is fun and really develops your ear to find ‘tones’ and the ‘keys’ and improve timing issues in a realistic way. We all watch television to some extent. The music used in different types of shows is fun to emulate in terms of how fast you can figure out what ‘key’ it is in and even the type of ’scale’  being used.

Simply put, television commercials and shows use music that is suitable for the medium. Meaning, a suspenseful ‘Law and Order’ episode may have a lot of tension in the notes played, especially before the ‘dicks’ find the unfindable clue. Commercials such as the ‘Cialis’ ( erectile disfunction medicine ) has a great lead-in slideable chord that is a great ‘measure of music’ to play with.

Since I mainly watch sporting stuff, I hear certain types of commercials that relate well to sports lovers. Maybe you have seen the car commercials for Nissan and I think Chevrolet too, and even the NFL, they use Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Pride and Joy” as their song. Well, I know this song pretty well, but it is fun, and Stevie Ray is one of my influences. I hear tunes and songs on television shows also that force me into quick ‘key’ and ’scale’ decisions.  For the little time I spend in front of the television, I get a lot of real world practice at these two important elements of music mentioned above.

I call it multi-tasking. Watching television and playing the guitar! Try it, but don’t forget  the logical and effective methods for practicing your guitar that allowed you to play with the television. Now your mom or wife can’t say TV is a worthless waste of time! Enjoy.

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