Guilty Guitar
“I didn’t get to play as much as I’d hoped this week.” This is the most common thing any student says to me at the beginning of each lesson. Seriously, this is said by almost every student that arrives at my studio. No one ever seems to feel they’ve done enough playing to justify the […]
The Truth About Mastering The Guitar
“I bet I’m the worst student you’ve ever had” she said as she started to put her guitar away. The truth is, Lisa was probably the most talented person to sit opposite me in months. She was a real natural and picked everything up quicker than most. She was a complete beginner and had always […]
Do guitar drills actually help your playing?
The thing I love about getting face to face with other aspiring musicians that are hungry to improve, is knowing that I’m going to learn something from them. I know, I know… you’ve heard that cheesy statement before, but it’s so true and here’s another example of it. I met Bill (not his real name) […]
Silencing the ‘Little Advisor’ (A.K.A. Overcoming Guitar Procrastination)
One word that seems to manifest an uneasy feeling in most of us humans is the word discipline. So often it’s associated with pain, boredom and generally doing stuff we don’t like. As a child at school, I was often told, ‘you need to be more disciplined’ or I would overhear my mother being told, […]
Perfectionism vs Pushing Through
The guitar students that I’ve taught throughout the last 20 years or so all fall into two categories when it comes to their particular style of practicing. They either ‘push through’, meaning they just keep playing away regardless of the sound/noise they’re making. Or they are perfectionists who spend most of their time NOT playing […]
How Much Should I Practice Guitar?
I often get asked, “How much should I practice guitar” and “How much practice will I need to do to get good at guitar?” Everyone has their own answer for this. I find the answers most people give to be quite overwhelming. People think 2 hours every day! Or 8 hours in the weekend! And […]
Which guitar players should I listen to?
“Which guitar players should I listen to?” “Who should I emulate?” I get these questions from students all the time. Who floats your boat? Who tickles your fancy? Who do you wish you could play like? The truth is, you are already drawn to the guitar players that you need to listen to or study. […]
Confessions of an 80’s Guitar Shredder
I learned guitar in the 80’s. This was a time when guitar solos were fast, squealy and played by real men… dudes dressed as women that worshipped the devil and wore makeup (to quote the great comedian Bill Burr). I was obsessed with the Steve Vai guitar duel in the classic movie Crossroads where actor […]
Start Jamming with the SoundCloud ‘backing tracks’ tab
One of the best ways to improve your guitar skills is to practice playing along with backing tracks. Until now, all of our backing tracks have come in the video – which is fine when you only want to attempt the ‘jam along’ section as part of your lesson. But what if you want to […]
Taking the Mystery Out of Scales
If you’ve tried learning lead guitar before, you’ll know that playing scales and making music are two totally different things. Played from top to bottom and back – the scale can be one of the most boring things you’ll ever hear coming out of a guitar… BUT, when the right notes are chosen and played at the right […]