When I'm teaching a lesson, that is the time to LISTEN to students. I recently had a student tell me that he didn't want to play electric guitar anymore because it didn't relax him. So, I started to think, how can I teach electric guitar to someone without it being really intense?
Here's the answer:
I am starting to create a new course on how to solo on the electric guitar but it requires ZERO music theory, scales, or notation. Simply: It's all ear and intuition, and it's all FUN!
If you've wanted to learn lead electric guitar, but you want it to be chill, by the end of this week I'll have a course ready to go for you. Hit me up!
Course Updates: Jazz Guitar /
JAZZ GUITAR UPDATES
Though jazz is not everyone's interest, you can't say it's dead. Jazz guitar is still around, and learning it need not be so difficult.
I recently have been sharpening how I teach jazz guitar. First, I've made it possible to improvise quicker using three examples of two scales, and second I've cleared up the best songs to learn if you're learning jazz guitar from scratch.
For those who are interested in the first song I teach, it is usually Autumn Leaves. It has a plethora of interesting harmonic and scalar colors to solo over.
Interested in learning jazz? I'm ready for you. Hit me up!
The Studio Sounds 10X Better Now. /
Acoustic engineering is the science of making a room SOUND awesome. I recently made a huge upgrade here in my office, as the picture above shows. This big, honking piece of wood is called a Quadratic Residue Diffuser.
How does this affect you, as a learner? Well, having this wonderful diffuser in the office now means that your guitar and your playing will sound AMAZING here. I care to create an amazing atmosphere, and it takes more than just a chill vibe. It requires awesome sound.
Come on by and check out the new space!
Where You Learn Guitar Should Be Inspiring! /
Where you learn guitar should be inspiring, right? I mean, why pay money for a guitar lesson with a drummer next door? Or a guitarist down the hallway who is rocking out and not giving you a moment's peace?
My office has recently received a number of improvements. I am a fan of plants, and there are many new ones (I picked up a ZZ Plant the other day, and it's doing awesome).
Additionally, I put up some more sound panels in the room. It sounds better, and there's still more improvements on the way.
All in all, I think that if you're interested in having an extremely quiet, clear, and transparent place to learn guitar and get better at it, you couldn't do any better (though I am biased!).
Come hang out and relax at my studio!
Guitar Is The Easiest Instrument To Learn /
Pound for pound, guitar is the easiest instrument to learn. Here's why:
1. 7 basic chords can offer you millions of songs alone.
2. Strumming is easy to do when you have the right skills (and those don't take too long to learn)
3. Strumming and changing chords can be difficult at first, but later become like second nature.
Though guitar can seem like a steep learning curve, it's not as bad as violin, clarinet, or piano. Plus, you get to play loud and enjoy playing along to your favorite tunes.
When To Start Learning Guitar From A Teacher /
Not everyone was born to be a guitarist. Some of us have to work at it, including yours truly.
No matter if you want to learn acoustic guitar or electric guitar, there's something to be said to be engaged with learning the instrument. If you set your mind to it, you should be given all that you need to succeed at the instrument.
The only time to look for a guitar teacher is when you are feeling frustrated with learning. If this is the case, please think of The School of Feedback Guitar. This school was founded on the idea that beginners can learn guitar and make a beautiful hobby out of it, too.
When Not To Practice (and how to figure out when to move forward) /
As guitarists, we are constantly subjected to a restless energy that pervades our personal, practicing lives: The need to always get “better” at guitar. As a result, countless people are burning themselves out from this wonderful instrument!
I have seen plenty of students make practicing guitar into a super heavy commitment. Anyone who is familiar with my teaching method knows that I only assign practice exercises that can be completed in under five minutes of practice each day. The result is this: We tend to get more momentum with smaller, more targeted amounts of practice.
Sometimes however, we have to be mindful of how we are practicing because in no other activity on guitar do we spend so much time relating to the instrument. Sure there’s performance, but how many beginners are interested in that? My point is, sometimes we take practicing guitar a little too seriously and we need to chill out!
The following are four situations where I think it would be a smart idea to practice less, or even not to practice at all. Let’s jump in!
Don’t practice guitar when life is overwhelming you
Do you need any reminder about this? Life is challenging enough without adding extra weight in which might complicate things.
When my father died, I didn’t bother to even think about practicing. Rather, I let it go and allowed myself to grieve naturally. When I was ready, I found myself back in the saddle and practicing with gusto.
Don’t practice guitar when you’re extremely tired
Again, we can say this is common sense. Practicing guitar is a mentally heavy activity. Why go at it when we are tired?
Lately, I’ve been getting into my studio early in the morning. I’ve found that I can get more done when I’m fresher and have experienced less in a day. There are times however when I just need sleep and I forced myself to get to the studio only to realize that I just wanted to take a nap! It’s better just to take the nap and come back later.
Don’t practice guitar when your hand, or any part of your body is hurting
Many times, we practice more and more and more for no good reason, which is misguided. That saying “No Pain No Gain” doesn’t apply to guitar. It’s the type of instrument that will punish you if you try to practice it and ignore pain.
As a graduate student at the Eastman School of Music, studying classical guitar, I often put in 6-8 hours of practice every single day. I would ignore pain, and as a result my body felt fatigued with practice. That experience came close to ruining my relationship with guitar, which I believe is far more important than “being good at guitar.”
Don’t practice guitar if you’re feeling a lot of tension in your body
One reason I love music is because it offers me a chance to just relax and enjoy the music I’m playing. Why on earth would I want to make that very enjoyable experience into a tension-filled one?
One student I worked with years ago often practiced with so much tension that she stopped feeling like it was fun anymore. She played with so much tension that she was unable to play without it. Technique on the guitar can be built on tension, but the problem is you’ll need that tension to be able to play what you practiced.
In conclusion
It’s not often that you’ll want to put the guitar down, especially after you get some momentum on the instrument! But sometimes, staying still and not approaching it is the best way to get better and to enjoy playing it.
Talking Shop About Teaching /
The business of running a guitar school has weirdly fascinated me for many years. Truly, how successful I’ve been I owe to the idea that teaching guitar has to be ego-less. In other words, just because I’m the authority in the situation (the teacher) doesn’t negate from the fact that the person I’m working with (the student) is the most important person in the room.
I’ve been surprised when I’ve heard other guitar teachers talk about their students, their income from teaching, their livelihood. This type of thinking is indicative of a teacher who hasn’t really given up the dream of being a rock and roll star, and is teaching to make a little money on the side. This type of thinking also makes it seem like this teacher doesn’t care about the students in the first place!
The most surprising thing that I noticed when I began teaching was how invested I got in practically everyone’s progress. I found a large income when I focused on providing the students an excellent story, one where they transformed themselves and became the guitarist they always knew they were. Not only was it profitable, but it was incredibly satisfying.
I teach less now than I did two or three years ago because I began to limit how many people I was working with in the first place. Good people are out there and finding them is important. With good people in my life, it’s easier to live and breathe. It’s easier to go about my life and create the life I want to live. Moreover, I found out that working with and reaching out to great people for lessons is far more satisfying anyways than just simply working with anyone, no matter what.
I’m reminded of that thought today as I’m working on parts of my life that I’d like to take to the next level: Good people first. This would be my recommendation to all new guitar teachers: Find the good people and serve them well.
May I have the opportunity to serve and guide all the good people of the world who want to learn guitar.