Beginner Guitar Lesson Backstage Blog

When you think of playing the guitar you probably have images of being on stage in front of an adoring crowd or jamming in the studio, a party or just round at someone’s place. 

It’s always a happy place where everyone’s having a great party – right? компютри втора употреба

Well this Thursday I’m playing in the church for my girlfriend’s mother’s memorial service. It’s a very sad time for the family and has been since she died from cancer at the beginning of this year.  

It is an honour for me to have been asked to do this even though it is also a sombre task. Music can be beautiful and moving when it’s used to express sadness and loss and I intend to put everything I have into this piece which has been specifically written by a family member who cannot attend and perform it himself.  

This will be my second church performance, the first was a few years ago when I played the Cavatina (the Deer Hunter theme) at a wedding.  

As if being slightly drunk wasn’t enough to contend with – I’d tuned the guitar and rehearsed with the organist before the service. Somehow when the church filled up with people it managed to de-tune my guitar. It was either the change in temperature when the church filled up with people – or the almighty was sending me a test…  

Of course I didn’t realise this had happened until I played the first note for the actual performance so I had to bend the notes so that they were in tune with the organ..  

I managed to do it but it’s not something I’d like to have to do again.  

I can just hope that the same thing doesn’t happen this time as it is not an occasion that can be glossed over with good humour and ‘make for a good story’Er zwingt sich dazu gut online Poker zu casinos und das richtige zu tun.

I’ve just read a very encouraging post on another blog about what it actually takes for anyone to master anything they want. It has little to do with starting early or having the right genes - although these things certainly help they are not required.

It’s objections like “It’s too late/I’m too old” and “I’m not naturally talented enough” that keep people from pushing themselves to achieve their full potential, settle for mediocrity or worse still give up.

When learning a musical instrument it does certainly help to have some natural ability but not as much as some may think. Perfect pitch can be developed with enough practice and the same goes for virtuoso status. To put the whole natural talent argument into context consider this quote from Kathy Sierra’s post on “how to become an expert”

“Apparently God-given talent, natural “gifts”, and genetic predispositions just aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Or at least not in the way most of us always imagined. It turns out that rather than being naturally gifted at music or math or chess or whatever, a superior performer most likely has a gift for concentration, dedication, and a simple desire to keep getting better. In theory, again, anyone willing to do what’s required to keep getting better WILL get better.”

So can just anyone become a master guitarist by simply practicing more than the next person?

Not necessarily - you have to do the right kind of practice. Don’t just repeat the same stuff over and over and wait for your cat to bark. In business a definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result - this applies to everything.

More often than not what keeps people from achieving true greatness when it comes to mastering a musical instrument is the tendency to skim over the harder and mundane parts.

To progress to greatness you need to spend time on the not-fun-but-essential-to-get-better tasks. As with anything highly desirable and hard to achieve in life there are difficult, un-enjoyable aspects that need to be tackled. Look at it this way - if there is something you tend to skip over in your practice routine or in your learning package, chances are that’s what you need to be focusing on to get to the next level.

Here is a practical example you can use - unplug that electric and get on your acoustic until you can play those chord progressions, scales and bar chords flawlessly and with ease. Even replace the strings with a heavier gauge and raise the action (the distance between the strings and the fretboard).

Do this with the intention of mastering a very hard to play guitar and when you get back on your electric I promise you that you’ll experience guitar playing enjoyment you’ll want to repeat every time you sit down (or stand up) to practice, record and perform.

It’s when you put yourself through the mill like this and tackle those difficult tasks until they are easy that the real payoff comes in. As you develop higher levels of skill and become more advanced you start to experience heightened enjoyment and even a ‘flow state’ which Wikipedia describe as:

“The mental state of operation in which the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing, characterized by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity.”

If you apply yourself and resolve to go the extra mile with your practice then you will come across turning points and milestones with no limits to how far you can go.

Sounds simple doesn’t it?

And it is – the idea is anyway, carrying it out is what separates the greats from the mediocres. Which one are you?

And as for the “It’s too late/I’m too old” excuse – I’ll ????????????quote Kathy again here where she ends her post on using a topic close to my heart to illustrate that this is no excuse:

“And if the neuroscientists are right, you can create new brain cells–by learning (and not being stuck in a dull cubicle)–at virtually any age. Think about it… if you’re 30 today, if you take up the guitar tomorrow, you’ll have been playing for TWENTY years by the time you’re 50. You’ll be kicking some serious guitar butt. And if you’re 50 today, there’s no reason you can’t be kicking guitar butt at 70. What are you waiting for?”

You don’t have to be in your early 20s to be a rock star – just ask Mick Jagger

Now – are you ready to go all the way to the top?

If not what’s your excuse?  Post it here as a comment!

Now that I’ve got my feet wet with my shiny new M-Audio Fast Track Pro Mobile USB Audio/MIDI Interface things are starting to come together and it’s all getting a bit exciting.  

Still facing some challenges with latency and distortion and the fact that my computer is pushing 6 years old doesn’t help either. Ideally I’d like to put it on my laptop but the software that comes with it (Ableton) doesn’t work properly on Vista..  

I know I know – get a Mac you home studio heads are screaming and maybe when I have the space and funds for a computer to dedicate to home recording I will, but until then it has to go on the XP machine which is running on 1.4 GHZ, 1 GB RAM and 2 hard drives adding up to a total of about 80 GB.  

There’s plenty of stuff running on it as well which doesn’t help, but gradually all important stuff is coming off so this computer can be dedicated to gaming and recording. The 1.4 GHZ won’t cut it for much longer, especially with live guitar tracks going through it so it looks like a new machine is on the shopping list… *sigh*…  

So – I’m afraid I haven’t had much of a chance to do much computer optimising for recording guitar tracks through the sound card but I have been going through the Ableton tutorials and making some headway there.  This will all go into an easy-to-follow, complete newb-friendly, step-by-step PDF ebook which will be available free to beginner-guitar-lesson Acceleration Course subscribers.  

In the mean time if you want to get your feet wet with recording some of your own stuff and mixing it up I can thoroughly recommend my latest purchase of an M-Audio fast track Pro bundled with Ableton Live (cut down ‘express’ version which will do you fine to start with – although it doesn’t work properly on Vista yet!).   Stay tuned for more updates on my crash course into home recording and look out for the Free PDF which will be available to newsletter subscribers soon.

 

M-Audio Fast Track Pro Mobile USB Audio/MIDI Interface

Didn’t get that much practice done this last weekend mainly due to my exciting new purchase of an external USB sound card with

Everything was going smoothly until it came to calibrating the sound card, it seems that even when you can find the right input and output buffer levels to minimise latency and distortion it still finds a way of uncalibrating itself and throwing out distortion in the middle of putting down a track.  

Add to that the fact that my guitar is an electro-acoustic with a microphone inside it the card picks up all sorts of background noise including the cat mewing for attention in that way cats do when you’re engrossed in something on the computer..  

Well, I’ve overcome the sound card settings for now, so by this weekend it will be time to record a lot of the ideas I have then play over them with other ideas, add drums, bass and pretty much instrument I want.  

Before that I will be investigating how to best optimise a Windows based computer for music recording –  

Stay tuned

Been getting some interesting feedback from the “what’s your 1 question?” form on the sign up page for the accelerated onine beginners course

Mainly over a concern over whether ‘it actually works’ and can learning quickly without an instructor actually be done.

Well that’s what the course is all about - finding the most effective ways to go it alone. You see getting quality online learning materials is one thing but without direction and motivation it can be very very hard.

That’s why this course has been uniquely designed to mix actual learning materials with best of the best learning, goal setting and achievement tools so you stand the best chance possible of taking it all the way - all from your computer.

There are plenty of courses out there that offer direction and motivation but a strong amount of discipline is still required to stick at it when your fingers are hurting and you don’t feel like practicing those scales and chord progressions again

Well thanks to the feedback I’ve gained some considerable insight into what you actually look for in an online course and armed with that knowledge some exciting changes and developments are in the pipeline.

I can only do what you ask for, and you’re asking… so I’m doing

If you don’t know what I’m talking about sign up now to stay in the loop - what’s coming in the pipeline will be too good to miss.

Not the most difficult beginner song to learn how to play, although it does involve a bit of bar chording. However – my challenge (which I have decided to accept) is to play the 12 string intro - without the capo – which is tough and will require a bit of improvisation for some of the chords which I just don’t have enough fingers and big enough hands to do without a capo.

Then there’s the solo and other versions with nice intros, and of course I want to add my own style. Yes this is an ‘easy’ song on the surface but there is so much potential for exploration it can also be very hard.  

Stay tuned for updates and videos.

What is with all these people thinking they can learn to play the guitar without having to at least pay something?  

Learning any musical instrument is a time consuming and laborious process at the beginning and without the proper guidance the chances are you’ll give up in frustration out of doing it wrong and not getting anywhere.  

It takes a very very dedicated and motivated person to go the self taught route and - I don’t want to put any noses out of joint here but..- if you’re looking around for shortcuts and freebies then just how much effort and dedication are you prepared to put into becoming a serious musician?  

Learning an instrument is a huge investment, after all the equipment isn’t cheap but the biggest expense is your time and effort. Hunting around for freebies and shortcuts online can very quickly become a false economy when you wind up realising it isn’t as easy as you were expecting it to be and you’d be better off learning from an instructor.  

Do yourself a favour - ask yourself how much time and effort you’re prepared to put into becoming a great guitarist before committing yourself to something like the Quick Start Guitar Acceleration Course - it may be free but it only works if you’re seriously committed. If not - I recommend getting an instructor

These free guitar lesson sites are popping up all over the web - so how do we know which ones are any good or not? Anything that’s free has to have a catch right? Well no actually - or yes and no, or was it no?

I’ll stop that before I completely confuse myself (easily done) and lose my train of thought

Anyway - where was I? Oh yes - free guitar lessons on the Internet, hmmmmm. The old adage ‘you get what you pay for’ does apply here but only if you’re a beginner. If like me you’ve been playing for 20 years it’s easy enough to find tabs and music of anything you wan to learn then head on over to Youtube and find a video lesson of someone showing you how to play it - hooray!

Good for Me - Not so Good for a Beginner

So how does this work for a beginner? Sure you can google around for beginner stuff, but how do you know what to google and in what order? The main reason I’m taking such an interest in beginner online lessons now is because I’ve reached the ripe old age where I want to go into jazz - and my bluesy bendy style does not make it easy for me to just transition into it (I’ve tried).

So I’m doing basics 101 right from the very beginning and I’m doing it all from online/downloadable material. I’m kicking myslef for not doing it this way 20 years ago but the option wasn’t available so I’m not kicking myself that hard- or at all actually but you you know what I mean.

So for a beginner it’s essential to go into learning the guitar online with some expectations and a bit of foundational mindset to ensure you don’t waste time, money or give up in frustration. That’s why I’ve put together a quick guide on How To Download Guitar Lessons and Fast Track Your Learning in 5 Easy Steps

If I’ve learnt anything from learning the ‘rock & roll’ way and having to go back over basic theory and technique is that I wish I’d done it the other way round. Get your basics right and you can soon follow along with Youtube lessons like this one here:

Woahh there tiger!!Just starting out and looking for some beginner lessons? - Read this first - How To Download Guitar Lessons and Fast Track Your Learning in 5 Easy Steps

I just came across this video on Youtube - it’s one of my favourite guitarists Tommy Emmanuel playing a 12 bar blues that goes beyond brilliant.

I think I’m going to make it a habit of watching incredible guitar playing before any practice session - starting with this clip here, enjoy!

Today I’m going to look at the quickest and most effective way to learn the guitar there is bar none – it’s no secret but it’s also something people don’t do enough – it’s all very well saying “I know that” but if you know it but don’t do it then you need to start – now! 

Imagine being that person at a party who just casually picks up the guitar that’s leaning against the wall and starts strumming away only to be surrounded by cooing admirers asking you to play their favourite song next please!!  

Nothing will help you learn the guitar quicker and more effectively than playing songs – along with the songs. This has worked for me for 20 years now and I still go back to it when there’s a song I want to add to my party repertoire, it’s a 3 step process that goes like this: 

1. Find the chords and if necessary tabs
2. Listen to and preferably watch the song being played
3. Play along as many times as is necessary until it’s ready for cooing partygoers

That’s it! Even for a complete beginner you can find something simple but nice to play – as long as you apply your knowledge of basic chords and melody in a fun and enjoyable way – this is so much better than just practicing ‘dry’ chords and scales. To learn to play the guitar quickly and effectively you need to have good accompaniment – this is key to being able to play in time and really get a feel for the songs.  

Obviously if you are so completely new that you don’t know or can’t fluently play basic chords then you need to get started right away – this 6 part free e-course from Jamorama is your first stop for that.