Looking back at my development over the years as a guitarist, an important skill that I acquired was the ability to create my own exercises that target whatever I want to improve on at the moment. This is a skill that most advanced guitarists eventually develop. It’s incredibly helpful to be able to this because...
The web is bursting with resources for the aspiring (and experienced) guitarist. A quick web search for any guitar related topic will return a trove of sites. There are a handful or sites and resources out there that I’ve found to be particularly useful for both developing as a guitarist and for teaching. So, I...
Every now and then, I see an advertisement come up while surfing around online that looks something like this: “Learn these five tricks to master the guitar!” “How to learn the guitar easily” “Master the guitar in 7 days!” These types of instructional sites always bug me. They’re out to make a quick buck by...
Whenever you pick up your guitar, it’s important to be aware of whether you are planning on ‘practicing’ or ‘playing.’ These are two distinct mindsets that will determine a number of things: how you think and feel while playing, whether or not you try to fix mistakes, how critical you will be, and so on....
“So the thing to do when working on a motorcycle, as in any other task, is to cultivate the peace of mind which does not separate one’s self from one’s surroundings. When that is done successfully then everything else follows naturally. Peace of mind produces right values, right values produce right thoughts. Right thoughts produce...
I’m occasionally asked by students who are getting ready to start lessons what kind of guitar I would recommend for them to get. These are my recommendations for various kinds of guitars: electric, acoustic (both steel and nylon stringed) and kid sized guitars. Since they don’t know how well they will take to the instrument,...
We’re all busy. We all have multiple commitments and interests that constantly vie for our time. No matter how committed you are to becoming a better guitarist, the time available to practice is very limited. So, it can be beneficial to look for ways to improve yourself as a musician even when you are unable...
Some musicians are lucky enough to never experience much stage fright, while others might experience painful amounts of it at some point or another in their playing careers. For those of you who have issues with nervousness, self consciousness and fear while playing for others, and if these feelings adversely affect your playing in these...