Getting your little one to appreciate guitar playing means getting them to appreciate good music. Learning the guitar, just like any other musical instrument, holds so many health benefits. It helps boost confidence, enhances your creativity, and gives you a different avenue to express your emotions, among other numerous benefits. Learning to play the guitar can be a great and fun experience for your kids. It gives them something they can hold on to even …
Music, Its Good For You!
The power of music is, quite frankly, mind-blowing. It is amazing how we can play a song, and within 30 seconds, our mood can change. Whether it is a slow love song or an upbeat summer jam, it can transport us to a different place entirely, completely impacting our emotions. This is something that you can use to your advantage, giving you the all-important pick-me-up whenever you need it. Music can lift your spirits when …
Learning An Instrument – 4 Essential Tips
Learning an instrument can be a very fulfilling skill to have. In fact, learning music might even open up to new opportunities in your life. When learning an instrument there are some essential tips that are worth learning in order to be successful. Here are four essential tips for learning an instrument. Invest In A Decent Instrument Ffirst thing you should make sure the instrument you’re investing in is a decent one. Like anything in …
How Musicians Are Affected by COVID-19
How COVID-19 is Affecting Guitarists and Musicians Well, this is a guitar website after all… We’re all musicians, we’re all in this together; even if it doesn’t always seem that way in heated political discussions on social media. (I’m guilty, I know) Things have changed A LOT. The 2nd week of March 2020, I was finishing up a typical 5-gig week. On that following Monday, everything was cancelled. Everything on my calendar gone, literally …
Essential Modal Scales for Guitarists
How the Guitar Modal Scale Workout Started Back in the 1990s, I was teaching guitar lessons at Lentine’s Music in Akron, Ohio. I was teaching 6 days a week and playing gigs at night on the weekends. Before the internet, before cell-phones, before YouTube lessons… you had to take lessons in person from an actual person. I have a lot of great memories from those years. Consequently, at one point I had over 70 students …
Fernando Sor Study in B minor
Guitarist Fernando Sor 1778-1839 “The Beethoven of the Guitar”, José Fernando Macario Sors, aka Fernando Sir, was born February 14th, 1778 in Barcelona, Spain. Sor was widely considered the best guitarist in his time by his peers and the general public. He composed for the guitar, ballet, opera, string quartet, orchestra, piano, and voice. Sor came from a family of military men and intended to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfathers before …
Guitar Modes – Essential Guitar Scales
Introduction to Modal Scales for Guitarists I know what you’re thinking. Oh, great. Another article on guitar scales. You may be asking yourself the usual questions: These are the same things I asked myself over 30 years ago when I first started using the Modal Scales in my everyday guitar playing. I remember back in the late 1980’s when I was first starting out on the guitar, reading about these mysterious scales in magazine interviews …
Taking Your Music With You Wherever You Go
For many people, playing a musical instrument isn’t just a hobb. For some, it’s their passion, which makes leaving it behind for college or vacation all the more difficult. So how can you take your music with you wherever you go? Here are a few things you could try. Invest in a good quality travel case If you can’t bring leave your instrument behind, then bring it with you. Before taking your instrument with you …
5 Tips on How to Become a Better Musician
As an independent musician, several factors can disrupt your career. Maybe you’ve got a day or night job, social obligations, you’re in school, or other responsibilities that take top priority. So how will you create more time to focus on your talent? Just like any other endeavor, you need to create time for your creative work. How much you devote will mainly depend on the demands of your non-musical life. With this in mind, it’s …
Beginner Guitar Chords – 20 Essential Chords
Introduction to Beginner Guitar Chords If you’re new to playing the guitar and wondering what chords are suitable for a beginner guitarist, look no further. I’ve got you covered in this lesson 20 Essential Beginner Guitar Chords… and then some. Don’t be turned off by the term Beginner Guitar Chords though. If you follow through with the lesson, you’ll see it gets into some advance guitar music theory. You’ll find no shortage of downloadable basic guitar …