How’s it going in the practice room this week? Website Updates First off this week, I’ve spent some time improving the navigation of the website. As the lessons and articles have grown over the past 2 years (thanks to readers like you), things were getting a little cluttered and harder to find. From the top menu on any page of Lifein12Keys.com, you can now navigate to the guitar lessons and topics of your choice. Under …
5 Books Every Guitarist Should Own
In the age of Youtube videos and Learning Apps on our devices, the online community has created a sort of overload of information (and misinformation) when it comes to learning just about anything. Nowhere is this more prevalent than in online Guitar Lessons, Apps, Tabs (that are almost always wrong) and the over-population of so-called ‘experts’ seemingly everywhere online. Enough already! Below is an excellent list of BOOKS, yes I said books, that I guarantee …
Musicians Affected by COVID-19
How COVID-19 is Affecting Guitarists 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 overnight. I’m not …
Acoustic Inferno Virtual Gig No. 4- This Saturday 6PM!
Acoustic Inferno Streaming LIVE, This Saturday, July 18th @ 6:00 P.M. Let’s do it! Another streaming shit show coming your way! Our first 2 streams were amazing thanks to YOU. We are ready to do another one THIS SATURDAY night. The tips and virtual ticket sales last time helped so much. We both can’t thank you all enough! All proceeds will be split between Lyndsley and Craig…. and of course, as with everything here on the …
The Modal Scale Workout for Guitarists 2.0
How the Guitar Mode 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. At one point I had over 70 students per week …
How To Choose Your First Guitar
The guitar is one of the most popular instruments. Whether you’re a child or an adult looking to learn to play the guitar, you must choose the right first guitar. Choosing, however, can sometimes be confusing and overwhelming. There are countless guitar styles available for both electric and acoustic guitars. When you walk into a musical instrument store, you can easily get lost in all the guitar brands, styles, and shapes. Shopping online is even …
Fernando Sor Study in B minor
Fernando Sor 1778-1839 “The Beethoven of the Guitar”, José Fernando Macario Sors 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 him. After his father …
Guitar Modes – A Beginners Guide to Modal Scales
Introduction to Modal Scales for Guitarists I know what you’re thinking. Oh, great. Another article on scales. You may be asking yourself the usual questions: Why do I need to learn these scales? Why do modal scales have such funny names? Are these scales really going to make me better? Can I really use modes in everyday guitar playing situations? These are the same things I asked myself over 30 years ago when I first …
Taking Your Music With You Wherever You Go
For many people, playing a musical instrument isn’t just a hobby, 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 really can’t bring yourself to leave your instrument behind, then the only answer is to bring it 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 …