“I bet I’m the worst student you’ve ever had” she said as she started to put her guitar away. The truth is, Lisa was probably the most talented person to sit opposite me in months. She was a real natural and picked everything up quicker than most. She was a complete beginner and had always […]
Lessons
Do guitar drills actually help your playing?
The thing I love about getting face to face with other aspiring musicians that are hungry to improve, is knowing that I’m going to learn something from them. I know, I know… you’ve heard that cheesy statement before, but it’s so true and here’s another example of it. I met Bill (not his real name) […]
Silencing the ‘Little Advisor’ (A.K.A. Overcoming Guitar Procrastination)
One word that seems to manifest an uneasy feeling in most of us humans is the word discipline. So often it’s associated with pain, boredom and generally doing stuff we don’t like. As a child at school, I was often told, ‘you need to be more disciplined’ or I would overhear my mother being told, […]
Perfectionism vs Pushing Through
The guitar students that I’ve taught throughout the last 20 years or so all fall into two categories when it comes to their particular style of practicing. They either ‘push through’, meaning they just keep playing away regardless of the sound/noise they’re making. Or they are perfectionists who spend most of their time NOT playing […]
How Much Should I Practice Guitar?
I often get asked, “How much should I practice guitar” and “How much practice will I need to do to get good at guitar?” Everyone has their own answer for this. I find the answers most people give to be quite overwhelming. People think 2 hours every day! Or 8 hours in the weekend! And […]
Confessions of an 80’s Guitar Shredder
I learned guitar in the 80’s. This was a time when guitar solos were fast, squealy and played by real men… dudes dressed as women that worshipped the devil and wore makeup (to quote the great comedian Bill Burr). I was obsessed with the Steve Vai guitar duel in the classic movie Crossroads where actor […]
Why playing guitar scales is bad for your soloing
Did the title grab you? Are you infuriated or intrigued? Is your face screwed up about to unleash a scathing comment? Or are you thinking, “yeah I’ve tried playing guitar scales and I’m still crap at soloing?” Now don’t get me wrong… I’ve practised guitar scales for hours and hours, and it allowed me to […]
How to Play Sweet Home Alabama Intro by Lynyrd Skynyrd
So you want to learn how to play the intro to Sweet Home Alabama? Well, here it is… watch the video and find out how easy this it is to learn this iconic guitar riff.
The Right Guitar Teacher
When I started playing guitar, at around 12 years old, my dad showed me a few ‘Cowboy Chords’. He was my first guitar teacher. He was self taught and managed to turn four chords into a party set-list in the folk era. Those few chords were D, A7 and a kind of G – but […]
How to Play Hey Hey, My My by Neil Young
Some songs were meant for a solo Acoustic Guitar and voice. This is one of those songs. That opening riff really grabs the audience whenever I do this in my solo gigs. Here’s an example of a song that uses both chords and melody at the same time. So we’re not just strumming chords. It’s […]