Teaching Advice
Bring Your Toothbrush
21/03/10 04:20
When I graduated from Berklee College of Music I was fortunate enough to go on the road and travel with a nine-piece R&B band that was in the style of the Blues Brothers. I lived out of a suitcase for 3 years and had visited most of North America. I now found myself back in NYC looking to establish myself and find work as a musician. I always had a drive to understand music and the guitar better so I began to search for a teacher. Read More...
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Playing Is Not Practicing
04/05/09 03:11
I find it interesting that many students don’t understand the difference between practicing and playing; however, I’m astonished when the parents don’t seem to know the difference either. The mother says, “Well, it’s not for lack of picking up the instrument…” While the father says, “He’s got that thing in his hands all of the time…” These are all good things to hear but not quite to the point that I’m trying to make. Which is simply: Practicing is not playing what you already know but, rather, working on the things that you don’t know and, maybe, are not very good at… yet. Read More...
Problem: The Plateau
09/04/09 02:35
I’m currently teaching a student who, by all accounts, is considered one of the best in the school. I knew this 18 months ago when I started teaching him and found out about his reputation. At the time he was about 15 and very into the music that most 15 year olds are into. He has good ears and a good sense of rhythm with a non-working knowledge of music theory (he knows some theory but doesn’t understand when he’s doing something or why it works). Read More...
That’s What I’m Talkin’ ‘Bout: The Educated Guitarist
25/03/09 02:37
In my previous post I talked about the negative influence that a musically-illiterate guitarist can have on an impressionable up-and-comer. I even used a YouTube video and a quote from Guitar Player magazine to help make my point. Well, lo and behold, as I walked by my kitchen table to pick up an older issue of GP (April 2009) and quickly scanned it to see if I was ready to file it away. And, I wasn’t. There were still two articles that I had not read: interviews with Joe Louis Walker and Nile Rodgers. Both influences and inspirations. Read More...
Problem: Glorifying Illiterate Guitarists
24/03/09 02:44
I came across two things last week. The first, I was surfing through YouTube the other day and came across a video from Dave Navarro’s Spread TV. His special guest was George Lynch and, in this video, they both admit that they are not knowledgable musicians. George states (at 2:44 of the video), and I quote, “I have absolutely no musical knowledge… I couldn’t play a major scale if you put a gun to my head…” To which Dave responds, “Right, me neither…” Now, Lynch has a Guitar Dojo that provides instruction and guidance to aspiring guitarists as well as producing his own instructional videos. Read More...
Problem: Constant Noodling
16/03/09 02:47
What is it about the guitar that renders the player into a semi-conscious state of executing uncoordinated single-string non-melodies characterized by nauseating tone at irritating volumes? Why do they succumb to this zombie-like state that they fall into and out of where there is no rational communication possible? I imagine that to them I sound like the teacher from the Peanuts as I try to talk them back into reality. Can they hear the unpleasant sounds that are emanating from their instruments? Or, is the delusion of rock stardom so intoxicating that they cannot pull themselves away from noodling without the help of a 12-step program? Read More...