June 6, 2021

Learning to play guitar

Starting out as a complete beginner wasn’t easy….

There were so many things I struggled with. But because I loved guitar, it just made the whole thing so much easier.

Wanting to listen to music 24/7, even as I was going to sleep. I didn’t think I was normal… Until I found a whole community of people just like me.

It’s been amazing and I’m so grateful for the teachers and fellow students who have been there for me at this East London Guitar School and helping along this learning journey.

There’s nothing I have more than to go there and feel like I’ve been pushed outside of my boundaries… in ways that I would never do at home. But in an enjoyable and satisfying way. (Not like the gym!) haha

There’s so many things that I’ve been able to piece together because of my amazing guitar teachers.

Thank you so much and I can’t wait for my next session!

In the meanwhile, I will keep blogging about my musical interests for anyone who wants to read my posts and follow me.

Hope you are having fun out there on your own musical journey! …

admin Guitar Lessons 0 51 sec read
November 11, 2021

Keeping Egos in checked with starting your own band

Getting your band together is tough… let’s have a look at some of the things you might want to think about..

Egos need to be checked in your new band

Bands often suffer from inflated egos. Bands break up for this reason often. You should check your ego at the door before joining a band if you want to be a musician. There is no need to impress anyone with your presence. It is important to put the audience first and create great music together.

You might want to consider finding another member if somebody like this starts to annoy you. Bands should be composed of musicians who can get along with one another and support one another. Problem members are not conducive to making good music together, so it’s best to avoid them.

At First, It Might Sound Bad

It is to be expected that the music you create in your first band will not sound perfect at first. As you learn how to work together, you should give yourself plenty of time.

The first few songs you should play should be familiar. You should make these songs simple and easy to understand. Prior to trying more complex arrangements, master the basics.

Learning guitar together is fun too. …

admin Guitar Lessons 0 56 sec read
September 7, 2021

Getting Your Own Studio Band Going

Maybe you should start a band after you have played guitar for a little while. Playing in a band has many benefits, so you should do so. The following are some tips for starting a studio band.

It Doesn’t Matter What Your Talent Is

The ability to play guitar isn’t necessary for starting a band. You can still join a band even if you know only a few chords. Playing simple songs together can be a good way of learning.

A good guitar technique can only be improved by doing this.

When you play music with other musicians, you learn about timing and rhythm. Songs with only three or four chords are some of the most famous. There are many songs you can play with other musicians without having to be an exceptionally good guitarists and musician.

Playing in your bedroom won’t give you this kind of training. As soon as possible, you should get together with other musicians.

Jamming together doesn’t necessarily mean that you should start a band. Nothing is certain in life. Your musical tastes may lead you to someone with whom you would like to form a band.

Friendships are fun

Get together with your friends who play musical instruments and ask if they would like to form a band. Having a successful band is easier when you know someone well. Many of the most successful bands are the result of friends from high school getting together to form a band.

Make sure the person you hire is a good fit for your band if you do not want a negative influence in your band. Take your time when looking for band members so that you can make your band the best it can be.…

admin Guitar Lessons 0 1 min read
April 2, 2021

Starting the studio

Who was 2017 when I thought that maybe now is the time To start pursuing my dreams and stop working for the corporate man. 

I really want to build something you know I’m not have my efforts go to waste. I was working 50:60 hours a week at my job, and the only reward I saw for it was my paycheque and my customers. And the moment I stopped working I know all that would’ve stopped. Having a studio meant that I could create something lasting and have an impact on the people I care most about, musicians.

It’s not easy to start the studio. To listen manual on how to do these things. People always tell you running a business is hard, enough a lot of businesses fail. While they aren’t wrong. The more people I knew in the business world and the longer I’ve been on it the more businesses I saw fell. I had high hopes for my studio I had a humble beginnings and I wanted to have humble ends. I wasn’t there to make famous musicians, but guess someone with dreams are pursuing music an opportunity to do so from the comfort of the neighbourhood.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t end up on the stages of Wembley. Being able to play with local musicians around you and other people who have similar interest, for most people, that’s enough.

I’ve been very grateful to my Customers that I’ve made this journey so will Waddingham so enjoyable. I work with some amazing musician so far. Sam has started from the very beginning were some more experience having toad ready. But all of it has been a journey for learning both for myself and for them.

Anyone who is interested in recording in rehearsing and practising for any upcoming albums feel free to drop by the studio any time. We even have teachers here who can help you and composers and other record label artist who can collaborate with you on projects that might interest you as well.

Our philosophy here is that it’s not just getting a result of your music that matters is enjoying the journey of how you create and produce I’m coaching music as well.

Here is a video on how to build a recording studio of your own for those of you who don’t live near me. But still want to do your own recording in your space.

…
admin Guitar Lessons 0 1 min read
March 24, 2021

Pat Metheny Changed my Approach to Guitar Playing Part 2

Hope you enjoyed part 1! Where I started to learn the jazz version of ‘Our Spanish Love Song’ performed by Pat Metheny and Charlie Hadden. And how through this experience, my guitar playing & approach really changed.

This is when I stumbled across this Metheny tune and the problems I faced when trying to learn it.

I was so used to playing power chords and simple progressions that my fingers were not used to these extended chords in the song. I must have spent about 2 weeks just trying to get a smooth transition between the first three chords, which were an Fm7, Gm7b5, resolving with a C7. This was my first time experimenting with barre chords which really emphasises the struggles I was going through with this song.

After a gruelling 2 weeks though, I managed to get the transition between these changes sounding relatively smooth.

When I got to the solo section of the song, I was in a state of total disbelief and awe of Metheny’s playing. His phrasing and understanding of the fretboard was something I have never seen in a guitarist and I just had to figure out what he was doing. After a bit of research and watching a few tutorial videos, I came to the realisation that he was using a combination of arpeggios, modal ideas, chromatic lines, whole-tone runs; amongst many other things I hadn’t heard of at the time.

The vocabulary of jazz guitar playing is so unique to each player that it can never be perfect. This is what I loved about listening to Metheny for the first time and why I still love listening to jazz. The intricacies involved can provide you with a constant urge to keep learning.
By stumbling across this one song, I was opened up to the many possibilities available on the guitar. No more was I stuck jamming along to classic rock songs, or recycling blues licks in the pentatonic scale. I have now been playing jazz since 2014 and the significance of it all dates back to expanding my horizons and learning something that was unfamiliar to me. Had I not Listened to Pat Metheny (and other jazz guitarists since), there is no way I would be as good a guitar player as I am today.

In the future, I will definitely try to draw from different genres and inspirations to help me become more competent and also an open minded guitar player.

Other genres that I would love to get better are like fingerpicking songs, like Tommy Emmanuel and even more pop genres like John Meyer.

Here is another Pat Metheny song for you to enjoy.

https://youtu.be/qx0uvCBu7TU

…

admin Guitar Lessons 0 1 min read
March 16, 2021

Pat Metheny Changed my Approach to Guitar Playing Part 1

As a guitarist from a blues and rock background who relied heavily on the pentatonic minor scale, I was really stepping out of my comfort zone when I first discovered jazz guitar.

The song that first sparked my interest in jazz was a version of ‘Our Spanish Love Song’ performed by Pat Metheny and Charlie Hadden, and I was blown away by Metheny’s approach to the fretboard. This tune is not too complex and fairly easy to listen to compared to other jazz tunes, and this is what dragged my narrow mind into this genre of creativity and expression. 

The simple yet dissonant melody captivated me, and I instantly set myself the goal of trying to learn it. I had been playing guitar for nearly 4 years at this point so learning the melody was not too difficult, however I experienced some problems when trying to figure out the accompanying chords which set the foundation for this hook. 

In my first 4 years of playing, I was only learning the songs that I enjoyed at the time and would very rarely experiment with new music.

This would include mainly classic rock songs, a few metal riffs and all the blues licks I managed to stumble across. This was fine and I was having a good time with my practice, but if I wanted to become a more well-rounded guitar player I knew I would have to venture into other musical avenues. 

Being able to play different genres for me, meant I was going to feel much more competent as a guitarist.

And with dreams and hopes of becoming of a professional musician, I felt that being able to play at least some jazz will be very useful. As it’s sampled and come up in many pieces of music.

Jazz is very different to other genres of music, and for many guitar players. They consider it to be a much more difficult challenge.

That’s why I wanted to try to play this song. But on top of that, I wanted to actually understand the music and what it meant for me.

Instead of just coping the music as it says on the page. Even though that was difficult enough. There’s a lot of tricky fingering in jazz. and some of the chords and their names are just bizarre.

Anyways it was a great challenge and a lot of fun. If you would like to hear more about it, then read my part 2!

…

admin Guitar Lessons 0 1 min read
March 8, 2021

Learning with a guitar teacher vs learning online Part 2

We worked on fixing this problem I had with timing by playing with a metronome and playing the part together.

This wasn’t the first time playing the riff with another guitarist, however it was the first time playing it with another guitarist who can communicate back to me.

I had played it along with instructional videos, but the problem with that is that they can’t hear what you are doing so can’t offer guidance on how to improve.

This is a massive part of the learning process since your own ears can be deceiving, giving yourself a false sense of what sounds right particularly at the early stages of developing your craft.

That’s why it’s so useful to have a teacher in front of you, guiding you along the way. And being able to change the rhythm for you almost instantly so that you are giving a chance to have a break, or slow down, or speed up as well.

Or change the key so it’s more comfortable for you to get into the groove of your playing.

After my first session, I left with a huge amount of confidence and drive going forward, and I managed to play the riff accurately for the first time.

He was able to point out my mistakes and offered advice that I would continue to use even after playing for nearly 12 years now.

Playing with someone else and having them give feedback on your progress is a huge motivational boost and will undoubtedly make you a better player.

I had him as my teacher for 2 years and eventually went on to music academy where I was trained by professional musicians for 3 years.

I would not be the same musician that I am today without those initial guitar lessons, and I would have continued playing the same mistakes over and over until I convinced myself that it was right.

I am forever thankful to my parents for paying for those lessons and will urge any beginner to use a guitar teacher.…

admin Guitar Lessons 0 1 min read
March 1, 2021

Learning with a guitar teacher vs learning online Part 1

Learning with a Teacher vs Learning Online

There is often quite a lot of debate when it comes to the question “should go to a guitar teacher or learn using online sources?”. To answer this, I will have to go back 12 years to when I first started to learn guitar. I have used online videos and tablature to improve my guitar playing, and still do to this very day.

However, I went to a guitar teacher after around 2 years of trying to figure things out on my own, and what an eye-opening experience it was. I was 14 years of age and my teacher was an incredibly good rock guitarist, and an even better critique of my inaccurate and out of time playing.

I was learning the song ‘Black Night’ by Deep Purple, watching instructional videos and attempting to read tablature for the first time, and thought it was sounding pretty good. I excitedly went to a teacher after learning it, and as it turns out, I was wrong.

I started playing it, and only a couple of notes in he told me to stop. I was thinking “oh man, this is gonna be a long session”. Instead it turned out to be the best first guitar lesson I could have asked for, propelling me to push myself further and exceed my own expectations.

My guitar was out of tune, which was why he stopped me in the first instance. I was able to correct this and continue with the song. He stopped me for a second time after playing the opening riff once through only to tell me that my timing was off.

This was something that my untrained ear would not have noticed had I carried on without a teacher.

Incidentally, this was a huge turning point in my short playing experience as he was able to point out this imperfection in my playing and offer a way of negating it. 

From that moment on I realised my guitar learning journey was about to be very different with a guitar teacher rather than facing this journey on my own. …

admin Guitar Lessons 0 1 min read
February 19, 2021

Top Things You Should Know Before Starting To Learn How To Play Guitar

It looks cool when you see someone with a guitar-playing their favorite song. If you have never played guitar before, you wish you could be the person holding the guitar and magically making the music. But you already know if you want to be that person you should at least get guitar lessons. 

If you have thought of this, then you’re ready for guitar lessons. But is that everything you need to know or think of? I dare say no. You should put some basic things into considerations before you could decide to start to do any lessons on guitar. 

This article will share the top things you should know about learning guitar. 

  • Quitting Is The Number One Reason Why Most People Fail To Learn guitar 

You must have seen a talented guitarist out there. If you’re like most people, you’ll think they were born playing guitar. Because they play it naturally with a lot of ease. And watching them, you might think you can’t get to those levels. 

But the truth is no one is talented—they are only enthusiastic and dedicated to learn and keep on perfecting the skill. I understand that some people have higher learning abilities. But the truth is most of the best guitarist they are dedicated. There is no other magic. 

And people who blame talent end up quitting guitar lessons. And that’s why they fail. Not because they are not talented. But because they quit learning. 

  • Persistence Beats Talent 

It doesn’t matter how talented you’re if you don’t put the extra work into your guitar lessons. After you have learned anything, the most critical thing to do is practice. From the first day, you pick a guitar, you need to put more hours into the practice. 

After you have learned a trick, a lesson, or a technique, the only way you become an expert guitarist is if you persist with your practice. 

So, even before you begin learning guitar, you should be prepared to put in the effort to learn and be the best at it. 

  • Patience Is The Currency of Learning Guitar 

The number one mistake that most people make is to pick a guitar and expect to play like a professional after their first lesson. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen when you’re learning guitar. It takes time to learn and master the skill. 

Your fingers must get used to holding the guitar. At first, you’ll play wrong chords, your hand will move slowly, and almost all the time, you’ll miss the rhythm and beat. But this doesn’t mean you’re a bad player or you can’t learn to play. 

All you need is patience. You need to be patient with yourself. This is the only way you will persist with the lessons. 

Parting Shot 

If you have a passion for playing guitar, nothing should hold you back. Buy your own guitar and start learning. 

…
admin Guitar Lessons 0 2 min read

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