By: Mike Deiure
As a person who teaches guitar for a living, I get the opportunity to work with hundreds of people who all have a very diverse taste in music. While I do get asked to teach some pretty interesting styles of music from time to time, there is one genre that always stands out above the rest as being the most popular and sought after and that is Rock Music.
Fortunate for all those who want to learn how to rock on guitar, this is in my opinion the easiest style to get under your fingers. The biggest reason is because of the very few chords and chords shapes that you need to know how to play to get through a standard rock song. If you’ve never played guitar before, there are hundreds of different chord types and shapes. More elaborate styles of music such as Jazz and Classical will make the most use of these different chords. Rock, however uses only ONE main chord type and shape to sculpt out it’s sound and that is the almighty Power Chord. Now there are certainly more than just power chords in a standard rock song but even then, you are only going to be using a select few Open Chords shapes. These are usually taught first to students and are quite easy for most people to learn. Read the rest of this entry
By: Mike Deiure
This is certainly one of the most common questions that I hear from people who are interested in learning to play the guitar. My answer to this is simple but I will go into detail so that you can make a well-informed decision when it comes time to pick up your first axe.
So the quick and easy answer is……. “Buy a guitar that is going to make you want to Play and Practice!” This sounds simple enough and to be honest, it is as easy as it sounds. Now let me elaborate on this idea and give you some more information. Read the rest of this entry
The Top 10 Reasons Why Students Quit Taking Guitar Lessons
By: Mike Deiure
1. They are not focusing on playing the kind of music they want to If you want to learn how to play Rock music and your teacher is pushing you to learn classical guitar, then chances are, you are not going to want to play at all. Always tell your instructor what you want to learn so that they can keep things fun and interesting. There is always a certain amount of basic technique and skill that needs to be developed, but you can do this while still learning the style of music that interests you the most.
2. The student has a bad teacher Being inspired and excited to learn guitar is what makes people stick with it and strive to get better. A good teacher will know how to keep a student interested and progressing, a bad teacher will twiddle their thumbs while the student tries to figure out what’s going on.
3. They get frustrated
Any time a person learns a new skill, there is always a certain amount of frustration and second-guessing. A good teacher will know how to get a student to overcome these frustrations and turn them into accomplishments.
4. The student does not play or interact with other guitarists.
It can be intimidating when your first learning, but playing and jamming with other musicians will help you get better timing and make you feel more confident that you know what your doing. It’s also a lot of fun! Even if you can’t find another person to practice with, you should still be playing along with recordings and practicing to a drum machine or metronome.
5. Lack of motivation Read the rest of this entry
