My last post about how much guitar lessons cost has proven to be pretty popular… So I thought I should do a follow-up with a little more detail (for all of you informed consumers).
Last time we gave an overview based on certain criteria (e.g. lesson length, in-studio vs in-home). This time we’ll try to break it down by, “what you get for the money”…
What chords should you learn first on the guitar? Good question.
Answer: G, D, Em, and C
Learn those four chords in that order and you can play a million different songs (see video above for proof**)
Switch up the order of the chords or take one or two out… now you can play a billion different songs.
To make the quickest and most effective progress, start with those four chords.
You can learn to play them here, here, or here.
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.
School is winding down. It’s getting nice outside.
You know what that means…SUMMER VACATION BABY!!! Oh yeah.
But not for grown ups.
That means the kids are home for the next 3 months. Naturally, you’ll sign them up for summer camps, swimming lessons, swim teams, camping activities, vacations, etc. There’s no shortage of stuff to do. The weather is nice and it’s great to spend as much time outside as possible.
But… what about those rainy days when the kids are all stuck inside?
But… what about when the humidity hits 100% and even the pool doesn’t provide respite?
But… what about when those summer storms strike and the power is knocked out for 24 hours with no TV, no phone, no video games, NO INTERNET!!???!?
Obviously…
Evidently I’m late to the whole Narwals are Jedi’s of the sea party.
That’s ok I guess.
This week, one of my students asked that I teach him the song from the above video. How AWESOME is that??!? It should be pretty easy to learn on the guitar (we’ll stick with the chords first). I haven’t tried to tab it out, but when I do I’ll post it up on the site.
UPDATE: Check out the link for Narwhals chords. I chose the key of G – cause I think it’s easier.
I love my students.
It’s Friday. That means it’s time for a lazy guitar lesson.
First – in case you missed it, last week we talked about Django.
This week we talked about Why You Should Never Practice.
Today, you get another video… It’s The Band – Classic Albums
Ok….
“Don’t practice the guitar”
Period.
The words came out of my mouth during a lesson with a student a few weeks ago. I found myself repeating them to other students as well. At first, I’d get a quizzical look – like I’m luring the student into a trap.
Then, I’d explain myself…
Guitar cases… I own two. Both of them are gig bags (which are essentially soft/padded guitar cases made for gigging – or hauling your guitar to various gigs). They offer little protection – really just like a backpack for your guitar. I should also mention, that at any given time, I probably have about 4-6 guitars hanging around.
So why am I so against guitar cases?
First – the good thing about cases:
1. They protect your instrument. Hard cases especially.
2. If you get a humidifier – they can prolong your instrument’s life (and actually make it sound better).
There you go – two reasons. Now those are two BIG reasons. But there is another big reason that I hate cases…
…they make it so you NEVER PLAY and NEVER PRACTICE!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok. Well, they make it so **I** never play or practice.
The thing is… when I lock my guitar in a case (or zip it up in a gig back) I tend to forget about it (which is seriously bad since I have a guitar lesson blog and am a guitar teacher). Having a guitar in a case gives me one more step in the practicing process (which, since I am extremely lazy, is kind of a big deal). I have to make it so practicing is as easy and convenient as possible.
Cases DO NOT EQUAL Convenience.
So really – it’s about weighing what is important to you. If you have a really really expensive/nice guitar – yeah, you probably want to stow that bad boy in humidity controlled area in a nice hard cases. If you have a cheap(er) guitar, maybe leaving it out on the guitar stand in the living room isn’t such a bad idea.
Those are my thoughts – feel free to correct me if I’m wrong – in the comments below.
(Note: the guitar case pictured above looks so sweet. Mostly because of the leather, and the pockets. I like having a lot of pockets for stuff. I don’t personally have this case, because I don’t personally have $900 to spend on a guitar case).
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.
Should I learn to play the acoustic guitar or electric guitar? Which is better for a child to learn? Which is easier to learn – acoustic or electric? Where can I buy a good child sized guitar?
We get these questions fairly frequently. They’re good questions… with annoying answers…
Ok. Obviously, you should choose an instrument that suits your son or daughter’s style. For example: If your child wants to play heavy metal, a nylon stringed-classical-instrument probably isn’t the way to go… or is it?
No. Probably not.
So – all musical tastes aside – let’s break this down…
Can I learn to play the guitar by playing Rock Band or Guitar Hero?
No.
Ok.
No.
However…
