Tag: Music Lessons

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Guitar Lessons Guitar Lessons Online

How Long Does it REALLY Take to Learn to Play the Acoustic Guitar? (With real life examples from actual guitar players)

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A question that I get every so often from students is: How long does it take to learn the guitar… or more specifically, how long does it take to learn the acoustic guitar?

Or even MORE specifically:  How long will it take before I become a famous rockstar in the style of John Mayer or Taylor Swift?

All of these are great questions… and they all have a very disappointing answer: “It depends…”

(Before we move on, if you’re interested in teaching yourself how to play the guitar you should check out this article)

So, in an effort to provide good information (so I don’t waste your time), I’ll try to answer this more precisely.  And, like I said above….

Continue reading “How Long Does it REALLY Take to Learn to Play the Acoustic Guitar? (With real life examples from actual guitar players)”
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Guitar Lessons Guitar Lessons Online

The Hardest Song I’ve Ever Learned on the Guitar

A few months ago, I casually asked my brother Matt what song I should learn on the guitar.

As a guitar teacher, I am usually focused on learning how to play (and subsequently teach) songs for the benefit of my students (which – of course –  I love).

However, as a guitar teacher I don’t often take time to learn songs that I want to learn.

So I asked Matt what I should learn… he said: “The Sultans of Swing” by Dire Straits.

If you don’t know the song check it out.

If you don’t know the super fast solo, wait until the end of the song and you will see.

I knew the song.

And I knew it was going to be hard as shit.

That little solo at the end was what I feared.  Little did I know that this simple request would turn into a 5 month journey.

So, I’ve decided to share the process with you.  I wish I documented it more thoroughly.  Maybe for future songs I’ll keep better records.

So buckle up, here’s how it went.

Continue reading “The Hardest Song I’ve Ever Learned on the Guitar”
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Guitar Lessons Guitar Lessons Online

Best Practice Advice Comes From A Jogging Monkey…

So I’ve just binged both seasons of Bojack Horseman on Netflix.  It’s pretty good (not for kids)!

Anyway, the above clip is from the last episode of Season 2.

And the advice from the jogging monkey is perfect for guitar practice (or for anything really).

Play a little each day…. but play every day.

I could talk about things like keeping your guitar out in the open, or deliberate practice.

I’ve written about them on my e-mail list and posted articles about them.

But really.

Just listen to the jogging monkey.

(Jake Posko does in-home guitar lessons in the Annapolis, Maryland area including: Annapolis, Edgewater, Severna Park, Pasadena, Crownsville, Arnold and Kent Island, inquire about lessons by e-mailing him atjake@jakeposko.com).

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Guitar Lessons Guitar Lessons Online

Why I Love Teaching Guitar Lessons in Annapolis..

ego alley guitar lessons
An awesome place to learn the guitar…
I’ve been teaching guitar for a few years.  For those who don’t know, I teach lessons in the homes of my students.

This means that I travel around the Annapolis and Anne Arundel county area….

 

a lot.

 

I know the roads really well and I can time my arrival to my students’ homes within minutes (barring any crazy traffic).

 

I know when to take Ritchie and when to take 97, or even sneak up General’s highway.

 

I know when to take the the Severn River bridge (50) or when to take the Old/New Severn River bridge by the Naval Academy.

 

And even with all this crazy travel and traffic…. I still love teaching lessons in Annapolis..  Here’s why…..
Continue reading “Why I Love Teaching Guitar Lessons in Annapolis..”
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Guitar Lessons Guitar Lessons Online

The Weirdest Guitar Lessons I’ve Had… Pet Edition…..

Annapolis Guitar Lessons
Cozy Guitar Lesson…

I’ve been teaching lessons for a few years.

For those of you who don’t know, I do guitar lessons in the homes of my students.

I’ve always done it this way, and absolutely love it.

Something I started to notice shortly after I began teaching…. everyone had pets.

Mostly dogs, a few cats, some fish, and some other (more unusual animals).

Maybe it’s the area that I teach (Annapolis, Maryland is definitely a town that loves its dogs).

And since I do in-home guitar lessons, the dogs and cats generally like to inspect me and my guitar case.

To be fair it probably has the scents and smells of all of the other houses I visit (the guitar case… not me).

Since I typically write about guitar tips and tricks, I thought it may be fun to mix things up a bit and share with you some of the more unusual, pet-related-things I’ve witnessed during my guitar lessons

(warning… some of this stuff may be gross.. but still funny… read on at your own risk)

Here we go….

Continue reading “The Weirdest Guitar Lessons I’ve Had… Pet Edition…..”
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Guitar Lessons Guitar Lessons Online

Is This Your Chance to Be (a little) Famous….

SRG Guitar hatlogo

Hope the new year is treating you well and you’re sticking to all of your resolutions.

I gotta give a shout out to everyone who has been commenting/asking questions on my site.  It’s been super helpful to get feedback and your points of view.

So…

Now it’s your turn to show off all of your sweet guitar skills….

If you want me to feature YOU on the site (through an interview, video, or just share some audio of what you’re learning), shoot me an e-mail and let me know.  

I don’t care if you suck, or if you are a guitar master.  I want to hear (AND SHARE) your story with all of our readers/viewers.  

Trust me… it is so helpful and motivating to hear about the progress from other people.

So e-mail me at jake@jakeposko.com  (and maybe you’ll get kinda famous)!  🙂

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The Top Guitar Posts of 2014!!!

sparkler
Happy New Year My Friends…

 

Oh man I love lists.  And this time of year we get a ton of the “Best of 2014” lists.  So before we say goodbye to 2014, here is my stab at the best of Severn River Guitar.

These are the most popular blog posts of 2014….

The Guitar Hurts My Fingers!

My fingers still ache if I’m learning a particularly challenging piece.   I know that my newer students feel the pain.  This post covers everything you need to know to help ease the pain of learning.

What is the Youngest Age to Play The Guitar?

Huh.  This one surprised me.  I guess a lot of parents are interested in getting their kids starting on the guitar (or their kids are bugging them for guitar lessons).  Check out this post if you’re curious about my thoughts on the matter – I’d love to hear what you think as well?  How young is too young for guitar playing?

How Much Do Guitar Lessons Cost?

I’ve caught a little bit of heat for this.  For some reason, a lot of music teachers (or any professions for that matter) don’t like to publish their prices.  As of the time of this writing my lessons cost anywhere from $50 – $100.  Prices are always changing based on lesson time, package deals, format (online vs face-to-face), etc.  In this post I cover what typical lessons cost – and what you should expect from each price range.

 How Long Does it Take to Learn the Guitar?

Oh yeah… the mother of all of my blog posts.  This article consistently brings visitors to my website (maybe you’ve already read it).  I’d love to get your take and thoughts (especially if you’ve already started playing).  I think I stand by my original thoughts, but I’d like to hear what you have to say.

That’s it!  I hope you had an awesome 2014 and I wish you a Happy New Year and all the best in 2015!

(Photo credit: Jess Feldon)

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Guitar Lessons

Why We Play Music (Check out George Ezra)

It’s easy to get caught up in the technical aspects of playing music.  We frequently focus on learning to play faster, more accurate, more difficult chords, more complicated styles and genres.  While  it’s good (no great) to push ourselves, sometimes we need a reminder of why we play music in the first place.

I had a student recently request a bunch of songs by George Ezra (who I hadn’t previously heard of).   When students request new songs by new artists I sometimes get nervous (will I be able to learn these songs fast enough to teach them?  are these songs too difficult for a beginner?  Are there even guitar parts in these songs?).  After listening to a few of the George Ezra songs I quickly realized:

1.  I had nothing to worry about.

2. I’m so glad that my student told me about this artist.

3. I remembered the fun and excitement of discovering (and learning) new music.

That’s it!  Check out the video above (and any other George Ezra stuff).

 

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Guitar Lessons

The Most Awesome Guitar Jam Session in the Universe…

 

James
James… Rocking out with “Home on the Range”

On June 6th 2013, Severn River Guitar had their first official Jam Session/Recital.  It was a great experience and a wonderful opportunity for students to showcase their talents and support each other.

Since I focus on teaching lessons in the homes of my students, we don’t have that many opportunities to meet each other.  It was so cool to see everyone come together and support each other.

Below are some of the photos from the event (you can check out more at our facebook page).

 

Darby Getting Ready
Darby… Getting ready for her set.

Keagan
Keagan and me. About to perform “Hallelujah”

Indian Creek Kids
Amelia, Parker, and Caroline (all from Indian Creek!) getting ready for their set.

Indian Creek Kids performing
The Indian Creek Girls getting ready to perform Taylor Swift’s “Fearless”

 

 

Cameron getting ready
Cameron getting set up to perform his original song, “Wonderland Fanatic”

Audience
Checking in with James before his set

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Guitar Lessons Guitar Teacher Resources

Why Anna Kendrick is Responsible for Keeping Me In Business…

If you haven’t seen the movie Pitch Perfect (see above photo), or heard the song Cups, check out this link.  At about a minute into the video Anna Kendrick does this fancy little percussive/drumming thing with a cup – that is evidently so addictive among girls aged 5-10 it’s almost an epidemic.  Hence, this tweet from Anna’s twitter a few months ago…

Continue reading “Why Anna Kendrick is Responsible for Keeping Me In Business…”