March 2021 - Guitar Learning

Why you should learn music theory for guitar.

March 26, 2021March 13, 2021adminLeave a comment

Why is it important to learn music theory for guitar.

A lot of guitarists get by with just understanding what shapes they need to play on the fretboard and learning to play songs that way.

And while you can do that.

Once you understand at least a basic understanding of music theory, you can make playing the guitar, a lot more fun.

Songwriting on the guitar

For example, if you ever want to create your own songs. Once you know what the chords are that you’re playing. It’s a lot easier for you to start playing around with those chords and creating your own music.

Music as a language

The other side of music theory is that music is a language. Part of that language is understanding the alphabet of language, these are what we call notes. Once you know the notes on your fretboard and on the guitar. Then it’ll make it a lot easier for you to start building the foundation of understanding how music works, which means then you’ll be able to communicate with others.

When you’re playing the guitar and being able to song right and understand what you’re actually playing. Understanding music theory means you get a lot more fulfilment when it comes to learning the guitar.

Rather than feeling like a copy cat and just following tutorials on YouTube.

Jamming with other people

It’s also important if you ever want to jam and play with other people as well. The more you understand music, the easier it is to communicate with others. And be able to jam with them.

I think it’s very easy to feel like a fraud as a musician if you don’t know music theory. So it’s best to invest some time into understanding music. So that you can enjoy playing it even more.

I hope these thing shave given you some ideas on why it’s important to work on your music theory.

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What we can learn from baby is about learning the guitar

March 18, 2021March 11, 2021adminLeave a comment

Babies learn more in the first few years of their lives then we will ever learn for the rest of our lives. Besides a brain being on supercharge for learning what else can we learn from observing their behaviour that we can apply to learning the guitar?

How do babies learn?

When you observe a baby trying to learn how to crawl or to walk you find that they don’t practice the same thing every single day! You don’t see them practising trying to roll over every single day, they practice different skills. So one day it might be rolling over, the next day it might be grabbing the toys the next day after that it could be throwing their toys.

How does that relate to learning to play guitar?

Learning the guitar is the same we don’t practice the same school over and over again until achieved at one school before moving on to something else we learn skills simultaneously. And by practising different things on a rotation we give our brain space and time to absorb these new skills before picking them back up again and practising them again.

Variation and time between guitar practise sessions

Having variety and space between practising different skills that you’re working on will help your brain become more fission to learning these new skills. Weathers new skills understand your notes on the fretboard new chords strumming patterns. Anything at all. Try to keep your practising sessions varied! This will help them to be more fun and less repetitive as well so your practising will be more enjoyable.

You might even find that you get better skill a few days after taking a break from it because your brain subconsciously has been practising it for you when you sleep! That’s pretty cool hah! It’s the same with babies.

I hope this helps you to get head ahead, understanding how you can vary your guitar practice and give yourself the time and space so that you can actually learn guitar quicker without feeling like you are doing repetitive drills day in and day out. …

Taking a break from guitar

March 9, 2021March 11, 2021adminLeave a comment

Often people see pursuing a musical instrument to something you have to do day in day out relentlessly. Kind of like when you’re training to do a marathon. You keep going every day maybe you have a break or two once in awhile but otherwise you have to keep training. It’s time for us to realise that learning in life doesn’t quite happen that way. And learning isn’t a linear progression either. Often times from keep pushing something relentlessly we get stuck we get , dispassionate and we get burnt out.

Sometimes it’s good to take a break. For example remember that relationship when you really felt like a break do you good but you just kept going instead. And religious ended up going nowhere. And ending probably earlier than it would’ve done otherwise.

Feeling guilty

We don’t have to feel guilty about taking a little break from your guitar playing. You can always go back to it later could be a day to be weak. Sometimes a holiday is nice. It’s like when you really really passionate about your job. But still taking holiday once in awhile slice, and then you can come back and see your colleagues and feel happy about it. You know the saying that absence makes the heart grow Fonder. That’s the same with the guitar too.

How about some things you can do during your break to make things more exciting for when you get back to motivate you to to get back rather than this being a permanent break that you never get back to.

Listen to Music

For example listening to guitar music that you enjoy I may want to play on the guitar. Or you could be looking up YouTube videos of your favourite artists, musicians, guitarists.

Lookout for local communities and schools that might have jam sessions available for you to get back into. Maybe take the pressure off you know practising the guitar but actually just playing for fun for a little while. Rather than seeing us in pursuit of learning just enjoy the journey. That can be one way of you taking a break that’s still enjoyable and put a little less pressure on your mind.

There are many ways that we can learn and grow our skills.

Taking different music lessons

You could try taking some piano lessons and expanding your range. It might be interesting to see how music theory is learnt from a different perspective. Other things are very difficult are playing is taking some singing lessons. You might not realise it but actually being up to sing know knows that you’re playing and what you want to create out of your head onto the guitar. A skill that singers use all the time to create music. Can actually be very beneficial for your guitar playing. Another part of that is improving your ear as well, which singing lessons will do for you.

I hope this has given you some ideas on what to do if you thinking of taking a break from it all. Please don’t feel guilty about it you can always go back to it in a week a month few months. And you might actually get a refresh perspective after your little break.

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Learning the guitar as an adult beginner

March 1, 2021March 1, 2021adminLeave a comment

Before I started learning the guitar I actually played the piano. To quite a high level I completed my grade 7 by the time I was 17 and carried on from there is a hobby. Many of the great such as Eric Johnson actually play the piano before they learn the guitar. So I thought they get a whole would be relatively easy.

Learning the car has definitely been a challenge. I didn’t realise how much more coordination it would require for my hands to sync together with left and right. Even with years musicianship underneath me on the piano.

Fun in the guitar was definitely a new experience, because the left hand would be required to press down the frets while the right hand will be doing this drumming. And this was completely different to the piano where the left and right hand were doing independent things but the motion were pretty similar between the two.

I remember the first time I played the guitar and my fingers were so uncoordinated they could barely hold out the cord even the simplest cord of them or I think was a simple G chord with two fingers. The way that my wrist touch arch over the guitar neck was such a struggle, my wrist at her after mere 5 minutes.

This is why I have so much sympathy for adult beginners who are starting to learn the guitar. Many of which do not have any musicianship prior to learning the guitar. They’ve never played any instruments before or even think I thought about how the structure of a piece of music work or is composed. Not even knowing the basic language that is used to communicate music such as theory notes rhythm pitch any of that. Learning the guitar can seem like climbing Mount Everest as a complete beginner.

This is why it’s so important to have really amazing support around you when you’re trying to learn the guitar as an adult beginner. Many of your family members might not believe in you or think that you can do it but you can!

It will take longer and it will work I more effort many people think that if he started as a child it’s a lot easier. But remember that children were quite a lot more learning to understand the context of music for us as an adult you actually have a better foundation them.

But as a child, They have a lot less things to think about and they can really focus on learning and that’s what their brains are useful nearly 100% of the time learning where is it adults we have so many more responsibilities and things that distract us that trying to practice for 15 minutes a day can seem like a struggle. But you can do it it might just take a little bit longer but with the support of a really great guitar teacher you will be well on your way to starting to play your first song. And even your first jam with other people as well and that can be the greatest feeling of all.

It is possible to make a childhood dreams of becoming a rockstar true it just requires patience and perseverance and persistence and a little bit of practice every now and then.

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