DISQUS

I trust you'll note that I've had you on my blog roll for a while now. I think you've been there ever since you added me to one of your On-The-Sides.

I also greatly appreciate you selecting my site as your first Pick of the Week. That was quite an honor. :-)

Anyway, I just wanted to drop by and Thank you for the links that you provide and I hope you find what I do to be a fair reciprocal.

Regards,
Frank

Very good post. I actually wanted to do a piece on power chords my self as I just went over them with my instructor. Though, after the intro I can probably just point people to this post. :-)

I do want to ask if you have any tips on learning chords in general. I've been struggle with certain chords. Barred chords mostly but also regular chords. Take the C Major chord. I know how to play it but for some reason I can't always "get there" quick enough.

If you have any advice or tips to share, I'd appreciate it.

Regards,
Frank
UnderstandingGuitar.org

Whats wrong with Bass? :-)

Think if a beginner gets his/her hands on one of these guitars it would actual hurt their learning? I kind of think it would.

Although, why a beginner might buy such an expensive guitar is beyond me, but I wouldn't put it past people...

Anyway, that is my random comment for the day. :-)

Wonderful post -- I actually can relate, but I want to introduce another aspect to this…

I spent some time with a guitar teacher, and what I learned from him was invaluable.

The problem that I had was eventually the teaching wasn't good enough. I worked with him for about 3 or 4 months. I didn’t like how he was trying to teach and I think it ultimately got in the way… I've actually tried two teachers. The first teacher I couldn’t work with at all – I had one lesson, and that was it. The second teacher is the one I worked with for a few months.

So, another question I'd like to pose is how does one find a quality guitar teacher in an environment like this (with those previously mentioned shops)?

Everyone has had the teacher in school (not music, I mean high school or college) where they felt like that teacher was really, really good at teaching, you could just connect with him or her. Those "good" teachers were like 1 in 25 or something.

That is what I need in a guitar teacher. A teacher that is really good and really passionate about teaching. I'm in the chicagoland area; there are a ton of teachers but I don't know how to evaluate their ability to teach and I hesitate to start with another one…

I was hoping to find one of those shops that you’ve mentioned in the post because I figured professional full time guitar teachers would be better at it then those moonlighting as guitar teachers. There is nothing wrong with teaching on the side – I just think one who spends full time teaching will be more invested in teaching…

Both of the previous teachers I’ve tried did it "on the side."

I'd actually generalize that a little more... Some go blind when it comes to [fill in the blank with anything]...

In a lot of ways, it is an interesting aspect of human psychology...

Regards,
Frank

An embarrassing 20/100 for me... Didn't even know some of those bands/musicians...

At least I tried though!

An additional thought -- really, there is no reason you couldn't continue your day job and try to push forward with a music career...

I know that a schedule like this would limit how much you could commit to recording and such, but I do believe it has been done before.

Good luck!

Regards,
Frank

How much do you enjoy your job (actually industry) now? Answer that (you don't even need to post the answer) and you have your answer...

Regards,
Frank

I, for one completely agree with you, Ovidiu.

I know I'll never be a professional... And I'm OK with that, but I enjoy my learning of music and guitar as well as sharing my learning...

Regards,
Frank

I agree with miu.

It is all relative... And I think this "relative" theory applies to more than just the art of music. (I also wonder how many people forget that music is an art form!) It applies to any art form out there, from paintings to sculptures, and even things like software design.

Everyone will have have their different opinions, and while some opinions will be more generally accepted, I think all opinions are valid.

Good music will come in many forms -- you may just not want to listen to it. :-)

I didn't mean what I wrote to infer your post had a negative slant... I was just sharing my opinion on the topic.

:-)

My Opinion: We all tend to follow each others' blogs and become inspired by them...

I, for one, follow both your blog and IG Blog (among others). Plus, I publish my own blog (which is How I originally found your blog): www.UnderstandingGuitar.org

And indeed, sometimes my content is in part derived from content I see elsewhere.

Some times reading other blogs helps when writers' block strikes and other times it results in my analyzing the topic which results in a blog post.

And now, I'm going to have to go and check out those other blogs. Thanks! :-)

Ovidiu,

I could not agree more with this post. I'm not nearly as experienced at Guitar as you are and I'm glad to see you (someone with your experience level) write about this.

A while back (months for me, not years) when I picked up Guitar, I wanted to learn how to play. I wanted to be able to jam with friends or be able to relax and strum a soft tune. The Guitar, however was not my first attempt as a musical instrument and that last attempt was not pretty which left me very hesitant to invest in learning to play.

At some point, my wife convinced me to just start learning, just like you are describing here. She was right. It wasn't easy at first and at times it was just plain frustrating, but I know that I'm getting better. At first, playing was almost awkward, and now it is comfortable. I can almost feel myself getting over the learning curve and dang, is it rewarding!

Thank you! I look forward to future posts from you.