More info
When you decide to work with me, here’s what you will get:
We all get around the guitar in our own way and learn and recall the information differently. One way or the other though, you have to deal with 3 types of information: melody, rhythm and harmony.
The only other ingredient is what you feel in your guts. Call it spirit, drive, feel or whatever.
I CALL IT THE ZONE AND WE WORK ON TECHNIQUES THAT GET YOU ACCESS TO IT.
It comes and goes in intensity for everyone and is probably the main motivator for bothering to learn the other 3 ingredients!
Maybe it’s a bit like happiness – it can’t really be taught directly but you can be shown the way and recognize it when it alights on you!
You play the way you do right now and that is what we need to build on. Being efficient with practice, fingering, body awareness, focus etc. is a great way forward. Everyone is going to achieve this in slightly different ways. I help you to find a way that will work for you.
TENSION IS THE ENEMY OF GETTING IN THE ZONE!
How to relax is a huge topic that has inspired many volumes of work by dedicated practitioners, but I have a lot of experience with yoga and chi-gong so can help you with holding, standing or sitting with the guitar and how to keep aware of tensions that can easily build up. Most things are tricky initially, even when simple so I help you bring mindfulness into your practice, so you don’t go forward with all that unconscious tension.
To KEEP moving forward, it really helps to have some overview of what you are learning. Whichever way you slice it, you are playing chords and scales even if you don’t know what they are, so it is important to see how they connect. That way you have an access to transferring information to different positions and different songs.
THAT WAY YOU BECOME YOUR OWN TEACHER
It is vita to play music that you love, but the core level information is the same whatever style you play. If you like blues, for instance, you have to have some of the clichés and riffs that make up the style to sound effective. If you see how these fit in to the bigger picture, you can transfer the information and stay motivated.
Sound and groove (be it rock, funk, country or whatever) are the kings of the musical skill set in my world, so I use a lot of techniques to work on getting a good noise from the strings and helping you become really aware rhythmically. Experience has taught me that a simple thing played well is what most people respond best to!
I have worked a lot with songwriters and done a lot of producing, so for some of my students I focus on getting the best possible guitar arrangement for songs and maximizing performance skills.