The problem with notation: Some thoughts on notation, feel, and the mailability of transcription: Notation is not perfect. I’ll say it again. Notation is not perfect. If you have ever looked up a tab online to either double check what you’ve learned, or just to use it as your primary teaching source, you know…
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Minor 7th Chords: Is 16 ways to play the same chord enough? No haha. But it’s a good start. Here are 16 ways to play a G minor 7th chord for guitar. The voicings are setup so the lowest note can also be switched to the highest one, effectively giving you two ways to…
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Jurassic Park Theme – Tab for beginners – Great performance piece! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8zlUUrFK-M Jurassic Park Theme Here’s a short performance piece for a beginner guitar student. Great for kids that are into movies, dinosaurs, and guitar. This piece is constructed using single note lines, in 1st position, one note at a time, and would sound even…
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James Bond Theme: Here’s a link of the tune https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9FzgsF2T-s Another great example of an easy to play, and easy to recognize tune for beginners to sink their teeth into. While not the entire song, students will still get a kick out of learning it, especially using the low E string. Although the…
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Harry Potter Theme: Movie Themes make great examples for beginner students to start learning guitar. Students can get a big boost in their repertoire when the music is arranged for their specific needs. For example, a younger student has smaller hands. Their arrangement should not contain any huge leaps or position changes. The attached is…
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Are you getting the most out of your current lessons? Some thoughts on your current lessons/teacher: Not all teachers are the same, just as the objectives of each individual student are not the same. I’d like to talk about some of the things WE do, that perhaps other schools do not. I usually ask these…
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Moving away from first position chords: Eventually, after some time has passed with learning the guitar, barre chords and alternative chord voicings are brought into the mix. These serve their purpose either as abstract exercises, a transcription from a song, a compositional tool, or other ways. Now the question I’ve heard from students before is…do…
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The Scales you need to know: Do you really need to know your scales? Well, yes! There are certainly players that have the mentality that “learning”, or “lessons” will inhibit their originality. There are quite a few other arguments as well, such as: I want my originality to not be governed by music theory…
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What is the Best Approach to Teaching Guitar to Children: This can mean many things to many people. The BEST thing for one student may not always be the best thing for the next one. Because the personalities of children and their reasons for learning guitar are so different and varied, so to must the…
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