Hello and Welcome!
Music is a singular art form that offers one a universal language to communicate thoughts and emotions in the purest sense. While the interpretation of music follows an inherent intelligence we all share, the ability to articulate musical ideas requires some structure and skill one can acquire through a little practice and study!
Having studied and played for over twenty years, I have had time to identify the common hurdles that fustrate progress. Over the course of our lessons we will focus on two things: theory and mechanics.
Theory introduces the rules that are used to describe music. Self-taught musicians might overlook its importance, however a firm, working, understanding of basic music theory helps players organize thier ideas better, which makes things like sitting-in with a new group, writing original compositions, or just simply practicing in the woodshed much easier. Over the course of our lessons, I will help you understand how to read music, what is meant by tempo, time signature, keys, the anatomy of a scale, and chords. We will also analyze songs to break them into their constiuent parts so we can have more fun playing them.
Mechanics will involve simple exercises to gain more comfort holding the instrument, commanding a confident fingering hand, and expressing the rythymic qualities of the guitar with the strumming hand. The best way to acquire competency is by starting slow and gradually increasing speed - even when one is fast, one can still benefit from SLOW deliberate exercises. A metronome is of great use to these ends! Dexterity is a great gift from guitar training and while it may seem your hands are doing separate things, the process of coordination will strengthen.