If you want to play guitar or music or would like your child to play you need to consider your environment. Anyone can become a great musician given the right environment. Let us say you are an adult and you decide to take up guitar. You work 5 days a week, have an active social life along with a gym membership and a few other interests. You know you can spare 30 minutes a day to learn guitar so you book in your lessons but after a month you feel no real progress. Your motivation is waning and practice only seems to be happening on every 2nd or 3rd day. What is the problem here?
Design your environment
It would be easy to simply say you don't have time or the motivation but in a word the problem is your ENVIRONMENT. Your environment is not set up for learning guitar. Everything in your life is competing for your time and is actually demotivating you in your efforts to become an accomplished guitar player. Guitar practice quickly becomes a negative experience because you know you having pressing emails, phone messages, social commitments, work to be done and a gym membership that needs to be used. Your environment is literally working against you.
The solution
This is not easy but it is critical. Most successful people are the result of their environment whether they are aware of it or not. I recommend you read a book called 'BOUNCE' which explains the science behind this fact giving examples mostly in sport. If you truly want to succeed at guitar you need to set up your environment so your chances of success are high. When I was a teenager I did this firstly by surrounding myself with musical friends, committing to a band and later by becoming a guitar teacher. I still had other activities competing for my time but guitar was obviously a high priority and family and friends knew it was my profession so respected the fact that I needed to practice.
Its your environment that will make the biggest difference. If you are unmotivated or feel frustrated about your guitar progress than take a closer look at your environment. Consider how many of your friends share your passion, or try going to concerts more often, buying new music, taking lessons and so on.
Join us at G4 GUITAR FACEBOOK.
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Visit the G4GUITAR METHOD Website
www.g4guitar.com.au
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
3 and 4 chord songs
On guitar most songs can be arranged in easy to play keys using a handful of chords. This doesn't mean the song will sound exactly like the original but in most cases it will do the job. In music there are 12 keys which are all identical except for the pitch. In other words any song can be played in 12 different keys. E.g. If a song uses the chords C and G this could be considered the 1st and the 5th in the key of C. If you use the chords D (1st) and A (5th) it would sound the same except it would be in the key of D and slightly higher.
Bands like The Beatles, ACDC, Rolling Stones, U2, Metallica, The Eagles, The Police, Queen, Green Day, Bob Dylan, Oasis and many more wrote the majority of their songs using only 3 or 4 chords.
The following is a link explains the 3 chord song concept.
Here are some examples of 3 and 4 chord guitar songs in easy to play guitar keys.
Knockin on Heaven's door. G, D, Am and C.
Let it be. C, G, Am, F.
Time of your life. G, C, D, Em.
Johnny B Goode. A, D, E.
You shook me all night long. G, C, D.
Yellow. G, D, C, Em.
Sweet Home Alabama. D, C, G.
Stand by me. G, Em, C, D.
Every breath you take. G, Em, C, D.
Wonderwall. Em, G, D, Asus.
Purple Haze. Em, G, A.
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Bands like The Beatles, ACDC, Rolling Stones, U2, Metallica, The Eagles, The Police, Queen, Green Day, Bob Dylan, Oasis and many more wrote the majority of their songs using only 3 or 4 chords.
The following is a link explains the 3 chord song concept.
Here are some examples of 3 and 4 chord guitar songs in easy to play guitar keys.
Knockin on Heaven's door. G, D, Am and C.
Let it be. C, G, Am, F.
Time of your life. G, C, D, Em.
Johnny B Goode. A, D, E.
You shook me all night long. G, C, D.
Yellow. G, D, C, Em.
Sweet Home Alabama. D, C, G.
Stand by me. G, Em, C, D.
Every breath you take. G, Em, C, D.
Wonderwall. Em, G, D, Asus.
Purple Haze. Em, G, A.
You might also like the following blog:
Would You Like A Structured Method For Learning Guitar?
5 week Structured Beginner Guitar Course
G4 GUITAR METHOD
Friday, March 11, 2011
Were you born to be a guitarist?
Musical talent and genetics.
In recent years there have been some major breakthroughs in genetic science. As with many scientific advancements the media tends to latch on to 1% of the details while leaving out 99%. This in effect causes misunderstandings or exaggerated truths. Much of what we come to understand about the 1% can then lead us to draw false conclusions about the other 99%. One such conclusion it seems is the idea that our genes largely predetermine who we are and who we will become. In other words many people come to conclude that we are either born with musical talent or not. This is basically the 1%. Some people end up believing that if they or their child don't magically produce beautiful music in their first few weeks or months or even years their genetics are simply not programmed for musical talent. This of course results in a belief that even trying is simply a waste of time.
Environment matters
Many scientists now understand that the biggest factor in determining a certain behaviour is environment. It is actually quite obvious when you look around you. E.g. People who are born and raised in Italy are far more likely to speak Italian because of one simple factor. Their environment. In Australia there are many descendants from Italy who were born in Australia but cannot speak more than a few words of Italian even though their ancestry may date back over 1000 years in Italy. Dr. Robert Sapolsky Professor of Neurological Sciences at Stanford University uses an example of an experiment where a gene in mice that was found to be associated with learning and memory so when removed caused the mice to learn at a slower rate but when you put those mice into a more stimulating environment they completely overcame the deficit. Genes actually respond to the environment. Your genes may indeed respond better than others initially but this for most of us makes next to no difference if put in the right environment and over time. Lets be realistic here. In 2 million years of human evolution even those handful of people who come from a long line of musicians could only date back a few hundred years based on the musical scales we use today.
David Hart - Program Director
Join us at G4 GUITAR FACEBOOK.
http://bit.ly/G4FACEBOOK
Visit the G4GUITAR METHOD Website
www.g4guitar.com.au
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Advice on being a creative guitarist
In the book Flash foresight written by American futurist Daniel Burrus he advises that to succeed you should try looking in the opposite direction. When you look in the same direction as everyone else you see the same thing. Going in a different direction often leads to new discoveries and sometimes amazing breakthroughs. Google are a good example. They did something very different in regards to their approach to search engines. While most early rivals focused on trying to make money Google stuck to improving its search capabilities and it paid off. This idea resonated with me because I can see how we have applied this principal to some degree to learning guitar but you can also apply the idea to your own guitar playing. Here are some examples we have used at G4 GUITAR.
Networking
When I think of private guitar teachers or any music teacher for that matter I think of individuals teaching in a room with one student. Guitar teachers are isolated creatures that rarely come together to collaborate or share ideas. Going opposite meant collaboration and this is what G4 is doing differently. We even have a name. The G4 GUITAR NETWORK and we have teachers across Australia and even in Canada. Our teachers talk to each other, share ideas and resources. We have meetings to discuss issues about our challenges or to share our successes as well as bouncing ideas. Quite simply we have expanded our knowledge.
Structure
A structured method does not mean rigid. We want to give students a balance between the freedom to chose what they wish to play with some structure based on essential generic skills. Most teachers either operate with no method at all improvising from week to week or grab a standard guitar method off the shelf or if you are lucky the teacher has a library of resources they randomly pull out depending on your level or interest. At G4 we went opposite by creating our own method from the ground up and marrying it up with the official government music exams AMEB. The main difference with the G4 GUITAR METHOD is teachers are trained in how to apply it. When a teacher buys an off the shelf method the teacher receives no training and tends to interpret in their own way often leaving out sections. Most off the shelf methods are also 20 years or more old.
The future
Our next bold move will be to incorporate technology but not just for the sake of it. We will only introduce the technology that improves learning. Some teachers are going this way but overall teachers still operate like they did 50 years ago. The technology is here and many students have this technology at home (E.g. iPad) so get ready. The G4 GUITAR METHOD is designed so it can also be taught to students online and we have a STUDENT SITE (please email me for the password) that will give students easy access to all the tools they need. Our goal is go opposite by providing the traditional teacher with online technology.
Conclusion
Be creative by thinking differently and start by looking in the opposite direction. You may be surprised what you discover.
David Hart - Program Director
david@g4guitar.com.au
Join us at G4GUITAR FACEBOOK.
http://bit.ly/G4FACEBOOK
Visit the G4 GUITAR METHOD Website
www.g4guitar.com.au
Networking
When I think of private guitar teachers or any music teacher for that matter I think of individuals teaching in a room with one student. Guitar teachers are isolated creatures that rarely come together to collaborate or share ideas. Going opposite meant collaboration and this is what G4 is doing differently. We even have a name. The G4 GUITAR NETWORK and we have teachers across Australia and even in Canada. Our teachers talk to each other, share ideas and resources. We have meetings to discuss issues about our challenges or to share our successes as well as bouncing ideas. Quite simply we have expanded our knowledge.
Structure
A structured method does not mean rigid. We want to give students a balance between the freedom to chose what they wish to play with some structure based on essential generic skills. Most teachers either operate with no method at all improvising from week to week or grab a standard guitar method off the shelf or if you are lucky the teacher has a library of resources they randomly pull out depending on your level or interest. At G4 we went opposite by creating our own method from the ground up and marrying it up with the official government music exams AMEB. The main difference with the G4 GUITAR METHOD is teachers are trained in how to apply it. When a teacher buys an off the shelf method the teacher receives no training and tends to interpret in their own way often leaving out sections. Most off the shelf methods are also 20 years or more old.
The future
Our next bold move will be to incorporate technology but not just for the sake of it. We will only introduce the technology that improves learning. Some teachers are going this way but overall teachers still operate like they did 50 years ago. The technology is here and many students have this technology at home (E.g. iPad) so get ready. The G4 GUITAR METHOD is designed so it can also be taught to students online and we have a STUDENT SITE (please email me for the password) that will give students easy access to all the tools they need. Our goal is go opposite by providing the traditional teacher with online technology.
Conclusion
Be creative by thinking differently and start by looking in the opposite direction. You may be surprised what you discover.
David Hart - Program Director
david@g4guitar.com.au
Join us at G4GUITAR FACEBOOK.
http://bit.ly/G4FACEBOOK
Visit the G4 GUITAR METHOD Website
www.g4guitar.com.au
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Musicians wanted...
Want a career in music? Now is the time.
We all know the sound parental advice of get a steady job preferably with a reputable company doing routine work and you will do just fine. If you choose the arts you are probably headed for a life of poverty. Well I am happy to say that times are a changin' and changing fast. Now many of our most successful people are the artists. The arts have come of age and mostly due to the internet the creative artists are now in high demand.
Huge opportunity
This means a huge opportunity for the creative people such as musicians. Think of how many movies or TV shows use songs and how powerful they are at energizing an audience. To become any kind of creative artist was a huge risk in days gone by but today there is a huge growing demand and mostly due to the fact that the Internet has suddenly brought almost every business onto a visual and audio platform. The best news of all is its only just begun. You ain't seen nothing yet. I predict there may even be a shortage of creative artists in the next decade.
Creative work is in growing demand
Almost every business now has a website and every website is now able to add a backing track or a jingle to make the website more appealing. A little more than a decade ago only those companies with a radio or TV ad budget had any need for a jingle and there was only room for a handful of jingle writers. In recent years many musicians have found work in the gaming industry but this is nothing compared to whats coming.
Recording equipment costs have plummeted
Recording equipment was once well out of the budget of the average musician. For most musicians their only real hope was to get a record deal. In recent years with the speed of computers home recording is not only high quality but within the budget of almost anyone. What is available today was not even in my wildest dreams as a teenager. I can literally compose a whole album from start to finish with all the trimmings of a Beatles album for less than a few thousand dollars worth of recording equipment for what would have cost the Fab Four in today's money millions of dollars.
Free and easy distribution
What is probably the icing on the cake is the fact that music can now be easily distributed to anyone, anywhere. The cost and logistics of distributing one's music used to be a huge barrier for many artists. Even if you had the ability to write and record something worthy of an audience getting your music to your audience was difficult, expensive and highly risky. Not anymore. It's basically free.
Conclusion
I can confidently say that there has never been a better time to become a creative musician or any creative artist for that matter. You don't need a record deal anymore to succeed in music. Bands like Radiohead and The Eagles are just two examples of bands who no longer belong to record companies. If you want to write and play music for a living you just have to see the massive opportunity. Take the time to develop your musical skills and then begin writing music. When it develops into something of appeal go and sell it to the highest bidder. They will be waiting.
We all know the sound parental advice of get a steady job preferably with a reputable company doing routine work and you will do just fine. If you choose the arts you are probably headed for a life of poverty. Well I am happy to say that times are a changin' and changing fast. Now many of our most successful people are the artists. The arts have come of age and mostly due to the internet the creative artists are now in high demand.
Huge opportunity
This means a huge opportunity for the creative people such as musicians. Think of how many movies or TV shows use songs and how powerful they are at energizing an audience. To become any kind of creative artist was a huge risk in days gone by but today there is a huge growing demand and mostly due to the fact that the Internet has suddenly brought almost every business onto a visual and audio platform. The best news of all is its only just begun. You ain't seen nothing yet. I predict there may even be a shortage of creative artists in the next decade.
Creative work is in growing demand
Almost every business now has a website and every website is now able to add a backing track or a jingle to make the website more appealing. A little more than a decade ago only those companies with a radio or TV ad budget had any need for a jingle and there was only room for a handful of jingle writers. In recent years many musicians have found work in the gaming industry but this is nothing compared to whats coming.
Recording equipment costs have plummeted
Recording equipment was once well out of the budget of the average musician. For most musicians their only real hope was to get a record deal. In recent years with the speed of computers home recording is not only high quality but within the budget of almost anyone. What is available today was not even in my wildest dreams as a teenager. I can literally compose a whole album from start to finish with all the trimmings of a Beatles album for less than a few thousand dollars worth of recording equipment for what would have cost the Fab Four in today's money millions of dollars.
Free and easy distribution
What is probably the icing on the cake is the fact that music can now be easily distributed to anyone, anywhere. The cost and logistics of distributing one's music used to be a huge barrier for many artists. Even if you had the ability to write and record something worthy of an audience getting your music to your audience was difficult, expensive and highly risky. Not anymore. It's basically free.
Conclusion
I can confidently say that there has never been a better time to become a creative musician or any creative artist for that matter. You don't need a record deal anymore to succeed in music. Bands like Radiohead and The Eagles are just two examples of bands who no longer belong to record companies. If you want to write and play music for a living you just have to see the massive opportunity. Take the time to develop your musical skills and then begin writing music. When it develops into something of appeal go and sell it to the highest bidder. They will be waiting.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Why babies are smarter...
The following video is about the ground breaking revolution in brain research on babies. We have reached a critical turning point in the understanding of how children learn and how the early months and years are critical. In this video Patricia Kuhl points shows how babies learn a language and how as we get older it becomes more difficult.
Learning language and learning music by many experts has been described as almost identical and in fact many refer to music as a language. After all many of the elements are same. So we can only assume that babies who are exposed to music in the same way as language would gain a huge advantage. If as a baby your parents played jazz around the house the odds are you would have an ear for jazz. If your parents actually played music than we would assume the effect was even greater.
Many great musicians are the children of musicians. Among some of my own influences are Eddie Van Halen (whose middle name is actually Lodewijk which is derived from Ludwig Beethoven as Eddie's father was a successful clarinetist), Tommy Emmanuel whose mother was a lap steel guitarist, Santana whose father was a violinist and Mozart who was the son of one of Europe's leading music teachers. So if you are a parent or planning to be a parent than I am sure you will find this video fascinating.
Learning language and learning music by many experts has been described as almost identical and in fact many refer to music as a language. After all many of the elements are same. So we can only assume that babies who are exposed to music in the same way as language would gain a huge advantage. If as a baby your parents played jazz around the house the odds are you would have an ear for jazz. If your parents actually played music than we would assume the effect was even greater.
Many great musicians are the children of musicians. Among some of my own influences are Eddie Van Halen (whose middle name is actually Lodewijk which is derived from Ludwig Beethoven as Eddie's father was a successful clarinetist), Tommy Emmanuel whose mother was a lap steel guitarist, Santana whose father was a violinist and Mozart who was the son of one of Europe's leading music teachers. So if you are a parent or planning to be a parent than I am sure you will find this video fascinating.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Understanding the G4 GUITAR METHOD
The question of what is the G4 GUITAR METHOD is among the most common we receive. I think a better question is what does the student need to know to ensure success. So here goes.
The G4 GUITAR METHOD is a basically a format that puts the essential skills into categories. There are 7 skills plus songs. Each level comes with a checklist and the goal for each student is to complete the skills on each checklist within 6 to 9 months.
Less time writing, more time learning.
The G4 GUITAR METHOD was designed for both private and group learning. Having checklists ensures no skill is overlooked while also reducing the time spent writing things down. When I see teachers spending half the lesson writing notes for students I see valuable lesson time lost. Teachers write notes so students basically know what to practice but with the G4 GUITAR METHOD when a student goes home and wonders they should be practicing all they need to do is look at their checklist. If a box is not ticked they need to practice this skill. If they don't understand what is required they should skip it and work on what they do understand. For example if a student is not sure how to play a particular arpeggio they should work on another skill or song. If the only boxes not ticked are skills they do not understand its time to ask the teacher. If they are still confused than its time to speak to me.
Consistency across all levels
The checklists are laid out in a consistent format so once a student understands level 1 they can then easily understand level 2 and so on. The first level is the hardest because this is where students learn to understand the format of the G4 GUITAR METHOD. Probably the biggest benefit of all is the fact that parents can also monitor their child's progress from week to week.
Parent involvement can make the difference
For parents I recommend you keep an eye on your child's checklist from week to week while also consulting the teacher on their progress, strengths and weaknesses. Parent involvement makes all the difference. It is important to note that 30 minutes a week is only enough to guide students. Unlike school where students attend 30+ hours a week 30 minutes is only enough time to explain what needs to be done. The real work is done at home and parents are really the deciding factor.
Its only a tool
Remember that the G4 GUITAR METHOD is only a tool and like any tool its how you use it. Like the guitar itself if used incorrectly you can't expect a desirable result but when used correctly you will create something amazing and often inspiring.
If you have any questions please feel free to email me directly at david@g4guitar.com.au
Kind regards,
David Hart - Program Director
Join us at G4GUITAR FACEBOOK.
http://bit.ly/G4FACEBOOK
Visit the G4 GUITAR METHOD Website
www.g4guitar.com.au
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