Tomorrow never comes. Start your guitar practice now.

Lets be honest here. When we procrastinate promising ourselves that we will start guitar tomorrow the odds are we will just find another excuse tomorrow. We are all busy these days and time is our most precious commodity. Well so we tell ourselves. If time is so precious why does the average household watch more than 6 hours of TV a day? How is it possible for so many people to clock up ridiculous amounts of time on playing video games or to post hundreds of times per week in Facebook. Is time really the issue? 

I don't think so.
As a guitar teacher time or lack of it has been the number one reason students use when they don't do enough practice. I would often catch kids out by asking them to raise their hand if they saw that funny episode this week of The Simpsons where Homer does.... Is it a coincidence that those hands tend to belong to the same kids who didn't have enough time to practice. Now adults are no better. In fact children learn from the adults around them. Think about how many times a day you say that you don't have enough hours in the day. What's worse is you probably believe it. Learning guitar is not difficult.  It just requires a simple strategy and here it is.

Strategy for guitar success.
1. Reserve a time each day (same time) to practice.
2. Find a teacher and book in for weekly lessons. (A teacher will increase your chances of success).
3. Follow your teacher's instructions and spend 30 minutes doing quality practice each day.
That's it!

No more excuses.
Stop making the excuses and just do it. It really is that simple. The great thing about guitar is it gets easier the longer you do it. I don't just mean playing guitar but the habit of practice. The key is be consistent. Don't miss a day's practice and it will become part of your everyday within a few months.

David J. Hart

The G4 GUITAR METHOD.

For a structured proven method of learning guitar visit www.g4guitarmethod.com

Why we need guitar heroes

It's easy to be cynical of idol worshipping. When we see the inside of a teenager's bedroom covered wall to wall with posters of their favorite pop/rock stars we laugh and think its silly or a complete waste of time and money and in some cases may even seem obsessive. Some people spend their last dollar on a concert ticket or a new song or memorabilia from their idol. I recall seeing the most expensive guitar ever sold was not the best guitar ever made but was in fact Jimi Hendrix's. No doubt purchased by a fan. Some people will lined up for days sleeping on the street to get front row seats at a concert. At times it does border on crazy but there is definitely a positive side to idol worshipping.

We all need heroes

Many successful musicians are themselves the result of idol worshipping. My own passion for guitar started from idolizing bands like The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, AC/DC and Pink Floyd. In fact I think having such music idols is one of the key ingredients to long term success. As guitarists our heroes keep us going through the tough times. There were certainly many times early on I thought it was all too hard but it only took a small dose of one of my heroes in the form of a record, video or live concert to get me back on track.

Finding your hero

Our heroes play a vital role and should never be underestimated. In nearly every in depth interview I have seen with successful musicians they quote someone as being their idol. For The Beatles it was Elvis, for Eric Clapton, Angus Young, Keith Richards it was Chuck Berry and on it goes. So if you ever question your reason for playing guitar you might want to look at who your heroes are. If the motivation to practice is low you may need to ramp it up a little by seeking out a hero or two.

David J Hart
www.g4guitarmethod.com

The benefits of Music - The Swiss Study.

The benefits of learning music are well documented. Children who learn music often do better in many subjects such as maths and languages but also in other areas.


In Switzerland they conducted a study where 1200 children in more than 50 classes proved scientifically that playing music does improve a child's reading and verbal skills through improving concentration, memory and self expression. The control group who replaced three curriculum classes (math, science, language) for 3 music classes per week were found to improve their speech and reading skills with greater ease compared to other students.


 For more examples on this topic checkout the Kidspot article.


David J. Hart

The G4 GUITAR METHOD.

For a structured proven method of learning guitar visit www.g4guitarmethod.com

.

Is taking a break from Guitar a good idea?

I will be the first to say that taking holidays are great and are arguably an important part of life. Holidays are essentially about taking a break from your everyday life to recharge. Holidays give our bodies and brains a chance to consolidate and can even act like markers that indicate the start and end points. Stepping out of the picture also allows us to see things from a different perspective. Our bodies require around 7 to 9 hours a day of sleep. Sleep deprivation can lead to poor concentration, a lowered immune system and in extreme cases death. Holidays and breaks should be viewed in a similar light. To work constantly and never take breaks may actually be counterproductive and even damaging to your health.

So what about guitar?

If you practice guitar 6 hours a day 7 days a week a break is advisable but my guess is most students reading this blog do a lot less. Taking a break from guitar if you are not a serious professional with a heavy schedule is really unnecessary. School children I find will get to December and declare 'Schools out' and suddenly everything and anything that seems like study gets shelved for 2 months including the guitar.  Over the years I have received many calls from parents in early December wishing me a happy holiday and announcing they will give me a call in February to re-enroll their child for guitar lessons. This is a big mistake. As I said above I believe holidays to be important but 2 months is akin to giving up especially for the beginner student.

Long breaks dramatically increase your chances of giving up

The hardest time for guitar students is the first 6 to 12 months. Over 50% of students who stop lessons for more than a few weeks will never return to lessons. Even when a student returns after 2 months the feeling that their fingers can no longer perform the same tasks as the previous year is often enough for the student to throw in the towel. No one likes to go backwards. Imagine for a minute that you were building your own home and it was about half finished when you decided to take a few months off. On your return two months later you found nothing but the foundations. We humans don't like going over old ground. Seeing all our hard work diminished often leads us to seriously contemplate giving up. 

Talk to your teacher

If you will be away for any period of time I strongly advise talking to your teacher about how to work around your holiday. If you are going to be traveling and taking a guitar is impossible than its time to use your imagination. In fact in one study they compared two group of beginner students learning piano. The first group did their practice as you would expect on a piano. The second group just imagined a piano and went through the exercises in their head. They found that at the end of the experiment both groups had similar levels of development. What this study set out to prove was that the brain cannot tell the difference between the imagined stimuli and real stimuli. This means that if you spent 30 minutes a day going through your practice in your head it will keep you moving forward and at the very least will reduce the negative effects of a long break.

Keep practicing 
 

I strongly urge you to keep up the practice and the lessons through out the year and only take short breaks if necessary. Guitar unlike work or school rarely needs a holiday except if you are a working guitarist or student who practices 4 or more hours a day. For the rest breaks of more than 2 weeks are unnecessary.


David J. Hart

The G4 GUITAR METHOD.

For a structured proven method of learning guitar visit www.g4guitarmethod.com

Should you look at your fingers when playing guitar?

The answer is both yes and no. The goal is to be able to play guitar without looking at your hands. Relying on your eyes to guide you will put you at a significant advantage which I will explain. The only time you will want to look at your hands is when you are first learning to ensure your technique is correct. Look at your hands as you place them on the neck or learn to pick or strum. Work at repeating without looking each time to see how you went and then correcting. You can try practicing in front of a mirror and then try videoing yourself to analyze and correct. So why is your goal is to play without looking? Firstly on the guitar you are coordinating between two hands and relying on your eyes will slow you down. Every chord change and every note would require you to be checking each hand. The second reason you want to feel and listen to what you are playing and that is best done using your ears not your eyes. The third reason is that hopefully your goal is to play with other musicians and for an audience. You therefore want to keep your eyes available for making eye contact with your band members and your audience. A good way to learn to play guitar without looking at your eyes is to get your teacher to guide you. Eg. Try playing a chord without looking at your fingers and get your teacher to give you feedback as you go. The will help you to develop your mind's eye.

David J Hart
www.g4guitarmethod.com

The Voice guitarist Michael Dolce shares his own musical journey

Michael Dolce is one of Australia's busiest session guitarists who is currently part of the 'The Voice' band while also touring with top selling artist Delta Goodrem. I was fortunate enough to catch up with Michael on his current tour with Delta last week and we did a video interview back stage. Some great insights from Michael and I made sure the interview was focused on a guitar student perspective. Check it out.

 

David J. Hart

The G4 GUITAR METHOD.

For a structured proven method of learning guitar visit www.g4guitarmethod.com

==========

A star is born. Really? I think they are made.

When we think of very talented musicians it is easy to assume they were somehow born with such talents. This theory has little if any evidence but there is plenty of evidence that being born into the right family is a major factor.

Without a doubt Delta Goodrem would be among Australia's top selling artists and I believe holds the record for the highest selling debut album and is a current judge on the top rating TV show The Voice. Well yesterday Delta turned up to Cairns for a promo performance and the guitarist Michael Dolce (also the resident guitarist on the voice) happens to be a friend so I arranged with Michael to do an interview back stage. During the interview Michael revealed that his father was a big early influence on him showing an interest in guitar. Michael's father had a keen interest in music and guitar which resulted in Michael picking up a guitar from a young age.

When Delta arrived backstage I noticed she was accompanied by her mother. Delta even made some references to her mother during the performance and it soon became apparent that Delta's mother was very supportive. I personally don't know the full story but I would guess for Delta to possess the incredible singing, piano and song writing talents at such an early age that her mother played a major role. Delta did start lessons very early and my guess is her mother knew how to recognize good teachers who would be able to coach Delta to become a great all round musician.

The moral to this story is simple. Great musicians are made not born. As parents we can help ignite a musical passion in our children from an early age simply by taking an interest and finding good teachers. School gives children a taste of music but it falls seriously short of any real influence. I understand music lessons may not be affordable for every parent but for those who can it's worth exploring. If you take an active role as a parent the odds are very good that your child will grow to love learning and exploring music. Musical talent is a gift parents can give their children and one that I thank my parents for.

David J Hart
www.g4guitarmethod.com

David J. Hart

The G4 GUITAR METHOD.

For a structured proven method of learning guitar visit www.g4guitarmethod.com

Location:Cairns Queensland Australia