Tag: learning

Do I need a guitar teacher?

Nicole Neal1 Comment

 

Another question to add to this is, is it sufficient to teach myself from a book, or YouTube video or something like that?

 

My answer to that is it depends on what your reasons for playing, how far you want to take things, what you want to achieve, how patient you are, the style or styles of music you want to learn and many other variables.

 

If you just want to kind of potter about with it, happy to do just whatever, and amuse yourself and so on, and really not too concerned about too many technical ins and outs, then instruction of some description from a teacher is may not be your thing.

 

If, on the other hand, you really want to accelerate your learning and playing (at pretty much whatever level you’re at, beginner through to advanced) then there are numerous benefits in taking regular lessons from a good teacher. Of course, don’t take regular lessons from a bad teacher!! 😉

 

Why is this?

 

There are a number of reasons, but here are just a handful…..

 

1. You don’t know what you don’t know

 

One of the first things that comes to mind for me whenever people ask me this question is that you don’t know what you don’t know! There are some good books and instructional videos out there I’m sure, as there are rubbish ones. Even if you’re using the best book in the world how do you know you’re interpreting it correctly or in the most optimal way for you?  And how do you know if the book or video has missed something? Or uses words or phrases that you’re not sure of?

 

2. A teacher can tailor things just for you

 

We’re all physiologically slightly different, so having a teacher to guide you in the pure physical mechanics of playing can prevent you from falling into bad habits (albeit unbeknownst ones) and/ or storing up potentially painful trouble later on down the line.

 

A good teacher will also have an armory of tools, techniques, studies, exercises and pieces to aid and supplement your learning – and to have fun with too!! Most importantly a teacher can help you to learn in the most effective way for you, not for the mass market.

 

3. A mentor can help accelerate your learning by helping you hone in on things you need to work on

 

Having a good teacher guiding you can also save you time and frustration. If a misunderstanding, sticking point or some other point of confusion occurs during your learning or playing your teacher will be able to help you sort it out and progress.

 

And, more often that not, it’s clear to a good teacher where a student needs a little further instruction or guidance on a particular technical or musical aspect where it may not necessarily be apparent to you (see point 1 above).

 

4. As human beings we’re biologically wired to learn from others

 

You know when you see someone fall over, or bang their thumb, you say “ouch”? Those are your mirror neurones firing up and simulating a watered down version of what that person is feeling in our own bodies. Our mirror neurons are what are responsible for us as very young infants learning how to use our bodies by copying what others do, how others move and these mirror neurones keep on working right throughout our lives.

 

So by not only listening and copying what a teacher is doing, watching and observing how movements are made to make those sounds can be a key part of the learning process. Apparently (and if you want to get technical about it), the same part of the brain (the right front insula) lights up in the same way when you’re aware of what your own body is doing and what another’s body is doing. If you’re making full use of your biological wiring and learning directly from a teacher it kind of stands to reason that it’s going to aid your learning.

 

5. A teacher can help cultivate not only your playing, but also your musicality, your “ear” and your sound

 

One of the key things a guitarist must always be striving for is the production of a beautiful sound – not many people want to listen to a thin, tinny sound right? A good teacher can ensure that your attention is always tuned into this vital element of playing guitar and aid you in the techniques (physical and mental) for physical production of your sound.

 

6. It’s fun!

 

Lessons are, by and large, enjoyable – who da thunk it?! (well, that’s a key aim in my lessons, anyway). Yes, one needs to work if one wants to progress and all that, but no one said the process had to be as dry as a dog biscuit and quite frankly reading from a book or sitting in front of a video can be a bit like that eh? Interacting with other real, live, warm-to-the-touch human beings is always much more fun! And whoever heard a book say “well done – that’s sounding great!”?

 

The art of sight reading

Nicole Neal7 Comments

Sight reading. Striking fear into the hearts of classical guitarists the length and breadth of the country, nay the world, since time immemorial. Which is a little bit silly really. They’re just notes after all. I’ll bet you won’t go up in flames if you, dare I say it, play a wrong note!

Why do we sight read?

Well, it’s an extremely useful skill to have if playing with others – sometimes we may be called on to read through a brand new piece or part. Being able to do that without saying something along the lines of “errrr, well, I, errrrr…… Sugar” or words to that effect is a very useful thing. Your fellow musicians will probably appreciate it too!

Sight reading is a useful skills in itself to practice and cultivate as it tests your fingerboard geography, tests your ability to think and play on your feet and strengthens your recognition of scale and chord patterns. All of these mean that, even if you hardly ever, or never, find yourself in a position playing with others or being called upon to play something at short notice, the skill of sight reading makes learning a brand new piece much quicker and easier.

It’s also a very useful skills for would-be teachers out there…..You’ve got to be able to play and demonstrate something your students are learning, right?

How do we sight read?

So rationally we know that they’re only notes on a page and we know that nothing bad is going to happen to us. So why does it bother some guitarists so?

There are a number of reasons for this and all are highly variable person to person. The reasons could be:

* Insecurity and lack of confidence in your own abilities

* Worrying that you’ll play a wrong note or five

* Worrying what your teacher or others listening will think

* Worrying that you’re not good enough

The list could probably go on, but those are usually the main culprits.

I’m sure it comes as no surprise to you when I say that worrying never did anyone any good, especially when it comes to playing music, sight reading or otherwise. If you focus on “problem” and “difficulty” and “I’m no good at this” then what are you likely to be getting for yourself? Problem, difficulty and being “no good”?

What if, when sight reading, you could relinquish that need to be perfect (of which there is no such thing anyway…..) and play to your strengths (pun absolutely intended)? What might happen then?

My top ten tips for sight reading are:

  1. Take your time – don’t just dive in to the music straight away. Breathe. Look over the music first.
  2. Take note of time signature and any changes.
  3. Take note of key signature, any modulations and accidentals.
  4. Take note of starting position and any movements around the fretboard.
  5. Take note of the intended pace of the music and play as slowly as may be appropriately acceptable for the style and comfortable for you.
  6. When reading music that has been edited with fingering, if the fingering is potentially confusing to you on a first sight read through go with the notes rather where the editing might be directing to play a note.
  7. When you start playing DON’T STOP! No “oops”, no going back to “fix” a wrong note, no stopping to check if that was really supposed to be a B flat or whatever.
  8. Rhythmic pulse is the same as the heartbeat of the music – without it it’s dead! Keep the sense of the pulse and the music flowing along wrong notes or not.
  9. After pulse, maintain the sense of the rhythm, so take time to tap out the rhythm before you start playing to make sure you’re comfortable with what it is. Notice if there are any unusual rhythms in the music and tap those out first too.
  10. It’s a skill and like any other skill the more you practice it, the easier it becomes.

Don’t be afraid. They’re only notes 🙂