Blog

For years now many guitar players have been sharing their knowledge on-line. In this crazy time of Covid it seems that has multiplied ten fold.

I believe that it’s in ones nature to want to talk about and share something that they love. On Youtube, there’s no shortage of that in the form of guitar instruction.

Back in early December I started going LIVE on Youtube. I didn’t know what I was going to do yet. Here I am 15 episodes in and I’m still figuring out what I’m doing. 

One thing that’s for sure it that I’ve really been enjoying doing my LIVE Saturdays. It’s really all about one thing, sharing the knowledge that I have on the guitar. 

There’s so much that you can learn on the guitar. By giving these LIVE Youtube lessons I feel like I’m learning just as much as the viewer.  

As a musician and an artist there’s a balance that you struggle to find spending your time making art, and improving on your instrument. 

I do feel that one helps the other. The more that you can learn about your instrument the larger the canvas you’ll have to paint on. 

I’ve taken just a handful of guitar lessons in my life. All of them were from great teachers. I believe that I remember everything that I’ve learned from them. Part of that is because I’m a good note taker. 

I realize that knowing the theory means nothing if you’re not applying it. Over the years I’ve built up this pretty extensive vocabulary of musical knowledge. The problem is that I’m only applying a small amount of it. 

I’ve always been very curious about how these great guitar players sounded the way they do. I’m talking about all styles of guitar playing from rock to jazz to classical, and so on. 

What it comes down to is that you can know everything in the world about music but if you’re not applying it then it’s useless information. 

This is one of the reasons why I started going LIVE on Saturdays. I get a chance to share this great information that I’ve learned in my long career of playing.

Another reason is because it gives me extra motivation to practice this stuff myself. I’m taking the musical ideas that I’ve been wanting to master and working on them to the point where I can legitimately teach them. It’s a win win. 

In order to do this I need to spend the time learning and practicing. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is be discipline. Because of this LIVE I’m preparing on Friday night searching out other youtube videos on the same subjects learning even more.

Saturday’s are the same, practicing, getting ready for the LIVE that’s at 1pm. 

It has to be good. It’s LIVE and there’s a lot of replay’s so I don’t want to come across not knowing what I’m talking about or just sucking at what I’m doing.

Many of these idea’s that I’m covering I’m not even too familiar with. Many of them have just been circulating around my head for years without ever playing them. Having said that I’m not going LIVE not knowing the material. Sometimes it can be, let’s learn this together. 

This is motivating me to learn and play these new musical concepts. The LIVE is far from perfect. There are many clams (bad notes) I would like to take back. 

The viewers have been forgiving. I do have their best interest in mind. If they can learn it and then play it better than me than I’ve done my job. 

By watching the LIVE afterward I noticed many things that I need to correct in my own playing. I’ve always known that recording yourself and listening back is one the best way to improve. You are your own toughest critic.

Music is music. It can be a guitar, a flute, a voice, or any instrument, as long as it stirs an emotion. It’s great to build a community of people who want to learn and share their love for music. 

What am I showing that isn’t all ready out there, and taught better by a master guitar player? Nothing.

I do have my own unique experiences though. I’m relying on the fact that it’s me doing it and there’s only one of me, thank God. Haha. 

A great analogy that I heard was about when Starbucks decided to enter the coffee business. There were dozens of other coffee shops. Who needed more coffee at that time? Many people. There’s room for everybody.

I want to give my spin on playing guitar and hopefully be inspiring. What makes me happy is when another guitar player says “ Ah, that’s how you do that, thank you that was helpful.” I cant ask for more than that. Happy playing. 

I release a new video every Wednesday as well as going LIVE every Saturday. Check out my latest video here teaching how to play 3 notes per string. If you enjoy this video please like and subscribe. Thank you.