So You Wanna Play Guitar
About
My approach for a beginning student is to find the songs that they really want to play and to teach them how to play these songs in the easiest possible way.
Guitar Philosophy
1. PATTERNS – This refers to the fact that guitar is an instrument that can be played somewhat easily by memorizing left hand patterns. A guitarist can play alot of music this way and have only a very limited knowledge of notes and theory.
2. NOTES – This refers to the fretboard and actually knowing the names of the notes on any fret. Having this knowledge links the pattern orientation of guitaring with theory and the objective perspective of music shared by all musicians. This level is essential for communicating musically with non – guitarist musicians.
3. THEORY – This refers to the perspective of music where you need no instrument to understand music. It`s about the relationship of notes to one another and how they comprise, scales, keys and entire systems of music.
AS A GUITARIST, WHEN YOU UNDERSTAND THEORY, KNOW THE NOTES OF THE FINGERBOARD AND RECOGNIZE THE INHERENT PATTERNS OF GUITARING, YOU BECOME A COMPLETE MUSICIAN, ABLE TO PLAY YOUR INSTRUMENT WELL BUT ALSO ABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH OTHER MUSICIANS, REGARDLESS OF THEIR INSTRUMENT.
IN ADDITION, YOU BECOME ABLE TO UNDERSTAND MUSIC SIMPLY BY HEARING IT, AND THEN PICK UP YOUR INSTRUMENT AND IMMEDIATELY PLAY OR ACCOMPANY WHAT YOU ARE HEARING.