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How I Learned How To Play The Guitar After Giving Up In Disgust
I was 17 at the time (the Beatles era), and it was considered cool to play the guitar. I had a little training in music in elementary school where I had learned how to play the trumpet. I remember that the only reason I started the trumpet was because my daddy had run across an old beat up horn that a woman was selling for $10. So, in my junior year of high school I set about to teach myself how to play a few chords so I could strum along with "Love, Love Me Do" and "I Want To Hold Your Hand". However, it never occurred to me that learning how to play the guitar might just be a little different than learning the trumpet. Actually, what happened was that I gave up after about 2 weeks and threw the old guitar that my daddy had given me in the corner and in frustration declared "I don't see how anyone can play a guitar". It's funny how I remember thinking those very words. I didn't know it then but my difficulty with learning how to play was because my guitar strings were about a half inch off the fret board and it was extremely difficult to mash the strings down. After about 1 week I was developing thick calluses on the tips of my fingers on my left hand. My desire to play eventually overcame my initial frustration and I did go on to conquer the instrument to become quite proficient. Eventually I ended up attending the Berklee College of Music studying guitar. If you have a desire to play the guitar my advice is to not give up, Eventually you'll succeed if you don't quit. Steve McArthur Suggested Guitar Instruction
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Just 3 Chords? No Way! A student wrote me an email about the lesson "Ocean Dreams." Here it is: How I Compose a Piece of Music A number of people have asked about my own methodology for creating a complete piece of music at the piano. At the risk of oversimplification, the steps are as follows: Flaming Guitars! Minarik Fuels The Excitement of a New Generation of Musicians From the Telecaster to the Flying V to the Iceman to the Warlock, some guitar designs are forever branded on our consciousness, and now there's a new one: the Minarik Inferno X-treme. The body shape erupts in furious fingers of flame. If ever there was a guitar design destined to ignite the imagination of young players, especially boys and girls who want to rawk, this is it. New M3 with Competition Package The new competition package available for the BMW M3 is almost sad as it is wonderful. 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Breathing Space in Music While most students want to know when to play certain notes and chords, it's equally important to know when not to play. For example, I had a student who knew how to improvise and play in the New Age style. What he didn't know how to do was to allow for breathing space. I tried to teach him that you don't have to play note upon note but allow for some pauses. Play Too Loud And Well Cut The Power! "Turn it down!" Zen and the Art of New Age Piano We all want to be in the moment. That's where real transformation takes place. For some, walking gets them there. Others like to play sports or watch movies. For me, it's playing the piano. When I'm in the moment, letting the music speak, it's like the world is new again. 3 Secrets To Understanding What Makes Music Tick It's no secret that virtually everyone loves music in some form or other. After all, music is the universal language. In one way or another we all participate in it from our cradle song to our wedding song to our funeral song, with thousands of other s stops along the way. The Flower Garden and New Age Piano Music If you've ever looked at a flower garden, not only its beauty may have captivated you, but also its overall arrangement. How to Compose Using ABA Form ABA form is like a musical sandwich. You have the 2 slices of bread with the contrasting meat and cheese on the inside. Instead of bread and meat, you use musical materials. Perhaps an 8-bar phrase for the A section followed by a 4 or 8-bar phrase for the B section. A nice little musical sandwich. How To Play Piano Using Chord Symbols Chord symbols (for example, Fm7, Cmaj7 or G6) are a type of notation used frequently in jazz and other areas of modern music to notate chord progressions and changes. This type of notation differs from that of classical music in that chord symbols don't show the function of a chord the way the Roman numeral notation does. Chord symbols, for modern music with lots of changes, are much easier to read. They function as a sort of shorthand for change-heavy music and are written with four chord parts in mind: the root, the quality, the extension, and the alterations. Right-Hand Techniques for New Age Piano Recently, I had a student ask me to offer some techniques for using the right hand. Usually, it's the left hand that causes the most difficulty but I had to think about it because up till then, I really did not have any "techniques" for the right hand. Getting Rhythm - Three Tips for Guitar Beginners If you are just starting out learning guitar one of the hardest things can be getting a good rhythm and keeping that rhythm going while you change chords with your left hand. Bono: From Music To Fashion To Helping The Poor U2s lead singer Bono isn't content with being part of a top band. Fashion and Music ? well I'm sure they can mix! Bono was born Paul David Hewson in 1960 in Dublin Ireland. His stage name is Bono.
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