Here is another one of my Monday posts with 3 thoughts about guitar, music, and life, including thoughts on the new Netflix show The Queen’s Gambit, practise tips, and more.
I hope you enjoy it…
Struggle With Chords But Want to Fingerpick?
I know how infuriating it can be if your guitar chords buzz because pretty much all of your playing will suffer.
Below is a simple five-step plan of what to do if they do buzz.
Strum With Me If You Want to Live
I’ve had a few of you ask about strumming exercises for guitar recently.
Just like Arnold Schwarzenegger said in Terminator 2, “Strum with me if you want to live”. Okay, he didn’t say exactly that, but for strumming success, give this a go…
Dan, I LOVE Your Suggestion of Learning to Play…
I got a nice email from Curtis the other day regarding open chords…
“Dan,
I LOVE your suggestion of learning to play the series of open chords and changes with the last three fingers, and NOT the Index finger.
The Map of Your Guitar Playing World
As I discussed recently, there are two crucial aspects of guitar playing which are key to creating a guitar learning plan and being successful.
These are:
A Long-Term Guitar Plan Versus Short-Term Day-to-Day Practice
A common issue that comes up is the question of a guitar learning plan. I received this email recently…
A 30-Second Eye-Opening Guitar Exercise
There are a lot of things you can fix in your guitar playing with just some small tweaks, but some of these are left out of beginner guitar exercises. There are also a lot of things you can do which don’t yield much gain.
Although not a miracle cure, here is a little eye-opening guitar exercise that will help you if you lack control in your fretting hand fingers.
3 Random Thoughts This Monday (Slowing Down, Mozart, Lennon and McCartney)
As it is Monday, here are another 3 random thoughts about guitar, music, and life. This week includes thoughts ranging from Mozart to John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
I hope you enjoy…
The Most Misunderstood Word in the Guitar World
There is a word that often gets used wrongly in the world of guitar playing and guitar exercises. Is it “vibrato”, “legato” or even “ostinato”? Nope, it is far simpler and if you are not careful, this word can send you down a rabbit hole, like Alice looking for the pesky white rabbit. The word is… “technique”.
A Strange Question
I got this email the other day, with a strange, but common question.
“Hi Dan, your address, Halesowen, was near Birmingham (UK) last time I looked, but you quote prices in dollars. Why?
Regards,
Alex”