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The ULTIMATE SYSTEM FOR LEARNING BLUES GUITAR

Personalized One on One Instruction or Group Instruction Available

BLUES RHYTHM

Learn to play a BLUES SHUFFLE that locks in and grooves with Bass and Drums.
Learn the most important and useful CHORDS that the Pros use to play SLOW BLUES
Learn how to play MINOR CHORD Blues
Learn to play FUNK Blues you can use
Learn BOOGIE WOOGIE style
Learn a very important Rhythm of Blues RHUMBA
Learn What and What not to do at a BLUES JAM

BLUES LEAD GUITAR

Learn how to NEVER PLAY A BAD NOTE when soloing
Learn to play MUSICAL PHRASES every time you pick up your guitar
Quit playing the Minor Pentatonic scale like a bunch of dots on a paper and START CREATING SOULFUL, TASTEFUL solos OR BLISTERING, EXCITING Blues solos
Learn the “OTHER SCALES” used by Clapton, SRV, Hendrix and others
Learn how to BEND notes and create VIBRATO like your favorite players
Learn slick SLIDE GUITAR
Learn BLUES FINGERSTYLE
Learn how to use DOUBLE NOTES that give you double the power in your solos
Learn how to connect your Scale shapes and PLAY OVER THE WHOLE NECK
Learn how to combine your guitar, amp and pedals for a “PRO TONE” Learn how to CREATE YOUR OWN STYLE, your own personal Blues Phrases and LEARN PHRASES IN THE STYLE OF SRV, ERIC CLAPTON, BUDDY GUY, BB KING, JIMI HENDRIX and many more………..

BONUS

You’ll receive top quality BACKING TRACKS to practice all your Rhythm’s and Lead’s over

Complete Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced players are welcome!

I will teach you, train you, coach you and inspire you to be the BLUES GUITARIST OF YOUR DREAMS.

CALL NOW to book your session, Sid, 504-421-8811. I guarantee on the very first lesson you will walk away with a fresh, new excitement knowing you are going to be a totally better and effective guitar player in just a few months!!!

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The Neville Brothers are world renowned for their own mix of New Orleans funk. Aaron Neville, one of the brothers also has had acclaim as a solo performer. My friend and great guitarist Renard Poche who plays with piano legend and hit songwriter, Allan Toussaint, embodies the New Orleans sound and travels around the world spreading the New Orleans sound. We also have the Marsalis family who was trained by their father Elis, has achieved international acclaim. Harry Connick Jr. not only is a great Jazz pianist and recording but has starred in several movies.

Musicians literally move here to soak up the music scene and study and take guitar lessons and piano with many great musician’s. New Orleans is also fortunate to have a House of Blues locally to even further the expansion of sound by bands you would not normally hear down here. Snug Harbor is a great place to just walk in on whim and check out who’s playing. My wife and I went one night and caught a young female Jazz pianist who was amazing and even dedicated a song to us since we had just gotten married. I’ve heard some amazing street performers on guitar and various other instruments that will make you stop and listen.

The sound is everywhere in New Orleans, even the calliope on the Riverboat Natchez. Hopefully, I’ve kind of piqued an interest in New Orleans music for you. If you would like to explore what you can do, come take a Free Introductory lesson and see how simple learning the guitar can be. You just might discover a talent you never knew you had. Guitar lessons in New Orleans, that just somehow goes together. Or maybe Guitar Lessons then grab a great bowl of gumbo. That’s New Orleans, baby!

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There is always more to learn. Simple, but we need to remember that. One of the things we need to understand is how do you feel in pursuing a particular way of playing. Do you feel good when playing a particular style of music more than any other style? Maybe you think, I want to be a Jazz guitarist but you start lessons and you’re practicing like a maniac and making some progress but after a couple of months, you realize you don’t want to make a long-term commitment to be a Jazz great. You really have to love the music to put in the hours required to play exceptionally. Or you like that country twang and want to play like Brad Paisley, you can have talent but it takes a certain kind of work ethic.

Very few guitarists can play many styles effectively, but there are the exception to the rule. You should feel at home in the style you are learning. That’s why Eric Clapton tried many different styles but always came back to the blues, when you pick up your guitar it feels like coming home. It’s okay to explore different styles but I believe we should pursue what’s fun, what’s inspiring and the music that we want to play for a lifetime. Can you imagine how much practice and playing time it would take to play several styles? Do you have that kind of work ethic? Save yourself some frustration, if it ain’t happening when pursuing something on the guitar move on to play what you really love to play. Simply, play what you love to play!

The post Play What You Love to Play, Don’t Try to Play Everything appeared first on Personal Guitar Training.

Personally

First and foremost, playing the guitar is FUN! Once you can play a few songs, and you start to get the hang of it, you’ll want to learn more and it becomes even more satisfying, more FUN.

It is proven fact that it increases our brain power, which includes memory and problem solving, There are many things we have to remember to play the guitar, songs, chords, scales and finger exercises just to name a few.

We learn to be more disciplined and patient. It helps with focus, which leads to better concentration.

Playing guitar can help with anxiety and mild depression which can distract us from those negative feelings.. Learning new songs or techniques can build confidence in our ability which build self-confidence.

Playing guitar can motivate us and give us a goal to shoot for in our lives. It’s proven that music can change your mood. Why do folks listen to pumping rock music in the gym and helps increase their energy level for their workout? Classical music can have a calm and soothing effect on our minds.

It could increase your income if you get good enough to play in a band and get paid to perform. Or even write a song and receive a royalty check for it.

Family

Can you picture a young child playing their first song for their mother or a husband singing and playing their wedding song on their first anniversary? What about playing at parties and family functions where everyone is singing along can really bring a whole group together quickly? Maybe your family would come to see you play with your new band, just think, that ‘s pretty amazing.

Community

What about playing guitar in your church or going to a retirement home and playing for the people there? Guitar can be a very social instrument. You could meet someone from Japan that doesn’t even speak English and if you both have a guitar and know some Blues might have a blast jamming for an hour or more. Maybe you’ll go to a children’s hospital and entertain them with children’s songs that you’ve written.

Guitar is affordable, it doesn’t take a very long time to play some songs and the guitar is very portable, you can carry it with you.  It will enhance your life as long as you play. The more you play the more you get out of it. So get started, find a good teacher or keep playing, you won’t regret it.

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Three of the undisputed great players are Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson who each say they practiced 8 hours a day for years. It’s been said that it takes about 10,000 hours of practice to become a great guitar player, a world-class guitar player. Mathematically, that’s about 6 hours a day every day for about 5 years. So if you’re practicing about 20 minutes a day and thinking one day I’ll be a great guitar player, you might want rethink that.

Maybe you don’t want to be a virtuoso, but want to play in a local band. Years ago when I got serious about the guitar and found a good teacher to show me what I needed to know and what I needed to practice, I started practicing 1 to 2 or 3 hours a day. It took a couple of years to be good enough to play in a band.

If you’re just looking to play for enjoyment, I’ve had many students, complete beginners that were able to strum and fingerpick a song like Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton in 4 or 5 lessons. I let my students know that they can come to me for 10 years and it doesn’t mean they will be a great player. It’s what you do on the other 6 days after the lesson.

What’s the difference between the students that were able to strum and fingerpick the song fluently in a month as opposed to the students who still weren’t swicthing chords easily and effortlessly 6 months later? Well, I asked them. The one who is struggling practiced an average of 3 times a week for about 15 to 20 minutes and didn’t practice the way they were shown in the lesson. I always walk a student through in how to practice the lesson so they can get the greatest progress in the shortest amount of time. The student who could play the song well-practiced 45 minutes to an hour a day, 6 to 7 days a week and practiced exactly what I showed them and the way I showed them. So one student practiced approximately 30 hours for the month and of specific, strategic practice and got results. The other student spent 3 hours for the month and really got no result.

Keeping a chart, to see when you practice, how long you practice and exactly how you practiced is a great motivator, and will help your teacher help you better. You will see results, results are guaranteed!

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You can have all the potential in the world but if you don’t use it, it amounts to nothing. There is nothing in the world that can beat hard, consistent work. What if you had the potential skills of Jimi Hendrix or Stevie Ray Vaughan, but never practiced? How far would you go? That would give you an initial jumpstart but over the long haul it’s the work, the practice that you put into the guitar that determines if you will be a great guitar player or not. I’ve spoken to some great players and they all have practiced for countless hours for years. That’s what makes the difference. What if you just want to strum and fingerpick songs and are happy doing that? It doesn’t take 5 hours a day of practice but it does take consistent daily practice. You can only perform as well as how you practice. I’ve seen many students come to me with a playing problem that maybe they’ve had this issue and not been able to overcome it for years and in a few weeks of practicing it like I show them to remove what’s holding them back.

You have to persevere, and you have to commit to finding a teacher, trusting that teacher and get to work on getting better on the guitar. Think about if you could never pick up your guitar again in your life. Make a commitment in your heart that, “I’m going to stick this out.” Whether you are a child or adult, the guitar can teach you and help develop one of the greatest qualities a person can have: NOT QUITTING!

The quality of not quitting, that’s what perseverance is. Many times I wanted to quit, but my love of the instrument and wanting to know how it works kept me going. To really know your instrument it takes a long time and a lot of time. But to strum songs, fingerpick, and play some Blues rhythms and solos doesn’t take 10 years. You can even practice 5 minutes a day and improve if limited on time in the week. There is really no excuse: you should always be getting better. Be consistent. If you have the right teacher, the right program and you do the program, you will improve every day. I’ve had students come back and say many they had a family member walk in on them playing and thought it was a record, they couldn’t believe they were playing that well. This was in a series of months, not years.

You will have the confidence that you am moving forward! Keep playing and keep improving! Don’t give up!

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1. KNOW THE PIECE. Whatever your performance is, whether playing the guitar, singing, or speaking, you have to know the material without hesitation, without doubt. You cannot be guessing what’s next. Do you know the chords to the song, can you write them out or tell them to someone else without the guitar in your hand? Learn the song in sections. Know each section separately. What are the Intro chords? What are the chords on the verse? What are the chords on the Chorus? What are the chords on the bridge? Know the structure of the song. Practice playing the song out-of-order. Play the Bridge. Then try to play the Chorus, etc. This will remove what causes a lot of doubt and insecurity. Do you think Steve Vai or Eddie Van Halen is just winging it? No way, especially not on the level of their playing. Prepare yourself before you go into battle.
2. RECORD YOURSELF. Now that you think you know your piece it’s time to get the evidence that you really do know it or you might still have some work to do. You need to record yourself because a recording doesn’t lie. Listen as if you were listening to someone playing a piece for you. Listen with a critical ear. Don’t depend on your brother’s opinion. This doesn’t have to be a Hollywood production, you can use a Digital Recorder or even Video and Sound from an iPhone is great to use just for evaluation. Listen or watch it and fix what needs to be fixed, go back a day or 2 later record it again. If it really hasn’t improved, get some help from a good teacher.. If you don’t have a quality guitar instructor, then find one (I have several blogs on that subject that will help you in your search). This can cut years off of trial and error on your part. You want to walk away at this point confident the you know the piece and it sounds good to you. Time to test it out in a real setting.
3. EXPOSURE. Don’t try to go play Madison Square Garden for your first performance or your first hundred performances. Start very small, play for your Mother, Father, Sister, Brother, Wife, Husband, other family members, branch out to playing for friends, maybe your church if you belong to one, then go public, maybe an open mic night, or sit in with a band. This is not for their opinion of you but so you can gain experience in a live setting. You can practice guitar all you want at home but you’ll find performing is a completely different mindset. If you’ve prepared through the previous steps, you should be gaining confidence and start gaining experience performing, knowing what to expect, the unexpected.
4. TALK BACK TO YOURSELF. When the doubt, fear and insecurity starts to talk to you in your head, if you don’t stop it in its tracks it will cause you to perform poorly. Whatever your negative, defeating thoughts are saying, immediately think the opposite. “I’m not good enough” can be turned into, “I’ve prepared and will do my best, that’s all that counts”. You might think, “they won’t like me, can be turned into, “people want me to be entertaining, they don’t want me to suck”. Many great performers don’t want to be distracted before they perform. They prepare physically playing the guitar or singing but then they prepare mentally before they go on. Barbra Streisand still has an immense fear of performing but still does it.
5. DON’T COMPARE YOURSELF TO ANYONE. We all have different performing strength’s and weakness’s, so don’t listen to someone else and think, well, I can’t play that fast, I can’t sing that high.Work with a great teacher to bring out your individual strength’s and to strengthen weakness’s.

Remember, you don’t know the real person that you’re looking at up on the stage. No matter what level, even world-class performers still to a degree go through the same things new performers go through, they just pay less attention to it. They have learned their music, they’ve proven they can play or sing it by recording, they have gained confidence by performing in low pressure settings in the beginning, they develop a positive, realistic mindset and they are concerned with topping their best, not trying to be someone else.

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Just think about some of the musicians we consider to be geniuses like Mozart or Jimi Hendrix. If you could talk to them, they would probably tell you they were just starting to learn how to play and had so much more they would have experimented with musically. I’ve read where Jimi Hendrix was going to start studying music composition so he could create orchestrated arrangements. Ultimately, your guitar playing is a tool for expression, no more or no less. When trained how to bring that out on the instrument separates you from other players. You need to be trained not only what to play, like a minor pentatonic scale but how to play it. Many can play the scale shape but few can make real music from it. When you listen to Stevie Ray or Hendrix, it’s what’s inside of him that he’s expressing through his guitar that you love. The whole range of human emotion can be portrayed through the guitar. Anger, sadness, bliss, happiness, humor, and on and on. Our thinking about the guitar should not be to put time limits like I’m going to play like such and such in a year. Find a great teacher and let him lay out a plan for you so that your short range goals and long range goals are in sync. You should have a vision together and you should see progress.

Trying a whole new style of playing will ignite a new passion in music for you. I remember years back feeling stagnant and needing something new and would never have chosen Reggae but ended up having so much fun learning the rhythms and happy, fun sounding solos to play over that refueled my passion for playing.

A passionate, inspiring, knowledgeable guitar teacher can make the difference between success or failure on the guitar. As a beginner, the first 90 days are critical and can determine your future for the instrument, make sure there is a plan in place. I know some that take lessons for a year or more and still are not able to change chords quickly and easily. At the end of 90 days, you should look back and say, “Wow, I can’t believe how far I’ve come in just 3 months.” Just think about after 6 months or 1 year or more. The time to start is now.

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