STUDENT NEWSLETTER 4 March 2008 
Hi Everybody!
Just when you thought it was time to plant tomatoes it snows. Such is life! Things happen to slow us down. To keep moving forward as a guitarist is simple, consistent, and guaranteed. It is all in the practice. If you want to be a better guitar player you have to keep learning new and different things. There is so much to learn. Different styles of music or lead improvisation techniques for example. I am in my 50th year as a guitar player and find myself learning more and more faster and faster. My latest Chet Atkins arrangement of Take Five only took me six weeks to learn! Ten years ago it would have taken me six months to learn the same piece.
Yesterday I lost an eight year old student to video games. Very disappointing to me because Lucas showed so much promise. On his first lesson he was focused and learned all his major chords in one hour. His mom went out and bought him a real nice guitar. His second lesson was impressive. He seemed to remember every word I said from lesson one and put it all to practical use. But when he came in yesterday it was obvious he had not practiced. He had forgotten his basic chords. His mother admitted that Lucas was spending all his spare time on video games. Playing video games will not help you to be a guitar player. Not even Guitar Hero.
If you do not love to practice you will not be happy with your sound. Practice should not be a chore. It should be a joy. Frustration or stress about your ability is all self inflicted. For some it is a way of life. Just stop it. Learning guitar takes as long as it takes related to practice techniques PLUS the additional time wasted with frustration.
For guaranteed success your daily practice should include:
1. Repetitions. The number of times you have to repeat a movement before you have it mastered is a growing number. It gets bigger every day. You want to hit it sooner than later with repetition. Clean reps only. Think of it as your warming up/stretching exercise. Spend about 1/3 of your time doing reps. This can be done while you are doing other valuable time wise things like sitting on your sofa watching Wheel of Fortune or golf.
2. Learn one new thing a day. Chords. Chord inversions. Scales. Scale inversions. A bar of TAB. Licks, riffs, and tricks. There is so many things to learn on the guitar. Don't worry; your brain can hold it all. Program in the new thing slowly and deliberately striving to do it perfectly. Once you have done it perfect in slow motion you should stop. Let that be the last thing your brain remembers. See if you have it down the next day after sleeping on it. This works great for me. Your mind condenses memory when you sleep. I take advantage of that with my guitar education. You can include the new thing learned in tomorrows repetitions.
3. Have fun! This is the reason you play guitar. Not to be stressed, pressured, or frustrated. Spending all of your guitar time playing songs is not practice and will not produce any significant improvement in ability. Skipping practice will result in diminished returns. Most guitar players spend all of their time having fun and wonder why they are not getting any better. Remember how fast you learned in the beginning before you stopped practicing?
For some folks just playing an over simplified version of Sweet Home Alabama once a week is enough fun for them. They do not anticipate better ability resulting in more fun.
Then there is the fact that life gets in the way like snow on the tomatoes. It really makes me appreciate the real guitar heroes and their accomplishments. Dedication? The great Jeff Beck said it best; "There is no such thing as talent. Only desire."
Be happy. That is the art of life and priority number one.
The search for the perfect tone never ends. But after years of consideration, trial and error this is my rig more or less. It is not easy to find the original vintage stuff anymore, so this is the new equivalent.
Every bit of my new gear comes from MusiciansFriend.com or Guitar Center for the past eight years. Best prices, selection, and return policy there is. AND they bring it to your door! If you click thru to MUSICIANS FRIEND .com or Guitar Center.com from this web site to buy something, I get an advertising credit and it does not cost you a penny extra! Musicians Friend and Guitar Center is where I get all my new gear. Click on the link below to go there. If the link does not appear on your browser go here and click on the MusiciansFriend or Guitar Center link at bottom of that page.
New feature on this web site:
Always Stay Tuned. A lot is going on around here!
Rock On,
Joe "TheGuitarman" Pacciano, C.G.P.
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