A Dying Cat And A Nylon String Guitar

"Music isn't just learning notes and playing them, you learn notes to play to the music of your soul" ? Katie Greenwood.

Why are you learning music anyway? Is it to pick up chicks? Is it to fulfill a void in your mundane life? Is it an indescribable calling?

I always wanted to learn the drums. I don't know why, maybe it's the aggressive nature of the things. You sit there and bash the crap out of them.

As fate would have it I shared a house with Dave, a guitar player, so I decided to learn the guitar as I had my very own teacher living in the next room. Or so I thought.

I went out and bought a nylon string classical guitar for $70. I didn't have a clue what I was doing but that never stopped me before.

So I went back home with my new guitar in its cardboard box. And with anything new, you want to play with it straight away, as soon as you get it home.

I also bought one of those guitar case chord dictionaries. You know the ones, they have a thousand chords in them and they are designed to confuse rather than actually help you.

So I waited for Dave to get home from work and as soon as he was in the door I was at him. "I bought this new guitar and I was wondering if you could show me how to play it" I said.

He just laughed at me but eventually agreed to show me which chords to learn first. He told me to learn the open chords A, D, E, G, and C. So I did. I spent every spare moment learning these chords.

Dave wouldn't show me any songs to play so I was forced to make up my own songs. This forced me to really explore every one of these chords as I thought at the time that I had to include them all in every song I wrote.

The songs I wrote were pretty strange to say the least. We were into punk music at that time so just imagine what a dying cat like vocals set to a nylon string out of tune guitar played as fast as a speeding train sounds like and you get the picture.

It sounded good to me at the time and I was very proud of my new found ability. It took about three months to get the hang of changing between the chords, and being able to write a song. (if you could call it that).

I didn't know it at the time but I had the one thing that was needed that would ensure I would become a good guitar player. That one thing was sheer bloody determination. And the more people told me how bad I sounded the more determined I became to improve.

So it doesn't matter how good or bad you are at the moment just play the music of your soul ? even if it sounds like a cat being tortured. You will improve as long as you keep trying. Here's a mental exercise for you. Fast forward your mind to 4 years from now. How good a guitar player will you be? The time will pass regardless of what you do. Are you going to keep at it? or are you going to give up? It's up to you. You will be four years older, but will you be four years wiser?

John Stockwell is a guitar player and the author of the acclaimed "Mind Over Music for Guitar" http://www.learn-to-play-guitar.net/mindov ermusic/, a unique approach to learning to play the guitar by ear for beginners to advanced students.

---

Art of the Recording Engineer: From Michael Jackson to Mutant Radio, Matt Forger Speaks Out

Interviewed by Scott G (The G-Man)G-Man: When people think of Matt Forger, they usually think of your work with Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney,... Read More

A Brief History of Gongs

The gong is one of the oldest musical instruments in the world. Archaeologists have unearthed gongs built almost four thousand years ago. No wonder when we hear... Read More

New Age Piano Playing and the Sustain Pedal

There are 3 pedals on most pianos. The one on the left dampens the strings and makes the sound come out softer. The one in the middle... Read More

Who?s Playing What? A Guide To The Guitars Of The Pros

Eric Clapton performs his slow-handed magic on his. Even with just nine fingers, Jerry Garcia kept countless Deadheads dancing as he played with his. At the mere... Read More

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... Read More

Reaching For The Soul Zone

Every searching artist wants to get there. It's that magical place where something takes over, you know, when something bigger than you whispers in your ear and... Read More

Ouch, It Hurts When I Sing!

When I first set out to write this article about voice problems in singers, I was looking for two experts from contrasting fields of medicine ? "medical"... Read More

Common Thoughts That Kill Inspiration

Do you sit down at the piano and feel anxiety or peace? Are you anxious to begin creating or does the thought of being at your instrument... Read More

Beginning Clarinet: The Very Start

Like starting with any instrument, beginning clarinet is a process of learning that involves both great achievement and the occasional setback. However, if the beginning clarinetist follows... Read More

Is it Possible to Download Music Legally Anymore?

Throughout the past few years downloading music on the internet has increased in popularity. At the same time though, it has become illegal through many companies to... Read More

How to Create an Original Melody

Here's a method I use that works. First, sit down at your piano or keyboard and just improvise. I suggest improvising first because music that is created... Read More

Top Rap Song

After months of email and posts, we've finally compiled and rated what you submitted as the top rap songs of all time. At first we tried to... Read More

How to Create Interesting Textures

A lot of new age piano music consists of repeating patterns, or textures in the left hand while the right hand improvises a melody. This approach is... Read More

If Setting The Gain Correctly is So Important, Why Dont Mic Preamplifiers Have Meters?

When you first learn how to use a mixing console, you will be shown how to set the gain. Your instructor - either in audio school or... Read More

Liberate your iPod

When Akio Morita came up with the idea of the Sony Walkman all of his colleagues at the thought he was completely insane. The general consensus was... Read More

Piano Music - How to Begin and End a Piece

How do you begin a piece of music? That's a question I'm often asked. The answer I usually give is that you begin as soon as you... Read More

How Has Eminem Risen to the Top?

How is it that a little white boy from Kansas City has become the most well known rapper in the world? Starting from nothing and eventually moving... Read More

A Guitar Lesson To Help You Test Your Note Knowledge

In this guitar lesson we look at a great way to test your note knowledge of the guitar fretboard. But before we look at that, why even... Read More

New Age Music - How Its Made

Different styles of music have different "sounds." We can all pretty much agree on that point. For example, Jazz uses seventh chords almost exclusively. This, and the... Read More

Music Industry Secrets Revealed - How To Become Succesful The Music Industry Without A Record Deal

Before the internet, unsigned music artists couldnt make a living, off the thing they love and enjoy the most: Their music! They would have to send in... Read More

Five Steps to Protecting Your Music and Your Money

There are a lot of independent labels out there waiting to use a talented musician to make quick money. The offers may seem hard to refuse, especially... Read More

ADIRONDACK versus SITKA SPRUCE

Both of these timbers make great soundboards on flat top acoustic guitars. They have had popularity at different times in history heres the story so far.Adirondack or... Read More

Can You Really Learn To Play a Musical Instrument From an Online Course?

Out of the 250 million people in the United States, about 25 million of them play an instrument of some kind, or used to when they were... Read More

What Works Best in New Age Piano Improvisation

Many students want to know how to improvise. What they really want to know is how to be able to keep an improvisation going.It's not difficult to... Read More

New Age Music - What Is It Good For?

Let's face it. The world will not end if there isn't another new age music CD on the market. So why bother? Why play when most people... Read More

The Dark Side of P2P File Sharing

P2P file sharing programs are free. Period. But there are P2P scam sites out there that want you to pay them instead. P2P scam sites are rogue... Read More