I had the great pleasure last Sunday, of going to watch the final concert of the latest Weekend Warriors course run by Allans Music in Sydney. The concert was at the Empire Hotel in Annandale and featured five great bands who had played together all of about 5 weeks. The atmosphere was brilliant and the [...]
Those songs we hear on the mainstream airwaves - simple, aren’t they? They also follow a very similar formula. This formula is seen by many as the basis of “western music”, and popular music especially makes use of organic “rules”, just as the physical universe has its own mysterious laws.
If you’ve been playing guitar for [...]
I’ve had the pleasure for the last two weeks of stage managing a band competition. It has been a great experience as it is something that I haven’t done for a few years. There was some great young talent on display playing some really good original music. From my point of view there were a [...]
Hi all. Been a bit slow getting new articles in here as I’ve been flat out getting a new project together. Check out my web site, blah, blah, blah. OK…down to business. I’ve been frequenting my local guitar shop a fair bit of late. I won’t name it because they don’t give [...]
The first time I picked up a guitar and started learning guitar playing techniques my whole life changed. I think I slept with it the night I brought my first new guitar home. Its a bit embarrassing to admit, but it is true. I remember the feel of the guitar in my hands and the [...]
Although it is quite possible to teach yourself how to play an instrument, the advances that you can make with a good music teacher and following a course of structured lessons can not be overvalued. Don’t be afraid to make that call to a teacher and discuss your needs. As adults it can be hard [...]
Now that you’ve decided to have drum lessons, the first question that springs to mind is “What do I need to get started?”
Surprisingly little is the answer. Sure you could lash out and buy yourself an expensive drum kit with all the extra’s. In reality though, no one wants to spend a fortune learning an [...]
This article has been inspired by my 17 year old son, who is a budding bass player, drummer, guitarist. He has a high degree of “natural ability” when it comes to picking up instruments. Not surprising when you consider his mother is a pianist and his father a guitarist. In our house, if you can’t [...]
Yes, that is indeed the question in this article.
If I had a dollar for every time I’d been asked that question after a gig.I thought I’d have a little squiz at some of the basic, more common guitar effects in use these days in this installment.
What I will make abundantly clear before I get [...]
As a music teacher one of the most common questions I got was “How much do I need to practice?” Well, the simple answer to that is “How good would you like to be?”
I say it’s the simple answer because there are many factors involved but usually it all comes back to putting in the [...]