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6 Simple Ways Parents Can Support Their Child’s Guitar Lessons

In Guitar Blog, Interviews and Insights, Music by Craig Smith

As a music teacher and private lesson instructor for a while now, I’ve taught them all. From ages 7-70, I’ve seen students become proficient on guitar no matter what their background.  The challenges from younger learners are much different than with older ones. The sad thing is the reason most of the younger students (18 and under) quit is because of the parents.  Without realizing it, parents may be hamstringing their child’s learning potential.  With …

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How Some Of The Most Famous Guitarists Learned To Play

In Guitar Blog, Interviews and Insights, Music by Joe Weintraub

Guitar lessons online for beginners are a great way for people to learn to play the instrument today. Thanks to the rise of the Internet, the possibilities are endless. However, this has not always the case, and some of the most famous guitarists today never had the option of online music lessons. With that being said, read on to find out how they learnt.  Let’s begin with Kurt Cobain. He received his first guitar from …

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WristGrips – Compression Therapy for Guitarists

In Guitar Blog, Practice and Technique, Reviews and Gear by Craig Smith

How’s it going in the practice room today? I had an action packed January full of gigs that concluded yesterday (Sunday) with the 5th of 5 straight gigs in a row. Now, if you’re a Rock Star doing a 90 minute concert or an original, regional band pulling a 45 minute set, chances are you may stop playing before the pain sets in. If you’re like me pulling 3-4 hour cover gigs, 200+ days per …

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10 Essential Guitar Scales for Beginners

In Guitar Blog, Music, Practice and Technique, Scales by Craig SmithLeave a Comment

If you’re a beginning guitar player, you’ve probably heard the word “scales” before but may not be sure where to start. If you’ve tried a few, you may be wondering what the point is to this often tedious guitar playing chore. There are a few reasons why adding scales to your practice routine is super important: Scales build technique, strength and coordination in both hands on the guitar. Scales are the basis for all melody, …

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40 Day Guitar Practice Challenge

In Guitar Blog, Interviews and Insights, Music, Practice and Technique by Craig Smith

Are you ready to take your guitar playing to the next level in 2020? Let’s do it together! New Years resolutions can be cliche but what’s wrong with trying to better yourself, whether it’s a hobby, your health or the desire to become a better guitarist? For beginning guitarists, improvement can be a measured by leaps and bounds almost daily. For intermediate and advanced guitarists those jumps in technique and musicality can be few and …

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5 Ways Guitarists Develop A Better Ear

In Guitar Blog, Interviews and Insights, Music by Craig Smith

One of the most important skills you can develop as a musician is a “good ear”. The ability to match pitch and audiate on the guitar is fundamentally important in all aspects of your playing. Developing your ear will make your improvisation more creative and melodic, as well as improve your composition and make learning and accurately playing any piece of music easier. While some musicians are lucky enough to be born with perfect pitch, …

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HX Stomp Review – Guitar Gear Gift Ideas

In Guitar Blog, Interviews and Insights, Music, Reviews and Gear by Craig Smith

As Thanksgiving and Black Friday approach, we’re all getting ready for our holiday gear shopping, whether for ourselves or the guitarist in your life. If you’re like me, you do most of this shopping online. At this point in my guitar playing career, I really don’t feel the need to go to a big chain music store and listen to some kid (who let’s face it, doesn’t know as much as I do) demo and …

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What You Should Look for in a Guitar App

In Guitar Blog, Music, Reviews and Gear by Craig SmithLeave a Comment

What Should You Look for in a Guitar App? Using apps is one of the ways beginners can learn to play acoustic, electric or bass guitar. It’s convenient and allows you to practice and review lessons even when you’re on the go and even when you don’t have your beginner electric guitar around (here’s a good spot to find one). But with the number of guitar apps out there, how do you know which one …

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Picking Exercises, Guitar Practice, Shred Guitar and Live Gear

In Arpeggios, Chords, Guitar Blog, Practice and Technique, Scales by Craig SmithLeave a Comment

Guitarists have been emailing me… asking where I’ve been and what I’ve been up to. The short answer is, practicing. Practicing a lot. While my writing has a suffered a bit, my guitar chops are making a serious comeback. Most of my friends, family and readers know I do a ton of acoustic guitar gigs. I’m still doing 4-5 per week. Thats just how I pay the bills here! Recently I got the call to …

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10 Ways To Get Your Kids To Appreciate Good Music

In Guitar Blog, Interviews and Insights, Music by Joe WeintraubLeave a Comment

Getting your kids to appreciate good music can start as early as in the womb. Many parents-to-be report excited kicks coming from their tummy when singing to their unborn babies or playing good music. Music can bring great joy and speak to the soul – not only that, it has many benefits that can seriously improve quality of life. Music increases brain power and memory, gives kids a form of artistic expression, improves creativity, can …