Playing tennis with a grapefruit sounds dumb but the world of online guitar instruction is even dumber. Some people end up in cults while others simply wander from one frustration to the next until they admit defeat. The few who stick with it often seek answers from talented players who cannot teach (they literally do not know what they are doing, they just do it) or pass on bad advice that can only be mitigated by expenditures of time and energy that most non-professional players don't have at their disposal.
Playing tennis with a grapefruit sounds dumb but the world of online guitar instruction is even dumber. Some people end up in cults while others simply wander from one frustration to the next until they admit defeat. The few who stick with it often seek answers from talented players who cannot teach (they literally do not know what they are doing, they just do it) or pass on bad advice that can only be mitigated by expenditures of time and energy that most non-professional players don't have at their disposal.
Think about it like this: imagine 'good' technique as a circle and 'bad' technique as a straight line. The only way to emulate the good circle with a bad straight line is to multiply it by 20 and form an Icosagon that looks like a circle if you step back far enough from it and maybe squint your eyes a little. A lot of good players overcome bad technique by building in a lot of other bad techniques (for a total of 20 straight lines, if you will) that they manage to keep welded together through 40+ hours of play and practice every week.
Think about it like this: imagine 'good' technique as a circle and 'bad' technique as a straight line. The only way to emulate the good circle with a bad straight line is to multiply it by 20 and form an Icosagon that looks like a circle if you step back far enough from it and maybe squint your eyes a little. A lot of good players overcome bad technique by building in a lot of other bad techniques (for a total of 20 straight lines, if you will) that they manage to keep welded together through 40+ hours of play and practice every week.
But you don't have that kind of time to practice so the hunt is on for silver bullets, tricks, and secrets.
But you don't have that kind of time to practice so the hunt is on for silver bullets, tricks, and secrets.
The bad news is also the good news: the secret to guitar technique is that there is no secret.
The bad news is also the good news: the secret to guitar technique is that there is no secret.
Learn proper technique in a few minutes and put in as much time as you can.
Learn proper technique in a few minutes and put in as much time as you can.
I learned how to pick by some old pipe-smoking dude with slicked-back hair wearing a suit and tie. He was as square as a Rubik's Cube but he knew what he was doing. Guitar education went sideways with the proliferation of distortion pedals and stay-at-home hot licks idol worship videos in the 80s and 90s and then it went completely bonkers after YouTube destroyed all sanity and reason.
I learned how to pick by some old pipe-smoking dude with slicked-back hair wearing a suit and tie. He was as square as a Rubik's Cube but he knew what he was doing. Guitar education went sideways with the proliferation of distortion pedals and stay-at-home hot licks idol worship videos in the 80s and 90s and then it went completely bonkers after YouTube destroyed all sanity and reason.
I do not provide conventional 'guitar lessons' (I do not teach basics) but, rather, I specialize in troubleshooting flawed mechanics and bad guitar technique in general through video analysis of your playing and, rarely, brief face-to-face web-based interactions (e.g., Skype, Zoom, or FaceTime).
I do not provide conventional 'guitar lessons' (I do not teach basics) but, rather, I specialize in troubleshooting flawed mechanics and bad guitar technique in general through video analysis of your playing and, rarely, brief face-to-face web-based interactions (e.g., Skype, Zoom, or FaceTime).
One caveat: I only consult for high-intermediate or advanced players who have immersed themselves in the free material I have already published on my site. Read the book first, or at least the parts of interest to you, then contact me if you like.
One caveat: I only consult for high-intermediate or advanced players who have immersed themselves in the free material I have already published on my site. Read the book first, or at least the parts of interest to you, then contact me if you like.
The book is available for free on the Book page. You can sort out your own technical problems by simply absorbing the material I've already provided.
The book is available for free on the Book page. You can sort out your own technical problems by simply absorbing the material I've already provided.
What do I charge? That's up to you. Only you know how much it's worth. Maybe nothing; maybe a little; maybe a lot.
What do I charge? That's up to you. Only you know how much it's worth. Maybe nothing; maybe a little; maybe a lot.
No strings attached. You can buy your own damn strings.