Subject: Get Aware
Get Aware
August 31st, 2017 at 9:39 am EDTHey Friend, Have you noticed over the last few email that I’ve been asking you to think about how you physically play with your picking hand? I’ve also mentioned that you must figure out the best techniques for YOU. It doesn’t matter how Kirk ...
To Anchor, or Not to Anchor
August 30th, 2017 at 8:29 am EDTHey Friend, Now let’s talk about another aspect of your picking hand technique - to anchor, or not to anchor, that is the question… (thank, Willie!). I guess a definition is in order: Anchoring is using part of your hand or a finger to establi ...
It Starts With The Elbow
August 29th, 2017 at 8:35 am EDTHey Friend, We were talking about the starting point for good strumming yesterday when I was rudely interrupted by needing to go to the j.o.b…. So let's get back to it. The question was "where does good strumming come from?" Is it in the elbow, ...
Where Does Good Strumming Come From?
August 28th, 2017 at 8:37 am EDTHey Friend, Happy Monday! Aren’t y’all overjoyed to be heading back to work? I’m just sooo excited! Or not… I’d rather be sitting here with you having a chat about music and guitar! Did you get a chance yesterday to do a little Youtube ...
Chill Out
August 27th, 2017 at 9:45 am EDTHey Friend, Nothing new today. Instead, I encourage you to jump over to Youtube and pull up a video from your favorite artist. I don’t want you to just sit there and listen to it. I want you to focus on the rhythm of the song. Take your exper ...
Doubling Up
August 26th, 2017 at 9:48 am EDTHey Friend, Now that you’ve had a couple days to try out the clapping technique to improve your timing and rhythm, let’s spice it up a little. We'll start with clapping again. Warm up at a tempo of 80 BPM (beats per minute), clapping for each ...
Look Mom, No Rhythm
August 25th, 2017 at 8:38 am EDTHey Friend, Rhythm is the foundation of music. It is the base on which we build songs. Rhythm gives a framework for our brains to follow. If there were no established rhythm in a piece of music, it would be very difficult to consistently perform it ...
Grow Your Chops
August 24th, 2017 at 8:37 am EDTHey Friend, So how did the clapping exercise go yesterday? We’re you able to even out your timing with the metronome? Of course, this isn’t a skill you practice one time and you’re done. Timing is one of those things that consistent, daily pr ...
Clap It Out
August 23rd, 2017 at 8:35 am EDTHey Friend, One of the keys to clean guitar playing is learning to synchronize your hands. While they will often work independently of each other, there are many techniques that also require your hands to work as if they’re glued together. When o ...
Two Hands, Independent but Together
August 22nd, 2017 at 8:36 am EDTHey Friend, Another aspect of guitar playing that you don’t often hear talked about is the coordination between your two hands. As I’ve said, most of the focus goes to the fretting hand, but the picking hand is the one doing the work to bring t ...