Information on this year's Worlds Biggest Band event. www.guitarsonthebeach.com
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Today on my second day of work experience with Paul, we started at South Molton school and gave some children guitar lessons. After that we came back to Braunton for my own guitar lesson. Next it was my sisters lesson which I played the cajon (small drum) for, and assisted her along with songs that Paul had shown her recently. Next we headed back to Ilfracombe to collect the equipment for a ukulele workshop that evening, once everything was packed up it was time to go. For this particular workshop, we drove to Simonsbath house on Exmoor. The workshop was full of enthusiastic children, and ran very smoothly. After the workshop we headed back home. A very long tiring second day, and much of the same tomorrow.
Music lessons are booming across the UK Telephone 07866 650015 to book your guitar or ukulele lessons in your own North Devon Home or anywhere in the world by Skype, FaceTime, or Google Hangouts. I received a phone call enquiring about my guitar lessons. It was a very 'everyday' enquiry that covered all the usual questions. The enquirer wanted lessons for her son and agreed to all my terms. The conversation went on. Me 'so, what is your sons name'? Enquirer '**** McCartney'. I quipped, 'well that's a great name for a guitar player.' To my surprise, the enquirer replied, 'actually he is related to Paul McCartney, his father is Paul McCartney's second cousin'. This one could be a natural! If you would like to book guitar lesson with me call 07866 650015 YouTube guitar lessons are free. They are worth less than that. Let me explain that comment. I spend an awful lot of my time as a guitar and ukulele teacher correcting students who come to me having tried (some cases for years) this method of learning. They learn bad habits and incorrect information from YouTube. Consequently, time and money is wasted as I put things right again. Students find it harder to relearn than starting from scratch. When I started to learn in the Stone Age, YouTube didn't exist. I'm not saying YouTube is all bad, but sorting the good from the chaff is really difficult as a beginner. Let me give you an example, I searched in YouTube 'how to play G on guitar'. The first 'lesson' I saw was this. The smart ones amongst you will notice it's F. I don't think this would have tripped too many of you up. So let's look at the next video. This time Justin explains how to play a G chord. He rabbits on a bit, has nice graphics. Further on down and you get this. This guy teaches G completely differently. Which one is correct? Very confusing if you're a beginner. If you hit the wrong version first, you could learn the chord the incorrect way, screwing up your guitar playing career before you have really got going. Let me give you a clue, Justin has lovely graphics, but his guitar playing is not so lovely. It's the 2nd video on YouTube. Don't forget, F was the first one. Hopefully you get my point. Here is another. This guy has got hundreds of lessons on his YouTube channel. He does not even know the basics. He does not know what the strings are called, constantly mixing up the top and bottom strings. Please don't waste your time and money trying to learn on YouTube. Get professional advice from someone in the know. I give guitar and ukulele lessons around North Devon homes and schools, Petroc and anywhere else in the world by Skype, FaceTime and Google Hangouts. I saw this picture yesterday, I got me thinking. The person who made this joke, needs to read my blogs. I've made money from playing guitar for some 30 years now, for 15 years, it has been my main income. The problem for most people that can't make money at it, is not lack of musical skills, but lack of management skills. Look around you at other musicians in your area, which musicians make money, which ones don't? It may sound obvious, but I looked at this, worked out what the money making musicians did that the others didn't do and copied the good habits. Here are a couple of things not to do. 1. Play for free. Anyone can play for free. You can fill your diary with endless open mics, charity events and such like. I limit my charity events to just one or two a year. http://paulclews888.weebly.com/1/post/2013/03/open-mic-nights-why-you-should-not-play-them.html Make sure you are playing for the minimum Musicians Union rates for the job. This minimum rate, is the minimum for a reason, it's the minimum you are worth. 2 Not treat yourself as a business. Have a business plan. Know what you want and how you are going to achieve it. Also, be flexible. This is just so important. it could be a whole book in itself, not just a little part of a blog post. http://paulclews888.weebly.com/1/post/2013/12/managing-band-finances.html Win a free half hour guitar or ukulele lesson by Skype, FaceTime or google hangouts. During #DevonHour on twitter, this week only (21/82013), 10 questions about me will appear under the hash tag #SoYouThinkYouKnowMe. Simply tweet the answers back to me. All the answers are in my twitter time line and blogs. The winner will be announced shortly after Saturday 6 pm (24/8/2013) when the competition closes, here and on Twitter. In the event of a tie, I will draw a winner from the most correct answers. Anyone is eligible to play, except me. Good luck! You must be able to get your hands on a guitar or ukulele. No cash alternatives. My decision is final. We are coming to the end of another school year, they just seem to fly by! This year I have been teaching guitar and ukulele at Ilfracombe Junior School, Ilfracombe Infant School, Berrynarbor School, Filleigh School, Chittlehampton School, and new to this year Chulmleigh School. Due to many children moving up to their senior schools and colleges, I will have space for new students in all the above schools. Places will be limited, but I can take your booking now by calling 07866 650015. If you already have lessons with me and intend to carry on, there is no need to contact me. If your school is not on the above list, you could ask your school to contact me, to arrange for me to teach in your school, or you could simply have lessons after school in you own home. Hope you all have a great summer holiday, let's hope for some sun this year. My old shop 'Flipside', in Church Street. I used to sell CDs VHS videos, and musical instruments. This was the late eighties and early nineties. The inside view. That's me on the right. If you remember the shop, or even better, if you were a customer, please leave your memories in the comments section. Standard Tuning
The notes of the open srings of a guitar in standard tuning are (starting with the thickest string) E, A, D, G, B and E. To remember this, Elephants And Donkeys Grow Big Ears. The easiest way to tune your guitar is with an electronic tuner. They come in various types, but are really cheap these days, and well worth the investment. There are also internet tuners, mobile phone and ipod tuners these days. I use the Polytune app for iPhone/iPod. It is also vital to be able to tune by hear. so this is how it's done. Assuming the 6th string is in or at least nearly in tune, hold down the the note on the 5th fret. The note produced should be the same as the open 5th string. If it is not, turn the tuning peg on the 5th string until the notes produced are the same. Once this is completed hold down the 5th fret on the 5th string. This should produce the same note as the open 4th string. Again if this is not the case, then turn the tuning peg on the 4th string until it is the same. Hold down the 5th fret of the 4th string. This note should be the same as the open 3rd string. Again if it is not, turn the tuning peg until it is the same. This time hold down the 4th fret of the 3rd string. This fret should produce the same note as the 2nd string. If does not, then turn the tuning peg of the 2nd string until it does. Finally, hold down the 5th fret of the 2nd string, this should produce the same note as the open 1st string. If it is not, turn the 1st tuning peg until it is the same. This should have put the guitar in tune. It is not very easy to do and does take practice. For information on guitar lessons http://paulclews888.weebly.com/guitar--ukulele-lessons.html
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