How To Practice
Posted: February 5, 2017
by Diana
How To Practice For the Student and Parent Practicing requires
as much physical work as it does mental work and this holds
especially true for the guitar. When you practice you are not
only teaching your fingers to do things they haven’t done before
but you are also learning a new instrument and language while at
the same time teaching your ears to he...
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The Guitar Player and the Church - A Story
Posted: October 5, 2015
by Lloyd
I was leading a group of about 8 amateur musicians during a
church confirmation service and we were all neatly and tightly
tucked and barely able to fit ourselves into the tiny choir loft
space that was mostly taken up by an old dusty organ. From this
lofty position there was a full unobstructed and suspended view
of the proceedings below as if we had box se...
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How Chords are Constructed and Related
Posted: October 5, 2015
by Lloyd
Are you at that place where you have learned a bunch of chord
pictures but you have no idea how they fit together and if they
do and why? If so this read might help you to understand some of
the mechanics of music. I have a mantra that I keep repeating to
all my students and it is: "Chords come from scales". This
simple idea is intrinsic to how our sy...
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There Are No Shortcuts
Posted: June 17, 2015
by Lloyd
This weekend we had our end of the year student recital and as
always it was fun and entertaining to watch and listen to the
performances and the personalities and observe their progress.
It never ceases to amaze me how different each student is and
how despite these differences music has the capacity to open up
a voice of expression for each one of them...
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Learning To Speak The Language Of Music
Posted: June 16, 2015
by Lloyd
I taught my first music lessons at the age of 17 at a pop up
music school called ABC Music Studios in Vancouver. I remember
the "studios" were dingy and dark with draw curtains separating
one space from another. There was virtually no expectation on
the part of the management regarding the necessary
qualifications for their teachers. At that time, my r...
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