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Tune Up Your Practice!

How to get better at guitar. Undercovered and overlooked vital topics. What they never told you about guitar practice!

Mar 6, 2018
1 min

Fame at Last!

Then he reminds me that learners are often told, "Here is a set of notes, keep bashing away at them and you will get them".

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Old Swanner

Jan 28, 2018
2 min

A New Way to View Music - Taplature

"The guitarist must be able to tap his foot when he plays! A must! Forget about every other lesson in the book!" - Al Di Meola

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Old Swanner

Nov 15, 2017
2 min

Stuck Behind Barres?

Fighting for that initial breakthrough is usually the toughest battle; beyond that, progress is always steady and fast.

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Old Swanner

Nov 1, 2017
6 min

The Quickest Way to Learn the Fretboard?

We'll use the dots at frets 3, 5 and 7 to lay the foundation for getting to know every note on the guitar! If you get all this after one re

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Old Swanner

Oct 29, 2017
3 min

BPM, A Universal Method for Guitar

If we're practising lots we may think it must be getting better, but our moods and perception can play havoc with our conclusions.

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Old Swanner

Oct 22, 2017
1 min

Get Travis Picking in 2 Minutes!

Using this simple method we can condense into a few minutes, what took me many weeks to "get" on guitar back in the 1980s. Tune up and foll

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Old Swanner

Oct 8, 2017
3 min

How's Your Progress? Your Practice Folder Holds the Answers!

We all like to believe that we are getting better (at guitar) ... Unfortunately our beliefs do not always tally with the facts of the matter

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Old Swanner

Oct 6, 2017
5 min

Finger Independence, The Holy Grail for Guitarists (3) Stretch & The Double Chromatic.

The tensions and sensations you feel in your hand when trying to go faster will be those you've probably encountered many times before

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Old Swanner

Sep 22, 2017
2 min

Chord Theory for Guitar. Free Interactive Crash Course.

I usually find it more accessible to use a piano keyboard rather than a guitar to demonstrate the rudiments of theory.

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Old Swanner

Sep 21, 2017
1 min

The Desktop Fretboard - Great for Beginner/Intermediate Students.

Grab the relevant card, drop it onto the desktop fretboard, and by sliding it up and down we can see which notes make things up in every key

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Old Swanner

Sep 18, 2017
2 min

How I Learned to Play Guitar in 6 Weeks

Although mentally I fully understood what to do, the physical side of things was as tough for me as for any beginner I'd ever taught.

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Old Swanner

Aug 1, 2017
3 min

Finger Independence, The Holy Grail for Guitarists (2) Chromatic Octaves

This is a concept equally vital to single string lead playing, and one that's generally poorly covered if at all.

338 viewsWrite a comment

Old Swanner

Jul 19, 2017
4 min

Finger Independence, The Holy Grail for Guitarists (1) Basic Spider Patterns.

I'm talking about physical mechanics, plain and simple. Your hands and fingers are the most important tools of the trade. If they're up to

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Old Swanner

May 31, 2017
3 min

Guitar Chord Changes - The Missing Link

As far as I can tell, this is the first time this subject has been covered to the depth discussed below. Start making your toughest chor...

342 viewsWrite a comment

Old Swanner

May 28, 2017
4 min

Effective Practice: Stairway to Guitar Heaven.

What this flowchart says is, if your guitar practice is working for you, keep doing what you're doing! But what if you're not improv

312 viewsWrite a comment

Old Swanner

May 11, 2017
3 min

Problem? Use the 3 Principles!

For me, the greatest myth concerning guitar practice is that if you "keep doing it, you'll keep getting better". Most of us are confronted

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Old Swanner

May 11, 2017
3 min

How Good is your Technique?

Focusing on these four notes for a while can highlight the learning process on guitar quite clearly. While the pattern is still new, progre

213 views1 comment

Old Swanner

Apr 26, 2017
3 min

Are you a Frustrated Guitarist?

My opinion is that in the main, everyone learns guitar in the same way, at the same sort of pace, that is, if they are practising effectivel

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Old Swanner

Apr 22, 2017
2 min

Recording Guitar Students, Why it Works.

Making The Switch After 20 years of teaching guitar solely face to face, I've begun the switch to adding Skype lessons to my schedule. A...

33 viewsWrite a comment

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