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Adulting

In my 20-something years of teaching guitar, one of the funniest things a student ever said was, “I didn’t practice because I couldn’t find where my cleaning lady put my guitar!” Somehow, I don’t think the kid really tore apart his house looking for it. But it’s an original excuse, I’ll say that!

What I hear more often is, “I didn’t get as much practice time as I would have liked.” We can all relate. The days shoot by, especially when you’re “adulting.” You really want to pick up the guitar but, but, but….

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Got Structure?

I’m self-taught as a guitarist. Which means I wasted a lot of “practice time” repeating the few things I sort of knew, with no idea how to improve. Sound familiar? Back in 1988 I had strummed for a few years when I heard my buddy finger-pick a Mississippi John Hurt song. That was humbling ! I realized I didn’t really know much about the guitar. And it’s fair to say my practicing sure didn’t have structure. Oh, well. I guess I’ve become the guitar player I set out to be. Kinda. But, boy, do I wish I could go back in time!

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Songs, Skills & Smarts

Did you ever see that ad for a guitar with lights on the fret board?

Let’s use that image here. Can you look at your neck and picture where your fingers would land for a C major chord? For a G blues scale? What you see depends on what you know, right?

How you perceive the guitar today will surely evolve, so let’s give that evolution some structure: Songs, Skills & Smarts.

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