FINALLY! I finally got a chance to sit down and grab the guitar to practice a bit… a good, solid hour of uninterrupted focused practice. And it felt great. I don’t mean to sound like I was fending off pangs of addiction withdrawal or anything, but I’ve really formed a habit of picking up the… Read More Albo’s Practice Diary #003: Weekend of responsibilities
Today was lesson day! It had been a couple weeks since I met with my guitar teacher so I really made it a point to get there this week. I was excited as we began reviewing some basic music theory (what is the relative minor of the key of C; what are the root, tonic… Read More Albo’s Practice Diary #002: It takes ability AND confidence
I’ve gotten pretty good at playing sheet music with open strings, so my instructor is now challenging me to work on 5th position. As part of my homework she wrote out this little diddy… “5th fret rock” (clever! :-)).
The concerts, the bright lights, the all-night jams… ahhhh, that’s the good stuff. Rocking out to your favorite tune and seeing the crowd run wild. It’s what us grown-up guitarists live for. It’s what we dream of and where we draw our energy. The fuel for our fire, so to speak. Just like athletes suiting… Read More 19 hours preparation for only a 48-minute performance? Yeah, it’s worth it!
Whew! I feel awesome! Yeah, buddy! That practice was pure gold… like a refreshing splash of sunshine on a parched eardrum… like a triple encore performance where the crowd refuses to leave until you play “just one more”… I’m so pumped up! It was that amazing. Ok, I’m ready to begin practice.
Practice makes perfect, everyone knows. But as a grown-up, with grown-up responsibilities, and grown-up commitments, it seems like finding time to practice is one of those things on the to-do list that often falls by the wayside. The question is “why?”
Call me Al. I am a rock star. A guitar god. I am as cool as Clapton, as smooth as Santana, as exhilarating as Eddie. Actually, truth be told, I’m a middle-aged white guy from New England with a few extra pounds around the midsection and thinning hairline… BUT… I aspire to be an awesome… Read More The Birth of a Grown-Up Guitarist
“Can Grown-Ups Learn Guitar?” Or, more specifically, “can an adult over the age of 30 every have a chance of truly mastering the guitar and becoming proficient with this instrument???” This is the question that has been burning inside me for a few years now and I’m finally determined to find the answer. I… Read More Can Grown-Ups really learn to master the Guitar?
Grown-Up Guitarist 