Fingerpicking Guitar Techniques - DVD - Stefan Grossman

I've been trying to learn guitar for ages now. Maybe sometime I'll put up some pics of my guitar collection. I've tried a bunch of books, and even private 1-on-1 lessons, but I never seemed to get anywhere.

With the books I always found myself wondering just what the heck the guitarist was actually doing with his hands to make the chord shapes. Or I'd lose the melody of the song and play as if I was typing the notes with no sense of rhythm at all. Sure there's a cd included with most books, but you then need to take your practice over to a cd player and since moving all my music to my computer, I just don't have one handy anymore.

With private lessons I solved those problems, but gained some new ones. You can buy a pretty nice guitar for what just a few months of lessons would cost you. Also, I'm incredibly shy about playing in front of people. Even though that's pretty much the whole point of having the teacher there I'd usually end up getting too nervous and uncomfortable to play along, and just try to cut the lesson short so I could go home to practice by myself.  Also, when you're working with a teacher, you have to work on their agenda.  Oh they'll say you're the boss, and that they can teach you whatever you'd like, but it never seems to work out that way.  They always want you to work through this one book first, or do these theory exercises.  And really, all you want to do is play something.  Even just learning one little song to show your family and friends when they demand a performance.  After all the lessons I took, all I knew was a couple chords with no clue of how to put them together, a couple scales, and a handful of blues solo leads that sound okay if you have a band behind you, and sound completely rubbish playing all alone. 



So, after some thought about giving up on guitar altogether, I finally decided to take the plunge and try a lesson DVD.  For me at least it solves all my problems.  It's like having a teacher in the room, but you can pause him and make him go back whenever you like.  Also,you don't have to feel like you're being judged, so you can be more comfortable.  Sure you've got to put your practice space in front of a tv/dvd player.....but that works perfectly for my space. And once again, you've got to deal with the teacher's agenda.  But in the case of a DVD, you can probably find one that suits your needs, and there's so many reviews on the net that you know what you're getting before you jump in.  And hell, even at $30-$40 for most good lesson dvds, it's still cheaper than a 1-hour lesson so if you hate it, you're not out much.  And if you love it, you're going to get way more than 1 hour out of the content.

Mary and Max (2009)

It's not the best trailer ever, but it does give you at least a warning that this film is a little odd. It's odd but sweet. If you have ever in your life felt like you didn't quite fit in, you will identify with these characters. A little girl from Australia, and a middle-aged man from New York strike up a pen-pal friendship that lasts for years. Simply amazing.

Stuff I Like

One thing I’m known for among my friends is the ability to filter through a lot of the crap in the world and discover new (to me/them) and wonderful things that probably wouldn’t have come to their attention otherwise. Whether it be music, movies, or even the occasional TV show, I’m always there to share some new find. Now, to make it easier, and keep it all in one place, I will start putting introductions to these things on my blog.

New Blog

Another day, another blog. I’ve started a few, with grand plans to make important posts in all of them. Always, I have left them empty, because, to start an amazing blog full of important posts, you must start with one mighty fine, important post.

This blog however is going to be full of rubbish. So enjoy.