For the practice clinic this week I thought I would post some specifc questions and our responses. I've been playing for 2 months, my favourite music is 60s and Indie Rock. I usually practice in my room and at guitar lessons. Firstly well done you for taking the biggest step and starting to learn. It's also nice ...
There are huge numbers of musicians who are self taught (it would be interesting to know exactly how many!!). These people are no better or worse than those that have formal lessons. Often they have even more desire to learn as they are lead by the heart and not what teacher/mum/dad wants them to learn. ...
It sounds like this weeks young subject is in a little bit of a panic. The truth is however that with some thought the problem isn't nearly as big as it might seem: I need you to help me with my breathing. I keep runing out at the wrong time or ...
When we're hard at the coal face practising it is sometimes difficult to take a step back and evaluate our progress. We had a question in this week from a trumpet player: Hey, first let me say thanks for a great site. I wonder if you can help me? I have been playing trumpet for around ...
I received a question this week which is very close to my own heart. I've been through the situation our emailer describes and know that this affects most musicians at one time or another. I wonder if you can help. I've been playing guitar for 4 years but feel a bit stuck at the moment. I ...
We've had a number of questions this week about the best way to get good marks in an exam. The questions below from one young lady are typical of others we've received. I'm posting the exchange in the hope that it will be of use to all those others preparing for exams in the near ...
This weeks question comes from a concerned parent and is a worry we know is shared by many other parents. When my daughter began guitar 2 years ago she practiced every day and improved quickly. Now she rarely practices and I am concerned that all the hard work will be lost. I know she still enjoys ...
A change for this weeks advice column. Usually we answer a question that has been sent to us, however this week the question has been mentioned so many times in various discussions and forums that it is worth dealing with here. I don"t have enough time to practice! There aren"t enough hours in the day for ...
Of the many emails we receive the subject of exams is a frequently occuring subject. The question below is typical of those we receive: I have my grade 5 exam coming up in a couple of weeks. My pieces are ok but I''m a bit worried about the scales and sight reading. Is there anything I ...
This week's clinic features a 13 year old violin student. Jane (not her real name) has been playing the violin for two and a half years and has recently passed her grade 4. She emailed us with a couple of questions: I really like to practice the violin and try to do some everyday but I ...