He may be my new guitar teacher for 1:1 training.
Guitar Teacher: “Email me Your Youtube Recordings”
Everyone has Youtube recordings, don’t they? My new guitar teacher wanted to assess my 1 1/2 years of guitar skills. Luckily I have some recordings on Youtube.
Other people publish their YouTube recordings, I just store them on Youtube as “unpublished”.
So I emailed him some of my Youtube recordings from 3 months to 13 months. See below.
1. RK – Three Little Birds after 3 Months.mp4 .
Acoustic after 3 months of playing guitar. Recording with Android so the sound isn’t crisp.
2. 6.7.2024 – It Was a Very Good Year by Frank Sinatra.
8 months playing guitar. Using a better microphone. You can hear my guitar and my voice, but you can’t see my hands well. Can’t remember the amp. At this point I began
3. 6.8.2014 – Roy Clark / Johnny Cash I Never Picked Cotton
8 months playing guitar. Epiphone LP Special LE, capo on 4th fret, amp unknown (perhaps a Peavey VIP-1).
4. Richard Plays “People are Crazy” by Billy Currington (10 months on guitar). Glarry Semi-Hollow GTL (telecaster?) on perhaps a Peavey VIP-1 amp. Start at 1:30 into video to avoid my intro words.
5. 13 Months of Guitar – Richard plays Deep River Blues on a Glarry Guitar
Playing my Glarry semi-hollow telecaster (cheap and fun). Using my Peavey Vypyr VIP-1 at volume 3. The song comes from the OldTownSFM. No pick, I use my middle finger to strum (I use picks but use my fingernail technique often). Sadly, you can’t see my hands as I play. Skip to 3:15 if you want to miss my intro chat.
Professional Feedback on my 18 Month Guitar Skills
Professional Feedback on My 18 Month Guitar Skills
My guitar teacher and I had a 10 minute chat about my skills.
Guitar Teacher: Do You Use a Metronome?
Guitar teacher: Do you use a metronome?
Shoshin Guitarist (me):
“Kindof…”
“My online guitar lessons from Justin Guitar and Fender provide the correct metronome beat. The online songs just carry me along.
“For my OTSFM (Old Town School of Folk Music Songs) I rarely use a metronome.
So my online playing sounds better than my sheet music playing.”
Guitar Teacher: Use a Metronome
I knew that my lack of metronome usage in my sheet music had been lacking in my first year of practicing guitar.
“I am not good at keeping the beat in my guitar songs.” – Shoshin Guitarist
My guitar teacher’s advice was use the metronome (especially or your sheet music playing). Even record with a metronome. Keep the beat.
Teacher’s Advice: Return to Jamming with Others (Using Sheet Music)
I briefly explained to my new guitar teacher that in 18 months I have learned in 3 major ways:
- Online training from Justin Guitar and Fender Play app.
- These are programmed courseware where techniques are taught, songs presented, but there is no sheet music.
- Three classes at OTSFM (Old Town School of Folk Music). That was a total of 24 one hour group sessions.
- Intro Guitar I and II classes.
- Intro Bass.
- Several times attending Americana Jam at the Old Town School of Folk Music.
- It was a bit overwhelming.
- Of 15 musicians I was perhaps the 2nd worst. Certainly in the bottom 20% of the class.
He recommended I return to the Americana Jam at OTSFM with this advice: Practice the songs you will jam. You don’t want to “bring the others down” because of your playing.
If you live in Chicago, IL USA. The Old Town School of Folk Music has an Americana Jam every Wednesday from noon to 2 PM. They are of course located on N. Lincoln Avenue in Chicago, IL.
If you live elsewhere, find an in-person jam with sheet music.
Keeping the Beat with Sheet Music is an Essential Guitar Skill
I have watched many Youtube videos discussing intermediate guitar skills.
On many Youtube videos discussing “are you an intermediate guitarist” these 3 points are missed or not discussed.
- Always keep the beat with a metronome.
- Online courses will carry you along with their beat. That’s too easy.
- You need to read sheet music and keep the BPM on your own.
- Read sheet music.
- If you can’t read sheet music, you are doomed to using guitar riffs for the rest of your life.
- Guitar savants don’t need sheet music. But ordinary guitar players need sheet music.
- Jam with others (keep the beat and read sheet music).
- Yes, we all want to jam with a buddy or with some other people.
- But you need to “keep the beat”. Use a metronome until you are good enough to play without it.
- Jamming with others means that you get to learn more about guitar with others.
The Shoshin Guitarist and his Metronome
So starting today, when I play sheet music, I am using my metronome.
And if I record with music, I will use the metronome.
Thanks for visiting Shoshin Guitarist today.