Comments on: Be Ready to Perform on Guitar Anytime Anywhere

By: Mary

Mary — Wed, 25 May 2016 11:57:34 +0000

I really appreciate you guys for impacting people with your skills. Kudos to you. Pls I want to learn how to play fingerstyles. Can you show me the easiest way to learn this. Tnks

By: kmac

kmac — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 21:04:36 +0000

Learn a few jazz standards in a chord melody style.. if you have about 10 which is stupidly easy to do. You can come across as smart and learned.. works every time. LOL

By: kyle

kyle — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 17:10:22 +0000

hello:) i had a strange request for you, i run a music appreciation page on facebook and i love your site it’s very insightful. so i was curious if you would do a weekly post on the page or if you’d rather me just take stuff from the site too post. just a thought, let me know your thoughts on this.

By: G.E.L.

G.E.L. — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 20:06:30 +0000

When I started learning Guitar, once I had the basic chords and 5 or 6 songs I could play end to end, I started learning to sing along with them, to me this is the Key to remembering songs to play when asked imprompteu. I also always have a tuning fork in my wallet and picks in my pocket, this way when I am at a persons house ( san’s Guitar ) and they find out i play, when they say “hey I have a guitar, can you play something?” I can tune it and play it!
Knowing the lyrics ( even if your not really proficient at singing ) help you recall the arrangement, so if you can get them singing along and just have to fill in the blanks vocally, you can let your playing carry the weight and Voila everyones happy.Singing also has helped me to become a better backup vocalist as well. In my case I can sing fairly well so when I get the chance to play I do and it usually leads to more paying playing :) It’s a very effective advertising / marketing tool. Perform at the drop of a hat, do it well and you will get more work for yourself, your band, or possibly even get an introduction to more players that could end up forming another or a better performiong unit.
So don’t be shy, and get on with learning the vocals as well as the guitar parts and remember IT’S ALL ABOUT HAVING FUN when your asked to play like this, so don’t stress it, just be prepared and enjoy it, If you do, they will :) Cheers!

By: Klaus Crow

Klaus Crow — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 08:09:47 +0000

Hi Neil,

I think many guitar players will recognize themselves in your story.
It’s funny, kind of the same thing happened to me what you were tellin’ about your cousin.

I just to hang out in a guitar store in my hometown and there was this guy who came along once in a while.
He just knew a few chords but when he entered the store he sat down and began to play and sing his heart out. While I was working on stuff like Satriani and Stevie Ray Vaughan I was totally blew away by something so easy, so simple but so beautiful.

Why didn’t I just do that. Still i took another 10 years before I started memorizing lyrics to the songs…

I was spending three days on a catamaran sailing the great barrier reef (australia) with a bunch of people from around the world who by accident came to know that I could play the guitar.

So one night they asked me to play something (they had a guitar on board) and okay I could play a lot of instrumental stuff and also the riffs and solos everyone wanted to hear, but I couldn’t sing any lyrics to the songs and that bothered me. Luckily I had my wife with me, she’s a singer and she sang a lot of songs that night. Phew!

But still… I think it was a major shortcoming. And from that moment I made a pledge to myself to start learning to play and SING complete songs from beginning to end.

I’m so happy now!

Best regards,
Klaus Crow

By: Neil

Neil — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 14:22:28 +0000

Hey Klaus,

Great post man!

I wish that I had read it a couple years ago :) It would’ve saved me allot of stress and headaches.

Every time I go to a cook out or family event somebody is always asking me to bring my guitar along. And every time I am stumped for things to play.

“Here’s the solos from Comfortably Numb,” or “Let’s play Purple Haze, Aunt Margret you’re singing it, Let’s ROCK!” just never seem to satisfy.

It wasn’t until I decided to start singing a bit and memorizing some lyrics that these low-key performances became enjoyable for everybody.

I was inspired to make this change by my cousin. Though he isn’t as accomplished on guitar as I am, he had a whole stable of songs that he can whip out at anytime and rock the house. I would usually accompany him on lead but it was obvious to me that singing and performing were skills I should really try to develop.

I started the same way you mentioned by picking tunes I loved rather then tunes everybody would know and it was easier to remember the words. Memorizing lyrics is not my strong suit either.

Now I can confidently stroll into any situation knowing that I can entertain the crowd. Which makes me feel good.

Take care,

Neil

By: Klaus Crow

Klaus Crow — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 07:35:53 +0000

Hi Kyle,

Sorry, I misread part of your comment. Next time I’ll put on my glasses. :)

My readers are mixed from beginners to advanced, so they will appreciate the method you wrote down.

Thanks for responding.

Best regards,
Klaus Crow

By: Klaus Crow

Klaus Crow — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 06:14:47 +0000

In reply to Mike C.

Hi Mike,

Right on! Transcribing and analyzing makes the song really a part of you and that way it will be stored in your long term memory.

I bet if you would play those songs from your old repertoire a few times you’d be surprised how quickly those songs come back to you. You’ll be back in shape in no time!

Best regards,
Klaus Crow

By: Kyle

Kyle — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 06:00:35 +0000

Klaus,

I’m a little confused by your response :/
I meant that learning songs “is” the best way to become a better guitarist. This method, though gleamed from jazz instruction, isn’t limited to learning jazz. Just take out the improvisational (soloing) elements.

I’m not sure if your readers are mostly beginners, but this information is good for serious guitarists.

And like Mike said, transcribing your favorite song by ear helps too. It develops your ear at a much faster rate, but again is probably not something beginners want to do :)

-Cheers
Kyle Williams

By: Mike C

Mike C — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 20:57:34 +0000

Hey Klaus,

I would like to add that transcribing your favorite song(s) also seems to help. The work you put in gives you a real sense of accomplishment. Slow them down and figure out what notes and chords are being played and groove along with the recording. Then when you feel like you’ve really got it memorized, play it until you perfect it. I’m an old fingerstyle guitarist who’s been away from the guitar for a good while now but when I was really active, I could play a list of songs completely that would span two hours. It felt great!