With so many other guitar methods currently available, you may ask why MJS felt the need to create this new course. The answer: Many people follow their dream and purchase a guitar. The next step is to find a teacher — and unfortunately, that is where 99% of all would-be guitarists fail. Many of the methods are not easy for self-learners to follow. In some cases, methods and even private guitar lessons progress too slowly to retain the interest of the beginner. On the other hand, it seems that only a chosen few have a natural ability to play the guitar. Is it because these few are natural musicians born with the ability to play? No! Not according to GUITAR DVD #1 creator Mark John Sternal, who has been teaching guitar lessons for over 17 years. Ive taught students ranging from age 5 to 86, he says. Ive never turned down a student for lack of talent, and Ive never met a student that I couldnt teach how to play guitar. In GUITAR DVD #1, nothing is taken for granted on the part of the student. From beginning to end, Sternal offers highly detailed and thorough explanations, while the video offers fail-proof close-ups of all the material covered. In recent years, Mark put his unique method to the test and traveled across the United States to promote his first book GUITAR: Total Scales Techniques and Applications (now also on DVD). Stopping in stores like Guitar Center, Sam Ash, Barnes Noble and Borders, Mark would set up his Gibson guitars (which also appear in his DVDs) and demonstrate how he uses his approach to quickly take a player from a beginner level through intermediate and advanced. While earlier MJS titles cover a wider range — from beginner to expert in one complete volume — GUITAR DVD #1 Beginner Basics Beyond is simplified for the absolute beginner. MJS guitar lesson titles are currently available throughout the United States and Canada. GUITAR DVD #1 Beginner Basics Beyond includes over 3 hours of lesson content, and can be purchased for $14.95. A book version is scheduled for release later this summer.
A great guide to understanding purchasing, and caring for the worlds fovorite musical instrument: the acoustic guitar. Highly recommended! — Stuart Chapman The Pikasso guitar by Linda Manzer, commissioned by Pat Metheny.The Acoustic Guitar Guide (Everything You Need to Know to Buy and Maintain a New or Used Guitar) Larry Sandberg. 1991; 260 pp. ISBN 1-55652-104-9 $14.95 ($16 postpaid) from A Capelia Books, Independent Publishers Group, 814 N. Franklin Street, Chicago, IL 60610; 800/888-4741
Back in 1957, Bert Weedon was Britains first rock guitar hero who turned into a cult figure virtually overnight by writing a book that would enable would-be rock kings to learn his strumming technique. The aim of the book, Play in a Day, was set out in its title; someone picking up the guitar for the first time would be able to play something recognisable within a few hours. The book became hugely successful, selling millions of copies worldwide, and helped to produce new generations of rock guitar idols. “Hardly a day goes by without someone telling me theyve bought the book or had someone buy it for them,” says Bert. “People come up to me after shows and at social functions - even in supermarkets and petrol stations.” For Bert Weedon, the guitar has been the other half of an extraordinary professional partnership that has lasted for more than 60 years. When the 12-year-old from Londons East End bought a battered guitar from a market stall on Petticoat Lane, he had no idea how big a part the instrument would play in his life. He spent ages gazing at it, managing to incur the wrath of the stall-holder. A few weeks later, hed saved enough money to buy it, then he realised he had no idea how to play it - and nor did anybody else he knew. In those days, guitars were not commonplace. Eventually, he found an elderly music teacher who showed him how to play some beautiful classical pieces. Weedon, the son of a London Tube driver, had suddenly stumbled on his vocation. He became adept at playing classical, dance, jazz and flamenco - a talent that took him into the leading bands and orchestras of the time. His growing reputation in the Fifties paved the way for him to work with legends such as Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby and Judy Garland. With the arrival of rock n roll, record producers turned to Weedon when they wanted a guitarist to back Britains new stars - he can be heard playing on classic hits by the likes of Billy Fury, Cliff Richard, Marty Wilde, Tommy Steele, Johnny Kidd and Adam Faith. And when Weedon wasnt in the recording studio working with young rock idols - some of them nearly 20 years younger than himself - he was releasing his own records. Countless teenagers, with dreams of becoming pop stars, tentatively fingered their first guitar strings with Weedons book, Play in a Day, open in front of them. Some, such as Eric Clapton, Brian May, Pete Townshend, Mike Oldfield and Sting, went on to achieve stardom. “My guitar has made me friends all over the world,” says Bert. “I get letters every week from all over the place - people telling me theyve got my records or theyve got my book.” Play in a Day set out to cover all the bases, claiming in the introduction to the first edition that “this book will enable the reader to play the guitar up to a standard suitable for playing in a jazz, skiffle, or dance combination”. Play in a Day starts off with illustrations of acoustic and electric guitars, before moving into “how to hold the guitar” - Bert maintains its best to start playing sitting down, although he personally likes to stand up because its better showmanship for TV. Then there is a section on how to tune the guitar, before some simple chord shapes lead the way into the first piece of music to be played by all those future rock idols - the traditional folk song “Bobby Shaftoe”. Would-be pop stars are then slowly moved on to “Jingle Bells” and “When the Saints Go Marching In”. The book ends with some strong advice to new performers about the perils of not playing too loudly, and suggestions about using taste and discretion so as not to deter audiences. And, along with tips on proper care for your guitar, there is a final warning about the importance of regular practice: “Nature did not fashion our fingers for guitar-playing specifically, but nature has given us a mind to think with, will-power, patience and determination.” Later editions of the book remain much the same, although with some updated photos - one Seventies edition has Weedon with serious sideburns and wide lapels - and, as a nod to the passing of musical trends, the section on skiffle has been quietly dropped. A lesser-known follow-up, The Bert Weedon Method for Advanced Guitarists, aims to develop a style for dance bands and beat groups and warns against copying other people and the over-use of the echo chamber. Weedon is proud that so many have learnt to play the Bert Weedon way, but he is not always happy with the results. “As I travel up and down the country, I meet many groups who try to blast their way to success with too much noise and not enough talent.” The man who formed his first band, Bert Weedon and His Harlem Hot-Shots, nearly 60 years ago still performs live today, although no longer in smoky nightclubs or dance halls due to a brush with tuberculosis. At 77, the man who was immortalised in the Shadows song “Mr Guitar” is still obsessed. “The guitar has been my life; to play it, to study it, to write books on it and to get other people to play it,” he says. “I like to think that Ive helped in some way to make the guitar the most popular instrument in the world.” The kid from East Ham who has met all the Royals and who was politely referred to as Mr Weedon by the Beatles was, he says, ecstatic to see Tony Blair carrying his guitar into Number 10. He hopes that whenever the Prime Minister is beset with problems, he will find playing his guitar therapeutic. But not too loudly, please n Bert Weedons `Play in a Day is available from selected music stores or through Music Mail on freephone 0800 376 9100 Eric Clapton: “Thank you for all those tips on guitar-playing that I got from your book when I was a little boy.” Adam Faith: “Bert Weedon played guitar on the first record I ever made. I remember being at Abbey Road Studios and trying to tell him how to play guitar on my record. He was very kind; he didnt smash me over the head with it - he listened, smiled, patted me on the head, sent me away. . . and he ended up playing a great guitar solo for me.” Brian May: “Hes a legend and an incredibly nice guy. There are 1,001 of us so-called guitar heroes whose first experience of guitar-playing on live television was watching Mr Bert Weedon. Thank you very much.” Hank Marvin: “In the Sixties, Bruce (Welch, Shadows colleague) and I wrote `Mr Guitar. Well, its the Nineties now, Bert. When are we going to get paid?”
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