Gear Snobbery

As a live performance musician, much of my work (but not all of it) is with Blues bands. I am always careful to make sure that the musical content of what I play, as well as the sound I use to play it is appropriate to the song, the band and the genre. However, there are some on the Blues scene that may frown upon the gear choices I make to achieve this. I think this amounts to deplorable gear snobbery.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of vintage guitars and amps. Mind you, when you get to my age, a lot of the guitars and amps I bought many years ago have since acquired vintage status. Like my '76 Gibson ES345-TD.

Gibson ES345-TD

My 345 is an undeniably lovely American-made guitar, but I rarely take it out to gigs these days. For one thing, it's too valuable. The stereo jack socket is also a pain as I have to use a special lead, with a stereo plug at one end, and a mono plug at the other. The left and right channels are wired together.

Here's a guitar that I use a lot these days. My Japanese-made 1999 Telecaster, which I bought about 15 years ago in Nashville.

Fender '90s Telecaster

I've had this Tele modified with Lindy Fralin pickups, and a four-way switch. It sounds fantastic everywhere I use it, no matter what amp I plug it into. Unlike the 345, it doesn't look like a "Bluesman's" guitar. The scratchplate, shiny black finish and gold hardware make it look too "showbizzy" to some. I don't mind, because it reliably delivers the goods - ringing, responsive bluesy tones whenever and wherever I want them.

Now here's one of my favourite guitars, and it couldn't look much further away from the gear-snob's idea of an ideal Blues guitar. My PRS Swamp Ash Special.

PRS Swamp Ash Special

This is a quality, versatile guitar with a gorgeous natural wood finish, that plays and sounds like a dream, regardless of what style of music you play on it. The near-field pickups are Strat-like or Les Paul-like depending on how high you set the volume control. Why shouldn't I play this with a Blues band? So long as I don't resort to dive bombs and tapping, and keep the playing strictly Blues, the age and the look of the guitar shouldn't matter.

What about amps? I love the warm sound of valve amps, especially Fenders. I never did get on with Marshalls. The one time I owned one, I kept blowing it up. In those days I played loud, but relatively clean, and that particular model was probably intended to be played overdriven all the time. I used to have a vintage Vox AC30, but its excessive weight made me swap it for something lighter. I was playing at least four nights a week in those days, and sometimes the halls were up several flights of stairs. I wish I still had it, it'd be worth a lot of money now.

One of my favourite amps is this one, a Mesa Boogie Mark I Reissue.

Mesa Boogie Mark I Reissue

This is a versatile amp, capable of all kinds of tones. It's great for the sort of Blues I like to play, warm and responsive, just on the edge of breaking up. It doesn't look much like a vintage Fender Bassman, so the gear snobs probably wouldn't approve.

My newest amp doesn't even have valves in it! Yes, you heard that right. It's an Award-Session Blues Baby Deluxe, mounted in a Fender Blues Junior cabinet. Here's a rear-topside view.

Award-Session Blues Baby Deluxe

The gear snobs wouldn't like this, but it would probably fool them because it has the sound of a vintage Fender amp. It's small, light and reliable, and as you play harder, the sound clips into overdrive more.

What about effects pedals? This is where the hypocrisy of the Blues gear snobs really kicks in. What else do you call it when Mr. Gear Snob has a collection of pedals in his signal path, but conceals them behind his beaten-up old amp, or on top of it, instead of on the floor where everyone can see them? I myself use minimal effects. Often, especially at gigs with the more traditional Blues bands, I use none at all. You will always see at least this at my feet...

TC Electronic Polytune

I like to stay in tune, and being able to silently tune up between songs (or even during them) is essential. I don't care that Hubert Sumlin never used one in the '50s!

For some gigs, I use this pedalboard. By most modern guitarists' standards, the sounds it gives me are fairly traditional.

Pedalboard

From left to right, the delay pedal provides a nice slapback echo worth of Sun and Chess studios. Tremolo gives a lovely volume modulation similar to an old Fender Twin Reverb. The Rotary Ensemble simulates a Leslie cabinet for lovely shimmering modulation effects. The Blues driver does what the name suggests. Finally, another tuner pedal. 

My point is that all of these effects were to be found in amp and speaker models available in the '50s, so what's wrong with using them now? I remember a bandleader who shall remain nameless glaring at this very pedalboard as though it was hooked up to the Edge's rack system. The only pedal I actually used at that audition was the tuner! Needless to say I didn't get the gig.

So let's have an end to gear snobbery. If it sounds right it is right!

Session Work

I've been lucky enough in my long music career to have been hired to play on quite a few recording sessions. This is a kind of work that I enjoy very much. I love to perform on stage, but studio work has a quite different set of challenges, and it can also be very rewarding, both financially and from the perspective of personal and musical development.

In fact, my very first paid job as a musician was a recording session. I was 15 years old, and this was even before my first band had played its first gig, I was hired to write and record a suite of instrumental background music for a corporate training tape. I wrote a theme and variations, recruited the drummer of my band, and we went into a small eight-track studio for a day where we laid down guitar and drums. I then overdubbed bass and lead guitars. The client had some musical skill himself, so he added a few piano parts. I will never forget the first time I heard my playing loud and proud through studio monitors. I knew then that recording was something I had to do a lot more of.

In the many years since then, I've taken part in many recording sessions. I've seen recording studios evolve from 8 track, through 16 to 24 track on analogue tape. I was there when the first digital recorders appeared, at first on tape, and then later on computer hard drives. I’ve recorded at iconic studios like De Lane Lea (where Jimi Hendrix and Deep Purple recorded), Advision (The Yardbirds, The Who) and Trident (The Beatles, David Bowie, Elton John). Some of the music I've recorded at these sessions disappeared without trace. Other tracks got released as album tracks or even singles. Here’s a single I played lead and bass guitar on that did quite well in the indie charts.

Younger musicians often ask me how to break into recording session work. It’s about time that I set out my thoughts here for everyone to read.

The most important way to pick up session work is to have a large number of contacts in the music business. Most of these will obviously be musicians. How do you get to know other musicians? By playing with them. If you're a strictly bedroom guitarist, form or join a band. Rehearse regularly and often, and then play gigs. If you're any good, other musicians will come to see you, some to check out the competition, and others to admire your skills and worship at your altar (“so, what strings do you use?”).

Go to local jam sessions. Some experienced players avoid them like the plague, because the last thing that they want is to have to jam with a band of novices. That’s a little short sighted in my opinion. The host of the jam will appreciate having another experienced musician to hold the performance together. The novices will also take the opportunity to learn from you. Not all virtuosos avoid jam nights. I've met quite a few pros keeping their hands in on their nights off. Especially those that like a drink! Also remember that today’s beginner may be tomorrow’s band leader.

By far the most important source of musician and music business contacts is Facebook. Here's my Facebook page, go ahead, connect with me: https://www.facebook.com/PeteFarrugiaGuitarTeacher, the more the merrier!

My musician (and other) friends are divided into those that “get it” and those that don’t. The Facebook refuseniks have their reasons. These tend to be based on worries about personal security, or the banality of some people posting every five minutes about what they've just eaten, or their toddler’s first word. Yes, security is an issue, but if you think that you're safe from identity thieves or a future malevolent totalitarian government just because you're not on Facebook well, you're underestimating them. Lock down your account so that only friends can see your timeline, and make sure that your posts and pictures aren't set to “public”. Persistent offenders that post too often or offensive material (often political) can be unfollowed or unfriended. If you don't interact with these people then their posts will pretty soon stop appearing on your timeline anyway.

For musicians, especially anyone wanting to get gigs or sessions, joining Facebook (and more importantly being active on it) are absolutely essential. This is the way I get the vast majority of my dep gigs and sessions. Sometimes you find a musician on Facebook that you haven't seen or spoken to in years. A quick friend request and you're back in contact. Months or years later when they need a musician for a session, even though they don't have your phone number or address, you can be contacted within seconds via a Facebook message (make sure that you switch notifications on, and install Facebook on your mobile phone).

Being a great player is (of course) essential, but so is a knowledge of music theory. Sometimes a client might need a little help with their material, and a skillfully chosen suggestion is sometimes welcome, although remember to be diplomatic at all times!

Another question that I get asked is “do I need to learn how to read music?”. I would say “yes”, even though these days it’s highly unlikely that you're going to be presented with an actual score to play. I'm the first to admit, that like the vast majority of guitarists I'm not the world's fastest sight-reader. However I studied Classical guitar in my youth, and I have on occasion been given “the dots” for a guitar solo to play. On one occasion this was because the client was a keyboard player that wanted the exact solo he had demoed on a synth to be played on a real guitar. Most of the time if you're reading at all, you’re following a chord chart. Even if you can't sight-read standard musical notation, reading and understanding chord charts is a must.

Make sure that you're familiar with the different methods of naming chords on chord charts. Here are three different ways of writing the chord G major seventh.

GM7                      GMaj7                  G∆7

One musician that I have recorded many sessions with infuriatingly writes “GM7” for G minor seventh! That’s just asking for trouble.

No-one has ever hired me for my reading skills. I have a reputation as a capable and versatile player. You can be the most advanced Dark Metal shredder in your town, but you won't get any sessions with R’n’B or Reggae bands. I find that a good knowledge of music history is essential. Sometimes your client might ask you to play like Steve Cropper, or T-Bone Walker, or George Benson. If you're unfamiliar with their sound and style, it's unlikely that you'll be asked back.

Your instruments, amps, effects and cables must be good quality, reliable and well maintained. On the morning of the session I set aside time to adjust the intonation of my guitars. If you don’t know how to, well that’s what the Internet is for! Always use a stage tuner pedal and check your tuning between each take.

Finally, take an interest in your client’s project. A little praise and encouragement goes a long way. Play each take as though your life depends on it, and the results will enhance the client’s recording and your reputation.

Salute The Musicians Of Tomorrow

Here’s something that I find surprising: despite all this wonderful technology that we have today, it is actually much more difficult to become a young musician now than it was when I was learning to play.

Me. Not long after this, my mother bought me my first guitar.

First let me tell the story of how I became a guitarist. Without being at all musical herself, my mother wanted me to learn to play the guitar. Her father had been a guitarist, not a professional, but someone who loved nothing better than to come home after a days’ work, and sit on his front doorstep strumming his guitar, where he would often be joined by the neighbours for an evening singing session. I never knew my grandfather, as he died before I was born, but he cast a long shadow over my early life. While on holiday in Spain, as we were walking around the seaside shops, my mother suddenly asked me “do you want a guitar?”. Almost without thinking I answered “yes please”, not knowing what a momentous decision that was, and how profoundly it would affect the rest of my life.

My mother and father, always supportive of my musical ambitions

My guitar-playing grandfather

My father was also pleased that there was now a guitar and a student guitarist in the house, as he had learned to play a few chords in his youth, which he was happy to pass on to me. His own playing had come to a premature end when he suffered damage to the tendons in his left hand due to an accident at work. Instead, he became a singer with a band, at least until the war broke out and he joined the army.

In those days, there were musical instrument shops everywhere, so I bought a few guitar tutor books, and I started to explore chords beyond those my father had taught me. Figuring out how to play the pop songs of the day had to be done by ear from the radio. There was no Internet, so I couldn't look up the chords online. There was sheet music of course, but this was expensive, and my pocket money was better spent on records and new strings when the old ones wore out.

One of my early tutor books

I went through strings at an accelerated rate, because I played a lot. The guitar quickly became my main interest in life. Every other leisure activity, football, judo, chess, all of them had lost their attraction. I couldn't wait to get home from school so that I could play my guitar. I became an excellent multitasker. I’d sit in an armchair with my physics homework on one arm, my dinner on the other, and my guitar in my lap, while watching the TV. I’d wait until the advert break, and then play along with the jingles “the Milky Bar Kid is strong and tough…”, “hands that do dishes can be soft as your face…”. At the end of the programme, I’d play along with the theme tune; “Crossroads” was a favourite, but only for that reason, as the show itself was rubbish!

My guitar was a cheap Spanish classical model, and I soon ruined it by putting steel strings on it, which bowed the neck, making it very difficult to play. This only made me more determined to practise every day and master it.

Eventually, I was even able to learn some guitar at school. Thanks to the efforts of my wonderful music teacher Gerald Smith, I was able to continue studying music long after it disappeared from the timetable. I had to give up PE and games to do it, but I didn't see that as any loss, as I was never going to be an athlete. I took lessons in classical guitar from a weekly visiting teacher, Peter Rubie. He was also a skilled jazz guitarist, so at least part of the lesson would be spent learning standards like “Sunny” and “I Got Rhythm”.

Being a musician attracted a circle of like-minded school friends, and pretty soon I formed a band. Once again my mother stepped in, and bought me a cheap electric guitar and an amp. We rehearsed weekly for a few years at my drummer friend’s house. Every Saturday afternoon, I'd take the bus to travel the two miles to his place, carrying my guitar and amp. Eventually, we started playing gigs. At some of these we earned money! I even did my first paid recording session at the age of fifteen, playing background music that I'd written to order for a corporate client.

My first band Feedback, re-formed for a one-off special occasion after 15 years.

Let’s compare this with the typical experience of a modern-day twelve year old would-be musician. Good guitars are much more affordable these days, and it’s common for a young player to start off with an electric guitar and amp, with nice low-tension, thin gauge strings, that don't work your fingers hard at all. In fact, it’s easy to acquire bad habits, like bending the strings out of tune by pressing too hard when holding down chords.

Where are the enigmatic, mysterious, glamorous guitar heroes of today to inspire our young players? I had Mick Ronson, Ritchie Blackmore, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Chuck Berry and yes, Francis Rossi! Today’s popular musical role models paste together loops on a laptop, with no discernible musical skill at all, but plenty of idea about how to market a brand. There are great musicians out there, but it would take a pretty determined young musician to seek them out and face the disapproval of their peer group.

Tuning your guitar today doesn't need a musical ear – an electronic tuner takes care of that. Nor do you use your ears to figure out how to play a song. The Internet is full of chord charts (often misleadingly called “tabs”). Mind you, many of these charts are inaccurate so you'd be better off using your ears.

There are thousands of superb tuition videos on YouTube, invaluable to any music student. The problem is, there’s no-one sitting next to your laptop or tablet to tell you “no, you're not ready yet for this video, you need to master this other one first”.

We are so technology-rich these days, but in spite of this we are time-poor. The science fiction I used to read pointed to a future where technology would make our lives easier by automating the production of goods and the provision of services. Work would be reduced to an hour or two a week, remotely monitoring self-maintaining machines. We would all have a life of leisure, where we would be free to indulge our creative impulses. Sadly, none of this happened. The greed of corporations and governments saw to that. Today, millions are enslaved by the need to work ridiculously long hours just to survive, and that’s if you're lucky enough to find a job!

When I walked home from school, arriving at 4:30pm, my mother would be there waiting for me. She did work, but she either worked at home as a childminder, or in part-time jobs. She would always be there when I got home. These days, it is a necessity for both parents to work, and often they can’t get home until mid-way through the evening. The children have go to after school clubs, whether they like it or not. Often they do like it, as they get to take part in interesting activities. However, this doesn’t do their musical development much good, as it takes away valuable practice time.

One of the worst obstacles to learning an instrument is the excessive amount of homework that school pupils get. I went to a grammar school, for the academically able kids whose parents couldn't afford private school, but I can't remember needing to spend more than a few hours a week on homework, except when an exam was coming up. Despite that, I still passed ten O levels, three A levels, which enabled me to find work easily as soon as I left school.

Today, twelve-year olds tell me that they have to spend something like an hour and a half a day on homework, after getting home from their after school clubs.

Many parents today feel guilty at not being able to spend much time with their children. It’s not their fault. Lack of well-paying jobs, high property and transport prices lead to a vicious circle where most of your time is spent either working or travelling to work. This can be exhausting, which also causes family time to suffer. To compensate, parents enter their children for every out-of-school activity they can, football, cricket, rugby, swimming, various martial arts, chess, dance, extra maths, extra English, and who knows what else.

No wonder most of today’s teenage musicians can't practise daily, they literally don't have the time.

Once they have learned to play a bit, have written some original songs and joined a band, then the next set of problems begin. Where to play? The network of live music venues that I enjoyed when I was started out has gone. Far too many of the few that remain put on shows with multiple bands, and pay each band barely enough to cover their expenses. The audience for live, local, original music has disappeared. Too much cheap entertainment has made the general public lazy and complacent as consumers of art. You only have to look at the rise of tribute acts. Why go to see a new band playing new songs that you don't know, when you can go to see look-alike sound-alikes playing your old favourites? Better still, why go out at all when you have hundreds of TV channels, DVDs, Blu-Rays, streaming MP3 players on your phone, and games consoles? Why go to pubs, it’s far cheaper to buy drinks from the supermarket? Better still, order online and have it delivered! Who’s got the energy to go out anyway, after nine hours in the office plus three hours on the train?

Tomorrow’s musicians will be a special, hardy breed. They will have the determination and courage to succeed on their instruments in spite of all the obstacles I mention above. Whenever one of my young students achieves an important milestone, like getting a distinction in a grade exam, or recording their first EP with a band, I can’t help but admire them. So, I salute the musicians of tomorrow, as we're going to need them.

The Pull Of The Bush

I remember the first time that I heard “Wuthering Heights” by Kate Bush like it was yesterday. I was sitting in my sister’s car, which I had borrowed to pick up my mother from her evening job. I arrived a few minutes early, and while I waited I listened to the radio, which was tuned to London’s independent station, Capital Radio.

The song began with the soon-to-be familiar keyboard arpeggios. Then the first verse started, and I was captivated straight away, not only by the remarkably wide-ranged voice, but also by the chords. You see, for the past week, I had been trying to compose a new piece of music. I hadn't got very far. All I had managed to come up with so far was…

A / / / | F / / / | E / / / |

I had stumbled on the unusual chord change from A major to F major while noodling about on my guitar. Unusual, because (assuming the piece is in the key of A major), then an F major chord makes no sense, and bends the “rules” of conventional harmony. Not exactly a new idea, but strange enough to make it relatively unusual. The E major chord returns to normality, but then I was stuck on what to do next.

I tried out plenty of chords to follow the E major, obvious ones like D major, B minor and F# minor, as well as less obvious ones, but none of them hit the spot. Then came that fateful evening when I heard Wuthering Heights, which goes like this…

A / / / | F / / / | E / / / | C# /// |

C# major! How in the world did she come up with that? I would never have thought of that, as it’s so unrelated to the original key, and yet in context it sounds perfect. This wasn't any ordinary pop song, it bore no resemblance to the female-led pop of the day, such as Abba and Blondie. It was more like progressive rock, and yet here it was on a commercial radio programme, apparently on its way up the singles chart.

I carried on listening, taking in every note and chord. After repeating the four-chord progression a few times, the verse came to end on an Ab chord which coincided with the word “loved” (“I hated you, I loved you too”). Suddenly the C# chords made sense. Perhaps it would be more correct to refer to them as Db major chords, as that is the fourth chord in the key of Ab major. Or is Ab major the fifth chord in the key of Db major? Ambiguity you see, it makes the musical world go round. Thank goodness it does, otherwise we'd still be listening to nursery rhymes.

Then a pre-chorus began “Bad dreams in the night…”. Again, the chords were ambiguous, ending on a suspension, Fsus4 repeated over the words “Wuthering, Wuthering, Wuthering Heights”. Normally Fsus4 would be followed by a chord which resolves the suspension, possibly F major or F minor, but instead, the chorus began with a Gb major chord! By now my head was spinning, and my embryonic, developing musical ear and powers of harmonic analysis were overwhelmed and I couldn't follow the chords any more. I sat back and listened to the glorious chorus, taking in the whole arrangement.

I found myself focusing on the drum pattern. I thought I had heard something strange, almost as if the drummer had missed out a beat on the snare drum. Then it happened again. I started counting the beats, and then it hit me!  Like most pop and rock songs, Wuthering Heights is in 4/4 time. Unlike other songs, there are four individual bars of 2/4 time mixed in with the more conventional bars (“I've come home”, and “let me in-a your window”).

After the chorus, another verse, returning to the ambiguous chords starting on A major. Then a repeat of the pre-chorus, but with different words. Naturally, a repeat chorus came next. Then, a bridge “Ooh! Let me have it…” seemed to change into yet another key, the relative minor, all the time building tension, until the sustained word “Cathy”, which lasted so long the band had the time to state two chords underneath it, first Gb major, then Bb minor.

The tension was now almost unbearable, but thankfully after a powerful tom-tom fill the chorus returned, first once, then twice, and as the final chorus began to end I became aware of a sustained lead guitar note which was gradually being faded up until it became the centre of attention. A beautiful guitar solo was unfolding, a sound almost as lovely as the singer’s voice. It was high-pitched and melodic, improvising its way around the chorus chord progression, including beautifully bent notes. I became aware that the song was fading, and then the DJ made his announcement, and I noted the singer’s name: Kate Bush.

I resolved to find out more about this person, which was not so easy to do in those days, long before the Internet. Luckily there were weekly music papers. I don't remember which one it was, NME, or possibly Sounds, maybe even Melody Maker. What I discovered hit me like a ton of bricks. Apparently Kate Bush had written the song herself, and she was only a year older than me: nineteen. Nineteen!

This was clearly a musician of genius, and as far above my own capabilities as could be imagined. I was, indeed, not worthy. Obviously I abandoned my partly written composition, as Kate Bush had instantly made it redundant.

I bought the single, then the album “The Kick Inside” it came from, and every song was wonderful, filled with that extraordinary voice, and more unusual textures and chord changes. Then the second album “Lionheart” came out, and didn't chart as high as the first, but I adored it and still do.

So now it was 1979, and Kate went on tour. Like several of my friends, I wanted to go and see her, probably at the Hammersmith Odeon, but I had a problem. I had just joined a band, and we were working 4 nights a week.  As a new boy, I couldn't go to the bandleader and say “sorry, I can't play next Saturday as I’m going to see Kate Bush”. Good gigs were (then as now) hard to come by. I said to myself “not to worry, I'll catch her follow-up tour next year”. Little was I to know…

One day, I received an interesting tip. Some members of Kate Bush’s live touring band had formed a jazz-rock fusion band called the Stapleton All-Stars, and were playing in certain London pubs. Naturally, I went to the next available gig, at the Cricketers, not far from the Oval in South London, and a pub that I was later to play at myself. Sure enough, there was Stuart Elliot on drums, late of Cockney Rebel, as well as a phenomenal young guitarist called Alan Murphy who blew me away with his playing. He remains the best guitarist I've seen to this day, and together with many of my guitarist friends I miss him, as he was to die of an AIDS-related illness some years later.

At the back of the pub, watching the band was a by-now familiar face: Kate Bush herself! Oh my, how beautiful she was, and tiny (hardly more than five feet tall)! I almost fainted on the spot. One of my flat-mates cheekily called out to her “all right Kate!”, but I didn't dare say anything. After all, I was not worthy! Yet there I was, breathing the same air as a goddess-like genius in an ordinary South London pub.

When the third album “Never For Ever” came out, Alan Murphy was all over it. His high points were the lightning-fast solo on the track “Violin”, and the powerful riffs towards the end of the single “Breathing”, still one of my favourite songs of all time.

I continued to follow Kate’s career. I was delighted when she began to produce her own recordings, and I enjoyed the experimental textures of the fourth album “The Dreaming”. When “Hounds of Love” came out after a long gap, I recognised it as a masterpiece, something no-one else had ever come close to. To her melodic, harmonic and lyrical talents, Kate had added a mastery of the recording studio, and the latest cutting edge electronic equipment.

How do you follow a work of perfection like “Hounds Of Love”? You can't, no matter how hard you try. Even so, Kate’s subsequent albums have all been worthwhile to listen to, even though as a middle-aged mother, she is now very far away from the teenager who wrote “The Man With The Child In His Eyes”. I too am now on the far side of 50, but like Kate I'm still a musician, and there are plenty of notes left in me yet. One thing I've discovered is that musicians, real musicians that is, get better as they get older. The fury of my teenage guitar-playing has long-since gone, but it's been replaced by something far more valuable: taste.

By the way, that pub band The Stapleton All-Stars had a bass player called Felix Krish, like all the members of that band (as well as its later incarnation SFX) a world-class, supremely talented musician. I am happy to report that in recent years I have been lucky enough to play several gigs with Felix, one of the musical heroes of my younger days. Here's a sample of his work, together with the late, lamented Alan Murphy.

In a few weeks, I will be putting right the mistake I made way back in 1979. I'm finally going to see Kate Bush perform live. I don't care if they call the place the Eventim Apollo, to me it will always be Hammersmith Odeon!

Blues Boom

The Blues is one of my favourite genres of music, both to listen to and to play. I often go back to those classic records by B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf, Buddy Guy, Otis Rush, Albert King, Robert Johnson, Lightning Hopkins, Jimmy Reed, Freddie King, as well as those they inspired, like Fleetwood Mac, John Mayall, Robert Cray, and many others.

Blues is normally a fairly underground style of music, played in small clubs to a handful of enthusiasts, but about every ten to fifteen years or so, it gradually becomes more popular for a short while, perhaps two or three years. We have come to describe this phenomenon as as Blues Boom. Former fans that had previously forgotten about it start to show up to gigs, and young people get tired of the latest fashionable fad being fed to them by the corporations that run the entertainment industry, and catch on to real music played on real instruments by real musicians that actually have something to say.

The term "Blues" has a very loose definition, and its exact meaning has been endlessly debated. It is often used to describe music that uses blues harmony and chord progressions, but other influences may be accepted, anything from folk, country, rockabilly, jazz, to soul, funk and even hard rock following on from The Jeff Beck Group, Cream, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. For me, it's anything with its roots in the Afro-American musical styles of the 1920s to 1970s, so long as it has feel. In other words, it moves you, either musically, or lyrically, or both.

During a Blues Boom, the music may or may not become accepted by mainstream entertainment channels. That certainly happened in the early-to-mid 1960s, when Blues-influenced bands such as The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, Manfred Mann, The Kinks, The Who and The Animals jostled for positions in the charts, and even exported the music back to its country of origin, the U.S. Without those British bands, mainstream America might still be in blissful ignorance of its own rich heritage of roots music.

For some time now I've been getting the feeling that a new Blues Boom is under way. For example, there's a monthly glossy magazine called The Blues Magazine available in nationwide chains such as W.H. Smiths. Look in the back pages and there's a gig guide featuring an abundance of artists and venues.

Joining the long-established venues like the 100 Club, venues and clubs that had long remained dormant have sprung back into life, including the Eel Pie Club and the Ealing Club, once home of Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated, and famously the place where the main members of the Rolling Stones originally met.

Alongside the experienced performers, younger artists are getting in on the act, possibly reacting against the over-technological styles of their peers, that require little or no actual talent or skill to perform.

Even in the times between Blues Booms, enterprising enthusiasts organise Blues Festivals, but at the moment there are more of them than usual, and some of them are even being sponsored or supported by local government. I've been to two lately, at Croydon and at Ealing.

Here are some of the artists that I've seen and enjoyed recently. I encourage you to click on the links and check them out. Katie Bradley with her virtuoso guitarist Dudley Ross, Robin Bibi, Giles Hedley, Kingsize Slim, Big Boy Bloater, Chris Corcoran, Paul Lamb & Chad Strentz, Paul Lamb & The Kingsnakes, Jerimiah Marques & The Blue Aces, Big Joe Louis, The Heritage Blues Orchestra, Jump 66, Kat & Co., The Alan Glen/John O'Leary All Stars, and Earl Thomas & The Royal Guard.

As for myself, after a period of carrying out my trade as a jobbing guitarist with function and tribute bands, I've gone back to Blues with a vengeance. I currently play in two regularly gigging bands, both with strong Blues influences. One of them is John Stapleton's Rhythm'n'Blues Party. As the name suggests, this is an excellent party band, guaranteed to get any dancers in the audience on their feet. The other is Chad Strentz & The Chad-illacs. Chad is a well-loved and respected face on the Blues scene, as lead vocalist with Paul Lamb's bands, and this new band has been formed to promote Chad's new solo album. I am also privileged to be occasionally asked to deputise by some great bands, including Jerimiah Marques & The Blue Aces and The Blues Bandits.

Long may this Blues Boom continue!

Ukulele Exams

At last! Today saw the release of the first accredited ukulele exams in the UK. They are the work of the Registry of Guitar Tutors (RGT), an organisation that I have been a member of for many years.

Prior to the formation of the RGT, guitar exams were for classical musicians. I learned to love classical guitar in my teens, but I would have loved to have a choice in what genre of music I could study for graded exams. The RGT first introduced exams for the electric guitar, but over the years, more exams were added: classical, acoustic, bass, and rock guitar. Now we can also do exams for the ukulele.

I have been playing the ukulele almost as long as I have been playing the guitar. I think seeing Brian May of Queen playing a George Formby-style banjolele back in the '70s convinced me to take it up, as well as the ease by which my guitar skills could be transferred.

I carried on playing the uke through the wilderness years, when they were (unbelievably) considered unfashionable, and a relic of a bygone age. Eventually, artists like the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain and Julia Nunes helped bring about a ukulele renaissance, and they're now the coolest thing around.

As with guitar exams, entrants need exam handbooks to show them the chords, scales, techniques, songs and pieces they need to study. The handbooks are available now from the Books for Guitar website, and they come with CDs. I was honoured to be commissioned by the RGT to record the musical numbers (a total of 64). Here is a short video I've prepared, telling the story of the recordings.

Bring Back Real Song Writing

I love technology – it’s made many aspects of a musician’s life easier. It’s now possible (and affordable) to have a recording studio at home with little more than a laptop, some software, an audio interface, a microphone and some cables. Modelling technology gives us a reasonable attempt at getting a small, relatively inexpensive amp combo to sound like a vintage Fender, Marshall or Vox.

Audio software is so good these days that it takes very little musical knowledge or talent to make music. Can’t play? No problem – there are plenty of samples of people playing instruments very well that you can use. Can’t sing in tune? Also no problem – pitch correction software can fix your dodgy notes. You can even use it to give your voice that fashionable “robotic” sound!

My problem with this is that too many artists are using the technology in a lazy, unimaginative way, and as an excuse so that they don’t have to learn how to play instruments or write songs.

To me, one of the most enjoyable aspects of music is harmony – chord progressions that have the power to skilfully manipulate your emotions. A well-structured song should have several different sections, each with a different chord progression. A classic pop song structure might go something like this: intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, solo, chorus, chorus, end. Plenty of repetition, but also enough scope for interesting melodic and harmonic development.

Many modern pop songs start by a “producer” sampling a few bars from an existing recording. This may be as few as four bars long. This then becomes a loop, which is played throughout the entire song. Other instruments and vocal parts are added, but obviously they all have to follow the chord progression laid down by the loop. Structural variations no longer have to rely on chord changes, but can be created artificially by adding and deleting elements from the mix. Instead of creating a chorus by writing a new melody and chords to go with it, just add some different instruments, and perhaps extra backing vocals.

This is boring! A whole generation of pop fans are being palmed off with songs created by laptop operators rather than musicians. No wonder no-one buys recorded music any more.

Thankfully, there are new artists out there who still write fully harmonic songs. They are often labelled as “new folk” or “acoustic”. They take every advantage of modern recording technology, but don’t skip the essential craft of song writing. 

The Might-Have-Beens

It started in May 1980. I had recently turned 20, and I was playing with two Irish musicians in a country/folk trio. That was strictly for money, I had no interest (at that time) in the music, and I felt little empathy with my band colleagues, who were significantly older than me. I was also taking jazz guitar lessons, with a tutor called Martin Jackson. He had been recommended to me by my old friend from school Andy Drudy.

It was Andy that invited me along to the famous Marquee Club in Soho, to see a performance by The League of Gentlemen, a new band led by legendary guitarist Robert Fripp. We both admired Fripp for his seminal art-rock band King Crimson. Andy and I were regular visitors to the Marquee, a small club but with rock music history practically oozing from the walls.

On that fateful night, several things happened to me. I saw what I hoped would be the future of music: a blend of tonal and atonal guitar riffs and solos over a danceable rhythm section. I also met Marc Sebastian-Jones. That wasn't his real name of course, but he greatly admired Marc Bolan and Steve Harley. Marc was a charismatic, fascinating young man who drew girls to him like moths to a flame. That first night at the Marquee he was with three beautiful Italians. They talked about art-house cinema, poetry, and avant-garde music. Marc told Andy and I that he was a poet and musician, and was looking for other musicians to work with, to break new artistic ground and hopefully conquer the known world. He also lived, like us, in South London. We exchanged numbers, and agreed to stay in touch.

Andy was busy with his progressive rock band Triad, so it was I that started visiting Marc at his flat in Tooting. He had guitars and a tape recorder, so we started writing together. Another young musician that had gravitated towards Marc was David Knight. He was also a South Londoner, and had already begun to make a name for himself as The Fast Set. He had released the first single on Axis Records, later to become seminal indie label 4AD. That single was Junction One, but the B-side was Children of the Revolution, a T.Rex cover, as David was yet another Marc Bolan fan. David joined us for our writing and recording sessions, adding drum machine and synthesizer, and pretty soon we were a band. We named ourselves Transition, after one of Marc's poems.

Roland System 100

So now it was time for our first gig. Andy kindly let us support Triad at our local music pub, The Two Brewers in Clapham. I remember we turned up a little late, as we'd been a little longer than we expected putting on our make-up! I was rubbish at putting on eyeliner, I hate the thought of anything possibly touching my eyes. Two of our girl friends had to hold me down and apply it.

My mates were astonished at the new, flamboyant Pete, and the carefully choreographed homo-erotic stage act. Some of them began to question my sexuality. What they didn't realise at the time was something that we three in the band had learned from both Bowie and Bolan. The combination of guitars and eye-shadow was irresistible to fashionable young women in those days! Having previously been of little interest to girls, I was suddenly surrounded by them. Pretty soon I had a girlfriend, soon to be my first wife (but that's another story). A few years later, some of the same men-friends that had scoffed at my new look began to wear eyeliner on stage themselves. By then, I had stopped - always ahead of my time!

Around that time, David was contacted by a fan of his Fast Set single, called Stephen Pearce who was making a name for himself as Stevo. Stevo was a young DJ, who put on a club night at a Soho venue called Billy's. The weekly music paper Sounds had started featuring a Futurist Chart compiled by Stevo, featuring singles and demos by some very different bands on the underground scene. Stevo wanted more Fast Set material to play, so Transition was renamed to The Fast Set, and we began playing gigs under that name, some of them arranged by Stevo.

We regularly played joint shows with two of Stevo's other favourite bands, Naked Lunch and Blancmange. Other bands on the scene (Spandau Ballet and Depeche Mode) were a little more stand-offish, and members of them were often to be seen eyeing us with suspicion from the bar. On the other hand, I remember meeting Boy George, and he was friendly (and very tall). In addition to Billy's Club, we played at a place in Rayleigh, Essex called Crocs. They had a live baby crocodile in residence - strange!

Riding the crest of the (new) wave, Stevo began putting together a compilation album, and invited us to record a track for it. Marc, David and I assumed that it would be a low budget indie release, available to a select few. Low budget it certainly was, there was no advance forthcoming to finance the recording. Between us, we scraped together £40 and hired a small 8-track studio. We recorded another T.Rex cover, King Of The Rumbling Spires. In retrospect, we should have given Stevo one of our original songs, but we had no idea what was going to happen.

Stevo pulled off the deal of the century, and licensed Some Bizzare Album (named after his record label) to the major label Phonogram. The album came out, and sold well, getting into the national album charts. This raised our profile significantly, and we began to be offered gigs outside of London and the South East.

We were not in the best position to take advantage of this. I can't exactly remember why, but at some point, David and I fell out with Marc, and Marc left the band. I've no idea why we thought this a good idea at the time, but I took over on vocals.

For live dates we added a drummer, our good friend Brad Day, formerly of The Strapps and The Royal Family. In this line-up, we played shows up and down the country, supporting bands like Classix Nouveaux, Theatre Of Hate and the Monochrome Set. We also recorded some new demos.

We were still as poor as church mice, and would travel to these gigs by the cheapest method possible. For the Monochrome Set show at the Warehouse Club in Leeds, we went by bus from Victoria Coach station. With no money for a hotel, we spent the night at Leeds Railway Station, occasionally getting moved on by the railway staff.

The provincial audiences were always much more vocally receptive than the London audiences, who were too cool for school, and too busy admiring themselves to applaud. Except for the 2000-strong audience at the biggest show we ever played, The Lyceum.

This was (almost) the big time! There were roadies asking us how we liked our sound mix, and a fridge full of beers in the dressing room. I remember someone writing in to the NME saying how much they'd enjoyed dancing to our set. On the other hand, I also remember Depeche Mode ungenerously slagging us off in Sounds. There was very little inter-band camaraderie in the new music scene.

The Lyceum was also the peak of our brief career. Stevo lost interest in us. I think the last straw may have been when we couldn't replace one of his other bands who'd pulled out of a gig at the last moment. I was working that evening, and couldn't get out of it. Stevo began to concentrate on the much more co-operative Soft Cell. Not long after that, they had their first hit with Tainted Love.

David joined several other bands, such as Naked Lunch, and Five Or Six, and for a while we half-heartedly tried to recruit a new singer. The Fast Set gradually fizzled out, and would never join our erstwhile label-mates Soft Cell, Depeche Mode, Blancmange and The The on Top Of The Pops. Nevertheless, I still get emails about The Fast Set, and it's been 33 years since we split up.

Some years later I would work with David again on Danielle Dax's singles and albums, but that's another story!

The Internet

I'd like to talk about the effect that the Internet is having on the way that some people are learning to play the guitar.

First of all, let me say straight away that I'm one of the Internet's biggest fans. I was an early adopter, way back in the '80s. This was before the world wide web, browsers and search engines. It was also long before broadband. I used to use a modem plugged into my telephone line to look at bulletin boards, newsgroups, and to send and receive email. Today I'm an enthusiastic user of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, SoundCloud and of course Blogger. I also develop and maintain my own website.

Above all, I love the way that the Internet is a source of information. A year ago, I developed a problem with my left thumb, disastrous for a guitarist. My local GP was clueless, so I did some online research and successfully diagnosed myself. I went back to my GP, told them what treatment to give me, and within a few days my thumb was back to normal again.

Anyway, about learning the guitar. It's pretty easy to find free guitar tuition online, as well as music theory, and chord charts or tabs for songs. This can be immensely helpful to someone learning how to play. I wish these riches had been available to me back in 1972 when I took up the guitar.

However, some people are using the Internet as their main, or only source of teaching material, and this is causing them problems. In recent years, I've had quite a few new students come to me for lessons, who have been playing perhaps one or two years, learning from the Internet, and who can't credibly play a single piece of music.

If you pick and choose what online information to use, you can miss out on the essentials. Like how to sit and hold your guitar properly. Like how to position your fretting fingers correctly, so that you can play notes and chords clearly, without fret buzz, muffled strings, and with the minimum of effort.

It's very easy to learn chord shapes from online sources, but simply knowing which strings and frets to play doesn't teach you the best way to change from one chord to another. Many guitarists are learning inappropriate chord fingerings, and are missing vital information about which strings to miss out when they strum particular chords.

And then there are the overreachers. it's all too tempting to study intermediate and advanced material before you've learned even the basics. Let's face it, if you can't strum a first-position D chord with four down strokes to the bar yet, you should not even be looking at sweep picking and barre chords!

So many guitar students rely on chord and tab websites. They don't realise that an awful lot of the charts and tabs online are just plain wrong, sometimes laughably so.

The Internet won't watch you playing, or monitor your progress, or give you advice tailored specifically to you and what you want to achieve. It doesn't have ears or eyes, so it can't tell you to move your fingers closer to the fret-wire to stop fret buzz, or to press a string down with your fingertip to avoid muting the adjacent string, and it can't remind you not to play the sixth string as part of a first-position B7 chord.

A website can certainly teach you how to play an A Pentatonic Minor scale. But it's not that good at advising when it's appropriate to use that scale. Information on music theory is certainly out there, and some of it is very good, but all too often new guitarists see it as "that boring stuff", and skip it. Avoid theory at your peril, or your solos will sound terrible!

A whole generation of guitarists is developing bad habits that hold their playing back, sometimes for years. Bad habits are extremely difficult to break. What's the point of buying a beautiful guitar, gig bag, strings, capo, amp, leads, effects pedals, picks, and a clip-on tuner and then spending hours and hours trying to figure out what to do, only to realise two years later that you're really not that much closer to being able to play?

The answer is obvious. Guitar lessons with a professional tutor! Either face-to-face, or online via Skype. Preferably one-to-one, so that you get individual attention.

So use the Internet wisely. There is a wealth of information online, but you need a teacher's advice to sift through the mountains of irrelevance and find the material that suits you, and that you're ready for.

Don't forget my own range of free video lessons, and backing tracks for improvisation on my YouTube channel.

Movie Magic

In my (increasingly rare) downtime away from the guitar, I enjoy watching films, all kinds of films. Among the films I enjoy the most are (naturally) those with an element of music built into the plot.

Sometimes a film doesn't actually centre around music or musicians, but the soundtrack plays an essential part in creating the film's atmosphere, and recalling a period of history. Honourable mention must go to American Graffiti, Dazed And Confused, The Wanderers and Empire Records.

There are wonderful documentaries like Muscle Shoals, 20 Feet From Stardom, B.B. King: The Life of Riley, Chuck Berry Hail! Hail! Rock'n'Roll, Beware Of Mr. Baker and Standing In The Shadows Of Motown, that encapsulate an entire historical music scene, including long-lost clips of original performance or recording footage, interviewing the surviving original musicians, and also allowing today's stars to have their say on the subject. The only negative is that in recent films, Bono from U2 seems to crop up almost every single time - surely the filmmakers can find someone else?

Then there are the mockumentaries, comedies based around an imaginary band or music scene. Many of these come from the imagination of Christopher Guest and the loose company of actors and writers around him. I'm thinking mainly of This Is Spinal Tap and A Mighty Wind, both of them hilarious, beautifully acted and containing great music.

Sometimes, a film will contain some of the best surviving footage of a seminal band. for example the otherwise awful Gonks Go Beat includes an enthusiastic mimed performance by the Graham Bond Organisation, with Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce, and Dick Heckstall-Smith. Here's a video clip...

Who can forget The Yardbirds' guitar-smashing performance in Blow-Up? Especially as it was the short-lived line-up featuring both Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck on guitars.

A good musical performance is sometimes really the only reason to watch an otherwise poor film. For example, Blues Brothers 2000 suffered from studio interference and a hokey, poorly-realised plot. It made an unworthy sequel to The Blues Brothers, the seminal cult comedy. However, the sequel does include this fabulous performance from the ultimate all-star band...

Speaking as a musician, one thing that never fails to annoy me is when filmmakers and/or actors can't be bothered to give a realistic musical performance. They don't have to learn exactly how to play the instruments, but if they could at least put their fingers roughly where the notes would be, that would help!

The worst offender here may be Elvis Presley himself. Now he had no excuse, as he really could play the guitar. When making films, he clearly thinks the audience are too stupid to realise that he's not actually playing correctly. Sometimes, the guitars he holds and strums enthusiastically don't even have strings!

As skilled an actor as Sean Penn is, his turn as a Django-style guitarist in Sweet And Lowdown was spoiled by very ropey guitar miming, as seen in this clip...

In fact, actors ruining films by failing to research how to play instruments is the rule rather than the exception, so it's always refreshing to find films with good musical acting performances. In addition to This Is Spinal Tap and A Mighty Wind mentioned above, two of my favourites are Crossroads and That Thing You Do. Here are clips that hopefully prove my point...

Crossroads - nice job Ralph Macchio, formerly known as the Karate Kid! The superb guitar playing was actually by Steve Vai, Ry Cooder and Arlen Roth, but Ralph looks like he knows what he's doing.

That Thing You Do - great film, great acting, great '60s pastiche music!

The films I've mentioned are just a few from a huge list. Let me know what I've missed out - your favourites, as well as any with either good or bad acting performances.

How To Be A Good Dep

While I do play in two bands as a permanent member, quite a few of the dates on my gig list are “deps”, where I deputise, or stand in for, an absent band member. This is usually the guitarist, although I also dep on bass.

Dep gigs can be very rewarding, not just financially, but they can also be musically satisfying. They can take you out of your comfort zone, into genres that you've never played before, but more often than not, you get asked to do a show because you have built up a reputation in a specific field.

First, you need to establish yourself, and build a relationship with a network of musicians. To do this, you need to get out there and meet them. How often do we musicians bemoan the decline of live music, while sitting at home watching the TV on a Saturday night? Go out and see other musicians play. You may make useful contacts, and you may learn something.

Don't forget pub jam sessions. They’re not just for beginners, sometimes you meet the more experienced players there, and there’s nothing better than sitting in with great musicians. Don't turn up your nose at playing with the beginners either. Today’s beginner may be tomorrow’s band leader.

Social networking is an important source of dep gigs. For example, there are several Facebook groups you can join. The musicians’ online grapevine is a vibrant communication channel. Some of my best dep gigs, and even band memberships have come from idly watching my Facebook timeline.

Don’t forget to switch on your notifications so that you get the news about a possible gig straight away. If you decide to reply, don't delay sending it as there are plenty of other musicians out there who may get the gig while you're still thinking about it.

Once you've accepted a booking, do your preparation, especially if it’s your first time playing with this band. Ask for a set list, with keys. If there are any originals, ask for a copy of the recordings. An online download service like Dropbox.com is very useful, as too many mp3s can clog up your email inbox, and prevent people from sending you emails.  If you're a lead guitarist, learn any intro licks, and find out if you're expected to reproduce solos from the record, or improvise your own.

Don’t forget to ask the bandleader about the dress code for the gig. Don’t leave this until the day of the gig – you may have to buy a specific item of clothing, and shops don't seem to carry a lot of stock these days.

When loading up for the journey to the gig, pick instruments and amplification that are appropriate to the band and the genre. For example, an authentic Chicago Blues band wouldn't appreciate you turning up with a Marshall stack and a huge pedalboard. In fact, keep the equipment to the minimum, so that you won’t take ages setting up.

Make sure that you know what time you're expected to arrive at the venue. If you're the first to arrive, wait until the band leader arrives, so that you can ask which side of the stage to set up on. Don't hog the stage or monopolise the electrical sockets. Do help carry in the band’s PA, lighting rig, backline etc. The sooner the band can get set up, the more time will be left over to soundcheck and perhaps run through some of the trickier numbers.

While playing the gig, watch the rest of the band for rhythmic pushes, stops and endings. Often it’s the bandleader giving a signal, but sometimes it’s all about watching the drummer.

If the promoter speaks to you, remember that you represent the band that you’re depping for. Don't use it as an opportunity to get gigs for your own band, at least not straight away.

Play to the best of your ability, but resist the temptation to turn the show into a personal ego trip. No-one likes a show-off! Be a team player, and keep your performance appropriate to the band, the genre, the audience and the occasion.

Finally, help the band break down the gear and pack up. Thank them for the gig, leave on friendly terms, and they'll use you again and they may even recommend you to friends.

Happy depping!

Left Or Right?

The guitar and it's relatives the bass guitar, banjo, ukulele etc., are unusual instruments in that they come in right-handed and left-handed versions. Like most guitarists, I play right-handed. Many left-handed players play the other way around, strumming with their left hand and fretting with their right hand. They usually also reverse the strings. A famous example of someone who played that way was Jimi Hendrix.

However, there are a number of guitarists who play left-handed, but without reversing the strings, for example Otis Rush the Chicago bluesman. Albert King was another bluesman who played that way.

Is it necessary to play the guitar left-handed if you are yourself left-handed? I don't think so, and there are plenty of well-known virtuosos that bear this out. B.B. King, Robert Fripp, Mark Knopfler and jazzman Jim Mullen are all left-handed, but play right-handed, and I'm pretty sure that their playing doesn't suffer from it!

In fact, being left-handed may well be an advantage if you're learning to play a "normal" right-handed guitar. In the early stages, the hand that has the most demanding job to do is definitely the left hand, which holds down the chords and fingers the scales. If your left hand is the dominant one, surely fretting is easier than for a right-handed person, who is using their weaker hand?

Let's consider other musical instruments. The piano is always bass on the left, treble on the right. What about other stringed instruments like the violin. Look at a symphony orchestra, with rows of violinists sitting next to each other, all holding their violins the same way around. Some of them must be left-handed, and yet they all play right-handed. If one of them played left-handed, the movement of their bow might cause a nasty accident with the next violinist's eye!

Guitar shops usually encourage lefties to buy left-handed guitars. Could this possibly be because they're more expensive? Perhaps the whole left-handed guitar industry can be attributed to the influence of Jimi Hendrix, who has been seen on TV by millions, playing the right-handed guitars of the day, but left-handed. Interestingly, Jimi used to write with his right-hand. Maybe he wasn't actually left-handed after all. His whole playing style was self-taught and unconventional.

So, if you're left-handed and thinking of taking up the guitar, don't assume that you must buy a left-handed model. Learn a few simple chord shapes, and try them out on a right-handed guitar first. Holding down the chords will feel strange and awkward to begin with, but no more so than for anyone. After all, these are intricate movements that all of us ask our fingers to carry out when we learn to play, so it really doesn't matter which way around you hold your guitar. Regular daily practice will overcome any initial difficulties. As well as the advice of a good teacher of course!

How Much Should I Practise?

This is a question that new students often ask me. My answer is always the same: as much, and as often as you can. But first, you should be realistic about what practice is, and what it isn’t.

A good practice session must include working on something that makes your playing better. For example, perhaps I've given you a song which includes a chord change that you can't play properly yet. That chord change would be a really good technique to work on. Set the song aside, and focus on the chord change. Strum the first chord, then the second, and repeat over and over until you can do it quickly enough to slot it back in the song. Make sure that both chords sound correct – play only the strings that you're supposed to, and make sure that each of those strings is ringing clearly. If any of those strings are being accidentally muted, or are buzzing, then adjust your finger positions until the problem is solved. Strum each of the chords once only – after all, it’s the finger movements that contribute to the chord change that need the practice, not the strumming.

If you have limited time to practise (as we all do), then make sure that you target your time wisely. Don’t waste time on your party piece – the piece that you love to play, have played many times before, and have no difficulty in playing. By all means do that too as and when you can spare the time, but don't kid yourself that it counts as practice. It’s fun, and that’s one of the reasons why we all play music, and there’s nothing wrong with that, as long as you remember that practising comes first.

Remember that the more time you spend practising in your beginner/improver stage, the sooner you’ll be able to play everything that you want to, as well as you want to. Also, remember that every day that you don’t practise sets your progress back by a week.