Guitar Lessons as Presents

Over the years I have been someone's birthday present, christmas present, valentine's day present, anniversary present , graduation present,  just-because present, mother's day present and now, once again, a father's day present. While I've never jumped out of a guitar-shaped cake, I've had the opportunity to join in on the fun of the surprise, usually the birthdays. It's great fun. Sometimes it can go a little off-plan.

I was paid in advance for a month of lessons for a woman's husband. She said they were driving down the road when Wanted Dead or Alive started playing. He said, "Man, I wish I could play guitar like that!"! Well, fishing for a birthday present after 30+ years of marriage, she thought guitar lessons would be a great idea! She wanted me to come to the house and help surprise him. I was there at the agreed upon time , she opened the door and yelled surprise as I stood there with my guitar in hand. He said "Wow, that's great, honey. Thanks! Where's my guitar?"

Note: I had a spare in the car that I rented to him. That was years ago, I now know to ask!

It's also important to make sure that the spouse really wants to learn to play and not just excited about a song. Or maybe they do well at Guitar Hero/Rock Band and think they can play guitar by default. A good indication is when they buy a guitar and try really hard to learn on their own but can't seem to get it. If they put the guitar down and never touch it again, they probably shouldn't take lessons. Lessons won't perform miracles, they'll just show the path, you have to take the steps. If they don't have 20-30 minutes a day to practice, they aren't ready to take lessons.

How to learn guitar quickly!

Are you a recent HS grad with a burning desire to learn to play guitar?

Do you dread facing college without being able to play guitar?

Do you think you can meet new friends by playing guitar?

Did you recently get a new guitar , wasted most of your time trying to learn from YT?

Are you able to spend at least one hour or more per day practicing?

If your answer to any of the above was yes (it should be yes to ALL of the above!) then you've come to the right place. I can help you learn to play guitar!

With TWO one hour lessons one week apart , and daily practice, I'll give you the foundation to continue to learn and play guitar. As long as you practice daily and apply the techniques I show you, you will be playing songs on the guitar before the end of the summer.

Here are some of the things you'll learn:

1. How to play chords.

2. What are the most important chords.

3. How to strum.

4. The "Secret Strum"

5. How to read chord / lyric charts.

6. How to read TAB

7. Basic rock and roll / blues style

8. Oh yeah,  and learn to play some songs!

I have a couple of Saturday slots open at my house in Naperville and a few daytime slots open for possible in-home lessons.

Call Terry at 630-696-0783 and visit my website at www.NapervilleGuitarLessons.com    also    www.facebook.com/napervilleguitarlessons.com

Another High School project!

HI, Terry. 

Thank you so much for answering my questions. They were exactly what I needed to get a better understanding of the guitar and the life of a professional guitarist. You have helped me with my project and inspired me to keep playing , and therefore I thank you. Thank you for your generosity and I will be sure to tell you my grade.

    Thanks, Si M.

HI, Si. Below are my answers to your questions .

 1. What inspired you to play the guitar?

 I just wanted to be part of the music I liked to listen to, like Led Zepplin,  Niel Young, CSN, etc. I had been playing drums since I was 11.  Actually my motivation to start guitar at the age of 19  was to impress a girl. I was going to Purdue and dating a girl at Ball State. She was a music major, played guitar and piano. I would hitchhike to see her on weekends. We would sit around talk and listen to music. She would play her guitar and I really liked it. I'd go back to school , borrow a guitar and start bugging everyone to show me chords. I'd go back to see her, play a song I'd been practicing all week long. She was never impressed. We later broke up but I got more out of the relationship; I learned to play the guitar!

2. Do you think your age, when you started playing the guitar, was prominent in your success?

 Yes, I do believe it was good to start early. I was 19 at the time and now, 40 years later, I'm glad I invested the time to learn to play. I had more time to spend learning , less distractions.  Time to play and practice is very important. But you can start at ANY age ( I have a lot of adult students) as long as you commit to learning.

3. Why did you decide to pursue music into a career? I've always given guitar lessons, most of the time it has been part time. About 2 years after  I started playing/learning , a friend of mine told me if I really wanted to learn guitar, I should teach it. So I did. He was right. About six years ago, I kept telling my wife "I should have given guitar lessons full time 30 years ago". She said that I should go ahead and try it because she didn't want to be hearing that same old thing 30 years from now! It's fun, I get to control my schedule and I love it!

4. What is challenging/difficult about your profession?

Finding new students can be difficult. It takes time and money to find new customers. Once you have them, you must keep them happy. But I would say finding them is the most challenging and most expensive.

5. Did your family/friends support your musical career?

Yes, my wife was my biggest supporter. She encouraged me to do what I loved. She helped me and continues to help me. She took it seriously even when other family members wanted to know if I could even make a living doing it.

6. What type of guitar do you prefer and why?

I love to play acoustic guitar , that's probably my favorite. But I do have a lot of fun playing and teaching electric guitar. 

7. What is you favorite style/genre of music to play and why?

On acoustic ,  I like to play Howie Day, Doc Watson, Neil Young. On electric I like to play Red Hot Chilis , rock, classic and newer stuff.  I play a lot of styles, country, folk , rock , some jazz, some classical. Why, I guess because it makes me feel good.

8. Who are you idols?

My true idols are probably any person that I ever heard play guitar. But I really like Doc Watson on acoustic and Eric Clapton on electric.

9. Do you prefer performing or teaching and why?

I prefer teaching, I guess because I love to help people. But I do like to perform, not as much as I used to when I was younger. I hold Adult Jams almost every month and I perform at those.

10. If you could give advice to starting musicians what would it be? My advice to starting musicians is listen to as much music as you possibly can , practice/play as much as you can and try to learn as many different styles as you possibly can; variety is important.

I hope that helps. I'm a little tired so if there's anything you don't understand please let me know.

Hey, let me know what grade you get! Good luck with the guitar playing.

Thanks,Terry  

High School and Guitar

Mr. Schafer, 

 Hi, I am a freshman at Naperville North High School teaching myself to play the guitar for an English project. Part of this project requires me to interview a professional guitarist and as I was searching for someone, I came across your website. If it's not too much of a hassle, I was hoping you could answer a few questions for me through this email. Also, I'd like to let you know that I will be quoting some of this interview in my paper, so if there's anything you'd like to remain off the record, please indicate that portion as such. Any length of reply would be greatly appreciated!

1. How long have you been playing guitar? How did you get started?

2. What is the most important technique/skill that you have learned on the guitar?

3. How do you usually start lessons for a beginner?

4. Are there certain aspects of the guitar that are particularly difficult? Which technique/aspect took the longest for you to achieve?

Any additional comments:

    Thank you so much!

            SP,  EPOC class 

Hi, S. I would be happy to answer the questions.

1. I've been playing for over 40 years. I got started because I was trying to impress a girl. She was a music major at Ball State and I was going to Purdue. I would hitchhike to Muncie to see her on weekends. During the week I borrowed a guitar and started learning some songs. I would play the guitar for her but she was never impressed. Every week I'd learn a new song and play it for her.  We later broke up; I got more from the relationship, I learned to play guitar.

2.It's hard to say what is the most important technique or skill since it takes several skills on several levels. But, I would have to say that probably coordinating the fretting (LH) hand and picking (RH) was very important. I wasn't able to do much, especially sing and play, until I got that down.

3. First lesson for a student usually starts by learning the string names, names of some of the guitar parts, how to hold the guitar, how to hold the pick, how hard to press down, where to press with the left (fretting ) hand, hand position, intro to reading tab, some simple song, a simple finger exercise and I give them a questionnaire to fill out that gives me an idea of what they want to learn on the guitar and what type of music they want to play on the guitar. (How's that for a run-on sentence?) People want to learn to play an instrument because they want to be part of the music they like.

4. The most difficult thing to learn about playing guitar is the picking, both flatpick and finger-picking. Most people worry about the fretting hand, how to play chords or what notes to play for that hot lick or cool solo. That's easy, just look up the tab or music and memorize it. But , if the pick or finger doesn't make a string vibrate you don't have sound , let-a-lone music. The real finesse is the rhythm , what the RH ( in my case I'm right handed) does.  That's why Collide , Hey Soul Sister, and other songs that share similar chord progressions sound so different; the picking/strumming hand is what creates most of the rhythm. I have had people that have been playing for many years come to me to learn how to finger pick, flat pick or learn new strumming techniques. Learning to use a pick most effectively took the longest time. I continue to refine my pick technique even now, 40+ years later.

Additional :  The resources available today are incredible. 40 yrs ago we didn't have the Web ( however in the early 70's I got a glimpse of the ARPANET), videos,  Skype / iChat, or even a good reliable source of tab/music. I really love and embrace the technology. But , with all the ways to learn how to play an instrument some people still need that face-to-face contact with a teacher. I am grateful of that and that I am able to make my full time living helping others learn to play guitar. And I love every minute of it.

I hope that helps. Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you. Good luck playing the guitar.

Terry

   

Terry Schafer

www.napervilleguitarlessons.com 

www.napervillepianolessons.com

www.facebook.com/napervilleguitarlessons

http://www.napervilleguitarlessons.blogspot.com/

www.twitter.com/nguitarlessons

March Adult Jam

Well it's time for another Adult Jam! We're going to try a series of hopefully fun songs. We're going to start learning some One Hit Wonders. Since there are way too many of them and we only have so much time, I thought we'd limit them to just the OHW's that made it to number one on Billboard's Hot 100 list. I mean , you can look at hits from many different sources , you can look at top 100's , or 50's or 40's. But when it comes right down to it, IMHO, it's the artists that made it to BB's number one , then faded into oblivion, that really counts as a OHW.

So, here's my list for the next Jam, song title, artist and year that it made it to BB's #1.


At the Hop      Danny and the Juniors  1958
One Eyed One Horned Flying Purple People Eater     Sheb Wooly    1958
Itsy Bitsy Yellow Polka Dot Bikini    Brian Hyland        1960

Please Mr Postman    The Marvelettes    1961
Breaking Up Is Hard To Do   Niel Sedaka 1962
I'm Telling You Now    Freddy and the Dreamers    1965
Hang On Sloopy     the mccoys    1965
Wild Thing    the Troggs    1966
Sittin on the Dock of the Bay  Otis Redding        1968
In the Year 2525    Zager and Evans    1969

Next Jam we'll tackle the 70's! See you then, Terry

Adult Jams

We just had another great Adult Jam. I'll be posting pictures soon. In the mean time you can see pictures at www.facebook.com/napervilleguitarlessons?v=photos
You do NOT have to be a FB member to see the photos.

Here's what a couple of my adult students have to say about the Jams:   STUDENT TESTIMONIALS

"I love the jams... now.  As you know, the first jam really took me for a loop because everyone else seemed so much more proficient than me.  I went home extremely humbled and really doubted myself.  I continually thought of giving up the guitar because it just seemed too daunting.  In fact, I put the guitar down for a good week to just take a break.  It was at my next lesson with you, however, that I really re-committed myself.  It was your understanding and encouragement that really helped me move forward.  You were never negative and really took the time to listen to my concerns.  I left that practice with a new focus, which I hope was seen at the next jam when I got up in front of everybody to play "Picture."  There's no way I would have envisioned that after the first jam!  So as you can probably guess, I love the jams now.  They are great barometers of my own progression.  I also really enjoy the time with all your other students.  No one takes themselves too seriously - you especially - and there's always a few good laughs to be had.  The fact that you take the time out of your busy schedule to do this for your students is not only commendable, but a true testament to your commitment to each and every student.  I can't thank you enough."
Derek


"I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed the adult jam last weekend.  I really felt like I was not just palying a series of chords, but really playing my guitar for the first time.  I was so nervous initially, as I know only a limited number of chords.  It did NOT matter- I was able to keep up the best I could.  It was extremely worthwhile and I know going to the jams will ultimately make me a better musician.  Plus, it was a lot of fun.  Thank you so much for offering your personal time for your students. You are the best."
Alisa M.

"I am pretty fortunate to take guitar lessons from Terry who has 4 decades of experience. Terry makes guitar playing pretty easy for a newbie like me. He understands exactly where the student's learning difficulty is, and helps to get through it with a step by step aproach. There were several instances when I struggled for weeks on chords and Terry could fix my problems in minutes.
Renting a guitar before buying, really helped in my case. Terry gave some very useful tips which helped me to buy a right guitar the very first time.
Learning Bar chords was a difficult thing but with Terry's help it became simpler."
 P.G.

Kids' Jam

Hi.
I don't know about you but I always hated recitals. I didn't like playing in them and I didn't like watching them; they were always awkward for everyone except the parents of the kid sweating through Ode to Joy or Moonlight Sonata. Yuk.
Some people like to be out front no matter what they are doing. But I always liked playing with other people. Like in a group or a band. It was fun and you could really expand your music. When everyone is on the same beat and having a good time, there is not much better in life. The guitar is a very social instrument as well as a very personal instrument.
So, I don't force any of my students to perform. That's very personal and I feel it's up to them. I give them the chance to play with other kids. If they would like, they can play solo for everyone. But I don't like show offs. You can go to Guitar Center just about any day of the week and get your fill of guitar hero wannabes. That's not what it's all about.
It's making yourself feel good about the music. If it's alone or with others that's good. If someone listening likes it, great. If not, that's ok also.

I'm starting to work on my August Kids' Jam. I expect to have a lot of fun. It will be loud, but fun.

Adult Jam 5-22-10

Saturday, the 22nd, we got together and had another Adult Jam. It was a lot of fun. I want to thank Colin and Heidi Blair for hosting it. I also want to thank everyone that showed up and played guitar. We played Beatles songs, some CCR , some Poison and even a Monkees song! You can check out some photos at http://www.facebook.com/napervilleguitarlessons

Years ago I realized that my adult students don't always have an outlet to play guitar. Sometimes , as they are learning, even their families don't want to listen to it. They can be shy performing for non-playing friends. But when you get a bunch of beginners together, great things can happen.

It helps them practice in a live situation; there are no do-overs , you have to keep going. You get to see how well you've progressed and what you need to learn. You also can pick up tips from others, see how they play things , and help fellow beginners.

We'll hold more this summer. In fact we are starting to think about a big one in September. I'll post more information later.

Student Guitar Instructors

Hi, Everyone!
This summer I am helping a few teenagers find employment giving guitar lessons.

 My son , Brendon Schafer, is home from college and is giving beginning guitar lessons. He has experience working with kids (they love him!) and adults. He has been playing guitar for over 5 years and teaching for the past several years.

I have a couple of other student instructors available. Please contact me for more information, tschaf@aol.com or 630-983-6674 . They usually charge $15 per 1/2 hour in-home lesson.

60's Day at Naperville North High School

Hi, Everyone.
Friday, May 14th, I was at NNHS and gave four presentations. I talked about my experiences in the 60's, primarily about the anti-war movement. I sang eight protest songs from that time period. Nancy Bolliger, one of my adult students, helped me by singing a few of the songs. We had a great time.

The first two periods were the best because we were fresh and the kids were generally awake. After lunch, both the kids and I were ready for a nap. But we got through and the last period presentation was a lot of fun.

It was a lot of hard work and at the end of the day I was worn out. It was like playing a four hour gig!

I want to thanks Kermit Eby for inviting us and Jennifer Weigand for be so kind and helpful. And the other History teachers were great. The kids were respectful, which I appreciated. They were interested in what we had to say.

It was lots of fun and I hope to do it again next year!

Adult Jam 5-1-10

Hi, Everyone.
We had a great time at Jim Trussell's house this Saturday. Jim played drums and I played bass. It really help's having a steady beat to keep everyone in sync; like a living metronome!

You can see photos at www.facebook.com/napervilleguitarlessons

Click on PHOTOS
You DON'T need a facebook account to see the photos.

We're going to try for another one later this month. Stay tuned.

From time-to-time I try to get my adult students together to play some songs and learn a few things. Adults don't always have friends that play guitar so this is a way to get together and play some songs. We usually have someone that wants to perform but it isn't required. You just have to have a good time. No guitar hero/gods are invited; they can go over to Guitar Center and jam with the 16 year olds!

Terry

What does it take to learn to play guitar?

Hi, everyone.
For over 40 years, since I started playing guitar, I've thought off-and-on about what it takes to learn to play the guitar. At first, I wanted to know for myself, so I could learn to play. Then, as I started teaching , I needed to know so I could help my students. I've looked at and written all kinds of lesson plans, I've talked to other teachers and students. I've read a lot about it online. If you ask just about anyone what it takes, they will say "practice!". But, from watching my successful students and the not so successful ones, I now know the answer and I can sum it up in one word. Persistence. You have to keep at it. When you get frustrated at the F chord you have to keep trying. Even if you give up for a week or two, you have to get back into it. If you go on vacation, you have to get right back on it when you're back home. It has to be a focus at least until you get closer to your goal, or the level of playing that you want to achieve.

I see it all the time. Kids take lessons and, no matter how easy the teacher makes it, the kid decides it's too hard. He/she thought the teacher would just show them where to put their fingers and they would play like EVH/Orianthi/whoever. Or they go on vacation and they loose their momentum.  They give up. But I also see kids and adults stick with it and get better. I work hard to help them over the humps. Ultimately it is the student that overcomes the difficulties. You need to be persistent in practice, in learning technique and new songs. The more you keep at it the better you'll get. You need to know when to take a short rest and how long.

I tell the following story to my students. About a year after I had been playing , a friend of mine ( who played very well ) and I were at a party. We were playing guitar. There was a guy there, a beginner, who was trying to play his guitar with us. We felt he was cramping our style so we acted like he wasn't there. He got the message and stopped playing, annoying us. About a year later I was at another party and, sure enough, that beginner guy was there. Only this time he was playing like an old pro, better then I or my friend. Really showing us up. I asked him what happened. He said, well, since the last party you and I were at (Ha, he remembered!) I lost my job, my girl and had to move in with my relatives. All I had was my guitar. So I played a whole lot, I kept at it and kept trying. I didn't even realize I had gotten that much better until tonight when I played with you guys!
Yeow. We deserved that. I learned two lessons that night. Persistence and don't slam on a beginner. Treat him/her with kindness for someday you may want to jam with that beginner.

Keep at it. Keep playing guitar!

Why I teach guitar

Hi, there.
I've worked a few jobs in my life and teaching guitar is the best ever. I mean, I have cooked chicken at one of the bucket head fast food places, I've driven a courtesy car for a car dealership (several interesting stories there), I've delivered pizzas, I've worked in the steel mills, I've been a customer service rep, salesman, a sales manager, a facilities manager, an operations manager, an IT manager, etc, etc. Within each of those I usually made a good living, at least from the mill job on. But it was never really satisfying. I didn't get the great feeling I do with teaching.

I think I've always wanted to be a teacher or some kind or another. I just always thought it would be in a classroom. But I found in college I didn't like working with a room full of kids. From personal experience, I know that it takes a very special person to do that and do it well. They deserve as much money as they make and more!

I like helping people learn to play guitar. I love seeing someone go from not knowing how to hold the instrument to being able to play songs they like to play. Most people want to learn to play an instrument to play the music they enjoy. That's what I try to help them do.

One of the things I've noticed over the years is that some kids (and adults) feel that the teacher is going to do something magical for them. That I'm going to show them where to put their fingers and they'll play like (their favorite guitar hero here) the next day. It doesn't work like. It takes hard work and a lot of repetition of the correct technique. That's where I come in. I try to make sure the person is doing things right that will help them reach their goals.

But I teach because it makes me feel good.

www.napervilleguitarlessons.com

Teach guitar

I have been playing guitar for 40 years and have been teaching guitar for over 35 years. Of those 35 years, the last 6 years have been full time. And it has been the best 6 years of my life!
I would come home from my 9 to 5 office job and tell my wife I should have started teaching guitar full time 30 years ago. One day she said she was tire of hearing that and didn't want to hear it for the next 30 years! So we looked at our finances, we looked at where the students might be and how many I needed to have to break-even and pay the bills. We sucked it up and pulled the plug. And it has been the best decision we have ever made.
I get to set my own schedule, work when I want to. If I need a raise I add more students. I set the rules. If I want to take a nap or run to the store, I do it. And I make a great living.
I get to go into peoples' homes and meet a lot of nice people; I help them do something they want to do; they are happy to see me; I get to play guitar all day long; and I get paid for it! What could be better?

If you want to help people, play a lot of guitar and make a great living go to this link

www.napervilleguitarlessons.com/ebook.html

Name for my new guitar!

Good morning and Happy Holidays! I want you guys to know that I found a name for my new, Martin D18 guitar! It was really hard since everyone submitted some great names! I want to thank everyone that submitted names, even Andrea who made up a couple even though she's not quite Spanish! I agonized for weeks and then the name came in that I think fits my new guitar the best.

Congratulations to Ryan Hynes for submitting "La Loba", She Wolf. If you could see her and play her you'd know why it fits. Ryan gets an all expense paid trip to his nearest mailbox to pick up his NapvervilleGuitarLessons logo t-shirt, Xtra large, one-size-fits everybody.

New strings for your guitar

Hi, everyone.
The only thing better than new strings is a new guitar!

I get a lot of people asking about how often to change the strings on their guitar. A lot depends on your finger chemistry and how often you play. If your fingers are moist or your sweat is acidic, you are going to need to change your strings more often. Some indicators are that your guitar is a little harder to tune (that darn tuner!), or it sounds a little dull or , yuk, you start to see some tarnish on the finish of the strings.

The last time I played acoustic guitar in a band, I was changing strings everyday! Two hours of hammering and sweating on them made them sound pretty dull.

I really like coated strings , especially D'Addario EXP strings. They've come a long way, they sound a lot better than just a year or two ago and they last 2, 3 or 4 times as long as the non-coated strings. I think my Martins sound best with mediums so I buy the EXP17 pack. Lights are EXP16.

Phosphor bronze gives you a little warmer, mellower tone whereas the 80/20 bronze gives you a little brighter sound. I usually like the Phosphor unless the guitar sounds a little muddy.

So I started looking around for the best prices. I used EXP17 (medium phosphor bronze)as my comparison. I also added the Humidipak refill packs as an additional comparison.

The local stores are consistently higher than online, no surprise. Sometimes you can find a good deal, but usually they are only good for an emergency buy.

Online, the prices are all over the place. I checked many online places but actually tracked only nine. Two places charge about the same as what you pay locally. Most places discount a little but two locations seem to have better prices, at least right now.

First Quality Music (fqms.com) and Strings and Beyong (stringsandbeyond.com) seem to have the best prices on EXP17 and humidipak refills. At least for now.

The EXP17 at fqms.com was 8.55 and at Stringsandbeyond.com were 8.95. But the refills at fqms.com was 5.99 and at stringsandbeyond.com they were only 5.29, and 4.96 if you buy 3 at a time.

Shipping was free for orders over $49 at fqms.com and free over $35 at stringsandbeyond.com

I have ordered from fqms.com several times and have been happy with their service. I haven't used stringsandbeyond.com but I think I'll give them a try soon.

If you have any other ideas or better deals, please let me know.
Thanks, Terry Schafer

Help me name my new guitar!

Hi, Everyone.
I just got a new Martin D18 for my birthday! The only thing better than new strings is a new guitar, and I got one!

http://www.facebook.com/napervilleguitarlessons"

I name my guitars with feminine Spanish names. For example, my D35 is named Adoncia,  and means sweet. And she is.

The reason I do this is because the guitar as we know it today, was mainly developed in Spain since the 15th century. The vihuela looked like a guitar and was almost tuned the way we tune our guitars. And the word guitar comes from the Spanish guitarra, which is feminine.

So help me name my new guitar. You can post a suggestions heres. Or go to www.facebook.com/napervilleguitarlessons and leave a post. Or to the facebook group "Help me name my new guitar". Or just send a message to me at tschaf@aol.com

I'll send a Naperville Guitar Lessons logo t-shirt to the name that I think is the best.

Thanks, Terry

Beginner Guitar Students

Hi, everyone.
Over the past 30 years or so I've had the opportunity to work with a lot of beginner guitar students. Many of them had unrealistic expectations about what a guitar teacher can do for them. Most of them thought I would just show them where to put their fingers and they would play like Eddie Van Halen, or Jimmy Page in a couple of lessons. They think that it is purely an intellectual exercise and they don't realize there is much more to playing guitar.

It is as much a physical activity as golf or baseball; you just use smaller muscles. You have to condition your fingers, build dexterity and build muscle memory. This takes a lot of repetition of basic movements. It doesn't happen overnight.

I often get asked how long will it take to learn to play guitar. That's a difficult question to answer and I don't know if it can be answered. It depends on what your goal is, how far you want to take it. Do you just want to learn a few chords and play a few songs? Do you want to be a rock guitar hero? Or something inbetween. Having a clear goal is important and your teacher should help you define a goal.

I hear people say that it is easier to play the electric guitar than an acoustic. Or that it is better to start with an acoustic guitar first, then switch to electric. That is true only from a mechanical level; it is easier to press the strings against the frets on an electric. But you still have to condition your fingers and develop the dexterity. I do believe that it is good for your finger strength to start with an acoustic then play an electric later.

But for kids, I think it is better to keep them interested. They want to play the latest cool songs from Drowning Pool or even Jonas Brothers. They want to play AC/DC and Led Zeppelin. They want to sound like their heros and they want to do it on an electric guitar. I say it's OK and it will help keep up their interest.

Adult Jam 5-31-08

Hi, Everyone.
This last Saturday we held out last Adult Jam for the season. It was a small group, about 9 of us, but we had a lot of fun. We had Stray Cat Strut, Blowin' in the Wind, Ruth, Knocking on Heaven's Door, Hurt, the usual Stand By Me, Margaritaville. We had a couple of Johnny Cash songs that were a lot of fun and I gave an impromptu lesson on the Carter Lick, aka bass-brush strumming.

Here are the pictures from the Jam www.napervilleguitarlessons.com/photos.html . We're thinking about having a summer Outdoor Jam. I'll post information when I have it.

Keep playing guitar!

Terry

Guitar Rental

PLAY BEFORE YOU BUY
THE SITUATION
It's not easy to learn to play guitar. It's like learning a new language with ear muffs on your head; you can do it but you always feel you're missing something. That's where a good teacher comes in and can lead you by the hand.
But what can be even scarier is buying a guitar before you learn to play. Most people don't buy a car before they get their license so why buy a guitar before you can play something? What happens is you go to a guitar store and ask the salesman what would be a good guitar for a beginner. At that point, you are dependant on his opinion. If you're lucky, and he hasn't been up all night gigging, you might get a decent guitar. But some people say an acoustic is better to start with than an electric and some say just the opposite. Sometimes a salesman tells you to buy a nylon string classical guitar because it will be "easier on the beginner's fingers".
After you get what you thought was a good deal, and a great beginner's guitar, you take it home. The potential student plays around with it for awhile, a few days/weeks then realizes they can't do it on thier own. So you get a teacher. Then you find out that the gutiar is difficult/impossible to play correctly. So, you tell the student that if they learn to play, you'll get them a better guitar.
This starts a terrible cycle. The student tries, but the poor equipment makes it uncomfortable to play, so they don't practice. The teacher does his/her best but can't work around the guitar. The kid gets yelled at for not practicing, the parents get frustrated then stops lessons. The kids never learns to play and the guitar starts to gather dust quickly.
THE SOLUTION : LEARN BEFORE YOU BUY
Generally speaking, it takes about 2 months to learn a few chords and to play a couple of simple songs. To be able to pick out a guitar you like and not one that the salesman likes, you need to play the same song or chords on several different guitars. I look for a guitar that is playable, then how it sounds. The last thing I consider is how it looks. I have the salesman stand there and hand me guitars while I play the same thing over and over again. And I have him play the same thing on the guitars so I can hear it from a distance.
My program is simple. You rent a guitar from me for 2 months and take 8 to 10 lessons . You will then be ready to pick out a guitar that you feel good about. Most guitar salesmen can make any guitar sound great, even the junkers. But if you can play it and have an idea what you're looking for, you will get a guitar that will last you much longer than the bargain basement instrument from Walmart.

Rent-to-own also available.

Please visit this link for current prices Vocals and More .
Call Terry Schafer at 630-983-6674
Or
Stephanie @ Vocals and More 630-851-3262