Guitar Lessons Nottingham - Blog

Welcome to my blog, here I will be posting lots of tips and techniques for beginners and experienced guitar players alike. Feel free to leave a comment on any of the posts or contact me if there is something you would like me to write about.

Drum Lessons Nottingham

Looking for Drum Lessons in Nottingham?

My name is Paul Greco and I am a drummer. I have been drumming now for 17 years and I have been playing in bands for over a decade. In that time I have played in many musical styles including metal, grunge, indie and punk and I am still playing now. The great thing about the drums are that you can sit behind them, hit them and get a rhythm much easier than you can pick up a guitar and play a song.

Avoid bad habits

But that doesnt mean you know how to play the drums. I see allot of drummers in bands who can hit them but I see less that can play them well. That is what I can teach you. I want to teach you how to play them correctly, how to tune and set your drum kit up and most importantly how to play well in a band. I can help you understand how to immerse yourself in the rhythm, really feel it and figure out what is right to play to it. You dont need to be complicated, you just need to play it right.

Learn in a relaxed recording studio with a great drum kit!

I will be teaching you on a Mapex Mapel drum kit that I use for gigging and recording at Event Studios Nottingham. We will work on what ever it is you want to learn. If you are an absolute beginner I will show you the basics from how to hold the sticks to how to correctly hit the drums. We can learn how to play your favourite songs by sound, not by reading it. This is very important for you to learn how to play well in a band; learn how the professionals do it and learn from them. I can help you understand what your style is and really bring out the best in your drumming. We can even run through any music from your band that you are struggling with and work out how to understand what goes well with it.

Contact me to arrange your drum lessons

Tel 07872 345 940 or click here to send an email

Paul Greco- Drum Teacher

Tags: drum lessons nottingham> drum teachers nottingham> drum tuition nottingham

The Great Guitar Strings Review

First up for review in the great guitar strings review is the classic Ernie ball Regular Slinkies

I have a long relationship with these strings but have never stuck to one brand, so now is the time to find out just how good these guitar strings are and put them to the test! I will use a Fender Stratocaster to test a series of guitar strings which will be used during guitar lessons and at home practice.

Ernie Ball strings are the choice for many players and its plain to see why, they sound great fresh out of the packet and seem to withstand the most challenging of guitar string bends!

Week One:

The thinnest string seems to have worn a little and the frets have indented them quite a lot. I have been using planet waves string cleaner after each session and the guitar strings are starting to feel “soapy” its time to switch to the trusty fast fret to restore some life back into them.

The strings are still quite fresh feeling, still has heaps of sustain and bite and are still clean looking.

Week Two:

Unfortunately after two weeks of use these guitar strings are now dull and lifeless. I cleaned them as usual after each session however they have no tone left in them and have gone dark.

Next up…

Elixir Nanoweb

These guitar strings have been raved about so naturally I wanted to try them out for use during guitar lessons. They cost nearly twice as much as a set of regular strings so how do they pan out?

Week one: So far so good! These strings really feel great and well made. The wound strings are very bright and the Steel strings feel sturdy! No spare “E” strings will be required here!

Week Two: Still going strong, as fresh as when I put them on, I have been using them during and after guitar lessons.

Week Three: No change! These seem to last longer than average strings

Week Four: The wound strings started to feel quite uncomfortable to play and the steel strings were just about worn out with use during and after guitar tuition.

General thoughts: Great all round tone, and feel generally however the strings are “stiff” to bend, especially if bending further than a single tone. When doing that typical tone and a half bend on the 1st string I really had to push hard but they seem to not “give”. These guitar strings would be ideal for someone who wanted great tone, long life but the tension issue lets these strings down!

Next up:

Ernie Ball Cobalt

Guitar Lessons In Beeston

Guitar lessons are now available in Beeston Nottingham from the comfort of your home.

For any aspiring guitarist who cant for any reason get to Nottingham city centre, I now have a solution for you and can teach you from home at no extra cost.

Lessons are available most evenings, weekends and during the day. From beginner to advanced all ages are welcome.

Contact me today to arrange your guitar lessons in Beeston.

Skype Guitar Lessons

Skype Guitar Lessons

Guitar is a wonderful instrument to learn but learning it effectively requires the assistance of a

guitar instructor. Learning guitar by yourself with the help of free lessons will be frustrating

and time consuming. For this reason, many music lovers struggle to learn the guitar. If you

are one of them then get rid of all your hesitation. You need not worry that you don’t

have a Guitar Instructor nearby and you don’t need to travel anywhere to learn Guitar. All

that you need to do is sit in front of your machine, login into Skype and start learning guitar

from your guitar instructor.

What is Skype?

Skype is video chat software with cross platform support. Using skype, you can call other

Skype users for free and call mobile numbers of Skype users for a cheaper rate.

How to Learn Guitar Lessons through Skype?

Skype Guitar Lessons are an easy way of learning Guitar. You might reside in U.K and your

guitar tutor might reside in U.S, but still you can learn guitar from your tutor through Skype.

All that you need to perform is: install skype, add your tutor in your contact list and wait till

he approves to share his details with you. Now when the tutor is online through Skype, call

your tutor’s skype id through the call option, visually see him through webcam and talk to

him using your headphone or in-built speaker facility. Now your learning process becomes

very simple and easy. You can clearly see the finger movements of your guitar tutor while

playing the instrument and evidently listen to the music. You can ask him questions and

interact with him all through Skype without any interruptions. Most importantly, you use this

Skype service for FREE!

There are many tutors who can teach Skype Guitar lessons. Most prominent among them is Rob Greco who instructs Skype Guitar Lessons in a professional and indeed creative way. For online guitar tuition look no further.

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Which guitar pick?

Guitar picks come in all shapes, sizes, brands and colours. The choice of picks is vast and this can be overwhelming for anyone new to learning the guitar.

So which one should you choose?

For general all round use a pick at .50mm would be a good place to start because the guitar pick is not too stiff but also not too flimsy.

As for shapes and sizes generally go for a normal looking pick as anything else might be difficult to use and may promote bad posture.

Try a few different “gauge” picks out between .50mm and .70mm (approx).

Test the pick out and have a touch to make sure it feels comfortable to hold. Some picks have a matt finish and these are generally better than the highly glossed picks as they tend to grip well. Better still if the pick has a grip embossed into it this would be the best choice to avoid losing the pick during guitar practice.

Tags: Beginner Guitar Lessons

Which Guitar?

Choosing your first guitar can be a daunting experience. With the immense amount of information on the internet giving conflicting information – where should you start?

This is the precise reason for this tutorial and further tutorials to come. As a guitar teacher I come across this question frequently.

Choosing your Guitar

Acoustic or electric guitar? This is not an easy choice to make so I will sum up the advantages each has to offer to help you choose your beginners guitar.

Acoustic Guitar

No leads or amplifiers required – just the guitar
Usually cheaper than an electric guitar. A decent one with an amplifier is approximately double the price of the acoustic guitar
A lot of beginner guitar lessons are based around the acoustic guitar
Lighter than the electric guitar
Bigger distance between the strings which is useful for large handed people when learning the guitar
The sound is unmatched due to its build and acoustic properties
No need to spend extra on equipment – unlike the electric guitar which requires an amplifier and lead not to mention guitar pedals
Generally less things to go wrong mechanically

Electric Guitar

Easier to play for several reasons (1) the strings are generally lighter (2) the strings are usually closer to the fretboard of the guitar (3) the body is thinner (4) the neck of the guitar is usually thinner and strings closer together (less of a stretch and allows a better grip)
The amplifier can be quite powerful so the player does not need to press down quite as hard
Access to higher frets usually due to the way the body is cut away from the neck
Certain equipment can emulate an acoustic guitar using an electric guitar but not vice versa
Despite being heavier electric guitars are easier to carry because they are not as bulky
More choice of sound with the vast array of effects on modern amplifiers and guitar pedals
Headphones can be plugged into some amplifiers for midnight practice sessions!

Conclusion

Electric guitars are considerably easier to play than acoustics and it is often a misconception that the acoustic guitar is the guitar designed for beginners and the electric guitar is one to upgrade to. In most cases it would be wise to start on the electric guitar for the beginning and then get an acoustic when you have covered the basics.

In my experience as a guitar teacher, adults with large hands tend to excel quicker on the acoustic guitar due to the larger scale of the neck.

Be careful as a lot of sales assistants may be more interested in the commission than helping you choose the right guitar. It is best to bring along an experienced guitarist or ask your guitar teacher for a recommendation.

Happy purchasing!