First Post

My name is Alex, I am currently studying BTEC Music. I chose this as a sixth form subject as I wish to pursue a career in the Music Industry. I was given my first guitar when I was 9, after learning Ukulele for a number of months - This made learning the guitar easier as I knew how to read TAB. I had lessons for 2 years, but they didn't work for me as the teacher was going at a tediously slow pace, I would learn more from YouTube in an evening than in a 2 hour session with him. I wanted to start learning guitar after going to see my favourite band, AC/DC, live. I religiously learnt AC/DC songs at home, purchasing many Chord and TAB books and watching them play countless times on YouTube. 

I now pick up my guitar whenever I get  bored at home, and will play some songs I know for around an hour before spending half an hour to an hour learning a new song. Recently, I have felt particularly influenced to play certain genres of music by Rock & Roll legend: Buddy Holly. Buddy Holly's career is very admirable and inspiring, it has encouraged me to pursue a music career no matter what. 

When I run into issues with a piece I'm learning, which will be talked about in another post, I tend to listen to the original piece numerous times, highlighting where I'm going wrong before trying to correct it. I will usually look at all the versions of the TAB or Chords if provided (UltimateGuitar.com is a fantastic website for this, as it allows users to submit various versions of the song), if this doesn't help I'll have to listen to the song and try and work it out myself, which is an extremely rewarding way of learning a song. It is always good to watch someone play the song on YouTube as well, just to see what they do differently. 

Another influence worth mentioning is Nalle Colt of Vintage Trouble. His guitar skills are truly admirable. I have been to see Vintage Trouble twice now, and both times have left feeling determined to become a better guitarist. I often try to replicate the kind of chords that Nalle plays, which are usually not open chords, they sometimes are made-up chords, which is one of my favourite things about him. The following clip is a live version of a song called 'Run Outta You' by Vintage Trouble, where Nalle displays his ability to improvise incredible blues solos, and also shows the chords that he has made up, and how they fit perfectly with the piece of music.