The school year has started and lesson slots are filling up rapidly. If you are thinking about guitar, ukulele, bass, (jazz) theory lessons, stop thinking and contact me for a free trial lesson. There are a few bi-weekly slots open too. Don’t miss out!
I look forward hearing from you.
Just a quick merry Christmas to all of you and may Christ’s blessings be all over your 2017!
You landed on the blog of John Dierckx Music Studio, thanks for coming here and checking things out! This is the place where I will be sharing general information about guitar, bass, ukulele and theory tutoring, free lessons and over time subscriber (and enrolled student) only material. It will be the place to go to check out any news about live music, whether it be a concert, a commercial or private engagement, newly recorded material. This site is the hub to lessons, my live music agenda, anything of importance to the tutoring practice or music videos that I believe are important to share with my students and the wider audience.
So go and explore and of course let me know what you think!
I look forward to getting to know you (better)!
It’s been a very long time since I posted here. That’s not because I did not care but because I was busy teaching and playing live. It is spring here and thus time for a big spring clean-up and major overhaul of the site. In the coming year there will be lesson tabs, arrangements, video and audio recordings (plus tabs), easier navigation. There will be subscriber only content and I am working hard on instructional booklets that can be purchased, materials that go deeper into certain aspects of guitar, ukulele and bass playing.
There will be less categories and better use of tags (f.i. blues, jazz, bluegrass as a tag to lesson together with the applicable instrument). Smart phones have made live so much easier and the recording quality is so much better!
In terms of live music; for the last years I have been trying to get a clearer view on my own identity (am I a Christian who happens to be a musician or a Christian musician?). I have now come to a point where I know what I am supposed to be doing both in terms of teaching and playing. It has meant a lot of (again) reinventing myself, which has resulted in a broader scope musically.
Live music is now under the banner “Music With a Heart for God”. That does not mean that I play Christian music only but reflects the different focus I have when I come and play live. It is not to impress but to express, not to be seen and heard but to serve and entertain. I hope that you will notice the difference and if you did not know me before, I hope you enjoy! This change in attitude has had great results and has made the playing so much easier. When you are no longer out there to be seen (and admired) there is so much more freedom in your music and it has resulted in much more work live and better teaching results than ever. You know you are on the right track when parents email you to say that their sons or daughters seem so much more motivated and when students and/or their parents start realizing and expressing that they are moving forward faster than ever.
SO COME BACK AND SEE THE CHANGES, PICK UP THE FREE TABS AND SUBSCRIBE TO THE PAID LESSON MATERIALS IF YOU ARE INTERESTED AND MAYBE FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM SOUNDCLOUD AND BANDCAMP, LINKS TO FOLLOW.
Anyway, I hope to see you all back and if there are any posts you particularly like, I suggest you save them as I cannot guarantee that they will be up there much longer.
Love and blessings to all of you!
This is great and so true!
With music education being cut from our schools, it is more important than ever
that we understand the amazing benefits of music. Please read this and pass it on.
Twelve Benefits of Music Education
1. Early musical training helps develop brain areas involved in language and reasoning. It is thought that brain development continues for many years after birth. Recent studies have clearly indicated that musical training physically develops the part of the left side of the brain known to be involved with processing language, and can actually wire the brain’s circuits in specific ways. Linking familiar songs to new information can also help imprint information on young minds.
2. There is also a causal link between music and spatial intelligence (the ability to perceive the world accurately and to form mental pictures of things). This kind of intelligence, by which one can visualize various elements that should go together…
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A lot of students have asked me how they can good as fast as possible. Practice makes perfect is often heard. While that cannot be denied it is also important to keep in mind that not all practice is effective practice. The shortest way to get from A to B is in a straight line. At the same time, it is helpful when you start at point A to know where that point B is going to be e.g. what is it you are trying to achieve in the short and long run. Based on what you are trying to achieve you can now set out and start practicing towards these goals. In the past thirty years I have found that while we all know what the shortest way is, it is not always the way we choose. If you are like me at times it is very easy to get going and get distracted for a while to return back on track. Since you do not have endless amounts of time because of homework, a job, running your own family and business, having a social life, it helps to organize your practice time. In the following paragraphs I will lay down some guiding principles that I use.
You can’t efficiently and effectively go from A to B if you do not have a clue what B is. YOU NEED A TARGET OR GOAL. From these goals it will transpire more clearly what it is you need to focus on. If your goal is to become a blistering fast heavy metal virtuoso, it is of less use to learn lots of finger picking patterns that do not have a relation to what you are trying to achieve. Instead you may have more profit from learning specific style related techniques such as tapping. LOOK FOR AN EXPERIENCED TEACHER OR MUSICIAN/MENTOR to get the components together, someone who can advise or give you some material and understands the requirements that get you where you want to be.
I don’t know about you, but I remember well how I got through some school years. I did what I needed to do at the last moment and would be sitting there complaining how much it all was in terms of homework. I have had several students that worked like that for their guitar lessons as well. The sad thing is that it just doesn’t work. Part of what you are trying to achieve is dependent on finger memory and repetition.
I always say to my students that they may well be better off with 10 minutes of concentrated practice a day than 1 hour a week. I recommend having your guitar on a stand or somewhere where it safe yet easy to pick up. You may just walk by and pick it up ad put it away again after playing a little bit on it.
When you practice and your time is limited, it is important to do so in an environment where it is easy to concentrate. Try to keep distractions to a minimum. Where you practice is not the main issue, as long as the area is free from too much noise to concentrate as well as other common household distractions. A lot of my younger students use their bedroom ad have set up a special corner for that purpose. Others may have some room in the garage or sleep out for the purpose of uninterrupted practice and play time. Wherever that area of practice may be it is preferable to use that same area all times. It maybe be an area where equipment is set up and can be left , as well as a music stand and proper lighting. Nothing is more demotivating than having to set up and pack down every time you practice.
Other things to consider are:
The number of music books and other instructional materials is mind-blowing and more than anyone could work through in a life time. I suggest you become (within your means) a collector. If they are of a general nature read through them. If they are music books, play from them, and most of all don’t necessarily limit yourself to materials for guitar only. I know I learned a lot from piano books and from books like the Charlie Parker (saxophonist) Omnibook. Nowadays, you could look around on the net and find there are many good sites with good materials. There have been several occasions where I was a replacement for a piano player. This is where you will need to be able to step it up and piano books helped me not only to further develop comping technique but also to understand piano better, from bass books I learned a lot on how to build bass lines that later on could be incorporated in my finger style playing and overall it helped it helped me in becoming a more complete guitarist.
There are so many guitar magazines available on the market that have articles, columns and songs transcribed for you to learn and play. Some are very specific and some are of a more general nature. My personal favorites that I read and play through every month are:
Guitar Techniques
I guess this is the best magazine for the practicing musician. It covers a wide range of styles, electric as well as acoustic and even has a monthly classical guitar section.
Total Guitar Magazine
A stronger focus on rock and metal but I really like the magazine and the lessons and songs in there. They have great gear reviews and articles that have to do with the music business in general and with recording guitar.
The play guitar now instruction videos
Every month a booklet and instruction video looking at a particular style. They are not always very in depth but provide a great starting point to develop more in depth knowledge into a specific style of playing or specific techniques. Some of the area covered are electric and acoustic blues, jazz, classical guitar, ukulele, funk, country.
A great resource also for my students.
As the title suggests this magazine is completely aimed at the acoustic guitar player. I love the at times nostalgic look of the magazine and the wide range of styles covered in the magazine. It has helped me inn several areas of my guitar playing and has inspired me to look beyond the obvious.
Every month it has a great selection of songs and training material in the form of lessons. Like Guitar Techniques definitely a magazine for those that want to become a complete guitar player.
With these four regular monthly items I always have more training material available than I can handle but besides that there is always something new at had that helps me to get inspired in terms of new approaches, new techniques (for me) and extending my repertoire and insight into different genres of music. This “investment” has paid itself back in two ways: first of all I keep on growing on my instrument, which as a guitar teacher can easily be neglected. I need to because I am also a performing musician. But second of all it makes it easier as a teacher in terms of preparation because on many an occasion I do not need to reinvented the wheel where it comes to lesson material that is fresh.
Share books ad magazines with your friends. It helps to keep the financial burden down and extends the range pf possibilities. I remember well how, when studying at jazz school in the Netherlands, four of us committed to buying one magazine every month and at least one book every term. We swapped and circled around and all had access to more than we could normally afford in terms of resources.
When I was still studying music I kept a note book with lick and ideas for melodic lines, fragments of potential songs and whatever came to mind. Some of these things have resulted in songs, some of these have resulted in licks that have become part and parcel of who I am as a player and some have pushed my technical limitations where I had an idea for a lick but was not able to execute it. I would categorize in style, or theoretical concept. Things like II-V-I, pentatonic scale lick, right hand tapping, chord voicing.
I think it was Steve Vai that said that there is nothing that cannot be put into an exercise. Some of my students who do this end up becoming the best. It is a great way to develop in areas that are part of your goals and that are not part of your strengths (yet). It is the area where you can transform your weaknesses into a strength and where you deepen your strengths to new levels. I stimulate all my students, to let the imagination, inspiration and that which you hear in your head to be a guiding factor in finding your own “voice”. Almost without exception they find that their imagination and ideas are well ahead of their technical abilities. This is where your imagination becomes a guidance for your practice routine. YOU HAVE AN IDEA, BUT YOU CAN’T PLAY IT (yet). TURN IT INTO A EXERCISE!!!!
After getting to grips with the basics ( open chords, bar chords and simple single line playing and reading) the six key areas of practice are technique, song book, sight reading, ear training, theory, general knowledge.
Technique is the result of hand brain coordination and knowledge of the fingerboard. The only way to gain technique is by regular practice of scales , arpeggios, chords, melodic patterns, harmonic patterns, played in all possible ways throughout different relevant keys and different places on the neck of the guitar. Good technique is the key to being a good player. I personally have been helped a lot by various “shredding” resources. I will never be a shredder but focus on speed has helped me a lot in realizing to play some of the music that I was hearing in my head. It has helped me being more accurate in the execution of slower materials because I gained more control.
Repertoire is the learning and memorizing of tunes in the chosen area of study. If you are like me, someone with a very wide range of musical preferences, it will mean that you expose yourself to a wide range of ways to play the same chord sequences and to play solos in a way fitting to the style. It teaches you about traditions and intricate differences between different styles of music but most of all, IT TEACHES YOU WHAT THE COMMON DENOMINATORS ARE. Just imagine how much more effective you will be in practice if your practice regime includes common denominators.
Guitarists in general are not known for their sight reading qualities. And with tabs available for almost anything it does not help. However, when you want to grow in a professional environment, sight reading will give you the edge and more importantly, it is achievable to play a sheet of music through daily practice. I require all my students t learn how to read rhythm at a minimum so they can read tabs with the music notation above. Combined with getting to know the names of the notes on your neck most will eventually get to learn music notation. It is a good thing however to learn to read music notation simply because there is a world of great music that does not come with tabs.
Good ear is not something you have to be born with, it can be trained. It is so beneficial if you can hear chord progressions and melodic lines and play them by ear immediately.
Is very helpful and helps you to understand what you are doing on your guitar, it helps seeing the bigger picture and the smaller details, how to use a capo, write music and arrangements.
Read about the history of music, biographies, know more about leading artists and different styles, how songs were written and produced, listen to a wide range of music and open yourself up to new ideas and concepts.
While all the key areas are of importance, to me music should at all times be fun as well. So in my practice routine I always incorporate some free play time. I think it was Vicky Genfan that said that she would start every day with ten minutes in which she tried something she had never done before. If that something you just imagined is to hard to execute: you now have an exercise. It could be just playing along with your favorite artist, groove with a drum machine whatever puts a big smile on your face.
In the next part we’ll have a look at how these practice areas could be made into a practice routine.
I came to John with about 30 years of being self taught (kicked off by 1/2 dozen group lessons at age 18).
Having dabbled in a range of methods from finger style to conventional rock/pop/blues using books DVD’s and YouTube, I had reached a plateau in my DIY approach to learning (and in-grained a number of poor techniques!).
I now appreciate how critical it is to have a good teacher who can head off any incorrect techniques or approaches before they become limitations!
My goal is to progress as a “student” of jazz music (an awesome journey!).
John is a very accomplished musician and this coupled with his patience and creativity equips him with the ability to get to the root cause of any problems, and then follow through with solutions! This sets him apart as a teacher.
Also, there are very few players I have observed that can do what he does, playing any style! very inspiring!
A revelation for me has been learning the critical role of the right-hand in timing and feel. “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing!” I am now convinced that anything is possible with the right teacher and consistent approach to practice.
I highly recommend John to anyone looking to learn and improve their guitar technique and musical ability.
As the young folk would say, “Awesome!”
Rapt Student : AlanP.
Thanks so much Alan for this awesome testimony, which touches on so many things that I actually hold very dearly when it comes to teaching people to play their instrument of choice. In all this I believe that the up close and personal approach is the best way to go. If there is anything I have learned over the years, it is that every person is unique in their talents but also in their way of learning, in picking things up and running with it. Hence I have chosen for a relatively open structure and approach to teaching people how to play their instrument. Essentials will always stay essentials, but getting a good report helps to discover for each and every student how they can get the best out of themselves. Another student mentioned once that I seem to enjoy the lessons as much as they did no matter what they brought in. It is my belief that when you get ti know the student better and you look carefully at the things they want to learn, you will be able to find some consistency and system in there. Yes iit means more homework but fr the right reasons.
AlanP you are a joy to teach and it is an even bigger joy to see the look on your and other students when they played what they never thought they would be able to do, just like you earlier this evening. When that happens, yes!!!! I enjoy the lessons as much as the student. What more fun can there be in assisting people to be amazed by themselves!?
And if you the reader, no matter where you are is thinking “I want that!” just contact me
What a glorious day today and listening to a cool session at Smalls in New York at night while enjoying the sunshiny day here in Christchurch.
Smalls was created in 1993 by jazz impresario Mitch Borden, a former nurse and the son of an art-gallery owner. The original Smalls was a raw basement space that quickly became the late-night hangout numerous established and upcoming jazz musicians to play and shared their musical legacy with an eager and dedicated younger crowd. Many of the well-known musicians of the current jazz scene cut their teeth at Smalls during this period. The list of musicians who played at Smalls at that time is enormous and includes such luminaries as: Brad Mehldau, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Josh Redman, Brian Blade, Sam Yahel, Roy Hargrove, Peter Bernstein, Mark Turner, Omer Avital, Jason Linder, Sasha Perry, Chris Byars, Ari Roland, Ned Goold, William Ash, Zaid Nasser, Spike Wilner, Grant Stewart, Larry Goldings, Joe Magnarelli, Guillermo Klein and Norah Jones among many, many others.
After September 11th, Smalls wastemporarily forced to close. However in February of 2007, musicians Spike Wilner and Lee Kostrinsky partnered with Mitch Borden with the goal of restoring Smalls. The club has been renovated and a full bar is now in service. The comfort and feeling of the club is amenable to after-hours hangs and the music again goes all night.
What’s better, through life stream you can watch the music live there and enjoy established and young musos doing their thing.
I suggest you checck it out as well here>>> or go ond see what’s happening at the moment via the live stream here >>>
Personally, nothing beats getting a copy of the Total Guitar or Guitar Techniques and subsequently placing myself in a chair in the sun in the garden or cuddling up on the couch with a cup of coffee. At the same time there is a wealth of magazines available online for free. Here are five of my favorites.
One of my old guitar magazines of choice, has a substantial site for the guitar player with lessons, articles, interviews, gear reviews and more. A definite recommend. Go and visit here >>>
A comprehensive guitar magazine with everything you may expect from a modern guitar magazine. Gear reviews, lessons, and more. Go visit the magazine here >>>
A free subscription to the digital version of the magazine is available, including the option to search back issues. A big recommend.
Guitar Interactive is the world’s first fully interactive digital magazine for guitarists the world over – and it’s completely free! Drawing on the resources of Licklibrary – the internationally renowned music teaching resource – GI brings together expert players to analyse the styles and techniques of the world’s best guitarists, which you can see and hear in the hours of video that are in every issue.
An amazing new magazine and a very definite recommendation with a free subscription available here >>>. What appealed especially is the way in which the magazine actually reads like a magazine but on screen.
One of my favorite magazines to pick up in the shop and read. It comes with a free CD/DVD with further instructions, lessons and play along tracks. Go see the magazine here >>>.
It is through this magazine that I keep myself growing. Monthly lessons that push the beginner as well as the advanced players. Great magazine that comes with a CD/DVD with further information, lessons and sound samples. My favorite.
Go visit the site and magazine here >>>
It is impossible I guess to be complete, else Id spend more time browsing and reading that playing. So I limited myself to five of my favorites here. What are some of your favorite music magazines and why? I look forward to hearing about your recommendations.
What an amazing talk this was. It gave me a completely different angle on studying music, playing music and listening to music. The full text is available as interactive transcript as well.
Why you should listen to her:
Evelyn Glennie‘s music challenges the listener to ask where music comes from: Is it more than simply a translation from score to instrument to audience? How can a musician who has almost no hearing play with such sensitivity and compassion?
The Grammy-winning percussionist and composer became almost completely deaf by the age of 12, but her hearing loss brought her a deeper understanding of and connection to the music she loves. She’s the subject of the documentary Touch the Sound, which explores this unconventional and intriguing approach to percussion.
Along with her vibrant solo career, Glennie has collaborated with musicians ranging from classical orchestras to Björk. Her career has taken her to hundreds of concert stages around the world, and she’s recorded a dozen albums, winning a Grammy for her recording of Bartók’s Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, and another for her 2002 collaboration with Bela Fleck.
Her passion for music and musical literacy brought her to establish, in collaboration with fellow musicians Julian Lloyd Weber and Sir James Galway, the Music Education Consortium, which successfully lobbied for an investment of 332 million pounds in music education and musical resources in Britain.
“Evelyn Glennie is simply a phenomenon of a performer.”
New York Times
Acoustic Guitar Magazine
John Dierckx Music Studio 