Gary A.

Students should expect a combination of pragmatic learning, and creative excitement. First, we tune-up, do our scales, to get warmed up, then the lesson will start back up where we left off the previous lesson. My method of teaching is literally by the numbers. If I ask what is before A, the answer is always G. If I ask whats after A, the answer is always B. If I ask whats before 3/2, the answer is always 3/open, or 3/0. If I ask whats after 3/2, the answer is always 2/open, or 2/0. This is a fragment of the numbers system professional musicians use when performing live or in-studio. Letters can be confusing. B,C,D,E,and G sound similar. But there is only one 2/3. That would be middle D This way of teaching is very efficient, once the student understands this method, the learning potential is greatly enhanced.

My method of songwriting is both by the book, and without the book. Your cookie-cutter, by the numbers song construction consists of several fail-safe, and very successful practices. Number One rule of thumb is...."Hey Boris!... Don't Bore Us!.......get to the CHORUS! Most successful recording's either have the song title or get the chorus within 30 to 60 seconds. This is because the human mind tends to get "bored" every 8 seconds or so. It needs to be re-stimulated in that time frame. When listening to music, your most popular songs either get to the chorus quickly or sometimes even "start" with the chorus, or song title. The Beatles where geniuses at doing this, and if memory serves me correctly, The Beatles had quite a few hits in their day. Your typical by the book song is as follow's: verse 1, chorus, verse 2, chorus, maybe a bridge thrown in there for the fun of it, then chorus out. Try to keep the song between 2:30 and 3:59. Now unconventional songwriting,IE: "NOT by the book", consists of certain elements of the song that attract you in an Asymmetrical way. IE: Journey had a HUGE hit with "Don't Stop Believin'". The chorus didn't kick in until around 2 and a half minutes into the song. It has 3 or 4 verses and a guitar solo BEFORE the chorus even shows up!. Very unconventional from a songwriting standpoint.....but a VERY financially successful recording, to say the least. In closing, if you are spending way too much time on a song, trying to perfect it.......your spending way too much time on your song......because nothing's perfect.

Students should expect a combination of pragmatic learning, and creative excitement. First, we tune-up, do our scales, to get warmed up, then the lesson will start back up where we left off the previous lesson. My method of teaching is literally by the numbers. On Bass guitar, there are typically 4 strings. From the bottom (1) to the top (4), they are: G, D, A, and E. If I ask what is before A, the answer is always G. If I ask whats after A, the answer is always B. If I ask whats before 3/open (A), the answer is always, 4/3(G). If I ask whats after 3/open, the answer is always 3/2(B) This is a fragment of the numbers system professional musicians use when performing live or in the studio. Letters can be confusing. B,C,D,E,and G sound similar .But there is only one 2/3 (F) This way of teaching is very efficient, once the student understands this method, the learning potential is greatly enhanced.