Guitar Academy Petersfield has delivered the best in Guitar tuition to all ages and abilities since 2013. Primarily focusing on contemporary music genres such as Rock, Pop, Jazz and Blues. We are now expanding our product range and introducing Classical Guitar Lessons!
That’s right! we are introducing Classical Guitar Lessons at Guitar Academy Petersfield.
Learning the guitar is fun and rewarding whatever your preference in the genre. But in this blog post, we are going to look at the benefits of learning Classical Guitar.
Learning Classical Guitar Builds Confidence
Learning a musical instrument is hard work but also builds confidence. Learning guitar or classical guitar will allow you to build a skill that will last a lifetime and mastering this skill will give you a great sense of achievement.
You can play solo or in an ensemble
You can do this as a contemporary guitarist. But as a classical performer you are able to perform pieces without the need of backing tracks or other performers to make the piece recognisable to the listener. For example, you could pay a whole piece recreating a vocal melody and chord progression at the same time!
Playing classical guitar can make a great career option.
Learning classical guitar will equip you with a set of skills that are desirable in the music job market. Such as sight-reading skills.
It helps you focus
Learning classical guitar helps you develop your listening skills and focus. Learning classical is demanding and requires a lot of focus but is extremely rewarding.
Its versatile and sounds great!
The skills you develop when learning classical guitar can transition across to playing contemporary music. Classical guitars also sound great.
Conclusion
Here is just a few reasons why we think learning classical guitar is pretty great. We are quite pleased to be able to introduce it as a service at Guitar Academy.
If you are interested in learning more and starting lessons, then get in touch with us today.
Times are extremely challenging at the moment and we find ourselves hiding out and being faced with ongoing uncertainty.
As a small business we have also been faced with some challenges in response to covid-19 and will continue to do so.
But! in the spirit of adapting and overcoming hardship, we are now trialing remote lessons. Like skype, only without the skype software.
We are now trialing online lessons, delivered remotely by our tutors for anyone who wishes to distance themselves during these difficult times and still have a guitar lesson.
This could help relieve some of the working from home boredom and cabin fever from prolonged isolation.
If you’re interested in giving our online lesson service a go then get in touch for more info and to make a booking.
In this blog post, we are going to recommend some specific makes and models that we think are particularly good for beginners. Buying your first guitar can be a little bit daunting, especially if you do not know what to look for. So take your time to have a look through this article, check out some of the links and if you have any questions do not hesitate to message us!
Things to look for when buying a guitar
When buying your first electric you will be primarily be looking for a few things.
Build quality. Does it look well made? are all the parts put together nicely? There are lots of cheap guitars out there that look fine but are actually really poorly assembled and will eventually cause problems later.
Is it a reputable brand? Brand is not everything but its safer to go with a name that is well known. Here is a few recommendations: Squier by Fender, Epiphone, Ibanez, Yamaha, Harley Benton. (A short list of our personal favourite budget brands).
Is it comfortable to play? even if you don’t know how to play it yet, check you can move your hands around the neck comfortably and press down the strings easily.
Beginner Electric Guitar Recommendations
Harley Benton
Harley benton give you a lot of bang for your buck! these guitars are excellent in our opinion and at a very affordable price point. Shipped from Thomann in Germany so will take a week or so to get to you. But a great piece of kit! You may want to check out some of their packages that include a small Amp.
We are really impressed with these instruments. However, do remember that amps and leads are extra, if in doubt go for one of their guitar sets Thomann Guitar Set G13 Black which includes some extra goodies for only £125
To be honest, most package deals from reputable brands are fine. In our opinion, the only thing that lets it down is the guitar amps (being very honest). However, if you’re just getting started, getting a guitar that you can develop your skills on first is key. Below is a list of our current recommendations
If you find these items to be out of stock just cut and paste the item name on the shop into google!
Guitars for younger players (1/2 Size)
Younger players may find it difficult playing a full size guitar. So it might be worth considering a 3/4 size or 1/2 size guitar. We recommend electric guitars for learners of smaller stature and small hands because they are easier to play as the neck profile (thickness of the neck) is generally smaller and easier to fit your hand around. Many guitar stores will recommend 3/4 or 1/2 classical guitars for beginners. We have found these to be “Ok” in some cases but can sometimes put a learner off playing as the neck profile (thickness of the neck) is considerably larger, therefore, making it tricky for smaller hands.
Anyway! thats a lot of info.
Let us start by looking at some guitars designed for younger players and smaller hands. These guitars are in the 3/4 and 1/2 size category that we think are particularly good.
IBANEZ GRGM21 MIKRO ELECTRIC GUITAR
We got a couple of these in a while ago. They are well made, have really cool designs and small. Perfect for younger players that are not yet ready to play a full-size guitar.
Average RRP: £159
EPIPHONE LES PAUL EXPRESS
The Epiphone les paul express is a small size electric guitar. Good brand, well made and comes in a couple of different colours. What’s not to like.
Another good choice of small guitars from iconic brand Fender. These guitars are smaller versions of the iconic fender strat.
Retails around £109 for the Guitar alone.
Conclusion
So half size electric guitars are not as common as you would believe. They do exist but primarily online and some larger stores. The one piece of advice I would give in buying a smaller guitar is to always look for build quality. Try and avoid unknown brands and eBay deals. Some of the smaller guitars I have seen that have been randomly purchased from eBay have been shocking.
If you can wait a little longer until you can play a full-size guitar. You will be getting more for your money and a better quality item that will last longer. Many of these smaller guitars are priced so closely to a full-size guitar.
Anyway, hope you found this useful. If you want to contribute anything to the article let us know!
So! you’ve been looking around the internet for Guitar Lessons. You might not be set on whather to have one to one lessons, learn online or try learning from a book. Well whatever your learning style we are here to help!
We specialise in one to one lessons in Petersfield. But in this article we are going to offer you some free materials to help you get started playing the Guitar at home.
Assuming you already have a Guitar and sitting with it in front of your computer, you are going to want to start jamming right away. But before you do! you need to make sure you’re in tune.
How to Tune your Guitar
We highly recommend at this point you have or invest in a clip on or plug in tuner. They are not expensive, good ones around £15 to 20. You can also download apps on your smart phone to perform this function. Some of the APPS are Free.
Lets get riffing!
Now you’re in tune using an electronic tuner and watching our handy video. You are now going to want to start playing some form of tune. So lets start by learning to read TAB. Learning to read TAB is the gateway to learning all your favourite tunes and licks with ease.
The video below uses TAB in and provides a demonstration on how to play a famous lick. But if you need more guidance, you can also refer to our How to read TAB guide by clicking here.
So whats next!
I am glad you aasked!
The next thing you will need to get down to start playing all your favourit tunes is chords. Chords are groups of notes played together in unison. These form the foundation of most of the songs we love.
Where to go from here.
You we have essentially just shown you some of the basics of playing Guitar. With these core concepts down, you will be able to start to refine your skills and learn more songs you love over time.
The next part is up to you. If you found learning from these videos useful, then maybe online learning is the way for you. There are 1000s of courses online, there is even a free one on youtube from us!
Or if you want to progress quickly and need someone to help you get motivated and inspire you to rock stardom. Then you could always consider a one to one tutor. Which, coincidently Guitar Academy provide in Petersfield.
Thanks for stopping by and check out our website and social media and all that jazz to learn more about us and more about Guitar.
We have made it really easy to manage your bookings, see invoices and make payments.
On the main homepage is a ‘Student Log In’ button. This will take you to our log in screen. Once logged in you can select options from the right. Such as ‘Accounts and Invoices’ as illustrated in the image above.
Then if you just want to make a payment for an upcoming lesson or add some money to your account. Simply click ‘Make a Payment’. This allows you to enter the amount you wish and make a payment online.
You can also click the invoices tab to pay any invoices you might have.
How do I get an online account?
If you are a current or previous customer of ours at Guitar Academy Petersfield. You can log in with the credentials that would have been automatically emailed when you registered.
If you have forgotten, then go to the ‘Student log in’ menu at the top of the main site and then on the log in screen select ‘forgotten password’. Then with your email address you can reset your password.
If this does not work, please email info@guitaracademyuk.com
Looking for something to do this Easter half term? Then why not give Guitar Lessons a go. At Guitar Academy in Petersfield, Hampshire we specialise in providing one to one Guitar lessons for all ages and abilities. All lessons are fun and rewarding and teach valuable skills such as listening, team work, creativity and confidence.
We can even provide a guitar for you to use in lessons if you do not have your own yet.
This Easter half term we have various slots available with lessons lasting either 30 minutes or 1 hour. As a new student you also get 50% OFF your first lesson. Just quote: guitareaster when booking.
To book your lesson simply email info@guitaracademyuk.com or call 01730 858 219
A couple of years ago we embarked on creating a couple of YouTube guitar tutorials. Mainly just for fun and to provide some free lessons on some of the tunes primarily in the UK Top 40 charts at the time. Below is a few examples to check out. You can also head over to our channel at YouTube.com/GTRACAD or hit the button below.
