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Home Archives for Guitar Technique

Olympian Guitarist

September 8, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

How To be an Olympian Guitarist
(this was written during the 2004 Olympics in Athens.)

Greetings Fellow Worshipper,

Blessings to you in the Lord

!*******************************************************
NEWSLETTER CONTENTS

1. Burning Desire…
2. Good Training…
3. Practice, Practice, Practice…
4. C Scales
5. Support
6. Compete
*******************************************************

1) Burning Desire…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, maybe I got a little carried away with the title, ‘How to
be an Olympian Guitarist,’ but help with technique got the
largest response from the survey last month.

I’ve been watching some of the Olympic Games and was
struck by what it takes to be a champion athlete. The first
quality I see is a Burning Desire to be the best.

To be an Olympian Guitarist for Christ you need to have a
strong desire. What are your reasons for playing? Is it to use
the guitar for leading worship in children’s church?…to lead
worship in your church or small home group? Is it because
you love God and want to express that with music?

Without a reason, or strong desire, playing guitar well will
not happen. If you have the desire and make time to play,
you will reap the rewards.

2) Good Training…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Every Olympic athlete has training. They have coaches,
they study, they watch fellow athletes. I had many private
guitar teachers, participated in many Master’s Classes,
bought every guitar album I could find. I learned something
from each teacher, book, record.

You can seek out good teachers, guitar classes, books,
training DVDs, etc. (I offer a good course for learning
worship guitar on DVD or video and also want to help
you through these Newsletters!)

Good technique will make a big difference in how easy
it is for you play. Look how easy the trained gymnasts,
swimmers, runners, etc., make it look.

3) Practice, Practice, Practice…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, you have a burning desire and have access to good
training materials. Those Olympic athletes get good because
they practice …a lot.

” I don’t have time to practice!,” said a student in one of my
worship guitar classes. One of the other students answered
him, “Practice? It’s my worship time!”

This woman discovered the joy of making her practice time
a worship time. She told him that her morning worship, with
the guitar, gave her the strength for each day.

So this is where I suggest veering off from the ‘Olympian Model.’
Don’t just practice, practice, practice…but worship. Focus your
heart and worship on Him. Ask Him to help you in your playing.

One way to ‘practice’ in your ‘worship time’ is to isolate any difficult
chord changes and play them at least 20 times. Keep relaxed,
focused and confident that you can get it. For example, change
20 times between D and G, or D and Bm, or whatever.

4) C Scales…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Since there were so many requests for scales in the survey,
here are a couple C scales that you can practice.

The music is in both musical notes and tab. You can find it here.
Click to download the music

5) Support…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Listening to the various Olympian athlete’s stories it’s easy
to see that they had support. It was from parents, coaches,
countries, etc. There are two points I’d like to make here.

One, you have the best supportive Father in the Universe.
The One that created it!

Two, think of how you can support the musical efforts of
your kids, friends, etc.

6) Compete…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, as you get comfortable playing, do play for
others. You can’t put a price on leading others into worship.
And the metals? Only GOLD.

My friend, for all your service to the King, you’ll receive the
Gold Crown of life, also called the crown of glory, or
righteousness. And this one lasts forever!

Praise Him with all your heart, because He loves you with
all of His!

Love & Blessings in the LORD,

Jean Welles

Filed Under: Guitar Technique, Our Guitar Courses, Thoughts

I Love You Lord Ending

September 8, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Greetings Fellow Worshipper,

Blessings to you in the Lord

!*******************************************************
NEWSLETTER CONTENTS

1. Spanish Site Is Up…
2. IV I Lesson With Audio Example…
3. Retail Stores…
4. In Closing…
*******************************************************

1) Spanish Site Is Up…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It’s up… tocaguitarra.com. Let your Spanish friends know that this
website is now live. All the future Newsletters will be in Spanish too.
The signup for the Spanish Newsletter is at the new site. Currently
only volume 1 of the Worship Guitar Class series is in Spanish.
Volumes 2 & 3 are planned for next year, in DVD and video format.

Visit the new Spanish site…
http://tocaguitarra.com/

2) IV I Lesson With Audio Example…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An easy way to extend a song is with the IV I ending. As a recap
from the last Newsletter, many songs are built on the I, IV, V chords.
These are chords built on the First, Fourth, and Five notes of a key.
This is explained in Worship Guitar Class, Volume Two.

You can easily extend the end of a song by playing the IV chord first
and then the last chord. The musical names of the I, IV and V are tonic,
sub-dominant, and dominant. The tonic is the chord built on the first
note of a key. In the key of A, the tonic is an A chord.

Here’s the ending for ‘I love you Lord.’ It’s in the key of D, it starts and
ends on a D chord. What is the IV in the key of D? Well… D is I, E is II,
F# is III and G is IV. G is the IV, or sub-dominant chord.

Normally the last line of ‘I Love You Lord’ is…
G D/F# Em A7 D

You can extend it with a IV I…
G D/F# Em A7 G D

I Love You Lord
by Laurie Klein
…D
I love You Lord
D……G ………D …D
And I lift my voice,
…..G.. D9/F#. Em……… A….. A7
To worship You, O my soul rejoice.
………D
Take joy my king,
D…G………… D .. D
In what You hear.
D…………… G…….. D9/F# .Em A7…… G……D

May it be a sweet, sweet sound in Your ear.

©1978 House Of Mercy Music, Admin.
By Maranatha! Music Used by permission

Here’s the tab for a rather nice arpeggio for G and D.
(An explanation of how to read guitar tablature is at my other site
http://www.christian-guitar-resource.com

E – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -3- – – 2 – – – -0- – – – – – – – – –
B – – – – – – 0- – – – 2- – – -3- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -3 – – – —
G – – – 0- – – – – 0- – – 0- – – -0 – – -0- – – -0- – – – 0- – – -0 – –
D – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
A – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
E –3- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

E – – – – – – – – – – – – – -0 – – – – – – — 2- – –
B – – – – – – – – 3- – – – – – – – – – 3- – – – – – –
G – – – – -2- – – – – -2 – – – – 2- – – 2- – – – –
D – -0- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – — – – –
A – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
E – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Here’s the audio clip or you can also click here to hear the audio.

This is the teaching audio. It’s over 1 MG and with DSL or
cable accounts plays perfectly with a click.

If you don’t see the buttons, or you have a slower Internet
connections, you can also just click here. On a modem
connection it should take about 6 minutes to download,
then it’s going to sound fine.

‘I Love You Lord’ is from Worship Guitar Class volume one.
If you don’t already have a copy, it’s available here…
http://worshipguitarclass.com/products/worship-guitar-class.html

3) Retail Stores…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We’ve been adding more retail stores to the website, that
carry our guitar program.

Find a store:
http://worshipguitarclass.com/stores.html

4) In Closing…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the midst of working on the Spanish version of volume one, I met
some precious new friends from Columbia. One of the them emailed
me photos of a National Park in Columbia. It’s so beautiful. There is
even a river of five colors. Fascinating.

God has made something special and unique for every country. There are
plants, animals & terrain unique to each. He is amazing! He is sooo…. amazing!

Did you know there is a fruit in Indonesia that smells so bad Hotels don’t
allow people to bring it in the door? Have you heard how large cockroaches
get in Argentina? Even in the deepest depths of the ocean there are fish of
beautiful colors! Well, our Father loves beauty.Aren’t you glad that
we can know Him!

Worship Him with all your heart, because He loves you with all of His!

In His Love,

Jean Welles

Filed Under: Guitar Technique

Holy Lord

September 8, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Greetings Fellow Worshipper,

Blessings to you in the Lord

!*******************************************************
NEWSLETTER CONTENTS

1. Metronome Package…
2. “Holy Lord” arrangements…
3. New Stores…
4. DVD Volume Three…
5. Past Newsletters…
6. In Closing…
*******************************************************

1) Metronome Package…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sorry, No longer available

2) “Holy Lord” Arrangements…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’m listening. A number of students have
requested the chords for “Holy Lord.” one of my
songs on the ‘Friends of the Heart’ CD. I had
promised to publish it in a Newsletter. You
have my permission to use this song for
personal and public worship in your church.

The video is below. When your cursor
is over the video, you’ll see the play
buttons. Click here to get the music
first. Then put your cursor over the
video below and click the start arrow.

3) New Stores…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you haven’t seen the store list recently, you
should check it out. The stores have doubled
since last year. The Worship Guitar Class DVD’s
and Videos are in stores all across the US and
even in Canada and Singapore. Save shipping
costs and buy locally.

I know many of you already have my program, but
you might consider giving a DVD or Video as a
gift to a loved one who has expressed a desire
to play the guitar.

List of Stores:

4) DVD Volume Three...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DVD Volume Three is finished. We’re just waiting
for the duplicating and assembling. It’s now up
at the site, and should start shipping in about
a week, Lord willing.

5) Past Newsletters…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was precious how many of your filled out that
poll a while back. There were areas for
comments and suggestions of what you wanted in
these Newsletters.

Several of the questions had already been
answered in previous Newsletters or on the FAQ
page (Frequently Asked Questions). I’m trying
to compile a bunch of the previous Newsletters
at the site and have just changed the Home Page
to help you access the site easier.

5) In Closing…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hibernating bears. Every time I look or think
about God’s creation I marvel at his
creativity. This week I was thinking about
bears. If you were creating a world, would you
have thought about making an animal that weighs
hundreds of pounds, then creating him in such a
way that he can ‘sleep’ for 6 months without
food or water?

How can anyone deny His existence? My prayer
group watched ‘Journey Toward Creation’ by Hugh
Ross. If you haven’t seen this, it’s a
wonderful DVD showing God’s hand in the
creation of the Universe and life on earth. It
will change the way you view this world and
view our Lord!

Worship Him with ALL your heart, because He
loves you with ALL of His!

Love & Blessings in the LORD,

Jean Welles

Filed Under: Guitar Technique, Our Guitar Courses, Song Arrangements

Never too old

September 8, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Greetings Fellow Worshipper,

Blessings to you in the Lord

!*******************************************************
NEWSLETTER CONTENTS

1. Free Video…
2. Too Old To Play?…
3. Singapore & More Stores…
4. In Closing…
*******************************************************

1) Free Video…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’m so exited to share a two minute video than can help you with
your guitar playing. It’s one of the left-hand exercises I use
a lot. You can view it here…

2) Too Old To Play?…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I often receive emails from people who want to know if they are
too old to learn to play the guitar. The people asking have
ranged in age from early 20’s through late 60’s.

This last week I was glad to see an article in ‘U.S. News &
World Report’ about this topic. It validated what I already
knew. It’s never too late to start playing an instrument. I have
taught beginning guitar students in their 80’s and 90’s.

The article mentioned that there are amateur community bands of
adults 50 & up across the US and Canada. Not only is it good
for your mind, it’s good for your soul

3) Singapore & More Stores…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For those on this list from Singapore, or who visit Singapore,
there is great news. The Worship Guitar Class instructional
DVDs are now available to you locally.

Please tell your friends about:

Rhodes Marketing Pte Ltd
No 50 Telok Blangah Road
#03-05 Citiport Centre
Singapore 098828
Tel : (65) 6276 1106
Find it here…

There are also 7 new stores in Canada ordering soon.
Find them here…

If you haven’t looked at the store list recently, there are now
over 900.
Find them here…

4) In Closing…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It’s amazing what God can do in a person’s life! I just heard
about a professor’s Grandmother from India. She was born in the
‘Untouchable’ caste and was sold as a bride at age 6. At 40,
she was kicked out of the house because she had no children.

She was going down to the river to commit suicide, but instead
met a British Missionary who led her to Christ. He prayed and
God healed the pain she had carried all her life.

She reunited with her husband and had three children. God
blessed the works of her hands and she became a blessing to her
community, both financially & spiritually! (Founded the first school
and hospital in her community.)

You are never to old to start something new. One of my students
told me her Mother taught her that you stay young by continuing
to learn new things. Her mother learned to swim at age 90.

Love & Blessings in the LORD,

Jean Welles

Kids Guitar

Filed Under: Guitar Technique, Thoughts

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