Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Hey, Guitar Teachers
Many years ago, when I first contemplated the idea of commercializing a guitar learning system based on an alternate tuning, I did quite a bit of research. I first learned what the predominant tunings were out there (standard, E A D G B E, by about a zillion, then all the others), and settled on open-D, which is the guitar tuning I actually learned to play guitar on. The alternate tunings were, and are, but a footnote in most of the guitar-playing world.
It was in this sea of standard guitar tuning that the little bobbing cork of open-D was launched. It's not a particularly rare guitar tuning. In fact, among alternate tunings, it does have its fair share of enthusiasts, mostly at the pro or even moreso the famous level - Keith Richards, Joni Mitchell, Elmore James, for example.
As I got around to launching Guitar-eze, though, I wanted to solicit the opinion of guitar teachers, to see what they might think of an alternate guitar tuning as an alternate starting point, for beginning students, say, or frustrated novices, or anyone else seeking a fast track to guitar.
I went online and found guitar teacher sites and polled a number of teachers. I found, to my dismay, that the ones who were good enough to respond were generally down on the idea of learning guitar in an alternate tuning, at all.
Most acknowledged that, yes, alternate tunings exist, and yes, they can come in handy. But that was it. There seemed to be no opinion or enthusiasm for the idea that starting on an alternate guitar tuning could be of help to some aspiring guitarists. It struck me odd that this should be the case, but upon reflection, it does make some sense. Consider that the majority of guitar teachers probably play in standard tuning, or with a bare sprinkle of alternate tunings on an as needed basis. Why should they see the need to teach in an alternate tuning if they needed to learn it first themselves? Also, resource materials for any alternate tuning (Guitar-eze's open-D included) are scarce, usually warranting only a footnote in some magazine article, or a chart outlining some chords.
Despite the tepid response from a random sampling of guitar teachers, I soldiered on and Guitar-eze was born, and continues to this day. I feel it's the easiest way to learn to play guitar. I encourage guitar students to bring the topic up with their guitar teachers - maybe shake a copy of Guitar-eze in their face and insist, "See - there is an easier way to learn to play guitar!".
It was in this sea of standard guitar tuning that the little bobbing cork of open-D was launched. It's not a particularly rare guitar tuning. In fact, among alternate tunings, it does have its fair share of enthusiasts, mostly at the pro or even moreso the famous level - Keith Richards, Joni Mitchell, Elmore James, for example.
As I got around to launching Guitar-eze, though, I wanted to solicit the opinion of guitar teachers, to see what they might think of an alternate guitar tuning as an alternate starting point, for beginning students, say, or frustrated novices, or anyone else seeking a fast track to guitar.
I went online and found guitar teacher sites and polled a number of teachers. I found, to my dismay, that the ones who were good enough to respond were generally down on the idea of learning guitar in an alternate tuning, at all.
Most acknowledged that, yes, alternate tunings exist, and yes, they can come in handy. But that was it. There seemed to be no opinion or enthusiasm for the idea that starting on an alternate guitar tuning could be of help to some aspiring guitarists. It struck me odd that this should be the case, but upon reflection, it does make some sense. Consider that the majority of guitar teachers probably play in standard tuning, or with a bare sprinkle of alternate tunings on an as needed basis. Why should they see the need to teach in an alternate tuning if they needed to learn it first themselves? Also, resource materials for any alternate tuning (Guitar-eze's open-D included) are scarce, usually warranting only a footnote in some magazine article, or a chart outlining some chords.
Despite the tepid response from a random sampling of guitar teachers, I soldiered on and Guitar-eze was born, and continues to this day. I feel it's the easiest way to learn to play guitar. I encourage guitar students to bring the topic up with their guitar teachers - maybe shake a copy of Guitar-eze in their face and insist, "See - there is an easier way to learn to play guitar!".
