Guitar Nine Columns

No one succeeds in the music business who doesn`t already utilize the five key elements used by massively successful pro musicians.

David Sertl is here to address underdevelopment in the educational field of rhythm.

Here you`ll discover the three critical guitar phrasing elements that truly great guitarists possess.

Guitar Nine's December-January 2015 newsletter.

Music industry guru Christopher Knab rewinds his career, providing a detailed account `then to now`.

Any guitar teacher who achieves great success fully understands how they share a lot in common with anyone who has ever climbed to the top of Mt. Everest.

Mike Campese will help you build on your scales with his string skipping exercises.

(An advantage of being independent is) you can be true to yourself and not compromise musically, artistically, or morally. I really see no downside to being independent.

Why general advice fails and what you should do instead.

I am using every form of social media to promote myself and my music. I use everything from my YouTube guitar lessons and live videos, to CD Baby, MySpace, and Facebook.

I`d like to do something with Eddie Van Halen. His ideas seem to transcend what we know about music theory and chord progressions and scales. He just has his own way of seeing things.

I`m getting an audience that want to hear my original compositions as opposed to seeing me play covers which has been flattering! All with no manager, no agent, no label, no representation, no producer - nothing!

Indie marketing guru Tim Sweeney discusses how to move on when it`s time to move on.

Start learning this winter how to mitigate the usual summer slowdown in your guitar teaching business.

Mike Campese is back to help you out of the box - the scale pattern box, that is.

Learn awesome guitar techniques in the style of Chet Atkins and how to apply them to your own acoustic playing.

Don`t be clueless about what you must do to become a successful guitar teacher.

It`s always difficult to label your own music, but I think of it as instrumental classic rock. I like to compose actual songs, not guitar exercises or improvisations which will only appeal to other guitar players.

Guitar Nine's October-November 2015 newsletter.

When you use an effective guitar practice approach, you gain a lot of confidence and excitement for your improvement. However, if you are like most guitarists, this excitement fades over time.

Sad but true: almost 100% of guitar instructors choose `mediocrity` as their standard of achievement.

To grow your music career fast, you need to understand which questions you are asking that are leading you down the wrong path.

You must figure out why these fears exist in you and what you can do to prevent them from controlling your musical future.

Get your music career going on the right track by following the same approach used by Olympic competitors who succeed on the highest platform in the world.

I find that you must have constant activity to create and maintain the interest of people. Facebook is a great way to share new projects with friends and fellow musicians but it doesn`t reach people outside your circle.

Mike Campese will help master your triads in all 12 keys, focusing on the sharp keys for the major triads.

Most likely, your lack of progress is the result of years of bad playing habits. Let`s correct those habits.

Guitar Nine's August-September 2015 newsletter.

Six points that will help you understand what you must do to clearly demonstrate your overwhelming value as a guitar teacher so you can attract more students.

Here you`ll learn several creative blues guitar techniques that will make your blues phrases sound much more expressive.

People tell me that my music sounds unique for this day and age. I don`t know if that`s actually the case; but I will tell you that I`ll try to sound as differently as I can, for as long as I can.

Chords have the potential to bring a whole new element to your soloing providing cool, unique, and contrasting textures amongst the single note lines you play.

In order to be a great guitar player you must develop mastery over the fretboard.

Learn the differences between guitar teaching business `myths` and `reality`.

I have been getting great feedback and a huge growth on social media, though. To me this proves quality is still the most important thing and can go a long way on its own.

The majority of guitar players unconsciously ruin their potential for improvement by learning `too fast` in some areas of their playing and `too slow` in other areas.

Tom Hess takes you through the exact steps needed for cleaning up unwanted string noise in your blues guitar licks.

I use a lot of variety. I swap between acoustic and electric, alternate tunings, slide, and various techniques. This CD features dobro, eBow, talkbox, even a cigar box guitar!

I decided to release these EPs of 5 songs every 6-8 months - it`s a big enough body of work to allow the listener to get involved in, and it keeps the people interested in my music always engaged in new songs.

Guitar Nine's June-July 2015 newsletter.

Look deeper, and find the overlooked value that makes John Petrucci a much greater guitarist than other players.

Mike Campese covers the flat keys moving around the circle of fourths.