LessonThirteen

This is the last part of the song. Just practice. Repetition they say is the key to learning experiences. Have fun and God Bless.

LessonTwelve

I played some tunes I really want in my head, i'm visualizing it as if i'm playing it with a guitar. It's called mental conditioning. It helps when I'm away for work and knowing that I won't be able to hold a guitar for a couple of days or sometimes weeks.

Part 12 is the second part of the rock section of the song

LessonEleven

Neat Game

I used to service office equipments. I remember one time servicing a residential place and the whole family were outside. It was winter, late 90's, they were playing soap bubble. It was cold. One thing when you're playing with bubbles outside in a cold it freezes before hitting the ground. Try it.

LessonTen

The most nerve wracking experience I had being with a band was actually when we're performing in front of an audience. I get nervous while the rest of the band seems to be doing ok. It's different when we're just jamming in the basement. I wanted to hide behind our drummer. When I play, I'm always looking at my left hand as if I'm talking to them. Sometimes I needed a kick start so i'll finished a six pack of beer and that buzz helps me. Relying on any kind of mind altering substances to think that it can transform you to be better, is a bad idea. That can do more harm than good. After each performance, you're not allowed to drive, sometimes you just making a fool of yourself. Says alot about my self esteem. I was young and naive and stupid. I'd learned my lessons. Those were the days.
I'd read an interview in the magazine one time and learned the best advice if ever to be onstage. Audience loves to be in eye contact with the performer, so Her advice was to focus on the EXIT sign in the back. I thought that was awesome, I'll definitely do that. Unfortunately, the last gig that we did was our last before the advice could be implemented.

Lesson 10 is the last part of the opera section. Have a nice one, God Bless.

LessonNine

Another good way of learning guitar besides taking lessons, is to join a band. Maybe a couple of friends. That's how we'd started. Our drummer doesn't even know how to play the drums back then, he bought a drum set and start learning. I learned timing and respecting other people's boundaries. Most of the songs that I know, they don't. Some of the tunes they know, I don't have a clue. But we'd learned to worked together. Timing is probably the most crucial part, when one lost the rhythm or beat, everybody goes with it too. I missed those days. It's been over ten years, now we have family and priorities. But the spirit is still there.

LessonEight

I remember the time when I was just learning the guitar. I actually had a jump start. When taking a formal lesson, they will teach you music theory, so learning chords will take a while. I actually had to learn the chords first without knowing where they’re originated. I had to learn it from A major to G major, then A minor to G minor, just like the alphabet, abcdefg. It took me a week, spent my time familiarizing and memorizing them. By the second week, I know those chords by heart. If the song that I’m trying to learn says A7, I just simply played it as A. The biggest part of it is the enthusiasm; I’m really motivated to explore this new thing. I’m glad I did and really enjoyed it. With today’s golden era of communication, learning tools are endless, there’s books, and best of all the internet. I’d watched kids as young as 5 years old playing much better than I can. I was amazed. Just like me, we share the same passion, love of music. Have fun and God Bless.

LessonSeven

Bad Combination

One of my other hobby is bowling. On a good day I can average about 120, that is if I’m not drunk before the first game. It’s a psychological game, the more I’m aiming to make 200, the more I get less than 100 per game. But it was fun. So I decided to just throw the ball and see if I can hit more pins, sometimes I get lucky and get more than 150. Guitar playing is the same, the harder you try sometimes, the more frustrating it is. So just pick it up and play and enjoy it, who cares if you miss a note. My hobbies are actually a bad combination. When I took classical lesson a long time ago, I had to grow my fingernails long. It’s a technique used to combine fingertips and fingernails and slice it through strings to make that crispier sound. The problem is after a game of bowling, I usually break a nail. But then again it’s not a perfect world. I didn’t gave up both. I don’t do the bowling as religiously as guitar anymore, but I still bowl from time to time. I might not make my goal of 200 every game but I always finished it despite an aching back and broken fingernails. As what my triathlete friend told me, it's not that you'd finished the race 20th place or 44th place or first place that matters, it's the fact that you didn't quit.

LessonSix

Simple Finger Exercises

The truth is, I haven’t been playing as much as I used to. I just simply pick up my guitar and play. A lot of songs or pieces that I used to play a lot, most of them I had to relearn again. It’s a lot different when you have plenty of time back then, I was single, don’t know what to do, so my main thing is to play the guitar. I remember times when I just stayed in my room and played for hours. Even though I don’t have that kind of time anymore, I still manage to do some simple finger exercises even without a guitar. I still want to learn a lot of stuff, think of new pieces I want to learn and try more new things. Learning is endless, and I certainly learn something new everyday. I just stumbled upon my exercises, it’s kind of like playing air guitar. The first one is if you know how to do the “itsy bitsy” spider thingy, that’s one, but instead of just the pointy finger, middle finger and thumb, try to involve all your fingers. It develops finger dexterity, and if you can do it without looking, much better. The second one is just simply tap your fingers, let’s say you’re on your desk and tap with the pinky first, then the ring finger, middle finger, point, then just simply repeat in that order or you can make your own. I do it all the time when I’m driving specially when the traffic light is at stop. Those simple exercises helps developed strengths for your fingers, it might not work for everybody but it works for me. Have fun and God Bless.

LessonFive

Part 5 of our lesson


Maintenance

Maintenance is an important part of ….. well just about everything. Your house, your car etc. Musical instruments are no exception. I’ve been playing the same guitar for a long time and there are times it doesn’t sound the way I want like when I picked it up from the store. Just like anything, it wears out, gets tired. Mine buzzed on the E on the 12th fret and it bugs the heck out me since I used that note a lot. I got what I’ve got. Before I got married, I got a habit of replacing all strings once a month. Now, I just wipe it with oil on a clean piece of cloth. We have our priorities. Changing all strings, not just a single string helps. The wood changes over time also due to temperature or time, sounds like me, getting old. If you have a spare time, it actually helps to have a guitar tech look at it from time to time to adjust the truss rod, or if you have an electric guitar, means more adjustments. It’s not a bad idea to keep it look nice and clean also. Have fun and God Bless.

LessonFour

Egg Mentality

This one didn’t come from me, I’m not taking any credit but it’s something that’s worth sharing. We tend to make or do things to sacrifice our boredom, and that magic word “inconvenience” is what drives us to come up with new ideas. The first thing we have in mind is how wonderful this thing will be, but get discouraged most of the time. If you think something you came up with will not work or someone told you so, just think of an egg. It is shaped really odd, couldn’t stand on its own. Very very fragile. Why would Mother Nature devise such a thing? But then again look at the market for it ;)

This is Part 4 of our lesson

LessonThree

ImagesToCome

I had this visual picture in my head about yesterday's scenario. It kinda' shows me what life has to offer in the years to come. I wished I'd took a picture of it but 'nah, it's one of those treasured memories in the part of my head that nobody can take away. I took my parents to the airport and I really don't know when will I ever see them again, it was a sad day for me and also my other brother. But the thing that really struck me was my Dad being in the wheelchair trying to finish a bacon and egg sandwich. It took both of his hands to finish a small plastic cup of water because his hands shook too much to avoid spilling the whole thing. A couple of months ago He was in a hospital, spent two months there. I remember the second week that I thought that was it. I'm looking at my Dad pretty much in his death bed. He was swollen from all kinds of medication, chasing breath. We prepared ourselves for that. I was already tired of crying. I can cry no more. Nothing we could do but a say lot of prayers. My other brother at that time visited from New Jersey, He ended up staying for a couple of weeks so He can stay with my father. My Sister is supposed to go to Japan for a temporary work assignment, that too was pushed back so She can stay with Dad to make sure He is ok. It was so difficult to move at that time seeing a loved one in that condition, daily, i feel like im walking in a mountain of sand. A lot of friends, relatives, helped out too. We took turns watching Dad in the hospital. I remember the day He got out and He was so happy feeling the wind from the window. He's recovering but slow, I think that's due to a lot of medications and aging. The memories of him being this strong, smart, can do all attitude is still vivid in my brain. I keep forgetting that was 20 or 30 years ago.
That afternoon, I went and picked my Son up to the school bus stop, He's 6 ½ years old. Nice day so I'd just walked and while we were walking back, He told me that He had a headache and tummy ache but continued walking. I offered to carry Him but He said, " No thank you,".
I'm in the middle of this whole thing, and I was thinking someday, I will grow old, sickly and weak like my father, and my Son will take care of me, hopefully. And He will pick my grandson up in the bus stop.
One thing I noticed, prayers do work, there is somebody up there that looks down and listening and watching. I think, people don't die of illnesses if it's not time yet. You might be on a wheelchair or limping or catching your breath but if the Boss up there doesn't want you yet, you will still be alive. Loneliness, sadness, depression I think can kill someone in an instant than somebody with a quadruple bypass surgery with a loving friends and relatives.
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I had to repost part 3 of the lesson, i was in a hurry i didn't include the lyrics, keep practicing and God Bless.
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LessonThree

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The SUN

Have you ever looked at the Sun?
You can’t, nobody can
It will hurt your eyes

Sunshine feels wonderful
It gives light to everything around
It gives life to everything around

What will happen without the Sun?
Darkness will surround us
We need artificial light to see

Holy Book says the Sun
Is the face of the Lord
Nobody can look at it directly

Many mysteries about the Sun
Old friend told me
Snakes looks up in the Sun in early mornings

I was wondering also
About descriptions of hell, the sea of fire
Observe closely

Think about the SUN


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I couldn't think of anything expect for my lame poem. I'm on to the 3rd part, due to the complexity of the fingering and rhytm and timing, I decided to tab the opera part in segments. I also encourage you to listen to the record and practice practice practice. Repetition is the key to mastering anything until it becomes natural. Just don't forget your chores at home, make Mom happy. Even there's no electricity, with Mom happy, the house glows on its own. God Bless.

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LessonTwo

BadCoffee


I’ve been drinking coffee since I was 9 years old or maybe younger. Too long for me to remember what age I actually started drinking coffee. My father used to ask me to make him a cup and I would take a sip. I think that’s how I got started. Now I’ve got to have the taste of coffee. It doesn’t matter what kind, what brand. I’ve got to have coffee especially in the morning. When I got older, that’s my breakfast, along with cigarettes and sometimes, chewing gum. Pretty pathetic but that’s my world. I like the instant coffee as opposed to brewed coffee but whatever is available, I’ll take it. Some coffees are just like tea, some are like mud, some are made like lots of scoops and you will be wired for days. My friends branded me as a coffee connoisseur. I’m not, it happens to be that I just love coffee. Coffee connoisseurs drink their coffee black, I like mine with cream and sugar. Sometimes, I will order ice cream and the cashier would asked me, “ what would you like to drink with that? “ and my respond is, “ give me a regular coffee with cream and sugar, “ and they looked at me funny. I like mcdonalds coffee and also white castle’s. I’m not really a big fan of starbucks. Everytime my friends sees me, their like, “ here he is, prepare a bucket of coffee.” When I served in the Navy, I used to finished the whole pot by myself, in one shift. And I still do. I don’t know the difference between regular coffee and espresso nor cappuccino. I swear the so-called cappuccino taste like hot chocolate. Other people made drinking buddies, alcoholwise. I had my own “possee” of coffee drinkers. Coffee prices nowadays had gotten ridiculous too. There’s one that’s called lowak or luwak that sells for 300 dollars per pound, about 30 dollars per cup. I liked our cafeteria coffee for 25 cents. Anyway, welcome coffee lovers and after all these years I’d actually discovered the best kept secret of drinking coffee. What actually makes a bad coffee good? GOOD COMPANY.


Here’s the solo part of the song, part 2 of our lesson. Slow process but we’re progressing. I’m going to work on the opera part which will probably take a little longer. For the meantime again, have a nice day, enjoy, have fun and God Bless.

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LessonOne

If you want something, give it first! My response to that was ??????????? Didn’t quite understood what my Aunt meant when she said that. That was over ten years ago when she visited us. The meaning of the whole thing took a long time to make sense and I had to go to a whole lot of good and bad experience to finally get the meaning. I guess it’s more of the bad ones that opened my eyes, well, not really, maybe part of it.
If you think of giving, think of money, you have to have money so you can have something to give?? So what happens if you don’t have? What are you going to give?
Traits are exactly the same, if you want trust, you have to learn how to trust, love and respect, the same thing. And that goes with all the other stuff.
I realized also that me, not capable of either one of those things mentioned, is because I never really had them. I’m not capable of loving and respecting and trusting others, because I never really did love, respect and trust myself. The good Lord always has His mysterious ways of doing things, How I’d learned mine, will be my treasure for as long as I live. I just used money as an example, has nothing to do with the whole thing.
Let’s move on to the subject. It took awhile before I finished the first part of the song. Holy cow!! I gained appreciation of people who transcribed music for a living. This is hard work. Too much work. I had a hard time, but I’m determined. I want to share this tune. I’m working on the solo part, I’ll post it also once I’m done with it. For the meantime, learn the first part and have fun. God Bless.

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Bohemian Rhapsody easy acoustic guitar for learners

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SongTablature

Hello and welcome, I've been playing guitar for over twenty years now, not professionally, just a hobby, a pastime. Actually drums were my primary instrument of choice. The very first concert i'd seen was from my high school in 1982, that was big for me. Just local kids playing cover tunes. I thought the drums were the best, didn't really pay much attention to the guitarist. I wanted to own and learn to play drums. It just happens that percussion instruments are expensive and we don't have the cash for anything else other than the basic needs. It's hard growing up poor.
My father brought a guitar one day which was given to him by a friend. It's not even in working order, cracked neck, badly warped. But it was better than nothing. We glued the neck, the warp, nothing we could do about it. It will take another 2 more years before it was being put to use because nobody knew how to play at that time expect for my Dad who knows maybe three chords and uses those for every songs he played. My Grandma plays too, only on a single string, she thought me how play Happy Birthday, the only one she knew. Later I realized, my Grandma and my Dad are actually my first guitar teachers, Dad showed me the Am, Dm, and Em chords and Grandma taught me my first lead, which of course, the Happy Birthday tune.
When I turned 16, a family had moved to our neighborhood and I found out that their son plays guitar. At the same time another one also moved in and He too played guitar. Hearing the first one played is when I decided I want to learn the instrument using the warped cracked neck guitar that we had. In order to keep it in tune we fabricate a capo made up of a small piece of bamboo held together with rubber bands, and had to be positioned all the way up to the fifth fret. I went to the second neighbor and He taught me the major and minor chords, spent a week learning that and on to learning my first whole song, Things we said today by the Beatles, I think, Em and Am as far as I can remember. And it didn't stop there until now. I didn't just developed calluses in my fingertips, with the string so high above the neck, I had to push it real hard until it bleeds. Learning, practicing in my spare time. I'm glad I did. It keeps me out of trouble while some of my old friends spend time in rehab. The only thing, I don't really know how tune it. Thank God for electronic tuners, one of the world's greatest invention, they made life easy. I really admire other players who can tune a guitar by ear.
I had my first formal guitar lesson when I bought an acoustic guitar. I've got three free lessons. I took the free lessons and quit when I'm about to pay the next ones. I took classical guitar lessons also for about a year. I'd learned a whole lot. Not necessarily musically, but the principles can be applied elsewhere. In life, you have to have patience, attention to detail and most of all discipline if you want to be successful. I didn't succeed all too well, specially in the classical guitar arena, I lack the discipline. I tried playing electric guitar too and I got tired of setting up, maybe I'm just lazy. Plug here, adjust here. There's nothing wrong in trying new things by the way. I even start collecting guitar but ended up either selling or giving them away and always go back to the first one I'm always using. Anyway as time flies, it's not about just guitars but the music it produces. You could be playing keyboard or better yet guitar hero by Nintendo or Playstation or Xbox. As long as you are having fun and relaxed. I will be sharing tunes that I've learned. I make mistakes a lot though, wrong chords, wrong keys, hopefully nobody will noticed. God Bless.
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