September 2009 Issue #4 :
Back to School :
Contest + Exclusive Article

Hi and Welcome to the fourth issue!

The JazzGuitarLessons.net Newsletter brings you the latest additions to the website along with jazz guitar tips and how-to's.

Each month, this ezine will be delivered directly to your inbox. Improve your playing with new lesson material including :

• Scales and Chords
• Jazz Guitar Articles
• Licks and Improvisation
• Jazz Tunes and Chord Melody
• Transcriptions
• ...and much more!

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Table of Content

1- Back to School Contest : Win Skype Lessons and more!

2- Exclusive Article : Improve your playing faster than ever

3- New Website Section : Jazz Guitar Articles

This month, I will be offering three absolutely free webcam teaching sessions (via Skype). The contest is opened to you only, dear subscribers of this newsletter.

The prizes are as follow :

• One hour-long lesson (includes "pre-lesson")
• One 20-minutes jazz guitar consultation
• One 20-minutes jazz guitar consultation

The hour-long lesson will include the usual "pre-lesson" analysis and full 24/7 email support for the following week.

The 20-minutes "consultations" are in fact mini-lessons that should be, more or less, question/answer sessions.

You have 14 days to participate : see the complete rules enter the contest here.

The winners will be drawn September 15 and contacted immediately by email.

Good luck!

Here's a little refresher that follows this practicing article. If you want to know how you can maximize the way you improve, then read on...

Back to school season will bring many of you back to practicing. No matter where you stand (amateur, beginner, pro or full time music student), September is always a good excuse to set a routine.

The habit of practicing can be more or less difficult to ingrain. I've found something that worked really well for me : keeping a journal! (It might also work for you... who knows!?)

It all started when I had a one-on-one appointment with one of my mentor. He told me : « Kid, you’re an OK player but I think you should start keeping a log. »

I was skeptical because even though I was still in music school, I was having a good "phase" : practicing lots, jamming, improving, gigging, etc. I didn't feel the need for a "log" and didn't understand why he said that...

My teacher probably sensed my skepticism and insisted on me keeping that "practice journal". He explained a few preliminary steps to me (such as planing and goal setting) and asked me to try the "log thing" for a week.

...and I did.

It felt weird at first. Like the first time you drink coffee... or when walking with new shoes!

It finally all settled down and the "usefulness" of the log became obvious. Within a month I realized I had never improved so fast before... within 6 months the same mentor who suggested the "practice journal" to me was VERY impressed with my progress.

You see, at first I didn’t believe in writing a log for everything I played and for how long and how, and why etc. because I felt like it would be a waste of my time in the first place. It turned out to be the exact opposite!

After a year, I was totally addicted to my log. It was not a detailed, exact, note-for-note book, it was just enough information to keep track and focus on the right things. (goals and planing, material, etc.)

That whole "journal adventure" taught me to plan in advance. It's important to decide on what to play and/or practice PRIOR to the actual practice session.

Of course, it's not the simple « log » that changed it all for; it was the fact that I was deciding WHAT to improved and HOW to do it.

It made me avoid the usual trap of "ooh, that a great exercise! I'll practice that." whenever I heard a cool lick.

Instead, I was targeting weak areas of my playing and choosing appropriate material/exercise to tackle them...all the while using the log to keep track of the "big picture".

On a slightly different note (last but certainly not least!) :

Practice everyday. This is generally underrated. I believe the problem lies "inside" of that advice : practice everyday... but what? If you have clear goals and a good plan, practicing everyday will become as natural as sleeping, eating, showering etc.

The log WILL help, I promise. Everyone does it differently and it doesn't matter.

Just try it for a week and see...

(-;

Have good practice sessions and improve well!

If you have any special article requests contact me here.

Thank you for your emails and suggestions last month.

JazzGuitarLessons.net is finally hosting jazz guitar articles on various topics. I already wrote a few articles that deal mainly with position playing.

Check them out !

A Series of articles on Positions :

       
-1- How to Have Six Fingers and Control the Universe

-2- Top Must-Know Positions for Jazz Guitar

-3- Scales Polishing and Connecting

-4- Complete Arps

-5- Triads and Seventh Chords

See you next month!

Marc-A Seguin

JazzGuitarLessons.net