Category Archives: Melbourne Guitar Lessons

Insights on how to play the guitar. Lessons and instruction to develop creativity and well being

Cool Jazz Guitar Soloing techniques. Advanced Jazz Improvisation.

This is an introduction to my jazz improvisation course. This course will soon be available online, but at present, you are welcomed to learn in person, at my Creative Guitar School in Melbourne .

In my Jazz Guitar courses, you will learn how to develop melody and harmony of a given song, to the limit of your creative abilities.

You will learn to choose what sounds good or bad, and there fore, maintain the flow of your creative dialogue. This is an extremely rewarding experience.

I love to improvise, to flow, and create constant variations of a motif a song of any musical idea. It feels great.

It did not feel good

At first, in the 80s, when I started playing professionally, I was not comfortable improvising, since even though I was playing the correct notes, I did not like what I was doing. It did not feel good.

I knew I needed more information on how to choose, how to be aware of what sounds good or bad. I needed more options to express those feelings, I had an urge to scream out.

Berklee College of Music

So, I went to Berklee College of Music, Boston, U.S.A for 3 years, and I was bombarded with practical good and evil. I loved it.

While at Berklee, I came across Jon Damian, who taught one of my favourite guitar players, ( Bill Frisell ). I soon discovered an amazing pathway, to harmonic and melodic variation, to cover, for the rest of my life, all my creative and artists needs.

Guitar Scales: The 1-4-2 Combination

Did you know there are 24 ways of creating chords on the go and you can combine them, play them any way you wish as long as it sounds good for you.

Listen to the guitar scales

In the intro of the video on this page, I used a combination of sounds based upon the 142 pattern of a scale but, applied only to one chord. There fore, imagine the colours that can pop up, in a song with many chords and with all guitar scales.

Check out the video to hear this combination of a G scale.

one string
in one position

But, more magic occurs when you apply the 1-4-2 sound to a more complex harmonic structure.

Since this combination creates a lot of tension, we can then use it, when we need tension on a note, or area of a chord in relation to the guitar scale.

The 142 sound in a more complex harmonic setting

This is the melody of the Standard: All the things you are.

The red lines are the places I have decided to play with more tension, than what the chord will give me. If I play without the red feeling I produce a static sound, boring.

See video

When I play, and apply the 1-4-2 pattern to the red section, I get more movement, more excitement and it just feel great.

See video

You can apply this sound also to a solo.

See video

So come along and let´s explore together more of these sounds . Send me an email, get in touch. Book Your Course now .

Melbourne Guitar Lessons

Romance Anonimo, How to play on the Spanish Guitar

September 2, 2018 Thomas Lorenzo

Background on courses

This composition is part of the level 1 guitar course. In each level, at the Creative Guitar School here in Melbourne, we learn to play the guitar in different scenarios or situations.

We learn to play along with the original tracks

We learn to play along to the original videos of songs we love, but focusing on our role as a guitarist. A Guitarist can play rhythm, fills or lead guitar. Throughout all levels, we learn new skills to help us develop our functions, or roles, in live music situations.

We learn to emulate the live context in our study, to increase learning efficiency

However, music has to be learnt in a musical context, that must have a beginning, end, and a tempo. We need to coordinate, to develop our motor skills, anticipating what we have to do, in relation to a specific time frame.

We learn to sing what we hear, to memorise the sound and note positions more efficiently

We will remember what to do on the guitar at all levels, because we are anticipating the sound of what we will play. The rule is that if you can sing it, you will be able to play it. There fore, we sing, even if we are out of tune, what we play. We cannot learn to play the guitar by visually memorising what we have to do, which in popular terms in called muscle memory. This is very time consuming and foments dangerous repetitive moments .

We learn to play songs together as in a band situation

In our guitar courses, we also learn to play songs, together, in groups. That is, since we are learning in groups, we can then distribute the functions of the song between us. In a band there is a bass player, a drummer, a guitarist defining the groove with chords, and the lead vocalist.

In all our group learning , we also play songs, where one guitarist defines the groove in a manner as a bass player would, another defines the chords, as a guitarist would do in a band situation, and the other plays what the vocalist would sing.

That is why the importance of setting the exact context correctly: to learn efficiently and achieve the most satisfactory results in the shortest time possible. This exercise, as detailed later will guide you through this learning process.

We learn to play songs as a solo guitarist

Romance Anonimo falls into the category of playing both the lead, the vocal line and the chords at the same time. Some guitarists call this classical guitar, and it can also relate to fingerstyle guitar. This is another form a playing, we learn in all my structured learning courses.

Romance Anonimo

This is the sheet we will use to learn this song called Romance Anonimo. The numbers represent the fret, where one of your left hand fingers, must be placed on. The numbers also give the cue: when to play the note.

We will learn the song slowly, always at a constant tempo, and singing what we are playing.

If you do not play in tempo, you are learning how to play without tempo. If you do not sing, even if such is out of tune, you will relate the position to a number, to a visual cue, and you will loose the opportunity of memorising sounds, which is what music is about.

Context, what to do , instructions.

The context defines what, and when we play.

We will set the metronome at 6o bpm. This indicates that we have to do something with this pulse. The initial instructions are to say a number every 3 pulses or beats.

Remember, from now on and for the rest of your musical life, you must establish the beat before you play. This will save you hundreds of hours of learning.

Please count three, and on very one you will say the number, in sequence, as you will hear in the video, all the way up until, you read the word Am.

Now that we have read the numbers, anticipating what comes next, we need to relate these numbers to the fret board. Please place one of your left hand fingers, on the fret board, on the first string, on the fret indicated. This first number indicates that we will place our finger on the 7th fret.

Let’s count three beats, in sync with the metronome, and play these numbers, one every three clicks.

Remember, you are creating the sound by both placing your finger on the corresponding fret and hitting the string with your other hand, to actually produce the sound.

We play Romance Anonimoas follows:

Please say what you are doing, sing what you doing , and keep in sync with the metronome.

The common error is not to for-see the following fret number we have to play. We solve this by looking at the next number, we have to play on the guitar, on the third beat of each bar or click of the metronome.

Checklist

Use this check list to judge if are you learning Romance Anonimo:

Have you counted it in?

Are you saying what you have to do ?

Are you singing the notes you are playing ?

Are you not stopping ?

Are you checking every third beat what you have to do ?

If you are not following these instructions, you will not learn and possibly repeat endlessly with frustration.

If you follow these instructions, you will play the sequence in three repetitions.

However, sometimes we have trained ourselves in our lives, to not follow a specific thought process and you will find this process hard to achieve.

Do not worry

Just do it, and only ask yourself the outlined questions .

Distractions

At this stage there is no need to worry to much about the sound , or what fingers to use. We will work on other variables as we progress.

I find a lot of students, that when they play in my suggested manner, get distracted by other thoughts. These other thoughts are valuable, but they should not be a distraction to achieve a goal,

What are we learning

With this simple exercise on Romance Anonimo we are learning to think in music, which means to choose what we focus one.

We also learn to play and synchronise to a time frame, which is a beat.

We learn to only develop our skills based upon a time frame.

You are also learning to avoid unnecessary repetition.

You are also learning to anticipate sounds and their location.

This is the first lesson of how to play Romance Anonimo

In our next lesson, we will learn how to play the second part of this guitar composition, and also learn how to further acquire guitar skills which will make us independent in our learning, and avoid frustration, with the consequence of developing personal well being, which is the ultimate goal.

Melbourne Guitar Lessons

How to find the notes on the guitar fretboard

June 4, 2018 Thomas Lorenzo

How to find the notes on the guitar fretboard?

Musical notes represent sounds of definite pitch. When we perform, we are constantly searching for sounds and notes, there fore, we need to learn how to find them on the guitar fretboard.

We generally will not remember, with precision, where they are, by solely memorising, visually the position, or by using any form of logic. You will remember where to find a sound, better said a combination of notes, as no note comes alone, by identifying the sound previous to its location on the guitar fretboard.

Once you are able to sing what you want to play, you will be ready to find the sound on the guitar. All groups of sounds, phrases, melodies, passages, are generally in a specific tonal centre . This means, that the note you are looking for, will be one, of more or less, seven notes to choose from.

Sing before you play

At the Creative Guitar School, I will teach you where to find the notes by learning the scale patterns, but above all, how to find the desired note effectively, by recognising its pitch, and singing it before you play it on the guitar fretboard.

Further more, the pitch on the guitar fretboard can increase in different directions. If you first understand that the sound you are looking for, is going up or down in pitch, then you will not be confused, by which direction you take on the guitar, to find this increase of pitch.

In our first lesson, of all beginners guitar courses, we learn all the notes of the C scale, on all strings. We learn them quickly, by singing and naming them in tempo. We quickly identify the distance between notes, and understand the concept of semi tones and tones.

I strongly urge all students, to repeat this exercise daily, in tempo, to get quickly acquainted with the sound, and as a consequence the notes on the guitar fretboard.

When you practice guitar, please keep in mind that all exercises must be repeated daily, to ensure you can properly memorise the task. However, repetition can sometimes be tiring. Do not worry, I am there for you, to give you new weekly challenges, and to modify any exercise, so you may maintain your constant interest in your daily practice routine .

Why do we learn chords on the guitar?

Not all musical instruments can play chords, however, it is presumed that beginner students, first must learn to play chords on the guitar.

A chord is only part of the tools we can use, to create the accompaniment for a song. A song has tempo, groove, melody, background lines, bass lines, harmony and sections. We need to learn all the basic tools, required to play a song from the beginning to the end. A song is really a melody, the vocal line, and all the rest are tools, to help that vocal line come alive.

Chords can be used to define the groove of a song. A drummer definer the groove with sounds that are not specific lyrical pitches, a bass defines the groove by playing melodic lines in the low register, that define the chords.

As a guitarist, when you play a chord, you define the groove of the song, with more than one note at a time, and since the difference in between chords, create changes in intensity, we get a sort of flow, a forward motion in our playing.

However, we also need to learn to play melodies, the vocal line, which is what the song is about. At the Creative Guitar School, you will learn how to play chords, create your own rhythms and especially, learn how to play the melody of the song, and create variations, to keep the flow going.

The melody, the vocal part with no lyrics, is the essence of a song. You need to master how to play melodies immediately, to avoid frustration, and to avoid getting stuck, in what to do on the guitar.

How to create strumming patterns?

At the Creative Guitar School, l I teach you how to develop your own strumming patterns. For such, you only need to know the ingredients of the patterns which are: the subdivisions of the beat , accents, how to identify a groove and reproduce it.

You will be surprised on how quick you are able to create your own powerful grooves and strumming patterns. This is must for all your musical productions.

However, you need constant practice in your daily routine to achieve the musical goal with satisfaction. You must strive to always play in tempo, as such will reduce the time you will take to learn. It helps focus and reduces unnecessary, never ending repetitions. The more you play in tempo, the quicker you will learn .

When should I start concentrating on technique?

In the initial stages of your learning, you must be able to identify melodic values, rhythmic patterns, understand song structure, maintain a tempo, ect.

Once you are efficient in the basic musical knowledge, then you will be ready to develop speed, accuracy and guitar technique to help you further your expression.

Technique, may come naturally, by completing the exercises and learning of all songs. However, as a teacher, I will quickly identify your learning obstacles, which we all have, and I will give exercises to overcome specific technical difficulties.

In order to improve your technique, you must practice at the slowest speed possible, anticipating position change and sound. You must try to avoid, to place your finger in any position, if your are not sure of the sound you are looking for. Please, have first, the sound you want to reproduce, in your mind, sing it, and then place your finger where you believe that sound is. If you do not have the sound in your head, you will not remember where to find it again.

This obstacle may be overcome by reading, but reading may block our capability of hearing the sound. When we read, we follow placement and tempo instructions, and in the early stages of our guitra learning, we will not hear the sound until we have played it. The process of learning can be daunting and very frustrating.

I already know my scales, what is next?

Scales are groups of 7notes that identify a tonal centre, the resting point of a song. The scale is a tool we use to make melodies, to create bass lines, to improvise, to create variations of chords, to create fill . In other words learn the scale and start playing . The scale will give the location knowledge, where the sounds are, that you are looking for on the guitar.

You will need to learn how to create melodies, bass lines, melodic harmonic groove. At the Creative Guitar School I will teach you how to have never ending fun, with this beautiful instrument in all styles of music, either if it is jazz, rock, blues, funk, flamenco .

Please remember that all students at all levels regularly must compose and record their song at my Recording Studio.

I would like to invite you all to my upcoming concerts in Melbourne and beyond.

Creativity leads to well being, Melbourne Guitar Lessons

Online Guitar Songwriting lessons

February 19, 2018 Thomas Lorenzo

Online Guitar Songwriting lessons

I will soon have available my online guitar songwriting lessons, and course, suitable for all songwriters and performers who wish to explore through advanced harmony, the ultimate feel for a song .

Advanced harmony can be made simple if it is explained without complicated terminology. These online guitar songwriting lessons and courses, will give you an in depth harmonic melodic knowledge of the guitar, that will transform how you perform, compose, arrange and produce your performance of your desired song.

The outcome of all modules ( Making advanced harmonic textures accessible to all guitarists and songwriters)

This online guitar songwriting course is divided into three modules:

Module 1: The Birth of the Song. In this module you will learn tools/strategies to make sure your song has the most unique : chords, melody and the most powerful and uplifting structure.

You may apply these tools to compose your song, change it to make it feel better or simply to deliver a more in depth interpretation of your song, live or in the studio.

1. Module 2: Pre Production. All the creative tools, at a basic level, you can play with, to define the most adequate rhythm section, melodic- harmonic backgrounds, counter lines; and to reinforce the melody of a song.

1. Module 3: Music Production. The Final Recording.

Each module will give you access to over 50 audio examples, three hours of videos, a 45 page self explanatory e book and a power point presentation of the ebook where all files are interlinked.

These online guitar songwriting lessons and course, is an extension of my book on arranging and orchestration in the Spanish Language: El Arreglo un Puzzle de Expresión Musical

The need of relating emotion to music

In all my years as a guitar teacher and writer, I have always pondered about how to learn music in a manner that we find the balance between thoughts and feelings. In music, if we think a lot we will not play efficiently , also if we just feel the music, and not establish a conscious understanding of what we are doing, and why, we all end up in deep chaos and frustration.

I believe, in our music learning , we must first feel, then put words to the feeling , classify it, in a manner that when we have the need for such emotion , we will automatically revert to our conscious classification. However, if we learn to play the guitar , if we follow any online guitar course, that shows, explains concepts through words, with no context and related feelings, we will never understand, nor remember how to make sense of it all.

In my new online guitar courses , especially my Online Guitar Songwriting lessons, I will share with you a conscious understanding of emotion that will definitely open up a new way of hearing music , learning , playing and songwriting.

Module 1 The Birth of the Song

Who is this module for

Songwriters and guitarists of all levels, that wish to deliver a more emotional interpretation of a song, by applying advanced melodic harmonic concepts used by major composers and performers; this course makes these advanced concepts accessible to all without the need of traditional in depth study of harmony and arranging skills.

You do not need to know how to read music, nor know all the scales and chords available. However, you must have an understanding of basic open string chords. It will also be beneficial if you can sing songs and play chords at the same time, and can play along the recorded original tracks of your favourite songs.

This modules will develop exisiting songs, however once completed, you will be able to compose your new songs, bearing these new emotional tools from scratch.

What will you learn

In this module you will learn tools/strategies, to make sure your song has the most unique chords, melody and the most powerful and uplifting structure. You may apply these tools to compose your song, change it to make it feel better, or simply, to deliver a more in depth interpretation of your song, live, or in the studio.

Available harmonic melodic tools to achieve your unique sound

A song is made up of a melody and chords. We use the chords to accompany the melody. Both melody and accompaniment are glued together by rhythm. Your essential tools to interpret, change your song will be to know:

All available diatonic chords, inversions and their chord scale relationship. There are only 7 diatonic chords to choose from. If you are also aware of the feeling they produce in relation to the melody, you will then have the ability to choose the most adequate and unique harmony.

How to create excitement with chords, shifting the harmonic tension of a chord , by varying the melodic line and bass lines. I refer to this as making chords move, making them come alive, and therefore produce, with the guitar, an accompaniment that not only makes your melody shine even further, but makes the song extremely engaging, with variety of intensity from beginning to end.

How to vary your melody to outline and reinforce the final harmonic context, and achieve the desired impact you need to deliver your song to the audience, in the most expressive and engaging manner possible. Once you have chosen the most adequate chords, and how to play them with intensity, you will then have the need to modify your melody, to make it sound even more unique .

How to apply them with satisfaction in context

These tools will now give you access to the second part of the module, where you will apply the concepts to a given melody, to achieve the 100% satisfaction goal ; so you can say aloud, Yes, this is what I was looking for !

On completion you will have practiced :

To choose the most appropriate key for your voice to shine.
To analyse the harmonic tension you feel at each moment, and choose the adequate chords to reflect such.
To create variation in this harmonic tension by creating bass lines, inversions and reharmonisation, or adding melodic lines to the top of Existing chords.
To alter the melody of the song to achieve the desired emotional impact.
To control the intensity you want to produce at each section of your song.
To finalise a satisfying relationship of chords, melody and structure; ready for the pre production stage, where other musicians will interact with you.
To say I really adore my song; the final melody, chords and lyrics.

All the above concepts can be applied to any given form of guitar playing as flamenco guitar, jazz guitar, blues guitar and also all types of guitars as electric guitar, acoustic guitar or nylon string Spanish guitar.

Melbourne Guitar Lessons

Blues Guitar Lessons- The Essence

January 23, 2018 Thomas Lorenzo

The Joy of Playing Blues Guitar

I love muy blues. I adore playing blues on the guitar, as the feel it produces, will make my day.

When I started playing blues, my guitar teachers introduced me directly to contemporary blues, with a lot of chord changes, and did not focus on the origin of the blues.

Due to my thirst for the true feel, I started listening to the classics as Muddy Waters, and asked myself how these original artists were able to achieve such clarity in the blues feel.

This way of approaching melody and chords has inspired and laid foundation for most contemporary music. In Level 2, all Creative Guitar students start mastering the beauty of blues and the joy it produces, as part of our daily playing . Blues guitar lessons are incorporated in level 2, 3 and 4 courses .

The Secret of Blues

I believe that there is more than a secret in blues guitar playing; there is a realm of delicate harmonic tension balance that we must caress to keep the magic flowing.

Blues is like a cloud of sound that floats on top of our chords. Blues comes alive when we create the contrast between the blues sound and the harmony of our tune.

The first step we must take, to feel this sound cloud, is to understand what key we are in, or the tonal center of our song. The first chord of our blues will define our tonal center. If our first chord is a G, then we can assume that we are playing a major blues in G.

Note: I assume you are aware of the blues progressions and the blues scale.

Have you ever felt that when you move away from the G chord, you need to play something else that you cannot find?

Have you ever felt that the blues cloud, the blues feel ,disappears as you play other chords?

If you do not have this feeling, then I must assume you are playing the blues correctly. However, if you do, then consider that the more you move away from the G chord, the more you will need to play the blues sound, and the less you will need to play the other chords completely.

How do we keep the feel

If you are loosing the G blues sound, when you play the C chord, then only play the root and add more G blues sound to your playing. In the same manner, when you play the D chord, avoid playing the full chord and add more blues sound to it. ( the G Blues )

In all blues styles, you will hear that the magic occurs when we contrast the sound of the chord with the tonal center blues scale.

At the Creative Guitar School, in your blues guitar lessons, I will guide you through the different blues styes and how the relationship of harmony- melody and blues scales, interact to achieve the desired sound.

Can I play the blues sound over any chord progression ?

Yes. For example; if your song is in C , you can play the C blues scale over any chord, and if done right, it will work.

As I mentioned, blues does form part of most contemporary music, we enjoy in our daily lives. In your guitar lessons, I would strongly suggest learning more of this style, as it will give you a natural advantage in achieving a unique sound in your playing. Blues is a colour that creates a special contrast, that can add harmonic and melodic richness to your playing

What to learn ?

In terms of knowledge, in your blues guitar lessons, you will learn how to define the rhythm guitar or the lead solo guitar, in various keys, 8 or 12 bar progressions, and styles.

You will also learn, in your blues guitar lessons, where to find the notes that sound blues all over the guitar neck; in various keys. And how to play a solo that creates contrast between the chords and the blues.

You will learn to create phrases, based upon logical melodic questions and answers; call and response.

You will learn to talk with authentic blues phrases; by acquiring vocabulary used by the classics.

You will learn the major pentatonic scales of all chords, the mixolydian scale, major minor arpeggios, and all harmonic- melodic tensions available.

In summary, a whole set of musical tools, to tap into , to give you unlimited resources for all your creative needs.

Your ideas will not stop popping up, and soon you will be able to find them and play them on the guitar.

As a professional session guitarist, I also heavily rely on these skills, so to be able to develop diversity and quickly tap into the different musical genres I am asked to play on .

Note

I do not recommend, a beginner guitarist, should start off only with blues guitar lessons. All guitar students need to have developed a sense of rhythm, harmony, melody and technique, before immersing themselves in this beautiful language.

That is why, at the Creative Guitar School, students must complete level one of their learning, before moving into this style. You need a good sense of rhythm , melody and harmony to enjoy the beauty of blues.

Extended listening

These are some of my favourite blues players I listen to. The list will take you through a variety of styles in this musical language.

Magic Sam Style Blues Son House, Muddy Waters, and and John Lee Hooker Styles

Elizabeth Cotton,, Tampa Red, Robert Johnson, Blind Blake, Big Bill Broonzy, Eric Clapton, Taj Mahal, Corey Harris, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Lightnin Hopkins, Tommy Johnson, , Tampa Red, Blind Lemon Jefferson, BB King

School Concert

Students love to perform at our frequent concerts. I also enjoy to see how students work together, play together, and develop their musical expertise; socially. It is fun , engaging and above all very satisfying.

Discipline

Music requires discipline in our learning. All my guitar courses are based on structured learning. There fore, in order to complete the guitar courses, to your own satisfaction, please allocate 20 minutes every day, during 10 weeks, for all your guitar exercises.

Group effort

All guitar courses, that develop the basic level of learning, require that the student commits to a daily practice routine so as to keep up with the rest of the group courses,

Groups also get together outside class hours ,to help each other in their musical adventure and to prepare for the concerts.

I hope to see you at one of our next Guitar Concerts . Sign up to get the latest news on all our events , courses and my specialized Melbourne Concerts.

Melbourne Guitar Lessons

Guitar Learning Solutions

January 8, 2018 Thomas Lorenzo

Guitar Learning Solutions

Do you fit in this profile ?

Are you looking for solutions to any of the following guitar learning problems?

So you know how to play some chords, you have learnt some phrases and licks from the internet, you have been playing for years, but still cannot make sense of where to go next.
You have a song you love to play, and feel you want to say more with it, but you do not know how.
You know a chord is not quite right, in the song, but do not know what other options you have to make it sound right.
You have reached the stage that your C, D, Dm, G, and F chords do not do the trick anymore .
You have read a lot of guitar theory books, but still cannot make sense of it.
You would love to play with others, but your require skills on how to do it.
You ponder on how other guitarists can make a C chord sound so good.
You can play on your own, but cannot follow a song for its entire length on you tube.
You can figure out, more or less a lick, but cannot figure out how to create your own.
You hear some melodies in your head and would like to know how to turn those melodies into a song.
You play in a band and you want to do more than just cover a song. You want to do play your own solo, grooves, riffs and make the song flow with your own emotion.
You would like to play on your own, a pop song and play the lyrical line at the same time . How do you play chords and melody at the same time ?
You need to sound more bluesy but cannot figure out how.

These are some of the guitar learning problems my intermediate guitar students have. The guitar, at the early stages is fairly easy to learn, since we generally only learn some chords. But all intermediate students face some of the above concerns, when they want more out of their playing.

The guitar learning problems we face, can be a result of internet learning from other guitarists who may also be in the same loop.

The solution

The solution, to all the above is, to understand that when we play a song, we must know the melody, the structure and the chords. We must have all the necessary tools to achieve intense emotion both in our interpretation of the melody, or the accompaniment. And last, but not least, only if we have the melody present at all times in our head, we will be able to develop the structure efficiently.

If you can sing it, you can play it

The less we think about what we are playing, the more we will be able to perform. The more we are able to hear what is coming next, the more we will be able to enjoy it. No matter how many chords, scales, arpeggios, melody, licks we know, if we are not able to hear the underlining fabrics of the song, we will not be able to play efficiently.

All that you know must fall in sync with a chordal sequence, which in turn generally is the consequence of a melody.

We will not remember a song by only memorising the chords. We must be able to hear the melody of the song. In order to hear we must be able to sing. In our early stages, it is not necessary to sing in tune, but we must somehow have the concept in our head, if the sound is going up or down. The sooner we can, more or less, sing what we want to play, the sooner we will play with ease. No matter how much technique we persist on, if we are not able to hear what we wish to do, we will end up with possible anxiety, muscle cramps, boredom and intense frustration.

You must sync to a tempo

We hear and we remember because the music falls in relation to a time frame. All we play, on our guitar, has to fall in sync with a tempo, with-a time clock. We really do not have to think to much about what we want to do. Thus, the more we concentrate on the tempo, the easier it will become.

Memory and emotional awareness

We will be able le to memorise music, if we are able to understand consciously and classify the emotional intensity of the passage. We generally do not remember chords but remember the feeling they produce. For example, if you feel a chord with a lot of tension, it will be probably be a dominant.

Also, we all must be aware that chords do not create static emotional categories. When we play a chord, we must create a change in its intensity if not, i will sound boring.

Music make sense when it flows. In the same manner, in nature, water flows because of a difference in pressure, electricity flows between opposite polarities, winds are created by changes of pressure. Likewie, music comes alive, only we hear and portray these variations in pressure, in emotion or intensity.

All my intermediate and advance guitar lessons and courses, will get the guitar students on the right track, to pursue their goals.

Styles

In all the above, you will notice that I have not mentioned the concept of style. A style like jazz guitar, blues guitar, flamenco guitar is just a manner of how we organise the musical vocabulary together. All of the previous concepts are the same for all styles. Music is like a language . All languages express, communicate and serve the same purpose. What changes between different languages, is how the alphabet is put together and how we use it.

All musical styes share the same concepts of tempo, structure melody, chords and intensity. A style will become easy to learn, once we have all the previous issues resolved, as we then only have to identify the particularity of the style .

Blues, for example, is a structure where we generally try to make major chords sound minor. The more minor we make them sound, the more blues we get. And the more we move away harmonically from the resting point of the song, the more we will need to play more blues sound, so as to maintain the style

In all guitar lessons and courses I develop the fundamentals of learning to help identify the characteristic of each style.

Please refer to the following link to view my music production services and music production educational blog.

Melbourne Guitar Lessons

Guitar Lessons, How to learn effectively?

November 6, 2017 Thomas Lorenzo

Guitar Lessons. Enjoyment and self expression

I wish to take you on a journey to explore the secrets of this magnificent instrument, the guitar. Furthermore, open an extended gateway for your ongoing personal development and well being in your life.

Music is the language of emotions and the guitar is the tool we will use to tap into those unique, beautiful, inner feelings, we all have.

I wish to guide you on your journey. Our learning experience will produce a tool box which will give you the skills you need to play whatever you wish, and how you wish. The ultimate goal of your guitar lessons is enjoyment, through self expression.

The guided pathway

At the Creative Guitar School, I cater for all levels of learning in a diversity of styles through your guitar lessons. I would now like to address the learning goals of those who are just starting out.

All musicians need to start out. Furthermore, we all deserve the right to reach our goals. However, we may find obstacles along the way and crash into them. When this happens, frustration may settle in and the guitars may end up on our walls.

I want all guitar beginners in a years time, from when you start your guitar lessons, to be able to play, off by heart, the following or similar tracks.

A sample of a song to be played in a group setting

We generally learn three tracks, per course, of similar material.

A sample of a song to play solo

Students learn a total of 6 simple songs of their choice in two levels in their guitar lessons.

- Compose a few songs like the following:

Students compose one song per level

Play three concerts. Please follow this link to see the 2016 and 2017 Guitar students and teacher concerts

Play along , off by heart tracks by: Police, Ed Sheeran, Justin Beiber, Paco de Lucia, Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Norah Jones, Bb King, and James Brown.

How to study and progress with joy

We will learn to play on the guitar all the above, off by heart and with joy. I must insist, that you have to feel good about what you do, every step of the journey. You have to have fun.

A students needs to understand what they know, what they do not know and how to get to the next step of their learning, with care and patience.

The more we are able to feel what we are doing, the quicker we will learn. We will only remember physical movements for a short period of time. But, we will remember a song and how to play it for life, if we relate movements to specific sound and emotion.

Structure

I assume you have listened briefly to the above material. How do we go from knowing nothing, to playing all the above material?

We need to first establish that everything we play, must be related to a structure: it must have a beginning, an end and a tempo. We learn to play the guitar swiftly, only if we reproduce the same scenario that occurs in the professional world, in a simple musical context.

In your guitar lessons ,you will start off by learning chords and rhythm. If you follow the exercises correctly, in 3 weeks time, you will be playing a song from top to bottom.

Aural training

In order to learn efficiently, you must be able to hear what you do , feel it and know where the sound is to be found on the guitar. You need to memorise melodies and the corresponding harmony associated.

You need to hear the harmony in advance, so as to anticipate the desired emotion. In order to hear, you must sing or mumble and you need to create. Only when you create, will you be able to make sense of melody, harmony, rhythm and structure.

You cannot memorise a mechanical movement outside a musical context. There must be a targeted desired sound and emotion so you may memorise what the movement is for. I will guide you, with specific exercises to help you hear and find the sound on the guitars.

Goals

In a short period of time, you will be able to play simple melodies, solo guitar, play in a group setting, play bass lines, counter lines, create diversity in rhythm and have lots of fun.

You also need to follow discipline which is based on repetition with love and respect for your limits. There should be no need for frustration or negative thoughts in your learning.

Very soon you will experience positive results and find the joy of sharing music in a group setting, creating your own melodies and hearing how they come life.

Technique

You will notice that I have not mentioned the word technique, as such really is only a consequence of all the above. We need movement to create music and all the above exercises, require solid technique, for us to be able to feel them and enjoy the experience.

How much do I need to dedicate per day for my guitar practice ?

I have designed the courses so that if you dedicate 20 minutes, every day, during 20 weeks you will have accomplished all goals.

Guitar learning requires constant dedication and work, but the results are extremely rewarding.

Group learning

I have designed a series of exercise to be completed in group settings, to encourage guitar students to interact and get together outside classroom hours. This will help you in your training .

Concerts

All guitar students will get a chance to play at the School concerts. Ee celebrate the events every 10 weeks.

You can do it

There is no secret in learning to play the guitar. We only need dedication and above all, to understand what we are doing and why. Music is not just about playing chords, it is about playing a song in a tempo, with a beginning, an end, with changes, sections, and intensities.

You tube videos, generally, show us how to play a songs with chords. But, not what to take into consideration to be able to coordinate all the movements, in a sequence and in relation to a specific tempo.

All songs are glued together by tempo. All the exercises you will enjoy in your guitar lessons are based on playing in tempo. Which would be like feeling a constant heart beat to your playing.

Interview

Please call me to schedule an interview for your guitar lessons. I need to asses your skills and recommend you the appropriate group for your learning, based upon your musical knowledge, aural and visual learning skills.

The next level

Once you have completed your first two levels, you will be ready to understand how to learn any style or music of your choice. You will have all the tools you need to undergo further challenges and the resulting joy of such.

You may read about all guitar lesson levels offer through guitar lessons at the Creative Guitar School through this link.

Times

All courses are scheduled during the evenings. Private guitar lessons are scheduled during morning and afternoon hours. Please refer to guitar lesson prices and conditions through the following link.

More info

If you would like to learn more about my professional activities, outside the educational scenario, please refer to my Melbourne Concert Latin Flamenco Guitar Site.

Melbourne Guitar Lessons

New Guitar Courses starting October

September 16, 2017 Thomas Lorenzo

Updates on upcoming courses

Beginners 1

Wednesdays at 8pm starting October 10. Two openings left

Tuesdays at 7pm starting October . Two openings left

Creative Guitar 2

Mondays at 8pm starting October 8. Two openings left

Private lessons available slots left

Mondays at 10 am and Thursdays at 11 am

Guitar courses

Monday and Tuesday at 7pm

Level 2
For those who have completed level one and need to work on:

Left and right hand technique
A melodic and harmonic performance understanding of
- dynamics
- structure
- subdivision
- melodic recognition
- harmonic recognition

The objective of all learning is to play with ease songs; both chords and melodies.

You will need:

30 minutes of daily practice
To get together with your fellow class guitarists at least four times outside class hours; to prepare more efficiently the concerts.

Tuesday at 8pm

Level 2
For those who have completed level 1, and wish to enjoy playing a selection of songs, have time to study and produce one new song, every two weeks, both chords and melody, in triads and 7th chords.

You will need:

30 minutes daily practice
To get together with your fellow class guitarists at least four times outside class hours; to prepare more efficiently the concerts.

Wednesday at 7pm

Level 3
Focusing on composing and playing your own songs.

You require knowledge of:

Chords in all keys
Two scale patterns in all keys
Two pentatonic patterns in all keys
You must have composed a song previously
You must me able to play at leat two songs; melody and chords off by heart
Have completed pages 1 to 23 of Paul Hindemith

You need 30 minutes daily practice

Monday at 6pm

Will be dedicated exclusively to melodic and harmonic ear training. For those who would like to improve hearing, singing melodies and writing them.

Students will also learn to read and write music. We will use garage band to help develop melodic and harmonic skills.

September 22 , 2018 School Concert

Attention all guitar lovers

I am very excited about our upcoming major School Concert. I am proud of all of you, for your hard work and continuous dedication, to make music and the guitar, part of your daily lives.

Here it is :
Saturday September 22, 11 am
Armadale Uniting Church
86A Kooyong Rd, Armadale VIC 3143

We will meet at 11 am and have a light lunch ( please limit cakes and chips and bring a small plate of food. I will be there at 10 to start setting up and will need help in doing so, and also in packing up. Please let me know who can help out?

We should start performing at 12.30 and finish by 2.00

Thomas Lorenzo Melbourne Concert Series

A quick reminder to purchase your ticket for my upcoming concerts by clicking on the link.

Melbourne Guitar Lessons, Must Read

Writing on the Guitar-Songwriter Exclusive

July 31, 2017 Thomas Lorenzo

WRITING ON THE GUITAR – SONGWRITER EXCLUSIVE

I am currently finalising my new online course for songwriters and guitarists who need more emotion from their songs. And uniqueness in their melodic and harmonic choices. Especially, for those who wish to deliver the most powerful live performance of their song and record it with others.

What do you need to know to get the most out of a song ?

Module 1 Harmony

What chords do I have to work with the song I have in my head ?
What other chords can I use for variety ?
What chords can I choose to create more excitement?
Is my voice shining ? Do I need to transpose?

Module 2 Structure

How can I choose a flowing structure ?
How to add a surprise to the structure?

Module3 Groove

What is the groove of my song ?
How to make even it more groovy, especially in the most exciting parts?

Module 4 Intensity

What and where is the climax of the song ?
What rhythmic, melodic, harmonic tools do I have to create intensity and feel that uplifting energy surge ?

Module 5 Variety in the melody

How can I make my melody more interesting ?
How can it stand out more ?
Does my melody reflect the emotional content of the words ?
What tools do I have to achieve the desired emotion?

Module 6 Variety in the accompaniment

Do I hear backing vocals?
Can they help my melody stand out ?
What type of vocals lines do I have to choose from ?
Do I hear background lines? How can I translate them to the guitar?

Module 7 Enhancing bass lines

Can I make the bass line more interesting and therefore make the harmony even more powerful? And the melody more emotional ?

Module 8

Decide how the song is be played by others to enhance the final product. Think and define the roles of each section and how you would like them to play, to accompany your desired emotional goal.

What is the outline of bass I need to define the chords and the groove of the song in each section? And the climax ?
What is the rhythm I need, to define the groove and pulse in each section, and the climax?
How should the accompaniment be played in each section ?
What is the background line of the accompaniment in each section and the climax ?

This course is to take your music to the next level and make it sound totally professional.

Melbourne Guitar Lessons

Melbourne Guitar Courses Aural training

May 8, 2017 Thomas Lorenzo

Melbourne Guitar Courses Aural training

When we learn to play the guitar, we learn how to coordinate in relation to a specific time frame; notes and chords must be played in a sequence, this sequence is generally a slave to a constant pulse: the tempo.

If a student can target a note, or a chord, because they are able to anticipate the sound, they will tend to learn in a quicker manner, than those who target only specific mechanical position.

It is important to always anticipate and hear, what we are going to play. This approach is also most enjoyable, and precise muscle coordination will occur at a quicker pace.

Please join us at our upcoming new Melbourne Guitar Courses.

A level one course has opened up for: Wednesdays at 6pm, starting May 23.
A level 3 course will be starting May 21, Mondays at 6pm.

I require all potential students to undergo a short interview, so I may assess their musical skills and point them towards the most appropriate group for their learning.

Upcoming Melbourne Concerts Flamenco Jazz Guitar

Thomas Lorenzo will be performing June 28, at 8. 30 pm at the Paris Cat Jazz Club, 6 Goldie Place, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia. As special guests I have : Ben Robertson on Bass, and Darryn Farrugia on Drums.

Please join us for a celebration of music from the heart.

Flamenco Guitars for sale

The Ramirez guitars from 1962 represent the golden era of flamenco guitars from Spain. Please send me an email, or call me, to book an appointment, to check out this unique flamenco guitar for sale.

Libros de música

I consider the art of accompaniment a reflection of a conscious arrangement of a composition; clusters, fourth note chords, background lines( passive, active, melodic, harmonic) and much more.

These are some of the tools an arranger must have on a day to day basis, to be able to deliver an understable exposition of a melody to the audience. Please read more “Libros de música, el Arreglo un Puzzle de Expresion Musical”

Melbourne Guitar Lessons, Must Read

Bass lines

August 23, 2016 Thomas Lorenzo

Guitar level requirements

At the Melbourne Creative Guitar school, students specialize in contemporary styles of music, that allow their inner voice to flow freely. I believe that it feels good to be able to reinterpret a composition in a different manner, each time we perform it. The interpretation will be a consequence of what was heard before, and of how we choose to feel, when each new note is played.

Music should makes us feel alive and joyful. There fore, if we can create our own pathways of expression, then we will have greater enjoyment In our lives.

Developing Bass lines

One of my favourite bass players is Ron Carter. Bass players create melodic lines that define chords. The more lyrical the bass line is, the richer the overall arrangement of the composition will be. The better it will feel.

Guitarists also play bass lines and therefore we can harmonize them. I would recommend all students to transcribe a bass line of Ron Carter and to harmonize such. I would suggest the first twelve bars of Billies Bounce, that he performs with George Benson on the album: Blue Benson.

Once you have transcribed, harmonise the strong beats with standard blues chords and inversions. Harmonize all passing tones, or those you would like to create the feel of passing, with secondary dominants or substitute chords. Once you have all this down and are able to play it, you will never want to play a blues again in any other manner.

More news

I would like to invite you all to my Melbourne flamenco and jazz Concerts. My next concert will be this coming Friday, August 26 at 7pm. It will be held at the Armadale Uniting Church, in Melbourne. For more info and Melbourne concert ticket sales, please follow this link.

I am also happy to announce the new release of my first 2016 single. Please follow this link to take a peak at: Tico Tico no Fubà. My new flamenco rumba jazz release.

I invite you to subscribe to my newsletter for updates on guitar courses, masterclasses, cd releases and upcoming tours.

Please subscribe to my tube tube channel for regular updates on guitar videos.

Melbourne Guitar Lessons

Are we all musically gifted ?

August 16, 2016 Thomas Lorenzo

Are we all musically gifted ?

This morning I was having a coffee, at a bar on High street, here in Melbourne, next to my Creative Guitar school. I was having lovely conversation, with a fellow customer, who stated that only those who had the gift of music could play guitar.

This comment made me very sad as I believe we all have the right to explore our need of self expression through an instrument as the guitar. I also believe, that we not only have the the right, but the obligation to do so.

Music learning, or learning to play the guitar, is a skill we all have. If you have the need to develop i,t please do so.

There are no short cuts in learning how to play the guitar. The student requires to follow a discipline, to achieve a learning, that will allow them to play their favourite songs, in a manner that they will feel good about.

All levels

The Creative guitar school welcomes all levels of learners, who wish to start their adventure of guitar learning, or who wish to broaden their boundaries, and further develop their talent. I believe we are all musically gifted.

All groups and guitar lessons are currently booked until October 10. I have a waiting list available, for group lessons that will be scheduled on Wednesdays from:

6 to 7 pm level 1
7 to 8 pm level 2
8 to 9 pm level 3

You may read specifics, of each guitar level, though these links. You may also read about prices and conditions through this other link.

Upcoming Concerts

I would also like to post about my next major upcoming Melbourne, flamenco and jazz, concert. It will be held at the Armadale Uniting Church on August 26 at 7 pm. You are all welcomed to join us in an evening of celebrating music from the heart.

I have been a busy bee these last few months and I have 3 new guitar compositions. They feel just great, and I would love you all, to take a peak, and listen to them on my website .

Please subscribe to my newsletter for updates on Melbourne concerts, acoustic wedding music, Cds and other guitar music related topics.