Fun Fun Fun - Videos!

Let’s talk about learning on-line. My goodness. Such a good news, bad news story. I have taken on-line lessons from a young man in Madrid, Spain, from an older, brilliant guitarist who lives not too far away from me, from another superb guitarist in a nearby town, and a wonderful woman guitarist in Portland. These were/are Zoom lessons. Both the teachers and I agree that Zoom is difficult, personal is better, but Zoom crosses great distances and barriers. It is valuable. I have enjoyed meeting each of these teachers and learned a lot just from talking with them. I will discuss one on one teaching in another blog.

However! There is another method of learning on-line. Teaching, or class videos prepared by outstanding musicians and structured with you in mind. There are many and I am going to introduce you to a few of them. Just to name a few: Justin Sandercoe, Kevin Kehew, Mike Kennedy, Fred Sokolow for guitar. Kevin Presbrey, Terry Carter and James Hill in a separate blog for ukuleles.

Justin Guitar

Justin Sandercoe is one of the first and perhaps the most prolific on-line guitar teachers. He has worked for twenty years making literally hundreds of videos and slowly creating a very comprehensive approach to learning guitar—a well thought out and structured path for you to follow. Justin (an Aussie living in London) is a “man of all seasons” and developed an engaging personality and persona. He is very entertaining and a great teacher. Superb place to start.

National Guitar Academy

Mike Kennedy

Mike is the founder and driving force behind the National Guitar Academy. He is an excellent instructor and provides clear, easily understandable videos. His website is attractive, rich and well-organized. He also produces good messages in his newsletters and email up-dates. Another good starting point. Mike is another Brit so I am uncertain which “nation” he is referring to.

Song Bike

Teacher, Jonathan Kewhew

I love this comment from Jonathan: “I’m self-taught as a guitarist. Which means I wasted a lot of “practice time” repeating the few things I sort of knew, with no idea how to improve.” Spot on and something many of us feel almost painfully. It’s a part of the journey you can skip if you are careful about choosing a learning path. Jonathan is a very good teacher and makes good videos. His videos are clear, detailed and feature great photography focused on his fingers as he demonstrates things. That is very valuable. A must to visit his site.

Fred Sokolow Music

Fred Sokolow

Great multi-instrument teacher. Go to his website and look at all the different instruments. Fred publishes a ton of materials and frequent blogs and newsletters. This guy is simply an expert, prolific producer of guitar learning and one you should definitely consider. Go look at his website above. Fred has videos for many different stringed instruments