‘No, no, no, I don’t want to do all that. Just show me what to do and I’ll do it.’

The fact is, nobody EVER does it.

Then after about half an hour of flailing about and shortening my life by about five minutes, they generally accept that reading music is the only way to go and that it’ll be a lot easier than me shouting ‘Boom Cha’ at them.

Then there’s the whole ‘musicality’ thing. After about a few weeks they’ve learned a few basic rhythms, a couple of fills and at this point you’re staring down the barrel of a musical loose cannon.

It’s horrible.

The pattern goes like this: they bring U2 CD with them and persuade me to listen to their new-found drumming prowess. They crash around, filling the carefully crafted spaces with fills that sound like a drunken man falling down the stairs, and once they’ve finished they smile at me. I smile back because, y’know, God loves them.

It takes a year for the sentence ‘less is more’ to actually sink in.

All this makes me sound like a grumpy old man and very occasionally I’ll willingly accept that charge. However, I have learned to enjoy this process and appreciate the funny side – I know God loves watching people develop their skills and they almost always get better. If they don’t, well…

It’s a metaphor for our lives I suppose. Most of us have to learn the hard way: we waste a lot of time crashing around, making a lot of noise and going our own way before we actually start to listen what God is really saying. Not sure that he’s likely to say ‘less is more’, though.

Firstly, our apologies if you have tried to buy anything from our store in the last few days. We’ve been having all sorts of web related problems but is now sorted so please do login again if you need to.

The launch of our Intermediate Acoustic Worship Guitar Course DVDs has gone really well and we’ve been inundated with orders. Click through for more information and to buy. Both our US and UK warehouses are ready to ship in time for Christmas.

We’ve posted some FAQs about the new Acoustic DVDs on the Blog - how they differ from the other Intermediate Guitar DVDs, and which are most suitable for you . If you scroll through the comments you’ll also find Q&A from customers and DVD presenter Andy Chamberlain.

Musicademy Gift Vouchers

Stuck for an idea for Christmas? Why not buy a Musicademy gift voucher? They can be exchanged for DVDs or any of our online lessons (which you can download and watch again and again).

The Musicademy Blog

Recent Blog posts include

• Video Short for guitarists on transferring to bass
• Recommendations on acoustic guitar amps
• Looking for Christmas songs?
• Steve Weeks’ ‘Chord of the Month‘ - Em11
• Comments and advice on our post about becoming a confident singer and a question on how the male voice changes with age
• Andy Chamberlain on his search for a lightweight Les Paul
• Plus loads more

Take a look at Musicademy blog

Thanks,

Tim Smith

It’s used but a 2008 Chambered Les Paul in Tobacco sunburst which is a nice classic colour that will age well. Because it’s chambered or hollowed out it only weighs 7.8 pounds which in Gibson land is anorexic. It has a great tone with a touch of 335 semi sound about it, so not too honky for worship stuff, low frets so it doesn’t pull sharp with a Capo AND it even stays in tune, which none of my other Les Paul’s did. It’s also had a PLEK setup which means that Gibson strap it to a computer that sets it up for optimum playability and intonation. And I must say it certainly feels and sounds great all the way up the neck. If you are in the UK I think Chandlers in Kew have a PLEK machine and whilst it’s not cheap it’s GREAT to be in tune.

Chambered Les Paul’s really aren’t cheap but I hear that Gibson have stopped making them so at least they will hold their value and maybe even increase as the years role on. This, interestingly, is actually a genuine and serious incentive to invest in a decent high end guitar. If you choose wisely you really should get an appreciating asset. Men, tell your wives!

So in conclusion we have a really nice light Gibson SG 61 reissue in cherry red with hard case for sale along with various other Tele’s, Strats, PRS’s and kidneys from the Chamberlain collection. Drop me a line if you wanna buy a well loved guitar that sounds just as good as a custom shop Les Paul. Honest!

|— |-0- |— |— |— |— |— |— |— |— |— F#
|— |-0- |-0- |— |— |— |— |— |— |— |— D
|— |-0- |— |— |— |— |— |— |— |— |— A
|— |-0- |— |— |-0- |— |— |— |— |— |— G
|— |-0- |— |— |— |— |— |— |— |— |— B
|— |— |— |— |— |— |— |— |— |— |— E

Barre your first finger across fret two but keep the low E (string 6) open and then place your second finger on the B string, fret 3, followed by your little finger on the D string, fret 5. This will not work if you try to use your 3rd (ring) finger instead of your pinky unless you are bionic!

The same shape becomes an Em13 if you place the barre on fret 7 and, barring on frets 4 or 9 produces F#m11 and F#madd13

ALSO! If you don’t play the bottom E and just play 5 strings, barring on frets 2 and 4 gives you Bm13 and C#m13 too. All from 1 shape!

The Acoustic Intermediate is purely for acoustic guitar and contains lots of quick wins that you can easily integrate into your playing like 60 new open chord shapes, how to build new strumming patterns, how to play barre chords without the pain, how to find 4 capo positions for every key so you get away from just using the usual ‘G’ shaped chords, plus lots of finger style tips and exercises and even more complex lessons on how to play and integrate Travis picking into choruses and hymns.

The existing Intermediate guitar course is more technically in depth giving you lots of techniques and ideas that will blow wide open your understanding of wher eyou can go on the instrument and is suitable for both acoustic and electric guitar. So it covers things like the CAGED chord system which allows you to find ANY chord anywhere on the neck, 5 separate pentatonic scale shapes so you can play lead guitar to any song in any major or minor key, how to use DADGAD tuning in worship, guitar effects, a simple guitar friendly music theory system so you can understand what chords are available to use in ANY key and most importantly how apply that system to learn to get away form the chord chart and learn to play by ear. 

There’s probably only 10-15% crossover in the content between both products, so if you have one already you won’t be duplicating the learning. What they do both teach from different perspectives is the Nashville numbering system which we think is really important for ear based playing and transposing into awkward keys.

So if you are still not sure where to start we’d recommend that you try the acoustic course first and then move on to the existing Intermediate DVDs

I’m considering buying one of your worship guitar DVD’s but I’m not sure which one would be suitable for me.

I’ve been playing the guitar for my church worship group for over 10 years and I know over 50 basic chords. We use Mission Praise and I tend to follow the chords as suggested for each song. I use basic strumming techniques and I’ve never progressed to finger picking styles or chords further down the guitar neck. I can use bar chords but prefer to use a capo where possible.

After looking at your products I was unsure whether to choose the Basic or Intermediate DVD series so I would appreciate your help.

Hi Helen
Yes you are definitely an intermediate standard player. Beginners courses really are for complete beginners and designed to give the first time musician all the skills they need to enter a worship team and hold their own. Even if you have never looked at finger picking before you should be able get some of the techniques and exercises.

The intermediate courses are much more for players who can get through most worship songs in a straightforward way but may not know how to get beyond that. We have two varieties available. Briefly, the Intermediate acoustic is about creating new and interesting strumming patterns, loads of new chord shapes and new finger picking skills. The (regular) Intermediate course is about learning how to find chords all over the neck, scales for lead guitar, theory for guitarists so you can understand what chords are available to you in any key, alternative tunings, using guitar effects etc so whilst its generic there is some useful stuff for anyone wanting to move over to electric guitar.

Its perfect for acoustic worship guitarists who want to take their playing to the next level. A years’ worth of lessons, tricks and techniques. 7 hours of instruction on 3 DVDs plus animated graphics, close up shots tips from worship leaders.

You will learn

• Over 60 new substitute chord shapes in keys G,C,D,A,E and B
• How to build strumming patterns around the groove + 35 usable patterns
• 18 finger style and 30 strumming technique ideas
• 10 licks in the style of James Taylor, John Mayer and John Martyn
• 12 unique exercises to help you master Travis picking - great for hymns!
• Tricks for playing any open chord in B without barre chords or capo!
• Use 10ths and 6ths to play alternative acoustic chord voicings up the neck
• Use “5″ and add9 chords for power and beauty
• Find four different capo positions for all 12 keys
• Play barre chords without the pain!
• Understand Nashville numbering to transpose easily into any key

Plus

• Daily practice backing tracks
• How to use high strung and baritone guitars in worship
• Acoustic guitar buyers guide

And by the way, the material is totally different material to that contained in Musicademy’s other intermediate guitar course. Click through to buy from our webstore.

Here’s a sample lesson on using Add 9 chords

And a short sample on Tricks in G

To BUY go to our webstore. We’re shipping from Texas today and from our UK office on Monday 8th December.

Its perfect for acoustic worship guitarists who want to take their playing to the next level. A years worth of lessons, tricks and techniques. 7 hours of instruction on 3 DVDs plus animated graphics, close up shots tips from worship leaders.

You will learn

• Over 60 new substitute chord shapes in keys G,C,D,A,E and B
• How to build strumming patterns around the groove + 35 usable patterns
• 18 finger style and 30 strumming technique ideas
• 10 licks in the style of James Taylor, John Mayer and John Martyn
• 12 unique exercises to help you master Travis picking - great for hymns!
• Tricks for playing any open chord in B without barre chords or capo!
• Use 10ths and 6ths to play alternative acoustic chord voicings up the neck
• Use “5″ and add9 chords for power and beauty
• Find four different capo positions for all 12 keys
• Play barre chords without the pain!
• Understand Nashville numbering to transpose easily into any key

Plus

• Daily practice backing tracks
• How to use high strung and baritone guitars in worship
• Acoustic guitar buyers guide

And by the way, the material is totally different material to that contained in Musicademy’s other intermediate guitar course. Click through to view the trailer and to buy from our webstore.

Musicademy Gift Vouchers

Stuck for an idea for Christmas? Why not buy a Musicademy gift voucher? They can be exchanged for DVDs or any of our online lessons (which you can download and watch again and again).

The Musicademy Blog

There’s lots of new material on the blog this month including:

• Video Short on playing with emotion
• Live seminar footage on where keyboards are most suited to leading
• Steve Weeks’ Chord of the Month - E minor Major 7 - the James Bond chord
• How to become a confident singer
• Andy Chamberlain on his quest for a small amp with great sound
• Musicomedy - what if Starbucks marketed like a church - a parable
• The “Conscious Competence” model - the stages that musicians go through
• Social Networking Wars - an animated video clip must for all you Facebook and MySpace addicts
• A rant on music stands
• An opportunity for you to “ask the expert” a question
• Worship Gaffe #2 - Christmas carol nightmare
• Plus loads more

Take a look at www.musicademy.com/blog

You’ll also find lots of juicy discussion in the comments. Take a look at the debate on using the diaphragm for singing.

Do email us with any clips or links that you would like to share with others via our blog.