Category Archives: Lessons
Livetune Releases Jamstar Acoustics Real-Time Guitar Learning App
Music technology based start-up Livetune Ltd. has developed a cutting-edge guitar-learning application, “Jamstar Acoustics”, and is now featured in the Samsung app store.
Jamstar Acoustics, a leading music learning app, offers a unique experience that listens to users as they play their REAL guitar. The app responds immediately to the user’s performance providing instant, real-time feedback. Livetune’s proprietary technology is capable of detecting single notes, complex chords and other elements of guitar playing such as bend and sustain. It works on both mobile devices and web browsers.
“We wanted to create a smart yet simple and lean technology that will provide accurate polyphonic detection and will work on any platform, even on low-end mobile devices,” shares Kobi Stok, co-founder and CEO of Livetune. “Bottom line, Jamstar Acoustic is a fun and effective way to learn guitar.”
Jamstar Acoustics’ alpha version received a warm welcome by users worldwide. The online community around the application gave Livetune’s team the understanding that their breakthrough has changed how technology can be used as a music teaching aid. “Learning guitar can be a frustrating experience. The way people have been learning to play musical instruments has remained stagnant for decades. We created a new paradigm,” states Kobi.
No special hardware or software is needed as the app works with any guitar. Acoustic guitars are “heard” via device microphones and electric instruments can be plugged in directly (using the appropriate device input jack) or “heard” via guitar amp.
“There’s no easier learning tool available today, and Jamstar Acoustics is only the beginning” says Kobi. “We are working on supporting more musical instruments and enhanced features to provide the best platform to learn musical instruments.”
via Press ReleaseFor more on this app, visit Jamstar.co
Guitar Lessons with Rick Lilley of Journeyman Guitar
With the experience of 40+ years on guitar, Rick Lilley of Northern California is committed to helping students of all levels reach their goals as a guitarist. He teaches guitar in his Journeyman Guitar Studio in Lafayette and the surrounding cities of Concord, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, and Walnut Creek.
Rick has developed a personalized learning program, based around student’s individual playing goals and aspirations. With this method he’s proud to say they stick with their studies and make real progress as evidenced by his student’s testimonials.
Rick performing an acoustic version of “All Along the Watchtower”
Rick is offering a first lesson free – Call him at (925)348-3752
Rick’s website: LearntoPlaytheGuitarLessons.com
Rick on YouTube
iGuitar Features Interview with Slash Before His UK Tour
If you haven’t checked out iGuitar you’re missing out on some great interviews, interactive guitar lessons and reviews of the latest guitars, amps and pedals. Also, in this month readers can win an incredible Matrix GT1000FX Power Amp.
iGuitar is a free digital magazine in flash format that’s now in it’s eleventh issue. In this month’s interview feature, iGuitar meets up with Slash ahead of his UK tour to talk about his career so far, his old and new guitars and his current gear setup. Slash also give readers his tips on making it as a pro guitarist.
Read Issue 11 of iGuitar
Interview with Anti-Tablature Guitarist and Businessman Scott Grove
I first came across Scott Grove while searching for some guitar parts on eBay. I quickly realized he’s got quite a business going selling guitar lessons in dvd and instant downloads. After viewing some of his promotional videos for his lessons, I wanted to learn more about him and asked him to share some his thoughts and experience in learning guitar.
If you’ve seen his videos, you know that he is quite candid and opinionated about his methods for learning guitar. His method is derived from 20+ years of performing on some of the biggest stages throughout the USA and Canada. He figured out how to play guitar for himself because the internet and tabs didn’t exist(not that it would have mattered, because he hates tablature … but more on that later) as it does now at the time and traditional lessons frustrated him.
Following his heavy gigging days, he decided to check out what available for guitar and found that there was nothing new and actually useful, so he created his own. He first started his guitar lesson business on ebay, the lessons sold quickly and he thought he could make a go of it. The business grew quickly and he’s never looked back. He’s even taken requests for videos from customers and he says he’s committed to delivering what are by far the best bang for the buck videos anywhere out there.
I think you’ll find Scott’s background, his take on learning guitar, and why he says tablature sucks, very interesting so check out his interview …
Interview with Scott Grove
1. You run a successful video lesson business on ebay … Can you tell us a little bit about the history of it and your experiences with it?
SG: Sure thing my friend. I did a couple of lessons many years ago (before the internet) and simply sold them in Indianapolis, IN, where I’m from. I just sold a few via VHS. I was one of the local celebrity players there. I went on the road for 25 years with many national country artists, after I had my fill of that, I moved just outside of Las Vegas, NV. I was cleaning out some stuff that I had in storage for all those years and ran across the old VHS copies of those lessons.
I was currently a shift manager and bartender at a local casino and was so very sick of that. So, finding those old tapes sparked a little something in me that made me want to simply film them again with an old video camera that hadn’t sold the week before on eBay. Lol So, I put the videos on just blank, no name DVDs and simply wrote, in black Sharpie, what the title of the video was, charged $19.95 each for them and tossed them on eBay for fun. Those things took off like crazy. I couldn’t believe it.
When I researched the available lessons out there, they were the same lessons that never taught me a thing 30 years earlier. They are STILL selling those same videos today. I made a few more videos really fast and was able to quit that job in a matter of a month after I sold my first one.