When the guitar teacher becomes the student, and other insights from one of our Rock Gods.
Music to Your Home is lucky to be able to work with musicians from around the world, and Alejandro M. comes to us with words of wisdom from Argentina. Currently he’s a professional guitar player and teacher living the dream and gigging all over NYC.
Alejando M.
1) What advice would you give to parents who are considering getting guitar lessons for their children?
Alejandro: I’d very much encourage them to do so! Music is a form of expression and a language that allows children to pour out feelings they might be too shy to share otherwise. Once they learn how to play, music is something that will accompany and grow up with and in them throughout the years.
2) Why do you think guitar lessons are so popular?
Alejandro: Perhaps because guitar is a bit more accessible than other instruments. In the sense that with a few weeks practice you might be playing a first round of songs already. As opposed to violin or saxophone for example, that, while amazing instruments, they can be somehow more challenging. We can’t avoid mentioning that the guitar is the instrument most showcased in billboards, commercial adds, etc. being widely associated with pop/rock icons. That weighs in too on some level.
3) What is the right age for a child to start taking guitar lessons?
Alejandro: I’d say after 10 years old.
4) How much daily practice time does it take to become a good guitar player?
Alejandro: There are no magic formulas. All the guys that play guitar really well, or any other instrument for that matter, it’s because they spent time with it. In that sense, I always tell students that it’s much better to practice maybe 10, 15 minutes every day, or every other day, rather than sitting down one day before the lesson and go for hours. Of course, the more time, the better. It’s a skill and needs to be developed regularly.
5) Do you incorporate finger exercises and note reading into your lessons?
Alejandro: Definitely. Technique exercises are fundamental to begin gaining control over the fingers and have them do what you want, not the other way around. Note reading is also a very important aspect of my lessons but unless we’re aiming for classical pieces, I like to introduce the music notation system once we’re already playing some songs. Starting with a lot of theory from scratch in guitar for popular tunes can sometimes turn a bit overwhelming and non musical, in the practical sense.
6) What is the most popular style of music your students ask to learn?
Alejandro: Generally Rock/Pop.
7) What do you love about teaching guitar lessons?
Alejandro: What I love the most is to watch how the student make progress – that can be very satisfying. And I also love the fact that I’m learning too. When you see someone taking their first steps with the guitar, in a way, I rediscover things and look at them from another perspective. When you don’t know, you associate things differently and arrive to different places, right or wrong. Places that perhaps after playing for 17 years I wouldn’t have thought of.
8) What was your most memorable teaching experience?
Alejandro: Seeing former students that now have grown up, formed their own bands, performing live, writing their own songs, making their own records and their own musical statements. That’s the full circle, right there.
9) When and where was your most memorable performance?
Alejandro: The last concert I did in Buenos Aires, in a theater, before moving to NYC. And the first here in New York as well, both very emotional milestones in my career.
10) Who are the guitarists that have inspired you?
Alejandro: Many. But if I had to pick two, I’d go with Wes Montgomery & BB King.
11)What is your favorite type of music to play and what is your favorite guitar.
Alejandro: Definitely Blues. My favorite guitar is the Fender Telecaster 72′ Custom Series. Or most of the hollow body ones.
12) What do you love about NY and being a musican in NY?
Alejandro: From the city itself I love the diversity, the melting pot aspect of it. And as a musician I believe that being among such talented people, in every field, you inevitably become better. My songwriting grew a lot in the 4 years I’ve been living here. As an artist you’re a sponge that absorbs everything in your surroundings, and this is a very rich environment to be in.
Alejandro is available for guitar lessons in NYC. Call us to schedule yours!
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