As I write this, Stevie Ray Vaughan's final performance on this earth is playing through my headphones. Buddy Guy is singing "Sweet Home Chicago," and Stevie has just started his first solo. A few choruses ahead, Stevie will play a series of bends that give me goosebumps. It's as if he was ripping a tear in the heavens, preparing for his exit from one life into the next.

Today Stevie Ray Vaughan's legacy turns 20 years old.

Infected

I discovered the music of Stevie Ray Vaughan at the age of 18. As I listened to his music blast through the speakers at Clair Brothers Audio, I can still hear myself saying "Now THAT is how I want to play guitar".

Later that year, as a freshmen at Penn State University, my roommate played the "From The Cradle" tape by Eric Clapton. Like Peter Parker getting bit by the spider, the sounds on that tape infected me instantly. Nothing was the same after that.

For the next few days as I walked to class, in crowds of other students, my fingers twitched erratically. Blues guitar solos echoed in my head and my fingers moved as if they already knew what to do.

That same year I saw Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble on a Saturday Night Live re-run. Hearing him was one thing, but nothing......nothing hit me like the sight of him destroying that stage with his wah pedal and beat-up sunburst strat.

Any possibility of giving up the guitar evaporated that day.

Expression

My emotions had been through the mill before I ever reached college. A massive need for acceptance and validation led me into mostly one-sided relationships that ended before I was ready. These circumstances were amplified by moodiness and occasional bouts of depression.

Imagine being mute, unable to speak, but with an overwhelming urge to scream. Nobody has their hand over your mouth, but you're unable to make a sound. Nothing truly allowed me to express what I felt before I discovered the guitar playing of Stevie Ray Vaughan. 

When I saw him play "Texas Flood" from the El Mocambo show, it was as if my darkest moments were being played out in front of me. There's a section in that performance of where Stevie unknowingly looks with his eyes closed towards the camera, bending desperately on the high E string, like a man lifting a millstone from around his neck, his face reflecting a mixture of pain and relief.

Watching that performance cast my motivations for playing guitar in stone. This was not something I did for fun, money, or girls. This was something I did to survive. It was only thing that opened up a channel for me to express the hurt, anger, and bitterness trapped inside.

Influence

It is an understatement to say that I was influenced by Stevie's playing. Some people are moved more deeply than others by the same influence. I was moved at a foundational level. It's hard to put into words how deeply his playing affected me.

Stevie's playing seemed to rip emotions from such a deep place inside me, that it almost hurt to listen. I remember listened to a live bootleg performance of Texas Flood, when his playing got  so heavy that I nearly had to stop walking.

It's not as simple as hearing something, liking it, and wanting to learn it. That's what I did with Led Zeppelin or Guns And Roses. No, with Stevie's playing it was much different. Learning his music was more like going to therapy than playing guitar.

What I'm trying to say is that although I never met him, or saw Stevie alive, his playing changed the direction of my life. It gave me an outlet that I desperately needed, and provided an efficiency of expression unmatched by anything I've found before or after.

Better Than Great

Stevie played for keeps. He was the hurricane of blues guitar players, a force of nature, a force beyond comprehension. It's not that he wasn't capable of playing gently, but even when he did, it was like being in the eye of the hurricane for a moment of calm, before the crushing winds knock the breath from your chest.

I am my own biggest critic. I hear ever missed note, every sloppy ending, every wrongly timed lick. In fact, my hearing is way, way better than my playing. Years of dissecting extremely fast licks, with no help from slow-down tools, have given me the ability to hear things in Stevie's playing that I suspect most players do not hear.

I can tell you with absolute certainty that Stevie was better than even his most vocal fans are aware. Once you get past the furious energy, the gut-wrenching tone, and dizzying speed, there is a cold, hard, and unwavering machine-like precision

Sure he made mistakes, I've heard bootlegs where he played half a song in the wrong key, and he missed notes occasionally like anyone. Most of the time, he was like a machine.

The precision in his playing is mind-numbing. Taking into consideration the physical toll inflicted by playing with his level of intensity for even one song, it is absurdly difficult for someone to play that way for two or three hours without slowing down or getting sloppy.

When you get neck-deep into Stevie's playing, you quickly realize that about 80% of his playing is familiar territory, regardless of what song it is. The same core concepts, with some variation. The next 15% requires closer study because it's different enough that you won't be able to play it easily based on the first 80%. 

But the last 5% is what most people can't hear or see. The finest, most intricate details of his playing are almost invisible to the naked ear. The true integrity of a precious stone is only fully realized when examined by a jeweler. Likewise, certain aspects of Stevie's playing only become visible after you've watched, studied, tried and failed to master them hundreds of times.

There are licks that I've only heard Stevie play once. Licks that did not 'fit' with the other 95% of his playing. Not only did he play them perfectly, he fit them into his playing as if he had played them 1000 times before. 

Stepping Out

Stevie's legacy is still captivating guitar players all over the world 20 years after he passed away. Young guitar players all over this world are discovering his music as if it happened yesterday.

He didn't write books, pass laws, build orphanages or donate billions to charity. He played guitar and wrote songs. Lots of people do those things. Most of them only impact a few friends and family. Stevie reached millions. 

The point is this. You don't get to choose how much impact you have on people. But you can choose how little. You can eliminate your impact on anyone else by walking through life with your head down, seeing yourself as tiny in the eyes of other people.

Stevie's music may have influenced a lot of people, but there was a life-changing level of influence that he could have withheld by simply keeping his mouth shut. When he got clean, he began speaking out at his concerts, encouraging people to love and take care of each other. Compare that to the shallow, immature, and ultimately dangerous 'advice' so carelessly passed down by successful musicians throughout the last 40 years.  He opened up his life to critics and fans alike.

The choice to speak out, reveal his struggles, and encourage others, gave him an avenue of influence into the lives of thousands of people with similar demons. There are people who are still alive today because of his words and example. 

In your life, there will be tremendous pressure to do what is normal, what is safe, and what rocks the boat the least. It is safe to keep to yourself, safe to keep your mouth shut, and safe to assume that no one cares about what you say.

But just as Stevie chose to be vulnerable, and to share his story with others, each one of us can have an impact on those around us. Who knows? Your life, your story may be just what someone needs to hear.

20 years ago today, this world lost a man with tremendous talent, and a powerful story. A story that he shared courageously before he left.

Don't leave your story untold.

You can watch it here: live.5by5.tv

The Mixdown

Dan is kind of a big deal in the web-design community. He interviews some legendary names in that field, as well as some rising stars. Several of his podcasts have been featured in iTunes, and I'm an avid listener to almost all of them.

Recording, shooting, and broadcasting video podcasts with 3 guests is not simple. Dan had to set up a pretty nifty podcasting studio in his home to make it happen. Over the past few months, I've had the opportunity to work with him to figure out some issues with his studio.

As we worked together on his setup, we decided that we needed to do a show about this stuff. Not a show for professional studio engineers, or film-makers, just a show for people who want to learn more about recording and basic home studio production.

For my viewers here at StevieSnacks and on YouTube, I think this is a great way for you to learn more about the kind of technology needed for recording yourself on guitar, or making guitar videos.

At some point we'll be taking questions from the viewers, either through the chat room, phone calls, or plain ole' email. So if  you're interested in learning more about any of this stuff, put it on your calendars, and be sure to check out "The Mixdown" at 5by5.tv starting this Friday.

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Complicated

Since I started selling lessons in February of 2008, my premium lesson catalog has grown to 11 lesson series with over 50 individual lessons. Each of those lessons includes at least one video, and some include tablature, and others include mp3 files.  My download store is where I keep track of all this stuff.

250 individual files, linked to over 60 products in various combinations, and each file and product has a name and description. It's a lot to keep track of.

DVDs

Right now, if you want DVDs, you need to buy them in the DVD store, which is run by a big company called CreateSpace. This has been the only efficient way for me to keep making lessons, without having thousands of DVDs sitting around my house waiting for buyers.  Because they make DVDs on-demand, I could focus on producing whatever lessons I wanted, as quickly as I wanted, rather than having to sell off 1000 copies of a single series before moving on.

So my entire store is setup to sell downloads only. No shipping, no sales tax.

This worked quite well until CreateSpace stopped giving me information about who was ordering my DVDs. This meant I could no longer send out supplementary materials automatically.  I was quite uncomfortable with this, so I began searching for another service to replace them.

The Search

I searched for over a month, made phone calls, sent emails, and even spent several hundred dollars and tens of hours preparing my DVDs for another service, only to find out that their quality was sub-standard.

I finally made the decision to buy my DVDs at wholesale prices directly from CreateSpace, and sell them myself, through my own store. This would be more work for me, but would allow me to control the customer experience, and provide the same level of support to all customers.  

In addition, this change would allow me to offer DVD customers the option to download their lessons while waiting for the DVDs.  Customers are typically excited to get started quickly, so I think this will be a nice feature.

The Catch

This transition has meant a complete overhaul to my store. I had to incorporate shipping estimates, add a second DVD product for every lesson series, enter the shipping weights, buy DVD shipping materials, and the list goes on.... None of this is complicated, or difficult work, it just takes time. Time away from making lessons, and time away from playing guitar.

In addition, since some products are now DVDs, I needed to differentiate between DVD and download, whereas before, it was all just downloads. This meant I had to come up with a new convention for naming products, and of course, this resulted in hundreds of changes to product names and descriptions.

So that's what I've been doing for the past two weeks. Lots of boring, repetitive work.

The End Is In Sight

Anyway, most of the hardest work is done. It took a while, and I'll be very glad to get this transition behind me. Making lessons is what I love to do, and all this administrative work allows me to keep doing that. A privilege that is not taken lightly.

So the next time you wonder what it's like to run a guitar lesson site, keep in mind that there's a LOT of stuff going on behind the scenes that has nothing to do with playing guitar. It's not glamourous, it's not exciting, but it's part of the responsibility of taking care of your customers, and providing the best experience for them that you can :-)

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I regret the amount of time I spent working on music to no avail during the first few years of my marriage. There was too too much time spent chasing a career I didn't even know I didn't want, and I spent our money on equipment and other musical stuff that is now collecting dust. 

This is the cost of not knowing yourself. When you're blind to your own motivations, you burn through time and money like it's expendable. You chase things you think will make you happy, ignoring things that would have.

Even though my efforts with music were mostly self-centered, I am still thankful that my wife supported me. When a man has music in his blood, and he's not supported by his wife, there's a part of his life that goes unfulfilled. A spouse who doesn't embrace their partner's musical ambitions is missing an opportunity to make their marriage more fulfilling.

That support, when absent, creates a void. When that support is there, it's important not to take it for granted, and abuse it.  Unfortunately, when you don't know yourself, and your motivations, you probably will do just that.

StevieSnacks, and the wonderful people that support it, have changed my life. I had reached a point where I was completely fine being a musical nobody for the rest of my life. When I sat down to record my first lesson in Oct. of 2007, I had no idea what would happen over the next two years.

In January of 2009, we had our first child, and the StevieSnacks community responded with lots of encouragement and support. Today, that child, Austin Mitchell Stauffer, is like a tornado of smiles and energy. He's happy, healthy, and he's happy to have a dad who works at home.  I don't take that for granted, and that's all because of your support.

I don't really have a point to this blog post other than to say thanks for all the support over these two years, my wife and son are grateful for the changes in my life that you've made possible.

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Central PA Private Lessons

If you live within driving distance of State College, PA, and you want to apply for private lessons, please fill out the private lesson application form.

NY/NJ Private Lessons - June 5/6

I will be attending the NY Amp Show on June 5th and 6th in Piscataway, NJ. I will make time to teach a few lessons while I am there. Lessons prices for this event are $25/half-hour, and $50/hour.  If you would like to come to the Amp show and have a lesson while you're there, please fill out the NY/NJ June 5th and 6th Lesson request form.

"..wish there were more accomplished musicians out there who were open and humble talking about this kind of thing."

I suppose that if I had a career based on my artistry, I'd be more inclined to pretend that every time I pick up the guitar, some kind of magic happens.  But, that's not my game, so here's a bit of honest truth about what it's like to be me.

Most Times It's Decent

Most times I play, it's pretty decent.  There's a certain level of skill that I never lose, even when I take a week or two off.  There are enough licks in my muscles to make my playing feel pretty good most times.

But  I do way more computer work than guitar playing to run StevieSnacks, so my hands and forearms are usually pretty out of shape. I tire quickly while soloing. I start playing the same licks over and over.

I'm distracted, wondering if I should lower the midrange boost of one of my pedals, or whether the bass on the amp is too boomy, or why the treble feels like it's cutting a hole in my eardrum today.

Maybe I forgot to trim my fingernails and they're hitting the fretboard when I play chords. Or maybe I forgot to use Fast Fret and my strings are starting to feel sticky. 

Most times, I'm distracted enough to make it just decent.

Sometimes It's Just Awful

Then there are the bad days. My timing is off, my brain is almost in a different place than my body. The groove is very hard to find and I quickly get bored by my own playing.

I have tried on occasion to play through the rough spots, but those practice sessions usually end with me hanging up the guitar and walking away discouraged.

When It Happens

There have been a few times, probably less than 20, in 13 years of playing, where I had what felt like a deep spiritual experience while playing guitar. Only a few of them were so deep that I nearly forgot where I was.

Those times, scarce, but sacred, were heavy. Very, very heavy. And I can tell you......it is every bit as good as you can imagine. And it is incredibly worth it. Worth every minute of practice, worth every drop of sweat, and worth every ripped up fingertip.

To express yourself through the guitar with nearly 100% efficiency makes you feel like you might explode. Getting so lost in the music that you can't see the crowd in front of you, is simply amazing.

It is an experience worth pursuing. Even if it only happens once.

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• The Secret To Becoming A Better Guitarist - GuitarLifestyle.com
• When I Started Playing Slide Guitar - LearningGuitarNow.com
• Practicing Guitar vs Buying Guitar Gear - DolphinStreet.com
• Real Advice Hurts - 43folders.com

The four articles linked above share a common thread. To get better at guitar (or anything else) requires the simple, yet difficult practice of doing it over and over again. No amount of information in your head is going to train your muscles, only repetition does that.

No Secrets

In The Secret To Becoming A Better Guitarist, Josh Evitt at GuitarLifestyle.com writes:

"For most of my guitar-playing life, I’ve been trying to find the secret to becoming a better guitarist" (edit) "There is no secret."

My thoughts on this are similar with one exception. There are shortcuts. I spent hours, upon hours learning the things I teach here. I can tell you more in a one hour lesson than I learned in 6 months. But here's the catch. During that 6 months, I was playing. A lot. So while I might not have had as much information as someone with my lessons will have, that forced me to play all the time just to make something sound good.

Why is that important? Because I developed muscle memory from doing stuff over, and over, and over. If there really is a secret to becoming a better guitarist, it's repetition. Although it's not a very satisfying secret. But it works. Doing the same thing, over and over, for years and years, embeds it into the part of your brain that controls your muscles, so that you can eventually do it without consciously thinking about it.

I Must Learn This

In When I Started Playing Slide Guitar, John Tuggle of LearningGuitarNow.com writes:

"I vowed I would learn this style so I spent a lot of time with a cassette tape and the guitar. Rewinding, rewinding, rewinding. Then I realized you didn’t have to press stop on the cassette deck, you could just tap the rewind button and let go to get back to the part. Very time consuming!"

I love this because it's very similar to how I learned, except that I had the benefit of a CD player. I love this line:

"I vowed I would learn this style."

That's where it started for me as well. I could barely tolerate not being able to play what I was hearing SRV play. So I dragged myself through the trenches of "Say What", "Texas Flood", "The Sky Is Crying", note by note, lick by lick.

My CD player had a rewind button that would rewind about one second when you'd tap it once. When I encountered a really fast lick, I'd let it play the first few notes of the lick, tap the rewind button, listen to that segment again, and do this over and over and over.

Those few notes would become engrained in my head, and I'd pick them out on the fretboard. Then I'd let it play a little longer, and repeat the process. As John says:

"Very time consuming!"

Indeed.

Distractions Are Easier

In his post Practicing Guitar vs Buying Guitar Gear, Robert Renman of DolphinStreet.com writes:

"Are you someone who feels you are not spending enough time practicing guitar, yet you look on eBay and guitar forums everyday to see if you can score some new guitar gear?"

Ouch.

These days, I spend more time on the computer than playing guitar. Theoretically, doing work for StevieSnacks. But the funny thing is, no matter what the real task is, there's always a ton of distractions that are somewhat related to that task, that put me no closer to finishing what I'm really trying to finish.

All the time you spend researching, and buying a new piece of gear, doesn't put you one step closer to having faster fingers. 10 minutes of Spider Exercises twice a day will do more to improve the sound of your licks than a new set of pickups.

Distractions aren't practice, but they're easier. Easier for you, and easier for me. Easier than creating tabs for 150+ blues licks, or creating 120+ pages of diagrams, or linking DVD chapter buttons for 76 different segments of a slow blues song lesson.

Tips Aren't Practice

In his post Real Advice Hurts, Merlin Mann of 43folders.com writes:

"At their best, “tips” are a fine way to incrementally improve a process that you’re already dedicated to practicing on a regular basis. And, in that context, tips work."

He's not specifically talking about guitar, and it's not a site for guitar players, but the advice rings true. You can learn the notes of a really fast lick from one of my free lessons, but as Merlin writes, that 'tip' is only really useful, if what I teach you becomes integrated into a much larger practice routine.

What does that mean?

Learning a lick does not mean you've improved your guitar playing. It means you've learned an isolated series of notes that sounds cool, but is ultimately useless unless you learn how to integrate it into a song. 

So take that same free lesson, teaching that same lick, and make it your goal to fit it into a song, rather than simply learn the notes. Learn how to use it, not just play it. Find a song that matches the style of the lick, pick a spot in the song you think it will fit and play it. Over, and over, and over, and over.

Playing the guitar should be fun, but it's also work. Even when you've reached a level that other people aim for, you still have to use it, or you lose it. You can watch all the lessons I put out, absorb as much information as your brain can hold, but until that information is expressed through your muscles repetitively, it's just information, not skill.

Here's to sore fingers :-)

While I feel all my lessons are worth well more than I sell them for, I want to bring a little more consistency to my pricing.

So, starting March 22, in 2 weeks, the prices will change as indicated below.  Some things are getting cheaper, some things are increasing a lot, and other things are barely changing.  But there will be more consistency in the pricing.

Here's the new price table, and as I mentioned before, this will go into effect on Monday, March 22nd. Individual lesson prices will change in a way that will make the bundle price for each series a discount.

"Stop trying to sound like _____.  You should try to develop your own style on guitar"

Heard that one?  It's like somewhere, there's a guitar Bible, with the 10 commandments for guitar, and one of them is "Thou shalt develop a unique style".

What a bunch of crap.  You want the truth?  Here is is.

Originality is awesome. It is of great importance if and only if you care about it, or if your career depends on it. But the value of originality is not self-evident. Honesty is so much more important. And trying to be original just to placate the 'originality police' is a waste of time.  You'll never have enough joy from being original to mask the disgust you'll have for yourself when you realize you've only been doing it to avoid criticism.

Originality

Let's talk about originality. What is it?  

Originality is doing something that's not been done before. Originality is an awesome thing if you care about it, and a necessary thing if you want to make it big in music.

People who care about originality see this as an artistic pursuit. To create art that has not been created, to make something new. That's an exciting, and difficult task. But it brings some people a lot of joy.

For others, originality is a necessity.  Take John Mayer for example. He was a SRV clone before he ever made it big playing acoustic songs. But he knew that he would never get signed to a major label because he sounded just like SRV.

He put down the blues, wrote some catchy pop tunes, got signed, and now does whatever he wants. Throughout that process, his playing has taken on a somewhat distinct personality.

Whether he cares about originality or not, it's a necessary part of what he's doing. If you want people to remember your name, buy your music, and come watch you in concert, there needs to be some element of 'you' in there.  That's just a fact.

Impersonators and tribute bands are exceptions, but their entire career is based on the art of imitation, so it's not quite the same as someone who writes their own songs, all the while trying to sound exactly like another artist.

Honesty

What about honesty. Where does that fit?

Some people just don't care about being original. They don't care about being artistic, they just want to play the #*#*# guitar. For some, the highest compliment you can give them is "You sound just like _______". Because that's what they care about.  That's honest.

I'll be the first to admit, at this point in my 'career', I could care less about being original. The only thing I care about is playing exactly the way I want to. That's honest.

When I first discovered SRV, I thank God that I didn't talk to very many other guitarists. I had no idea how cliche' it was to learn his style.  Everything you see on this site would not be here if I had experienced the criticism that some are subject to.  Thank God I was free to do what I wanted, ignorant of the 'originality police'.

From that point on, there was two kinds of music. Music I could listen to, and music I had to play. Pretty much everything except SRV went on the listening side. It is very hard for me to listen to SRV, without having my guitar in hand.

When I began dissecting certain parts of his playing, I was attracted to the mathematical precision of it. That probably sounds terribly un-artistic, but that's just how my mind works

The logical breakdown you see in my lessons is a reflection of that. Maybe some people see brilliant colors and visions when they hear his playing. While I certainly get caught up in the music, inside my head, the gears are turning.

While I listen, my mind is seeing licks fit together like pieces of an equation. I visualize where on the fretboard they're played, and the movements needed to play them. This is what I love. That's honest.

Beyond Honesty

There's a deeper level of honesty than admitting that you love imitation.

What happens when you've committed most of your time to learning someone's style of playing, but then you begin to hear things in your head that you know that person never would have played?

At that moment, your honesty is put to the test. Do you throw those ideas out because you now feel an obligation to imitation? Do you ignore them because "That doesn't sound like Stevie"?

What I'm trying to communicate here is that you need to be honest in everything. Be honest in your imitation, but also be honest when your mind's eye begins to focus on something outside that imitation.

Go where your heart is telling you to go with your playing. If the only thing you can think about today is sounding exactly like SRV, then do it. Perfect that imitation. 

But tomorrow, if you play a lick that doesn't sound quite like Stevie, don't throw it out. Don't discount it because it's not something he would have played. If you like it, keep it.  Be honest.

Finally...

If you love originality, pursue it. But if you've bought into the lie that everyone needs to have an original style, and imitation is what you really love, you're wasting your time. A clueless, ignorant imitator is happier than you because at least that person is doing what they love.

That's honest.

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Not very much. If you prefer to interact via email, it doesn't really mean any changes for you, other than that my support address will now be help@steviesnacks.com instead of support@steviesnacks.com.

But.......if you're inclined, you can head to support.steviesnacks.com and register for an account and then every request you make is associated with your account and you can login and see the status of any support requests you made in the past.

I suspect most people will simply use the email method, but what's great, is that it makes no difference to me, it all gets organized automatically in the support site.

Growth

Why do this now? Simple. I want to continue to provide great customer support, but as the site grows, I can't possibly do it all by myself and continue to make lessons. The support site will allow other people to help me when I'm traveling, or away from my computer.

Also, I get a lot of email, and I don't want support emails possibly getting lost in the shuffle. With this sytem, support stuff gets isolated where it can't get lost and my inbox gets a tiny bit less busy :-)

So from now on, all support requests can be created using that cool little blue tab to the left, or by simply sending an email to help@steviesnacks.com. Hooray for great technology :-)

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So for now, if you buy DVDs, you must forward your CreateSpace receipt to help@steviesnacks.com. 

When I get that email, I can send any additional materials you are supposed to have.

I cannot emphasize enough how sorry I am about this inconvenience. I try to provide customer support that exceeds expectations, and it pains me that a decision like this interferes with my ability to do that.  I have already begun working on plans to change the way I sell DVDs, and this situation is only making that a higher priority.

Ever felt like a poser because your life is pretty good? You have a job? Never missed a meal?

There are those who will tell you you can't possibly understand or play the blues because your life hasn't been hard enough. Or you're not old enough. Or you're too white. Or you simply don't have the right image.

The more time you spend trying to fit an impossible image, and set of requirements for authenticity, the less you'll respect yourself once you realize how pointless it is to try and please anyone who spends more time judging you then loving themselves.

Here's a radical idea. Do what you want because you love it. Not because anyone says it's OK, or because you 'qualify'. If you love blues music, then play it. Find people who accept the fact that you play this music in spite of your background, and play it for them. Don't spend time trying to please people who would strangle the blues into extinction by placing constraints on your authenticity.

How about subject matter? The impression most people have of blues is that it's all about broken relationships, struggle, etc.. But the fact of the matter is that blues has been used for political and social expression from it's earliest inception.

So if you tire of songs about the same old thing, go ahead and write songs that reflect what you care about. Why do you think I wrote the song Covenant? Because I'm passionate about good marriages, strong families, and drawing a line in the sand that says you're willing to fight for something you believe in.

Is it a blues song? I don't really care. It's a song about something I love, in a style I love just as much. It's honest. And to me, nothing is more true to the blues spirit than honesty.

Be honest, be passionate, and don't ever apologize for who you are, and how your life has been. You can't change where you've been, and you shouldn't try. The fact that this site exists is proof that there are plenty of people out there who will respect honesty even if you're just a farm boy from Lancaster County, PA, teaching Texas-style blues guitar lessons.

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Within the past few months, I've received more than a few emails from people who have fallen on hard times. Unemployment, divorce, depression and some pretty severe financial problems.

For these people, in those situations, playing the guitar is source of joy in the midst of hardship. It has made me realize that free guitar lessons are much more than a marketing and promotion tool. To the guy who can barely afford to keep food on the table free guitar lessons mean something.

I don't know what skill level some of these viewers are at, but one thing I know for sure. If they can manage to play two notes that make them happy, those two notes are worth more to them than 500 notes played out of boredom.

I'm not one of those people who thinks that you have to be going through hard times to play the blues with feeling. But I do think it's fascinating that during those hard times, people usually play music for the same reason. To express how they feel.

All of the other BS reasons that people do music, to get attention, to make a name for themselves, to get lucky, all of them fade when you're struggling.

During those times, when you pick up that guitar, it's supposed to say the things you might not be able to. And that, is something you should never forget. Especially in the good times when you might find yourself doing music for all the wrong reasons.

Music, and the people who play it, have tremendous impact on our lives. And when you play music, you have the opportunity to impact the lives of people you might never meet. When you sit down to play your guitar, you might just be doing it to make yourself feel better.

But someday, if you keep playing, someone might need to hear what you're playing to lift their own spirits, to inspire them to keep picking up their guitar. Like most things in life, music is not always about us.

So if you're reading this on Christmas day, or shortly after, and life has definitely been better, just remember that the notes you learn today, might inspire someone else in your shoes someday. And if that day comes, I hope you tell them the same thing I'm telling you.

The notes you learn today might be needed by someone you'll never meet.

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Some of you expressed some opinions on this topic, so as promised, here are some screenshots of what I'd like to do.  Let me know if you have any objections to what I'm planning.

The new look retains the dark background, but loses the full background image, replacing it with a banner in the background that fades to a solid dark color.  There is no framing around the content, and the net effect, in my mind, is that everything seems a lot cleaner, less cramped. Not to mention, a lot faster to load because I don't have nearly as many images in the theme as before.

Here are the screenshots. Click on the thumbnails to see a larger version.

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There will be two more Essential Techniques Lessons released before Christmas, "Raking" and "Bending".  Each will be over an hour long, and each will be on a separate DVD.

Both the downloadable and DVD version of "Bending" will be sold at a reduced price for a limited time to allow people who bought the lessons individually to get the "bundled" discount.  All 4 Essential Techniques lessons will be put into a "Volume 1" bundle, both as downloads, and eventually as a 4 DVD set.

There may be one or two Premium Single lessons put out before the holidays as well, those lessons will be under $5, but will only be available as downloads, for now.

I don't do special sale pricing because I don't want anyone to feel as if they should have waited, or that they paid more than someone else for the same lessons. Not very conventional, but I know that I get irritated when I buy something, and later I see someone else buying it for much less.

Next Year

In January I will begin releasing the second volume of Essential Techniques lessons including Vibrato, Picking, Hammer-ons/Pull-offs, and a lesson on several smaller techniques like glissando, pickup switching, volume/tone controls, whammy bar, etc..

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