As a very small token of appreciation for your support, here’s one of my absolute favorite tracks from my latest instrumental CD “”Orbital Attempt“

The track is called Progressive Minds, and is the (almost obligatory) suite of this CD – with a very healthy duration of 11.24”

In the last part of the track, the AMAZING Brett Garsed honored me by playing 2 excellent solos (you’ll figure out who plays what easily, he is the one that TOTALLY KICKS ASS!!!

http://rapidshare.com/files/323748079/Ioannis_Anastassakis_-_Orbital_Attempt__2009__-_06_-_Progressive_Minds.mp3

I hope you enjoy the track and i wish everybody Happy Holidays!

Friendly,
Ioannis

Therefore, I decided to write a short series of mini-posts on the most usual mistakes people will do when learning to play guitar. These are mistake that will SERIOUSLY hinder your progress, and I suggest you find ways to avoid them at pretty much all costs…. So, in essence, this is something similar to FAQ – or rather an “F.M.” – Frequent mistakes. You literally CANNOT believe how many times I’ve heard these exact stories… so let’s see if I can help a little bit in “preventing” these from happening again…

Mistake #1: Waiting to get “good” before you start lessons

What usually happens:

Young kid finds out about me and my guitar coaching and wants to have private lessons with me. Even though he REALLY wants that a lot (which is the thing that is MOST important), he does not DARE to call/email/chat with me because he feels he is not GOOD enough on the instrument to have my attention…(which is not the case)

So he stays home practicing (mostly useless stuff) for THREE YEARS, before he feels “worthy” of my attention…meanwhile 3 years of what could have been QUALITY tuition and practice time is lost…plus now I have to undo 3 ADDITIONAL years of damage of all the bad habits, now much more deeply ingrained in his playing!

FAQuestion:

“But, Ioannis, don’t you screen your potential students for ability BEFORE you teach them”?

Answer:

“I do not screen for ability – it is MY responsibility to CREATE that ability. I DO screen for ATTITUDE. I want a student that will be motivated and willing to follow instructions“

What SHOULD happen:

1. Don’t wait. If you have found out the teacher you want to study with, if you feel you can depend on that person and that you can trust him, contact him NOW. Not next week , Not tomorrow. NOW. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME – it is the ONLY non renewable resource in your life!
2. Do not care about how “good” you are BEFORE you start your lessons. Are you going to a top teacher to GET GOOD? Or are you going there so that he can tell you how GOOD you ALREADY are? Honestly, if you were THAT good, people would already be talking about you all around. So, chances are, you are not THAT good – YET! Keep in mind – you are going to a teacher and PAYING him to help you GET good – NOT tell you how awesome you already are… So, care a lot about if he can help you GET good!

http://ping.fm/0ZbRu

Well, from my experience, the main reason why most people fail, is

LACK OF BALANCE!

(in their skills and approach to music)

This lack of Balance manifests itself in many different areas that manifest in a multitude of ways eg.

• going CRAZY on technique and never learning the other important skills in music…
• Focusing SOLELY on lead guitar and neglecting the craft of rhythm guitar…
• playing only by ear and never learning any theory…
• learning ONLY one musical style and not diversify your approach…

Posted in Ioannis Anastassakis ]]> http://ioannisanastassakis.wordpress.com/2009/02/01/why-most-guitarists-fail/feed/ 0 ioannisanastassakis http://ioannisanastassakis.wordpress.com/2009/02/01/january-2009-month-overview/ http://ioannisanastassakis.wordpress.com/2009/02/01/january-2009-month-overview/#comments Sun, 01 Feb 2009 02:54:37 +0000 Ioannis Anastassakis http://ioannisanastassakis.wordpress.com/?p=517 ]]> This  was a very exciting month!

Organised 2 Greek Guitar Power Festivals - at Volos and Athens,

Finished all the mixing and masterings for my Orbital Attempt CD,

Finished recording the CD and creating the DVD for my upcoming “Sweeping Licks” book/CD/DVD for MEl Bay Publications,

Met Greg Howe and spent quite some time talking music & Music Business with him,

and FINALLY getting my sponsoring from Roland and my Roland VG 99!

Colour me VERY happy!