First published 20th March 2017
From The Studio: 
Music As Resistance


Musicians are funny people. By funny I do not mean they are comedians. Sometimes they are, of course. Look at Flight of The Conchords! Very funny. Then we all know that musicians carry strange-looking cases around town. They put double basses in taxi-cabs and lug great speaker-boxes into small bars. We know this already. What I mean is that musicians as a bunch are funny-peculiar. They are on the one hand, quite conservative, disciplined, sometimes obsessive and fiercely dedicated to their craft. At the same time they can also be free, flexible in thought and custom, tolerant of diversity and open-minded.

In music, this re-interpretation can be slow or fast. This year's performance of German composer Beethoven's fifth symphony (1804 - 1808) is probably not going to be a lot different from last year's, despite what the marketing guys tell us. Music can change fast and be re-interpreted quite radically. That brings me to one of my favourite musicians - Miles Davis (1926 - 1991). Miles was an trumpet-player from North-america's Illinois who made a good living out of playing mostly instrumental music. He did this by re-interpreting music and making it sound both good and different. As a child I recall a song called 'Someday My Prince Will Come' from a Walt Disney movie. Thanks to YouTube we can have a quick listen. The song starts at about 46 seconds into the video.

It comes from a film called Snow White I heard and saw it on television. Later as a teenager I heard Miles Davis' version of the same tune. Check this out:
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At first you might think this is just another version of the song. What I would argue is that Miles did not just make a new version. He transformed it from a naive children’s song to a very cool piece of musical art. His music came about through resistance and reinterpretation.

So what?

This brings me to the music of today. To be sure we hear re-interpretations of music. People put videos on YouTube of themselves singing and playing music. Many of them copy or attempt to copy famous music. Some of them recode the music and transform it into something new. All of them are variable in quality. It seems that, no matter how expert singers or musicians are, they love to copy and reinterpret. I would like to hear more re-interpreting and less copying. That is to me, what musical art is all about.

In Auckland guitar lessons are usually offered by the term, by multiple terms and in some cases guitar studios offer tuition at an annual rate. Prices vary also by the length of each lesson, with teachers offering half-hour and one-hour options. Beginners and children often take half-hour lessons usually at one lesson a week.
Our Guitar Lessons Auckland 2021 courses start at NZ$450 for a nine-week term of half-hour lessons. Many students enrol in multiple terms with discounts enrolling in a full 45-week course.
Learning to play an instrument is a long-term experience. Most experienced musicians say that we never stop learning throughout our lives. A young musician might study guitar thorough school years, then take a break, returning back to lessons in their early or mid-twenties. Adult learners also consider learning an instrument in later life as their priorities and goals change, children grow up and leave the family home, and music becomes an attractive recreational pastime.

Can I teach myself without a teacher?

Yes. While we recommend finding a qualified teacher from the very beginning, studying from books and videos can be very helpful at a certain stage in a musician's life. Most of us find that music is best when it is shared with others. Those others can be family members, teachers, or band members. Many musicians make music at home. It is an experience in bonding and maintaining durable relationships within a family. Guitar lessons with a teacher are often more systematic, with professional teachers offering structured, organised courses that have been tried and tested. Internationally-recognised courses from providers such as Rockschool, Trinity, Royal Schools of Music, Berklee College of Music and others ensure that your lessons remain on-track and act as a focus for both teacher and student to measure progress. Many instruments have low-learning curves (LLC), meaning that the first few months or longer can be frustrating because the music you play is very simple, or it takes time for your body to adjust to the technical skills of each instrument. Many of us are familiar with the beautiful scratching of beginner violinists going through LLC's. Bagpipe students routinely experience this frustration also. The guitar however does have beautiful music that you can play reasonably well in the first few months or so. Working with a teacher helps you get through the LLC's . 

Can I learn in three months?

Learning to play a musical instrument is a lifelong activity. The good news  is that on the guitar you can play some very cool music in a short time, with some conditions. First going to lessons is not enough. You need to play every day to improve your skills and get better. If you cannot commit to playing every day, you probably should wait until you can commit. Otherwise you can get frustrated at your slow rate of progress. Second you do need to be patient and remember there is no magic time when you suddenly say, 'I can play guitar'. The learning itself is simply a good thing to have in your life. So can you learn in three months? Yes. The quality of what you can play in three months is going to depend on you and how much time and effort you put into the process.


Are guitar lessons worth the money?

Yes.

How long does it take to learn guitar?

From one second to one lifetime. and possibly longer if you believe in that sort of thing... Please remember to take the process seriously and have fun.


To find out more about our Guitar Lessons please use the Contact page.
Thank you for your interest and if you are using the Contact page, talk soon. 

There are many guitar teachers in Auckland. I have met several teachers, worked with others and some I know by reputation only. Some of them are my ex-students and it is always a pleasure seeing people develop their musical skills and deepen their musical experience. As a guitar teacher myself my approach is to share the joy of making music with good technique, and relaxed performance style. I started teaching in 1981 working with the late Chris Bayne at the New Zealand Guitar Academy. Chris taught classical guitar and I was initially hired to teach Lead and Rhythm guitar, and bass. Chris was I believe an excellent guitarist with a graceful, stylish and secure technique, combined with a calm and steady performance style. Just as importantly he was a good teacher, with well-designed teaching resources, a good library and a comfortable studio. Working with him I was able to see first-hand guitar-playing in many styles, but also the  way that he related to students from many different walks of life, united by a common bond, a love of music and making music.

In 1984 I opened my own studio in Mount Street near the University of Auckland campus. In the 1980's I focused mainly on teaching classical guitar, while moonlighting playing in bands like Neon Quaver, the Auckland Concert Orchestra, several church groups and musical theatre shows. I expanded my teaching portfolio to include Music Theory, History, Ear Training and Singing, then branched out to teach drumkit and for a brief time, the piano. Several ex-students are now excellent and well-respected guitar teachers themselves.

Good teachers should make professional development a priority throughout their career and professional development is requirement of registered teachers in the New Zealand system.
Most of what I learnt about music came from close listening, practical experience playing in bands as a teenager and of course the music teaches us as we play. Although I had grown up playing music, could read music and had played in jazz and rock bands for many years, a good friend, Sylvia Blatchford, encouraged me to develop my classical qualifications, sitting grade examinations leading to a Licentiate Diploma in Guitar Performance from Trinity College London, then later a Bachelor of Music degree, an English degree with Music, and a Masters Degree in Music.  These formal  qualifications are of course only part of what a music teacher has to learn and apply. Mostly music teachers work with helping people play and sharing their love of music. So I would say the best teachers in Auckland or anywhere for that matter, are those who have a good musical background of course, but most importantly also, they love to share this amazing and beautiful human art we call music.

Since gaining some academic qualifications. I also studied for a Teacher's Diploma, developed my skills in recording, mixing mastering and music notation and now teach at ABC Studios. I continue to teach in several schools on a part-time basis. As part of my personal guitar study I have transcribed many solos from amazing guitar players such as George Benson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Django Rheinhardt, Carlos Santana and others, then teach these items to students who have the interest and dedication to do so. I have held subscriptions to several guitar magazines and they are a valuable resource for guitar teachers. They allow me to see and learn what other teachers are doing world-wide. I also maintain my Teacher's Registration and am a member of the Post-Primary Teacher's Association.

Professional development is an ongoing and living thing. In 2021 I recorded a jazz album, Modal Behaviour (my fourth recorded album) with some fantastic New Zealand musicians and good reviews and I am looking forward to sharing this music further in Festival performances.  

If you would like to study the guitar further details are available on the Guitar Lessons Auckland -

So just summing up again I would just point out a few things that we have learnt about Coryell’s jazz style. They are:

1.  in this chord progression, you will remember that in the second bar, the chords were Am7, C7, B7 and Ab/C. The chord that he chose out of those four chords was B7 but he did not play a dominant scale. He did not play a B7 arpeggio or a B Dominant scale. He chose to use a B minor pattern over a B7 chord. So the B7 chord has a D# in it. Therefore he likes to play a minor scale over a dominant chord. The chord: B7th the scale B minor [ ] .
2. Then as far as the actual chords that he goes through here. When he is talking about the chords themselves he uses a lot of passing chords, and substitutions so if for example he is playing Bm7 going to E7, he will pass through F7. If the chords were Bm7, E7 going down to A minor, he goes from Bm7, through F7, E7 and Bb7 to Am, but those passing chords are only in the chords, he does not play arpeggios based around the passing chords. He does not play his melodic line based around the passing chords. So his melodic lines tend to stay very close to the E minor tonality and do not venture far. He is allowing the chromaticism in the music to come from the chords rather than the melodic line. There are some exceptions to this as in the final bar. 
3. One more point. Remember also his use of the Lydian Dominant scale in the ii-V-I progression giving a falling, compressed flattened sound, E Lydian Dominant over Am7 and D7? You could merely note that but why not do what Benny Golson and Larry Coryell did? Undoubtedly we know that Coryell went to his guitar and played Am7 and D7 creating melodic patterns using an E Lydian Dominant scale until he knew that he could get the sound that he wanted in his music. You should do that too.
   

Style point: Dominant 7th Chord - Dorian Minor

Style Point 2: Melody on Structural Chords

Style Point 3: Lydian Dominant substitutes for Natural Minor