Posts

How To Actually Improve When You're Already Good

Image
Getting better at guitar gets harder the more you improve. Early on, progress feels obvious—but over time, the gains become more subtle and harder to reach. Practicing scales and licks is a no-brainer; you can never have too much command over those. I provide a variety of services, including guitar lessons, bass lessons, adult guitar lessons and music instructions. I have the skill and experience necessary to serve as your full-service guitar teacher, offering the highest quality guitar instruction service online anywhere in the world or in the Irvine studio. With 20 years of professional experience, Bordas Guitar Instruction offers respect, trust, dedication, integrity and devotion to exceeding the expectations of my clients. Whether it's lessons for beginners or advanced players. I will give you the help you need. I provide the customized lesson plan for each student so they can learn comfortably. I will personally work with you during the private guitar lessons to improve your...

Guitar and Music Mentors

Image
Playing the guitar is a wonderful pursuit.   Many people are happy to play a few chords and sing a few songs. That’s great! I am addressing those who really want to take it to the next level. I have read tons of books that have been crucial to my development. Having said that I needed guidance and real live feedback. ERIK HALBIG is my mentor. He taught me to be diverse, be original know your shit. And then just play.  He taught me rock jazz country blues classical!  I was always encouraged to be well rounded.   Instead of just trying to play my hottest lick. I highly recommend looking that cat up. He is a badass! CHUCK WACKERMAN was my musical director in high school.  He would challenge and encourage me to do things that I never thought I could do. CARL VERHEYEN   is one of the top session cats for the last 30 years. He has been very generous to me.  Giving me great insight on how to improve. He can play anything!   And he is the nice...

Getting started on guitar

Image
Getting started   A very constant question is how do I get started?   So let’s break it down. BUYING A GUITAR You want to select either an acoustic or electric guitar. 1. Acoustic guitar is in 2 styles, steel string and nylon string. Nylon string is known as a classical guitar. Steel string acoustic covers every other style, rock bluegrass blues country etc. For example: Yamaha Standard Acoustic Guitar Pack . Yamaha Deluxe Acoustic Guitar Pack. 2. Electric guitar - For a beginner, I would recommend getting a package. That means guitar amp and tuner. For example:   Fender Squier Stratocaster Electric Guitar Pack-Brown.   Fender Squier Stratocaster Electric Guitar Pack-Black.   3. Spencer Kennedy at Sweetwater is my top recommendation. He knows his stuff and can recommend cool gear whatever your price range. Sweetwater is one of the most reliable guitar store I would recommend my students. Why choose Sweetwater? From my experience. Their tec...

Next Level Guitar Playing

Image
  We are all trying to do just that. This article is for players that really want to get their improvisation rhythmic and harmonic knowledge at their will to achieve your own voice on the guitar.   The following examples are suggestions that may seem random.  They are all going in the direction of your goal to be a great guitar player. Mixing things up and make it fresh.  METRONOME BEFORE YOU SKIP OVER THIS, ASK YOURSELF HOW OFTEN YOU USE IT.    Can u play the third upbeat on a sixteen note sequence easily? If you want to shred, get a metronome. If you wanna groove, get a metronome.  It is the common language of all instruments!!    TECHNIQUE   There are millions of strict technique material out there. Paul Gilbert has great ones. Steve Vai for shredders. Carl Verheyen and Mike Landau for studio guitar minded cats. These guys have been on tons of records from heavy to pop. DEVELOP YOUR OWN STYLE  This is a big ...

Learning Lead Guitar

Image
This is a question for most guitar players from novice to expert. It is a lifelong pursuit that has many rewards. Let’s break down a few versions of lead guitar. Basic This falls under the category of the player that just wants to do simple single note melodies. Like the lead lines song centric from Beatles to nirvana. Next Level Learning the pentatonic scale.  All positions.  Learning some rock licks within the scale from your favorite players.  There are tons of examples on YouTube to help you get started.  Also look up interviews of your favorite guitar players and learn about what inspiration they used to become the players they are! THIS ALONE IS A LIFETIME OF WORK WITH GREAT REWARDS. HERE ARE SOME SPECIFIC TYPE OF PLAYERS. Shredder If you are into this type of playing you need to practice a lot. And with purpose. You are doing finger workouts.  Plain and simple start slowly and use a metronome is something EVERY legit SHREDDING player will tell ...

Best guitar strings for guitar players

Image
  What is the best guitar strings for a guitar player? This question is often asked. From beginner to advanced guitar students.    The difference between the strings used in electric and acoustic guitar is the material. The strings for electric guitar are made of nickel, chromium alloys and steel. Strings used on acoustic guitars are typically made of bronze, bronze alloys, or nylon. Acoustic guitar also requires a thicker string gauge for amplified sound. The simple answer is that a nylon acoustic string will give you a classical sound (finger style ,solo guitar, gypsy jazz). Nylon strings are made with softer materials and have lesser tension making them easier to handle than other strings. However, pain and difficulty in pushing down guitar strings are part of the learning process. The faster you’ll get callouses, the quicker you’ll be used to the finger pressure.  A steel string is more for those of you who want to sing and strum. It is the guitar you want...

Multi practicing for guitar players

Image
I'm a big fan of efficient practicing. If you are paying attention, you can practice ear training at all times. Whether you are working on speed scales, sweep arpeggios, alternate picking, Legato ets. If you involve this concept to your guitar playing, it is impossible not to improve. Sing! Every note you play, sing to yourself at least in your head. Let's say for doing a Paul Gilbert style alternate picking exercise. Anybody knows you have to practice that over and over again. How many of us sing the pitches or ever name the notes when we are doing this? We are already repeating over and over again, why not add more to it? This apply to everything take a basic chord progression ex, D, C, G, that you have done a million times. This time Arpeggiate the chords and sing the pitches. Since we all know this progression so well. It's a great place to start. # GuitarInstructor  # GuitarLessons  # GuitarTeacher  # GuitarClasses  # BassGuitarLess...