Milpitas Guitar Lessons with Phil Johnson

05/07/2024

Got a very nice note from my new client, Paul this morning...

"Super happy that I signed up with you. I had hit a slump and no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t snap myself out of it. I’m out of it now, and can’t keep my hands off of my guitar."

Want to get out of your own guitar slump? Schedule your FREE Strategy Session at MilpitasGuitarLessons.com and we'll create a custom plan to reach your guitar goals!

03/06/2024

I'm often asked about how to go from "thinking about a bunch of stuff" while playing to "just play". That's a flow state you're looking for.

Drexel University new study about flow states studied jazz musicians and how they do exactly that. https://neurosciencenews.com/creativity-zone-neuroscience-25697/

Essentially it boils down to two parts: Know the tools so well you don't have to think about them anymore AND having trust in your skills to turn off the executive functions of your brain while you're playing.

A new study unveils how the brain enters the creative flow state, famously known as being "in the zone."

03/06/2024

Hey, I'm starting some new programs here at my studio and we're in growth mode right now.

And I'm not asking you to join the studio. I just want to know what you would love to know about taking guitar lessons.

If you can help me out by filling out this short survey, I'd super appreciate it!

https://forms.gle/Ch7uQ7NPQCDwQm4j9

01/02/2024

Danger lurks around every turn of the tuning peg...

12/11/2023

"There are no wrong notes" - Victor Wooten

He's right. Any note at any time over any chord can be made to work. But since this is a tiny clip, there's some stuff missing. Playing "out" add complexity. And different songs require different levels of complexity. The game is to play what's right for the song.

Of course the comments on this video are full of misconceptions, ignorance, and trolls. Plus a few people who's ear just isn't seasoned enough yet to hear what he's talking about. Which is fine. The longer you play, the more of a taste you get for chromaticism.

One guy posted a quote from Miles Davis that I think adds a lot of clarity to this concept. "Miles Davis once said, It’s not the note you play that’s the wrong note, it’s the note you play afterwards that makes it right or wrong."

Exactly. Every note sets an expectation in the listener's ear. How you pay off that expectation makes the difference between "right" and "wrong".

12/08/2023

Let me tell you a story. 👂 Awhile back my girlfriend and I were taking a walk in our neighborhood and we heard someone practicing piano in their house.

They were running scales up and down in that sort of plodding way that happens when it's not fun to practice. 🥱

My girlfriend said to me "That's why I stopped playing. It was just scales and arpeggios all the time. No fun."

My heart 💔 broke when she told me that.

You see, I was lucky. My music teachers showed me how to BE a musician. Not just run scales.

No doubt, there's work involved in learning to play guitar. Scales and arpeggios are necessary EVENTUALLY.

But if you learn that kind of stuff too early in the process, you don't have any context for it. You don't know what to do with it. You don't know how to be creative with it! 🎸

Here's the process that I take my clients through with every new tool we add to their musician's toolkit:

🕰️1. Wait until it makes sense to learn that skill - There's a specific order to learn guitar concepts in that will make it easier to skill-stack and keep you excited about the process of learning guitar.

💪2. Learning the skill - You'll learn how the skill works, the insider tips and tricks to make it easier, and how you'll use it combined with all your other tools.

💪💪3. Improving the skill - You'll wrap your hands around the new skill in a variety of ways to hone your unique touch on the strings.

💪💪💪4. Integrate the skill - I'll guide you though integrating your new skill with all the previous ones you've learned so you can see how they're connected and used together. And then you'll get creative and create music using your full set of tools.

Then we learn the next thing!

See, my girlfriend hated playing scales as a kid because only parts of steps 2 and 3 were there. It was all the work with none of the creative payoff. We do things differently here at Milpitas Guitar Lessons. 😊

Now it's your turn to tell me a story. 👉Click the Send Message button below and tell me about your guitar journey. Where are you now? Where would you like to be? And we'll create a custom guitar learning plan for you to reach those goals!

Click the Send Message button and let's talk!

(PS... My girlfriend did become a wicked bass player later on. So even a bad childhood musical experience can be overcome!)

12/05/2023

What kind of guitar did Slash play on Guns n' Roses first album "Appetite For Destruction"?

You might assume it was a Gibson Les Paul since Slash is so closely connected with that type of guitar. But it was actually a REPLICA of a Gibson Les Paul made by California luthier Kris Derrig.

There is plenty of lore, myths, and stories about the guitars that Slash played on that first album. But Slash still uses that replica to this day. He mixes it in with a couple other replicas from the same luthier as well as actual Gibsons, including the Slash Appetite signature models that came out a couple years ago. Those are actually a replica of the replica. ;)

12/04/2023

Our fingertips always look like chewed up gum.

12/01/2023

Music notation scares some people. Do you really need to know how to read it on guitar?

I'll give you my thoughts on it in this video. And then I'll explain a little bit about how I make it SUPER EASY to read notation. My clients all find it very easy after I teach them my "totally backwards" method of learning it.

I can make it easy for you too! Click that "Send Message" button down below and I'll hook you up with a FREE Strategy Session where we'll discuss your most important guitar goals and create a plan to reach them. Let's talk!

11/30/2023

Like "scales" or "arpeggios", you've probably heard the word "chord" tossed around and might not be entirely sure what it is or how they're created. I'll explain the basics here in this video.

This is only the beginning! You've got music inside you and I want to help get it out onto your guitar. Schedule a FREE Strategy Session with me and we'll lay out your most important guitar goals and create a plan to meet them.

Just click "Send Message" below and I'll hook you up!