Gary LoRusso | Musical Advice for Starter
Guitarists
Gary LoRusso, a professional surveyor, taught himself banjo when
he was 25. He took lessons from banjo legend Frank Valentino and joined a
ragtime band in Alaska. The group performed in several different venues, and he
would occasionally join up with Polka Dan, a man who he first met by chance one
cold New Year’s Eve while surveying in King Cove, Alaska way out on the
Aleutian chain. Some years later he and Dan would eventually find themselves playing
with some outstanding musicians for a cruise ship that was docked in Anchorage.
LoRusso played with the Big Cabbage Jazz Band and also played space rock with
the Nomadic Milkmen at the Alaska State Fair. He picked up tenor guitar when he
turned 40, which he learned was not an automatic transition from banjo.
“String instruments have a
lot in common,” musician Gary LoRusso says. “However, there are differences in
finger spacing, sound, scales, and overall style between banjos and guitars.
The same applies to other similar instruments, but your general play style is
the hardest challenge.”
Learning banjo and guitar was
an incredibly worthwhile pursuit for Gary LoRusso. He did not have any
traditional training, though he never thinks it is too late to pick up an
instrument. Knowing how to play guitar is a rewarding experience, especially
the process it takes to get from amateur to guitar picking pro, a status that
he says he may never achieve but is working hard at.
Research
“Before you go out and buy a
$1000 guitar, do some research to see what kind of guitar fits your style and
price range,” Gary LoRusso says. “There’s no need to spend an outrageous amount
for your first one; find one that is comfortable and affordable.”
One of the best ways to find
a guitar is to go to a music store. Most shops are staffed by trained musicians
who know what to look for. Or, for a cheaper route, find someone willing to
sell an old guitar or, perhaps, lend a guitar for use. Next, guitar students
need to figure out how they are going to learn how to play. A lot of people
elect to sit down and practice without any aids or guidance; this strategy has
worked in the past, but the lack of progress often leads to people giving up
the instrument.
There are numerous
guidebooks, DVDs, and other “how to play guitar” resources out there. Utilize
them, or purchase two or three different mediums. With the Internet, people
have access to thousands of online tutorials and videos that teach guitar
basics. A lot of these resources are free and are created by people who enjoy
teaching guitar.
People often struggle between
learning to play on an electric or an acoustic guitar. In essence, they are the
same. However, electric guitars “act” much differently than acoustic because
the sound is generated electronically. Acoustic guitars are much easier to
practice on and help train people how to play rather than how to make noise.
Once a guitar student feels comfortable, he or she should feel free to pick up
and mess around with an electric guitar. This decision often hinges on a
person’s musical influences and goals for learning how to play. A rock fan, for
example, will most likely aspire to play electric. This is fine and the rock
enthusiast’s choice, but starting on acoustic usually leads to more successful
playing.
Next, Gary LoRusso says
people need to learn everything there is about the instrument. “Not knowing
your instrument is like being an artist who doesn’t know the names of colors,”
Gary LoRusso says. “It’s easier to learn when you have formidable guitar
vocabulary and understand how the guitar works.”
A guitar has several parts.
The bridge (on the big wooden end) is where the strings rest. The bridge is
attached to a saddle. The body of an acoustic has a sound hole with a pick
guard. The neck makes up the rest. On the neck are metal frets, the marked up
fingerboard with position markers, and finally the nut. The nut separates the
neck from the head and tuning keys.
“A lot of people learning the
guitar become over enthusiastic and try playing things way out of their ability
level,” Gary LoRusso says. “It’s true that challenging yourself is useful for
improvement, but you need to understand the basics to master advanced
techniques and styles.”
Gary LoRusso Outlines Basic Practicing
A good place to start is with
the notes. Guidebooks and the Internet have diagrams on which notes are where
and why they operate as they do. Practice using all of the fingers and
picking out individual notes and plucking them with the other hand. Consider not
using a pick while starting guitar; it is better down the road to develop
calluses and for fingerpicking purposes. “Everything on a guitar is
transitive,” Gary LoRusso says. “Once you learn the basics, you’re able to
apply foundational knowledge to the entire instrument.”
Individual notes make up
chords. A C chord, for example, is played in at least 10 different ways. A
chord is when all (or most) of the strings are played at a single time to
produce a fuller sound. The basic chords (E, G, A, F, C, Dm) are easy to learn.
Experts recommend for beginners to find a chord chart and learn a few basic
ones by playing them over and over until fingers are able to automatically
transition between them. One method for keeping this interesting is by finding
easy songs that use basic rock chord progressions. This, however, leads to
other learning difficulties.
While the chords for most
songs are simple and revolve around a few simple chords, the style makes the
song unique. First practice by learning the chords and try to keep up with a
recorded version of the song. Eventually beginners learn a repertoire of simple
songs that are good for practicing.
Practicing is the number one
factor for learning an instrument. It is recommended that beginners practice
five days a week for no more than an hour a day. Gary LoRusso says this helps
develop a person’s “ear,” strumming, picking, and other techniques.
ABOUT:
Gary LoRusso is an enthusiast banjo and guitar player. He is also
a Licensed Professional Land Surveyor in Alaska and New Hampshire where he owns
and operates his own surveying business. LoRusso learned to play when he was
25, and he performed at gigs throughout Alaska “Whenever someone will have me,”
he quipped.
