Opera singer and voice teacher here, hoping to improve not only my guitar playing but my blues singing and vocal riffing, and to learn how to better support my students who sing in contemporary styles.
I never thought I would be able to learn guitar before I found Justin’s online courses! I had previously attempted viola and bass, but because I had already been playing clarinet for years I found it very difficult to separate my hands. Justin excels at breaking everything down into manageable components, and as a fellow teacher I really appreciate and respect that.
Coming from a classical music background unfortunately means I have a lot of conditioning to shake off about the importance of doing everything “correctly” and “accurately”, and I think that learning to jam on guitar will help make my performances in all styles more expressive and spontaneous. I am already finding Justin’s approach to functional harmony a lot easier to grasp than the theory courses I endured as a grad student.
Welcome to the community, Claudia. I saw your second post, and I’m so glad to read that you are cancer-free now.
You have such an amazing musical background. I would love to hear you sing and play the blues … and other songs of course.
There are surely quite a few people around here with a classical background. There is @Alexeyd for example, who is a marvellous guitarist. Or… There is @Silvia80 one of The moderators, who arranges and plays so sweet chord melodies.
Great to see you here Claudia.
Ya found a great place to learn guitar at. As ya said, Justin is a very good teacher.
Not me, unless ya call playing in orchestra (trombone) in Jr and Sr. high school classical music. Or being forced to listen classical by my parents as a kid.
All I can think is that your all over music in general and this will help you much in your endeavor to play guitar. I wish you much success.
This forum may be helpful too as you can ask any question that you can think of about guitar and you’ll get many comments to help you on your way.
Have fun here.
It really is a good place to hang out and talk guitar and music.
Hi again Claudia… I said hello in the Old Dogs thread,
As you say, Classical Music is so structured… learning Blues is a whole ‘nother world! That said, Blues has it’s ‘rules’ but so much more forgiving than many other forms of music. I think it’s more like Captain Barbossa says in Pirates of the Caribbean - The Code is more like “Guidelines”!
Also, learning popular music is more Fun! One of my earliest one-on-one guitar teachers was very focused on Classical. He talked me into purchasing a Classical style guitar & not using a pick. “PIMA, Tod, PIMA or you’re not truly playing the instrument” was one of his mantras!
I believe, however, that your musical background will benefit you tremendously! Music theory, Timing, practice habits, reading musical notation will all translate directly to guitar! It’s comparable to learning to ride a motorcycle if you already are adept at riding a bicycle! So many things to learn but many fundamental concepts are so similar! You’re already ahead of the curve!!!
Good luck & when you have questions, reach out here! We are a friendly, helpful bunch!!!
Welcome to the community. Justin really has a great course structure and as a classical musician you must have a lot of patience and be used to practice practice practice. So enjoy.
The community really is a great place to get advice from other members. It’s been indispensable for me during my guitar learning and given me a lot of motivation to interact with the people in the community.
BTW, lots of us struggle with singing and playing guitar and having some feedback from a singer can be very helpful to the community.
Hi Claudia, welcome to the community. With your musical background you already have a head start on many of skills needed to learn to play the guitar well - a good sense of rhythm, a good ear for melody and harmony and the understanding of the effort and patience needed to master any instrument, including the voice. I have never been a professional singer, if you don’t count singing for a few weddings and funerals. I did have two years of university voice training and a year of private voice coaching. I haven’t emphasized my singing as much on this site, but with your background I couldn’t resist directing you to a post I made in my log while following the singing lesson in module 19 - Steve’s singing tips
I will leave it to you to judge whether any of my tips have merit
Also Justin has conservatory of music classical guitar training that he discusses in his lesson Flexing Time: Falling Leaf. So classical training shouldn’t be an impediment to learning the blues
Have fun adapting your classical background to new areas of music like the blues.
Hi Claudia.
Welcome to the community.
I also have a classical music background. I went to a music school where I learnt to play the oboe as a child. After the music school I moved to piano/keyboard, and after I picked up acoustic guitar. Just over 2 years ago I started the electric guitar journey. As Alexey said, I don’t think you need to “unlearn” anything. If you keep an open mind and a humble attitude, you’ll be able to use your existing skills to your strength and progress faster.
I suppose you could say that my previous experience with trumpet and piano was more or less classical. but my stints with each were fairly short and I didn’t absorb a bunch of the formality of classical music.
Congratulations on being cancer free! I’m coming up on 17yrs cancer free in a few months. It interrupted my guitar learning at the time. I had been taking private lessons for awhile beforehand. But because of my cancer type (leukemia) and my risk of spontaneous bleeding as a result of my treatment, I had to avoid guitar for a long time. And it just became habit, such that it didn’t really occur to me to pick it back up until after I had completed my master’s degree. And tbh, my brain was pretty much mush for awhile even after I finished treatment.
Yes, kind of. I play the piano. I was never keen on performing classical solo pieces though. So when my duet partner moved away I decided my musical time was better spent on bass and contemporary piano, and more recently guitar.
Mozart is my favourite opera composer. My favourite opera is Cosi fan tutte, with The marriage of Figaro not far behind. I don’t think I need to see Don Giovanni again though - once was enough . It’s a while since I’ve seen one live (my wife isn’t a fan). Do you have a particular favourite?
Welcome to community, Claudia.
Wishing you all the best on your journey, looking forward to some of your playing and singing videos, if you plan in future.
You mentioned the blues. Are you taking the BLIM course?
If you are looking to explore the blues, one of the best resources is the Martin Scorsese series The Blues, which was a 7 part series. This is still available on DVD, if you have a DVD player.
Here’s a clip from that series, that you might appreciate:
Hello Claudia
Welcome to JustinGuitar and this fantastic community.
Please take your time to look around and get to know the wider space. View by Categories.
We are a supportive and encouraging group of students and guitarists from across the world. Essentially, we are all here for music and to improve as players. We truly are a ‘community’. Members help and support one another and a friendly, positive attitude underpins this. We hope that all - young or old, experienced or new players - adopt and foster the pay-it-forward ethos that Justin personifies and embedded all those years ago when he started the website and forum.
Also, please make sure to read the Community Etiquette announcement for some important information and guidance.
If you want to record yourself to show your progress and / or seek feedback there is our ever popular Community Recordings section.
Behind the scenes there is a small and dedicated team who work to make the JustinGuitar experience as good as it can be. Check out the Onboarding sessions provided by Fanny.
Justin also has a small group of Approved Teachers he recommends for people wanting 1-to-1 lessons to supplement his courses - of which I am privileged to be one.
