Key Of Grey

Photo courtesy of Jason Holmberg

March 28th, 2009 – A couple weeks ago, I found out that one of the artists most instrumental to me learning guitar, Shaun Verrault (here’s a great video of him playing, the magic begins at around 3:05), teaches guitar literally at the end of the block where I work. Since he has a solo CD, and a new WMM album coming out, I’m not sure when, if at all, I’ll be able to get some lessons from him. However, if I’m fortunate enough to learn from him, I’d like to be in the best shape to take advantage of what he teaches.

To that end, I’ve been on Youtube looking up tutorial videos to break up the monotony of practicing technique; if I’m playing something I like, I’m more likely to stick with it. While searching videos, I came across John Mayer’s Youtube account. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that he’s tech savvy, since he has a well reported Twittering problem (don’t forget to add me btw!).

Recently he’s posted some fantastic videos. In the first one I’ve posted below, he goes over some ideas he’s been working on to expand his guitar playing. While my previous teacher also taught me to practice the same way a decade ago, it’s still refreshing to see someone as big as John Mayer admitting that he’s still a “student”. In the second video, he shows us a song that he’s working on for his upcoming album. He goes over  some vocal ideas he’s playing with and we get to see how he puts together his music. Even if you aren’t a fan of his, it’s always interesting to watch someone who’s established, going about their craft.