GUITAR-X london

[Estheroid]

Originally Posted by Ash96

The contacts you make are also invaluable. as well as the little tricks of the trade that you wouldnt learn without years of trial and error!

Nail. Head.

It gets you mixing with other musicians, networking, making contacts and most importantly, making music.

I had a student here (at a 'regular) university who'd spent his year between school and university (where he studied a 'proper' subject) at one of the London music schools. Consequently, due to the contacts he made in his year there he signed a publishing deal in his final year here and went on tour with his band...the degree he got here will not be wasted though as he'll be able to see if his accountant is ripping him off

I appreciate his is quite an extreme case, but never underestimate the power of networking and social skills, as Nik Harrison pointed out in an earlier post and as the above illustrates

[Nik Harrison]

Originally Posted by Ash96

The contacts you make are also invaluable. as well as the little tricks of the trade that you wouldnt learn without years of trial and error!

Years of trial and error are worth avoiding if you can!

The whole social networking aspect of music can actually be quite complicated. There is much more to it than there seems. I like to think of myself as quite a friendly and sociable person but I must admit that the time I’ve spent working with music at the level I seem to be permanently stuck at, adversely affected my communication skills and my patience for a short while. I’ve learned how to handle situations better now, but like many players, I’ve been a young kid in a band, played all the usual dead end gigs in pubs gaining “experience” (which is actually an experience of something nobody actually needs or wants) and since then, I’ve played a lot of gigs in a lot of very different sized venues, playing a very wide range of music, on three different instruments, in different styles, and in front of very different audiences.

Because I don’t do “one thing”, the general perception of me as a musician seems to be that I’m a bit of a part-timer and not really got any focus or direction. I get offered work, but it’s always on one level, and it’s never anything which implies that I’m capable of anything beyond the “better than the average amateur, regular gigging musician”. No matter what I do to try and combat this, I’ve got an additional dilemma of needing to take on work to survive. At times, I don’t have the luxury of being able to pick and chose what I do. I have to take what’s put on the table in front of me (especially in the current economic climate).

At one time or another I’ve been sold all the bollocks promises of tours/ gigs/ record deals/ management etc, all of which has come to nothing. Unfortunately this has led me to have little patience with some people (who could have potentially been very useful contacts and good for my career). I’ve told plenty of people to fuck off when it’s looked like I’ve been in a situation I’ve been in before when some people have tried to sell the “big time” to me. The lesson which needs to be learned is how to handle the terminal dilemma of not knowing who is genuinely interested in what you do, and is genuinely trying to help you, or who is a time wasting arsehole. It’s worth having a handful of stock, polite answers to everyone. You never know who it could actually be who’s showing an interest in what you’re doing with your music. Where everything you need to know about playing the guitar you can find on the internet, everything you need to know about how to succeed in music is an unobtainable pool of very precious information which has eluded me for the last 20 years.

[evilmags]

Originally Posted by Nik Harrison

everything you need to know about how to succeed in music is an unobtainable pool of very precious information which has eluded me for the last 20 years.

If you could play like you, yet looked like Cheryl Cole, I'd put good money on a record contract.

I'm sure that luck plays a huge part here. TBH anyone able to make any living from music is very lucky indeed. People like you, Clarky ect are all exceptionally good players who have spent half their waking hours working to get that good.

In my view very few people value music as such. They buy into an image, a product and a suggested lifestyle. I don't know about anyone else, but my tastes have developed and changed a lot over the years, as has what I enjoy playing and writing. Most people in big bands must be the same. Yet what gets them their big wedge is pretty much playing songs they wrote in their early 20, even though they are now 45.

What sells is image an the associated feeling of being cool / being part of a scene.

[Nik Harrison]

Who teaches at Guitar X?

[georgeguitars]

Originally Posted by mattbanshee

If you really want to study music, go do something like Commercial Music at a university. Guitar-X qualifications are practically worthless, unless you're the new Steve Vai and are going to become a session guitarist.

wut a load of shite. commerical music is about one of the worst music courses you can do to benifit your guitar playing. places like guitar-x and bimm and acm are all about contacts in the industry and improving skill. not about qualifications. when have u even gone 2 an audition and gone "yer i got these qualifications" they tell u "fuk oiff" i my opinion, n i checked them all out, i chose acm, purley cos the teachers r the best. i got teachers that gig at ronnie scotts, a teach who play with alice cooper during the wayne world period and a few years after. i got a teacher who write from guitarist, io got a teacher that is touring the states as i type etc.... if u just want to improve go to a place like this not uni. i will also say that the acm degree courses are all music performance degrees. so u get a full qualification. as in a DEGREE.

To me (who has played in a band for a long time n had private lessons with a well know session jazz guitarist), the acm is just what i needed to get contacts, meet people in the same situation as me and have a well good time. live music almost every night in guildford town, n the amount of students there you can find people to jam every night. alot n i mean ALOT of people get jobs in the industry though this place. i havent met anyone as of yet that has gone here n not got a job in music after. guitar-x is good but acm is better. in my opinion

[suityou316]

Originally Posted by Nik Harrison

Who teaches at Guitar X?

http://www.guitar-x.co.uk/Teachers1.html

John Wheatcroft, Steve Allsworth, Jim Clark, Mike Outram, others
Sometimes Shaun Baxter and Pin from Sikth

[LoFi]

Originally Posted by georgeguitars

With respect, I disagree with your opinion. Commerical Music courses are unlikely to particularly improve your guitar playing. Places like Guitar-X, BIMM and ACM focus on building your contacts in the industry as well as improving your playing, rather than just qualifications. You're unlikely to be asked about qualifications at an audition, anyway, and brandishing them will likely get you short shrift.

I looked at all of the music schools offering this sort of course, and settled on ACM, as I considered them to have the strongest faculty. Several of my teachers gig at Ronnie Scotts, one of them used to play with Alice Cooper, one contributes to Guitarist and one is currently touring in the US. If your focus is purely in improving your playing, I'd recommend a place like this, rather than University. You should also bear in mind that these courses at ACM are accredited degrees.

I've played in a band for a long time, and studied under a well-known session jazz guitarist, and the ACM was exactly what I needed, in terms of getting contacts and meeting people in a similar situation, not to mention enjoying myself.

You can find live music almost every night in Guildford, and the number of students there means you can always find people to jam with.

A lot of people get jobs in the industry through studying here - I've yet to meet anyone who's failed to get a job in music afterwards.

Guitar-X is good, but in my opinion, ACM is better.

Edited for... err... English.

[georgeguitars]

ay ta, i is no good wit english. i aint neva bin school, i raised wit the pigs in tha garden. only ad me guitar.

Na rele sum people have to much time on there hands. lol. y dont u practice guitar instead??

[Freeman999]

Why don't you practice your written language skills?