Guitar Education Stories As Guthrie Govan’s Never had a Guitar Lesson and Eddie Van Halen Hit The News
It’s an interesting article that appeared in Ultimate Guitar as Guthrie Goven stated that he has never had a guitar lesson or received any formal guitar tuition at all in his life as a guitar player.
It is an interesting point that Goven makes, but what about the rest of us mere mortals? Is it that if you take guitar lessons then you don’t have what it takes to become or be a great player?
You can read all about this, view Guthrie playing as well as finding out what Eddie Van Halen has been up to in music education. In a wonderful act of kindness and support, learn how Eddie Van Halen is helping children of today find a potential future, if not just have great fun learning guitar. Full details are in the article which continues below.
By JesterWr (Own work) [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Discussing the vast array of styles and endeavors he pursued in his career, Guthrie Govan said he never took a guitar lesson in his life. The guitarist told RM: “I used to work in certain guitar schools a long time ago, teaching specific parts of the appropriate syllabus. “I don’t really know what constitutes a typical guitar lesson, as I’ve never actually had one myself. I am entirely self-taught. “I am very happy to have worked in a fairly wide variety of musical contexts, from Dizzee Rascal to Hans Zimmer, from Steven Wilson to a local country band, which I recently joined. “But mostly I am just grateful that I seem to be getting away with doing this for a living, given that it’s what I would be doing with my life anyway, whether anyone was paying me to do it or not.”
Guthrie is probably the nearest thing to a guitar God and obviously his words have a lot of weight to many guitarists around the world. On this occasion though, it’s a bit of a head scratcher as to what his words mean. He has obviously contributed a lot to guitar education, but by what does he mean by saying he has never had a guitar lesson? Does he mean that his style of playing and musical voice is unique because of this or is it that taking guitar lessons are for people unable to find their own way and he feels people ultimately shouldn’t take lessons? Perhaps he is pointing out that despite his obvious talents, it’s all given from above and it’s all down to himself. We may never know. In any case, here is the great man himself playing a rather cool solo.
Eddie Van Halen Gives Away Guitars
One person who has had music tuition (on the piano) is Eddie Van Halen. Eddie has been in the news regarding his donation of guitars to the Mr Holland’s Opus Foundation.
This extract is taken from the “Loudwire” article with the attribution link below if you want to read more about the full story.
Several years ago, Eddie Van Halen donated 75 guitars from his personal collection to students in low-income schools. The generous gifting of axes was done through Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, a group that specializes in getting instruments to the next generation of creative minds. “Could you imagine a world without music? “It’s a must,” the Van Halen legend told CNN in a new interview. “It has to be taught.” Eddie himself got an early start in music, learning to play piano at six and finally the instrument which defined him, the guitar, in fourth grade. Imagining a world where Van Halen was unable to get his hands on a six-string is frightening, which is why Eddie’s outreach to Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation is so profound. “It was very difficult at first to find a charity that [takes guitars],” Van Halen said. “They all just wanted money.” Dozens of kids are now strumming axes for the first time, not knowing the instruments once belonged to a shred icon.
Eddie Van Halen: Importance of Music Education Behind Guitar Donation
We Hope You Keep Learning In All Ways
The fact of the matter is that blended learning is definitely something to head for. In our opinion, taking guitar lessons, assuming your teacher is a great player and an even better at imparting knowledge can only be a good thing. The onus is, however, still on you to do your own searching and learning. In this way, you’ll have the stamp of someone who has been guided through the early stages, but ultimately find your own voice as your playing technique and musicality are brought to the fore.
