Recording and Song Interpretation

How recording yourself helps you play better versions of your favorite songs.

Some of the most frequently asked questions I get from my guitar students are, "How do I practice the songs so that they sound like the songs?", "Why doesn't it sound like the song when I play it on the guitar?" and "How do I play my version of my favorite songs?"

Okay, so let's answer the first question, "How do I practice the songs so that they sound like the songs?"; and do so with a short story of how I figured it out at the age of 14 years old.

In 1976, at the age of 13, I had already been taking guitar lessons from my teacher, Tony, for about eight months, at the music store three blocks away from our house. I struggled to practice my chords along with the lessons Tony gave to me. I wanted to learn how to play the songs I liked on the radio. I sat and listened intently, waiting patiently for the disk-jockey to stop talking over the intro, so I could hear the song. Little did I realize at the time, that this was how I learned how to tune the guitar by ear, without the help from a t…