Sometimes the desire to fix every problem a student may have all at once may cause even more problems. Tom Hess describes how to break down a bad habit so that both teacher and student can tackle it in easy, manageable steps.

In his latest article, Tom explores some of the problems that beginners tend to have making and changing guitar chords. Whether you’re a guitar teacher or just someone starting out on the guitar, you’ll find some very valuable tips here on how to go about practicing chord changes.

In the second article in this series, Tom examines the sloppines of extraneous string noise and demonstrates some excellent muting techniques that can benefit advanced players as well as beginners, giving them more control over their playing.

Tom details four very important steps that anyone seriously thinking about starting a career in the music business as a performing artist truly needs to think about and develop. If you take Tom’s advice to heart, you’ll giving yourself a big step forward.

Sloppy technique leads to sloppy playing and you can especially notice sloppy playing on the electric guitar! Tom Hess looks at the three basic problem areas and addresses two of them in depth in this first of two articles.

Teaching beginners is tricky at best and can be, for some guitar teachers, downright frustrating. Guitar teaching guru Tom Hess outlines five basic mistakes that many guitar teachers make when teaching beginner students and details way to avoid them in the first place.

It’s easy to know that you want a practice schedule. And it’s easier to abandon it fairly early in the game for all sorts of reasons, most of which are merely matters of perception. Tom Hess demonstrates that a highly efficient practice routine doesn’t have to be boring and can actually generate creativity. Having fun practicing usually leads to more practice and more practice leads to getting better faster.

Most people in the music business didn’t start in the music business but came into their careers while working their “day job.” After all, it’s important to have some income, right? But the choice of the “day job” can sometimes mean not being able to get into the career you want. Tom Hess looks at typical “safety net” strategies and the problems that can arise from them. Plus, he gives great tips on how to avoid most of the problems of transition by focusing on the end goal from the start.

Tom discusses the business side of teaching guitar, focusing on nine problem areas in promoting and maintaining your business as a guitar teacher.

Now here’s a list that anyone with the serious goal of playing professionally will want to have! Tom Hess goes through the main mistakes would-be professionals make when pursuing their dreams of being a player in the music industry.

You often hear that success in the music business is not about what you know as much as it is about who you know. So how does one go about getting to know the “whos?” How do we make contact and who are the right people to make contact with? Tom Hess gives some very valuable tips in this article.

The attitude with which you approach practicing can often affect just how effective your practicing is likely to be. Tom Hess explores these attitudes and gives some recommendations that will hopefully make your practice time both enjoyable and productive.

At its heart, the music business is a business. Silly as it sounds, if you go into the business knowing this and knowing how to become a partner with your record company, you stand a lot better chance at being successful. Tom Hess provides a lot of valuable information in this article, taken from his personal experience in the music industry.

The attitude with which you approach practicing can often affect just how effective your practicing is likely to be. Tom Hess explores these attitudes and gives some recommendations that will hopefully make your practice time both enjoyable and productive.

You can sit around and hope things happen, usually talking yourself into believing they wont’ – or you can start to take important steps now that will help you get where you want to go. Tom’s advice is great for everyone, whether you plan to have a future in music or just simply have a future!