If this is something you might be interested in doing then feel free to contact us for details.

Phone: 321-676-2700
Email:  support@a-plus-music.com

May 8th, 2010

Saturday at 12:00 P.M.

There is still time to sign up for the recital.

Talk to your teacher about participating. All students are welcome to join or watch.

Read an article about the event here.

Every day I hear at least once from a well-meaning parent, “My child’s just starting, so we’re only interested in acoustics. It’s best to start on an acoustic.” I’m not certain where this conventional wisdom comes from, but it seems fairly wide-spread among those who are not professional guitar instructors. Few of the professional guitar teachers I talk to agree that it’s that simple.

There are advantages and disadvantages to starting on either an acoustic or an electric guitar. The two advantages I often hear cited as the reasons one must start on an acoustic guitar are: you’ll toughen up your calluses better making it easier to play electric guitar once you switch over, and electric guitars are too complicated.

Acoustic guitars will toughen up your calluses better, because they are physically more difficult to play. The string tension is higher on acoustic guitars than it is on electric guitars, meaning when you press a note with fingers that haven’t developed calluses yet, acoustic guitars hurt more!

We do have students quit shortly after starting because they weren’t prepared for guitar-playing to be physically painful. The pain is something all novice guitar players have to work through until they’ve built up their calluses. It’s a much less painful process on an electric guitar than on an acoustic guitar, and the calluses one develops on an electric guitar are sufficient to painlessly switch to an acoustic guitar later if you want.

As for electric guitars’ complexity, yes there are some knobs and switches on electric guitars that aren’t on acoustic guitars. But if we’re talking about kids, they can all seem to handle video games just fine, and those are significantly more complex than are electric guitars.

So what are the real advantages of each? For acoustics, they’re more portable, they weigh less, and all you really need is the guitar. With the disadvantage that they’re physically more challenging to play and they’re more limited in the styles of contemporary music they can play.

For electrics, they’re physically easier to play and they’re more musically versatile, with the disadvantage that you need an amplifier and an electrical outlet.

I also hear daily from well-meaning parents. “He wants to be playing electric. But we’re going to start him on acoustic. If he sticks with it, we’ll get him the electric he really wants.” As a parent myself, I understand how we need to use both carrots and sticks to motivate our children. In my experience, though, this particular carrot isn’t an effective one. If your child doesn’t like acoustic guitar, he won’t stick with it long enough to earn his electric guitar. “Sticking with it” in adult language often means six months to two years, which to a kid who can’t see past next week, is an eternity.

So which is best, acoustic or electric? Simple. Which one does the student want to play more? Which one are they going to pick up and practice every day because they like it more? That’s the right one.

You’ve invested in an instrument and have begun lessons. Now the questions arise, how much practice? How often? And how do I fit it into my schedule?

To get the most out of your lessons, practice is absolutely essential. Students that practice 5 times a week or more outside of their lessons make tremendously better progress than those who don’t.

But how do you fit that in your schedule? There’s only 24 hours in a day! You do it by making your practice time a “habit”.

Brushing your teeth in the morning is something you do every day without thinking about the time it takes, agonizing over how it’s still hanging over your head, or dreading the actual brushing. That 5 minutes in the morning is habit – you never even think about it anymore…. At least I don’t.

Or how I start the coffee pot as the second thing I do after I get out of bed….

Or how I shave before I put my shirt on in the morning….

Or how in the car I turn right, then right, then left, then left, then right, then right and somehow I wind up at work each morning barely remembering the 15 minutes it took me to get there….

Practicing your instrument can be worked into your routine and truly become habit. And like all other constructive habits, it’s effectively free work.

Here are two essential strategies to help establish that habit. First, find a time when you can consistently practice. For myself, I’m an early bird and always ready for work much earlier than I need to be, so I can practice after I’m ready for work before I actually leave. My son has found the time before his daily chores, and my daughter the time immediately after schoolwork. Look through your day, and you’re sure to find some time somewhere.

Second, remember that you don’t HAVE to practice for a long time if you’re practicing daily. Five minutes is enough. If you’re like most people and you tell yourself “Anything less than an hour doesn’t count”, practice time will be something you dread, something that hangs over you, and something you never find time for. But surely you can find five minutes each day.

Once you’ve practiced 5 minutes, you’ll likely find many times through the week, you’ll keep practicing because you’re now enjoying it – this becomes more and more true the better you get, which of course only happens if you practice. But if after 5 minutes you don’t want to practice anymore, that’s fine, too. Stop. There’s tomorrow’s practice session to pick it up again.

Parents, if you’ve got a small child as a student, of course you’ll have to help them establish and maintain this habit. Just like my 9 year old still needs to sometimes be reminded to brush his teeth, he also needs to sometimes be reminded to practice as well. And just like with brushing teeth, once it’s a daily routine without exception, you meet minimal resistance when you remind them to practice.

Stick with the 5 minutes minimum each day at the same time, and I’m sure you’ll be satisfied with the results.

This is a question we’re often asked. Unfortunately, there’s not a single simple answer.

How often do you play? How long do you play? Where do you play? Where do you store your guitar? What’s your body chemistry like? What brand of strings do you use? How clean do you keep your hands before playing? Do you live on one of the barrier islands? Are you heavy-handed, or do you play with a light touch? How particular are you regarding your tone and ability to keep the instrument tuned? The answer to all of these questions matter when answering the question of “how often”, making it next to impossible to directly answer the question of “how often” when we’re asked.

What’s so bad about old strings anyway? The tone, the intonation, and the feel.

The tone of old strings will be sound dull and lifeless, almost as if when you strike a string you hear a “thud” rather than a tone. Since this is such a gradual process, your ear may not notice the degradation in tone on your guitar. But if your strings are long overdue to be changed, you will immediately hear the difference with a new set of strings. Every day I hear, “It’s sounds like a brand new guitar!” after I’ve changed someone’s strings that were overdue.

Old strings are much harder to keep in tune as well. You’ll particularly notice this on strings you tend to bend a lot, like the G and B strings.

Finally, old strings will have a rough feel to them, making slides, bends, and vibrato more difficult. This will be most noticeable on the thinner strings, like the E, B, and G.

So, back to the question of “how often”…. There are people who change there strings daily, and that’s right for them. That’s rather unusual, though. For most people, monthly to every three months will work out well. You’ll have to experiment to find the right frequency for you.

If in doubt, look at your E and B string. Are they still silver, are they discolored, or are they black? If they’re silver and you aren’t a professional, then you’re probably fine with the set you’ve got.

Somewhere in between, and you should consider changing them. If they’re black, you’re way overdue and need to think about not only changing them now, but also changing them more often.

Restring; includes polishing guitar, cleaning fret board and replacing the strings.
-Acoustic $15 (Plus the price of strings)
-Electric $15 (Plus the price of strings)

Basic Setup; includes restring, adjust truss rod, adjust action at nut (if applicable), adjust action at bridge, check intonation.
-Acoustic $25 (Plus the price of strings)
-Electric $25 (Plus the price of strings)

Replace nut; includes installing nut and basic setup.
-Acoustic & Electric $50 (Plus the price of strings and parts)

Replace tuning keys; includes replacing tuning keys and restring
-Acoustic & Electric $30 (Plus the price of strings and parts)

Pickup Installation; includes replacement and installation of pickup(s)
-Electric $30 for first pickup, $10 each additional (Plus the price of parts)

Electronic;
-Trouble-shoot: from $10
-Replace worn input jack: $15 (Plus parts)
-Replace worn or broken pots: $20 first pot, $5 each additional (Plus parts)

Special Instruments; An up-charge can be applied to the service of these instruments due to their complexity.
-12 String- up-charge for any service: $10
- Floyd Rose (or similar bridge) up-charge for any service: $30
-Hollow or Semi-Hollow Body Electronic up-charge: $35
-Classical/Nylon upcharge: $5

Additional Repairs; If you are inquiring about a repair not on this service list, please ask.

Woodwinds:

Clarinet/Student Oboe Full Re-pad;
- Economy (Just pads, corks extra) $100
- Complete $125-$150

Flute/Piccolo Full Re-pad;
- Economy $100
- Complete $125-$150
- Open Hole $200

Saxophone Full Repad;
- Soprano/Alto $200-250
- Tenor $250-300
- Baritone $300-$350

Replace;
- 1 pad $7
- 1 key cork $5
- 1 spring $10
- Mouthpiece cork $10
- Neck corck $15

Joint cork;
-1 for $10
-3 for $25

Brass

Trumpet;
-P/C Clean, corks, felts $50
-Free tuning slides $10-$25
-Valve work $25-$50

Trombone;
-P/C Clean, corks, felts $50
-Trombone Hand slide work $25-$75

Additional Repairs; If you are inquiring about a repair not on this service list, please ask.