Allen Hopgood

17/08/2024

Exciting news!

I started a community for acoustic guitar beginners to play their favourite songs with confidence and enjoy playing with friends and family in a supportive group—all without feeling overwhelmed or frustrated.

Comment “PLAY” and I’ll invite you for free!

(You must be following me so I can send you a
DM).

16/07/2022

Does your strumming hand feel like a drunk on payday? Don’t know whether you should strum up or down?



These feelings are quite common for the adult beginner guitar player. It can take a while to develop a strong inner sense of rhythm. To get foundational strumming ‘mechanics’ locked in. Generally the feelings of frustration and confusion are caused by trying to play a full strumming pattern straight out of the gate…



Thankfully, there’s a very simple solution to take control of your strumming hand. So it does what it is meant to do - make chords sound great and play music in time.

Instead of sweating over how the strumming pattern goes, get a pulse of the music/song going first. You can do this by tapping your foot or clapping your hands to the beat of the song. Spend some time with this as it doesn’t always come easy at first for many people. When you can feel the beat pulsating through your body, start strumming down only and match that pulse you feel.



To really get this, play a section of the song (chord progression or a verse for example) while strumming down on the pulse. Repeat this until you don’t have to think about the chord progression or the down strum. Once that feels good for you, start adding the rest of the pattern in slowly. One beat or up strum at a time.



Too much information at once quickly overloads the brain. And the messages it sends to both hands, get scrambled and lost - hence the drunk on payday feeling.



Learning new things on your guitar as a beginner is so much easier when you do it in small bites. And if you’re looking to get started quickly playing some great songs, you’ll find this is the fastest way to get there.

14/07/2022

Often the gap between learning something new for the very first time, and where you can play it easily is huge. The process requires an unknown period of time to develop the skills, and multiple attempts before we can get it to the point where It’s enjoyable and fun to play.



While these gaps can seem large, beginners often make it longer by simply trying to learn too much at once. 



This results in mental fatigue. When you have too much information to recall at once, you forget what you are learning and is often coupled with bouts of frustration.



To minimise this, there are 3 simple action steps you can take to make the process quicker and easier so you can have more fun every step of the way. It’s a great way to learn, because you get instant feedback as you go and you see immediate results.



The 3 Action Steps Are:



1. Break what you’re working on down into small, bite-size steps. Instead of learning the entire verse section of a song - you may find it easier to learn 2 chords at a time so you can remember them better.



2. Slow it down to a pace that suits you. If you're learning the verse section of Brown Eyed Girl for example, playing along with that song at full tempo is going to trip you up. It’s very fast. You’ll feel like you’re not good enough or you’ll never get it.

The truth is you are good enough. You will get it - when you slow it down and learn it a comfortable speed. Even if it is at half the tempo, this will make it easier for your brain to send the right instructions to your fingers.



3. Now with your section small enough, and the pace slow enough, play this over and over again. With repetition being the mother of all skill, too many beginner players think they will get it at full speed and after one run through.



After nearly 40 years of playing guitar I still follow this process of learning new things. I train my students on this process and it makes practicing so much easier for them. It helps them to get it quicker PLUS it allows learning to be fun and stress free.

13/07/2022

There are many challenges that stand in a beginner guitar players way to playing songs. Chord changes, strumming patterns and remembering the sections of the song - are all potential roadblocks when you are just getting started.

Yes, sore fingers are a rite of passage. And it does take practice, patience and training to develop your skills. But where a lot of beginners go wrong, is that they think they need to learn scales, music theory and how to read music.

For sure they are all good to know - just not right now. You learnt to talk before you learnt to spell, didn’t you?



To get into playing songs quickly, focus solely on chords - how to fret them and change them. Work on getting a steady strum going with the beat of the music, before adding the strumming pattern.

And only learn songs. Songs that you connect with and make you feel something when you hear them.

Do those 3 things and you won’t want to stop practicing.

05/07/2022

I remember as a beginner, trying to copy chord shapes from a busker songbook. And how odd It felt, trying to move my fingers into crazy positions they weren't used to.

Not too mention the 'finger gymnastics' required to change from one chord to the other...

It was a struggle for months. When all I wanted to do was play some songs I liked in the songbook.

What I didn't know then, was that the tendons, muscles and ligaments in our hands, need time to soften, to gain the dexterity to easily adapt to these strange shapes, and develop the accuracy to land on the exact string and the right fret - all at the same time.

Thankfully, I was 13 when I started playing guitar. I didn't have years (or decades) of hard work in my hands like most adults do, when they pick up the guitar for the first time.

And this is why traditional open chord shapes like G, C and F don't play well with adult beginner guitar players...

Your hands are too 'set in their ways' right now to play and change those guitar chord shapes quickly.

I have seen many a watch maker, trades person, even white collar workers, walk away from the guitar, because it felt too hard and took too long to play a song...

How do I know? I used to teach traditional open chord shapes to adults just starting out - and 9 out of 10 failed. Yep, not great stats...

Until I found these little known 'easy-change' chords, that some singer-songwriters use, that give adult beginner guitar players almost instant results in playing songs. Some in as little as 30-minutes...

So if you're interested in playing songs sooner rather than later, and want to avoid the typical months of frustration and doubt of learning to play and change traditional open guitar chords, I have put together an 'Easy-Change Chords' cheatsheet - and it's yours free.

Simply message me below with "CHORDS" and I'll get it to you.

29/06/2022

Hey fellow strummers and pickers,

As you may or may not know, I help adults to play guitar at campfires and parties.

Would you know of anyone who would be interested in this?

24/06/2022

ATTENTION: Acoustic Beginner Guitarist

If you find yourself 'learning' but not playing, the good news there's an easier way to getting started quickly.

In a 2-hr workshop on Saturday 2nd of July, I will share with you a simple solution to playing and practicing songs.

Click this link for all the information and to register:
https://www.goldcoastschoolofguitar.com/getting-started...

08/06/2022

Struggling to have fun playing and singing songs on your acoustic guitar at campfires and parties? This short video shows you all you need to know to make any campfire jam come to life:

Guitar Lessons for Adults Gold Coast

07/12/2021

Hi it's Allen here.

If you live in the Gold Coast area and you're interested in the best guitar lessons in Coomera, QLD then, I am the man to see.

Simply watch this short video for all the details of how to book your free introductory session:

Best Guitar Lessons In Coomera, QLD - http://www.GoldCoastSchoolOfGuitar.com - If you're searching for Best Guitar Lessons In Coomera, QLD then watch this vi...

01/12/2021

You know all those excuses you're holding onto as to why you can't play songs on your guitar? Well I've just taken everyone of them away. Click here for details: https://www.acousticcovermastery.com/secrets