For the third episode of the podcast, I interview Ben Heffernan from his home basement studio. Ben is an accomplished guitarist, composer, and performer, at the tender age of 17.

After talking to him and listening to some of his music, I realize I’m lucky to have caught him now. In due time Ben will be too popular to talk to me

Ben shares with me how he got started, his process for learning and practicing, and his tips for us so we too can be better guitarists.

Ben Heffernan

From Ben’s website: Ben Heffernan is a 17-year-old award-winning singer-songwriter from London, Ontario. He has been performing as a solo artist since 2014, and has played over 100 shows since.

Heffernan considers John Mayer, U2, Gavin James and James Bay to be the artists who have influenced his folk-pop sound the most. His live performances have drawn comparisons to Ed Sheeran due to his use of live looping to create additional layers of instrumentation and backing vocals.

Even though 2016 resulted in a Jack Richardson London Music Award win, 2017 has proved to be this young artist’s best year to date. He supported the release of his first EP, Different Wars, with two sold-out London release shows. Different Wars manages to draw from many of Heffernan’s diverse influences yet still retain its identity. Among others, it has drawn praise from Hawksley Workman (Juno-winning singer-songwriter) and Steve Patterson (host of CBC’s The Debaters). Heffernan has been gigging non-stop ever since this release and has several high-profile shows lined up in the near future.

Ben’s Gear

Ben has several guitars, but his current favourite seems to be his Epiphone Casino. He also showed me his beautiful blue Fender Telecaster.

Main takeaways

After talking to two veteran guitarists in episode 1 and 2, Ben presented me with a bit of a fresh approach.

Songs

Ben seems to be focused on songs. Whether he’s trying to play a new song he heard on the radio on the way home from school or composing his own, his approach is to break it down into familiar parts and focus on the difficult ones until he has it down.

He values learning scales, but in his experience, they are helpful tools for those who already have a grasp of the instrument.

Ben is a song guy. While it seems a bit simplistic at first, isn’t it what we all want though? To play songs? So this made a lot of sense to me:

• Find songs you want to play.
• Learn how to play them.
• Before you know it you’ll be writing your own.

Practice

Ben also discouraged practicing for the sake of practicing. He is of the opinion that if you enjoy playing as an end in itself, that becomes your practice. You practice because you enjoy your guitar and can’t be away from it for too long. Practice is important, but it’s also important to not let practice take the place of the fun. Practice every day because you enjoy playing the guitar every day.

Encourage your children

As a father of 3 young children, I was inspired by Ben’s story. Here’s a guy who was encouraged by his parents to play music. He also worked hard, saved his own money to buy his gear, and now is actually playing gigs.

If your child shows an inclination to music, let them explore it.

Links mentioned in this episode

• Ben Heffernan’s Website
• Epiphone Casino Guitar
• Fender Telecaster Guitar
• Studio Arts Music Academy and Rock School

For this second episode of the podcast, I spoke with the incredibly talented and generous Steve Stine.

Steve is a YouTube celebrity, known worldwide for his instructional videos. He’s also an amazing guitar player and tours the world playing with different bands.

Steve really inspired me. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.

Enjoy this episode and drop me a note below!

Steve Stine

Steve Stine is famous for his almost magical ability to quickly help guitarists overcome obstacles and rapidly advance their playing to a level they never dreamed possible without having to practice for long hours or even knowing how to read music.

Steve has an unbelievable selection of courses available here.

Steve holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from Minnesota State University. He’s played lead-guitar in dozens of bands, touring the U.S. and UK. And he’s been helping guitarists quickly achieve their goals for over 25 years.

Steve’s Gear

Steve has several guitars, but his favourite is his 10th Anniversary Ibanez Jem (Steve Vai edition).

During our conversation, he mentioned that he stopped using it in his video lessons because the fretboard design made it difficult for students to see what fret he was using

Links mentioned in this episode

• Ibanez Jem on Amazon.com
• Steve Stine courses
• Steve’s Guitar Club
• Steve’s favourite guitar shop: Flatland Guitar
• Online guitar shop: sweetwater.com
• Online guitar shop: Musician’s Friend
• Netflix show: Hired Gun
• Movie: Crossroads

Today I visited my friend Larry Smith in his beautiful home in London, Ontario, Canada. Press the ‘play’ button above to listen to today’s episode.

Larry is an old friend whom I met during my years as a swing dancer. He led a group called The Jitterbugz and played lots of swing-era jazz that was just perfect for dancers. Over the years we kept in touch and it was great to spend this time with him.

I learned a lot from Larry today and I have no doubt his style will influence me as I get better in my playing.

Enjoy this first episode and drop me a note below!

Larry Smith

Larry Smith has been a professional guitarist since 1973. He has given guitar performances all over North America, in Europe and in asia with pop groups, folk groups, blues bands and jazz combos which demanded that he’d learn and know many different types of music and guitar styles.

He has taught guitar since 1980, working with guitarists in helping them prepare for admission requirements into music studies at various schools including the Unversity Of Western Ontario, Music Industry Arts program at Fanshawe College, Mohawk College in Hamilton and Humber College in Toronto.

Larry has given instruction to numerous other guitar teachers, offering them better understanding of the guitar and/or music in general, helping develop improved teaching techniques and skills.

Larry’s Gear

Larry has a number of guitars, and admitted to having gas: guitar acquisition syndrome

His favourite, at least when I visited him, seemed to be a 1944 semi-hollow Epiphone Triumph, which he named Mike after his brother. It has a single Dearmond pickup.

Links

• You can look at a few Epiphone guitars on Amazon here. 
• Larry’s website and contact information
• Dearmond pickups
• London Music Club
• Fionn MacCools
• The London Club

Welcome to episode ‘zero’ of Hey, Let’s Learn! (Press ‘play’ above to listen)

The premise for this project is simple:

1. I want to learn new skills.
2. It’s hard to make time and stick with learning something new.
3. Most everyone I know wants to learn new things and also finds it hard to stick with learning.
4. Accountability is a powerful tool to help me finish what I started.

Hey, Let’s Learn! is my attempt to focus on a new skill I want to develop, while sharing my journey with you and creating powerful accountability to ensure I’ll do it.

Electric Guitar

So I want to start by being a better guitar player. I learned a few chords on the acoustic guitar some 25 years ago while in high school, but have been in a plateau ever since.

Last year I had an opportunity to play the electric guitar at a company event and that stirred the passion in me again to learn more and be a better musician.

In the past few years, I have learned that the secret to get something big done is this:

• Define what you want to do.
• Come up with a plan.
• Share the plan with a bunch of people.
• Work the plan.
• Share your journey with a bunch of people again.

This formula has done amazing things for me, including the publication of my first book.

So I decided to take this approach to my learning.

In the next few months I’m going to take my guitar playing to the next level, and I’m going to take you with me on this journey.

Here’s my plan:

First, I am going to interview a number of guitar players and instructors I respect. I want them to tell me what works for most people who want to learn the guitar and become better musicians. I’ll ask them about their journey, their gear, their approach, their music, and what advice they’ll have for me.

After that, I’ll come up with a plan for myself. I am a busy professional with three children, so I don’t have a lot of spare time. I will work on a plan that is efficient and will get me to the next level pretty quick.

I will then work this plan and share my progress with you. My plan is to share it here on this  site and also on a YouTube channel.

In my selfish intention to learn a new skill, I hope to inspire you to do the same.

Until next time, hey, let’s learn!