Guitar Philosophy Archives

The greatest guitarists are more than guitarists, they are artists and musicians who play the guitar. Often, they are poets, philosophers and even mystics.

“Guitar Philosophy” explores this deeper dimension of our art. Jamie explores the many ways in which becoming a guitar player and musician relates to our psychology and our spirituality.

Jamie sums up her philosophy in the statement “What you are as a person is what you will be as a guitarist”.

Practice is Meditation, Playing Is Prayer

Enlightenment is not a matter of seeing something new. It is finally seeing what you have been looking at all the time………..Jamie AndreasI often summarize my teaching this way: "I teach you how to pay attention, and what to pay

Patience & Guitar Practice

Imagine a farmer who has planted his field with corn on Sunday. On Monday, he comes to check his field and sees no corn growing. He starts stamping his feet and swearing at the soil, saying it is no good

Plateaus

Guitar Playing Plateau? What To DoA student once asked me “how do you handle it when you hit a plateau, when you feel like you are stuck and you can’t get past the level you are at”. Now, of course,

The Meaning Of Life

The most difficult thing in life is finding something worth living for. The second most difficult thing is knowing when you've found it......Jamie AndreasOkay, let's be light hearted for once. Let's not talk about some heavy subject. Let's pick something

Mark Twain On Practicing Guitar

"Life is one damn thing after another!"...........................Mark TwainMark Twain, being a humorist, often put profound insights into humorous form. One can find the inner meaning of the above quote in the writings of great philosophers, mystics, and saints. This saying

Climb Every Mountain

The longer I teach, the more I am impressed with one unassailable fact: most of what becoming good or great on the guitar is about has nothing to do with "musical ability". It has everything to do with that group

The Fundamentals of Fun

We "play" the guitar...and you can't play if you don't know how to have fun!The subject of Fun is one of the most serious topics we can discuss. One of the greatest achievements of my lifetime has been the maintenance

Becoming The Music

Why We Play MusicWhy do we play music? What is the root, the fundamental thing we are really doing when we play and practice music? We play music because a great desire has been awakened in us; and that great desire

Mystery, Beauty and Grace

In my study of great musicians, I have noticed that the very greatest are also very spiritual. Bach, Beethoven, Barrios, Santana - anyone of whom I have ever heard or read, and believe to be a divinely inspired musician, has

The Inner Master

Of all the things you can do to make sure you are enabling yourself to achieve your guitar playing dreams, finding the Inner Master is the greatest. All great players have found the Inner Master. The Inner Master wants us