Uncle Tim's First Year

Uncle Tim's First Year There are two ways to go about learning to play guitar.

One way is to learn three chords and play them over and over for years.

The other way is to learn and develop your skills and then actually spend time playing the guitar.

Uncle Tim's First Year is all about identifying, engaging and developing these skills.

The greatest attribute of this book is the easy, fun way you can engage it and use it to actually become a very good guitar player. Thousands of people have learned to play using this book and it is widely considered the best friend a new guitar player could ever have.

It is quite possibly the only resource you will need besides a good guitar, a fresh set of strings and some time. If you really want to play this instrument, this may be the greatest opportunity you will have to get it right.

So why is this book so different than all the others? What is so special about it?

The guitar is a very rich instrument. As soon as you begin to play it regularly, you also begin to generate a bunch of questions.

How do you hold it? How do you hold your hand when you play chords? How do you play leads? How do you finger pick? Or maybe something like, why can't I make this string stop buzzing? Why can't I play that chord?

There are a million questions you will ask yourself. And many of them are very subtle in nature. They seem to slip in the back of your brain and quietly sit there and cause problems for you. Until you answer them! Then they become tools! Some of the answers are so helpful, they will change your life. If you can answer them properly, you can make progress fast. Much faster than if you just tried to experiment.

Think about how much time you will spend playing a guitar. Over the months it adds up quickly. It can be much more than you might think. Look at how many hours you will play each year if you practice for 30 minutes a day, alonst every day

Minutes A Day	Days	Total Min.	Total Hours Per Year
30	330	9,900	165 hours
120	330	39,600	660 hours

That adds up to 165 hours a year. If you play for two hours a day, it goes up to 660 hours. That is a very big investment in time, money, energy and thinking. But when you pace it over the course of a year or so, it becomes comfortable. That's why we do it.

But if you are going to devote this much time to doing something, doesn't it make sense to invest 15 dollars for a guide to learning and understanding the guitar? Think about it. With a little amount of guideance and help, you can shape that 165 hours to take you into very different places. Instead of just playing a few chords and always wondering how to play what you want, you can gain an understanding of how you would do it. If someone helps you learn that, all of the sudden, this takes on new meaning. A deeper meaning. That means every time you approach the guitar, you can't wait to pick it up and try something. It means you delight in the fact that your skills keep getting better on a regular basis. Your confidence soars, because you can feel a very real change take place. That is what you want! Isn't it?

That what the guitar can bring. But only if you take that 165 hours a year and invest it wisely. And in case you think that means tons of work, don't believe it! It is no harder to play well than it is to play poorly. In fact it gets easier all the time. It's not hard to see that there is an incredible amount of fun tied up in learning and playing.

For many years I have looked forward to Thursday night because they meant JAM SESSIONS. Show up, play some cool stuff and get a chance to try lots of new ideas. A good understanding of music made that happen for me. It can be fun for you too, but it really helps to start and go about it the right way.

Here is an example of why the right way can be more fun than the old standard way. Remember how most teachers would give you some songs to play. You went out and memorized the songs that you thought you should know.

You are not playing for me. You are playing for yourself, go play the songs you want to play. I can show you how to pick songs that will serve you better than others. But you will get much more out of it if you pick your own. I don't want to play the songs you want me to play. I want to play the songs I want to play. And you should too. It makes it much more interesting.

But as soon as you do that, you will generate a bunch of questions. Every time. I do. Even after 30 years, I still generate lots of questions about new songs or intriguing parts. Answering these questions as soon as you think of them can have a big impact on how well you can play and how much you enjoy it. It helps you break through barriers and make progress fast and at the same time you grow a solid understanding of music.

How do you use this book?

Uncle Tim's First Year can be used as a stand alone teacher that you can rely on month after month or you can use it with a guitar teacher. You can read it word for word or use it to learn chords and dabble with the musical concepts when you can.

You can use it for daily structured study or just to help you when you feel like examining something specific. It is great to read during quiet times, just for enjoyment.

If you are really trying to shorten the learning curve and elevate your skill level dramatically, Uncle Tim's First Year can show you how to become better than most guitarists in a matter of weeks. It can provide all the rock solid information that every good guitarist needs to know and understand.

How Many People Do You Know That Tried To Play And Failed?

If learning to play a guitar is such an easy thing to do, everyone who tried to play it would now be a guitar player. However most people fail to learn anything about the instrument and lose interest within a few weeks. Why does that happen?

Better yet, how do you avoid it?

When you try to learn, you have to acquire something you do not already have. Sounds simple but struggle with a first time learning experience and this will take on a lot of meaning.

Skill, knowledge and the desire to use it. The more you learn and play, the more fun you have. As you begin to be able to control the instrument, it becomes much more interesting. At first you think about trying to play the chord right. After a while, you think about the sound of the music. But getting that to happen is not as easy as it sounds.

You have to learn a little and you have to teach your hands what to do. You must learn to train the muscles in your fretboard hand while coordinating movement with your pick (finger or flat pick) hand. You have to memorize some chords and/or single note passages. Then you have to know how and when to use them.

When enough of these challenges (and a couple of others) have been conquered, you become a guitar player (more or less). So how do you do that? Taking up the challenge without knowing what to do is difficult because you don't know where to start or how to proceed. If you did, you would just go do it and that would be that.

But remember, most people fail! Why?

There is a lot to know and if you pick the wrong tools, you may waste your time. And that doesn't get you any closer to getting what you want. That becomes very discouraging.

So what do you do? Pick the tools that will make it the easiest and give you the greatest chance of getting what you want. Why take chances with something that may not deliver?

This may be the only chance you get to play a guitar and you don't want to waste it. If there is an easy and complete way available that delivers results, why would you do anything else?

This is what Uncle Tim's First Year will do for you. And that is a very big statement.

It will teach you how to play. You will get lots and lots of exercises directly tied to specific concepts. You will understand the concepts easily, so you will not waste time wondering or practicing the wrong way.

You can rest assured you are getting the tools to lead you in the musical direction you want to go. Controlling your direction is a very powerful tool. You go right to the heart of the issues and learn what you need to know. You will not have to look in several different sources for the answers to your questions, you can get it all in one place and go through it as you have time.

You can go at your own pace! Some of the people that write to us tell us Uncle Tim's First Year is the first place they go for answers and the only one of their resources they come back to, time after time.

This did not happen by accident. You can play the songs you like and you will learn how they are created. You will like it because it adds meaning directly to what you are doing, not what someone else wants you to learn. This will translate into getting more control, going deeper and being more expressive with your music. Everyone that plays guitar, wants that. Even if they just play at campfires.

If you get an idea of what you want to hear, you can go after it and get the results you want. Anyone can use this method to become a guitar player. All you have to do is start at the beginning. Learning to play is not difficult, but there is a specific way to proceed! If you miss the boat, you may not recover. So ask yourself this question. How bad do you want this? If you really want to learn to play the guitar, do not take chances!

And for the price of $15, what is the downside? The next 165 hours are at stake. The questions start coming right away. I bet you already have a bunch of questions right now!

Here is a big secret

If you put in time up front and apply yourself right away, you will get much farther along and much faster than if you just play a few chords and try to learn some songs. Even if you just use a structured program for a few months, it will pay huge dividends and allow you to become much better in a very short amount of time. Much better, much quicker.

It's like stepping on the gas.

Then if you go back to just learning a few songs and practicing a little, you can have and keep this hobby for the rest of your life. If you want to get even better, you will know how to go about that. So you control the speed and direction for yourself.

That creates a big difference when you compare that approach to just playing around a little. The time investment is not that much more and the payback is much, much bigger.

Once it becomes fun, it draws you back to the instrument time after time. Why do you think advanced guitar players play so much? Because they are good at it and they enjoy it. If you can secure that for yourself, you can get the same thing these guitar players get. And all of that is available for $14.95. That is less than the cost of one lesson.

Uncle Tim's First Year Is A Complete Program And A Long Term Resource

This is a complete program that will provide direction for at least one year. There are some concepts for guitar, which when learned and practiced will remove the confusion and unlock how it all works.

These must be learned if you want to cross the barriers to becoming a guitar player. The secret is in how a person is taught. If you pick a tool that provides lessons in the exact way you think, you will understand right away. If it flows smoothly from concept to concept you will be able to link concepts and get an idea of how things happen. When you make a strong connection between concepts, it seems to hit you right between the eyes.

Uncle Tim's First Year can open a whole new world right before your eyes. Powerful learning experiences do more than just teach, they inspire you to take control. Also it must be fun. One of the reasons we play the guitar is to have fun. The best resources will do all this for you.

Melodic outbursts, emotional musical statements and lightning fast passages must be developed. They don't just show up, they are created. Often they are created by people that previously thought they couldn't. Honest!

There are some reasons why all this happens. When I started to play, it took three different attempts and it only really happened the third time. I know what it is like to be unsure of how to proceed. I understand about the questions that flood into your brain and present problems if they are not answered. I know what must happen to understand the answers. I know what happens if you pick the wrong resource.

I have played for over 30 years and I have studied very hard for most of those years. I know what is important. I know what to say and how to reinforce it so the light bulb goes on.

Want two more reasons?

One, I have developed a visual mapping system that explains everything that can happen in music on a guitar. It is used by experts every day. The C. F. Martin Guitar Company sells it in their factory outlet store. They specilize in expert level guitars.

And then I used it to map all the different kinds of exotic tonal centers and everything else a guitarist is likely to ever see. Just look at the eBook titles and you can get a glimpse of these things. Remember these things are documented completely. All of them! They all relate to each other, and the physical mapping system shows it all. Visually!

Two, I am somewhat lazy. Like most people, I don't want to do more than what is necessary. I have too much to do to waste time. I just want to play, and I want everything at my fingertips right away. Can't be done? Oh yes it can!

Uncle Tim's First Year is a very efficient method of learning. It is quite different than what is available elsewhere. You have to practice at least some, in order to teach your fingers. You also need to combine it with the songs you like. Not the ones I like.

Every person that ever learned to play repeated songs over and over countless times. You will only do this with something that you enjoy. Or else you will never put in enough time to get very good. No secret there, but this is often overlooked! And it is pivotal.

I can show you the important concepts in a way you will understand and like! Promise! I back these books with a 100% guarantee and I have been doing it for over nine years. This web site has been up since 1995 (Fall).

If it didn't work, I would have been out of here a long time ago. If you have any doubts, take a look at what the reader comments say. Some of them even surprise me.

None of this happened by mistake. Uncle Tim's First Year is used by teachers in over 40 states for very good reasons. It gets 5 star reviews at Amazon.com. It has been shipped to every continent on the planet (OK, we don't currently ship to Antarctica), and we hardly ever advertise. How did that happen? Friends tell friends!

Here is another example. This is an advanced example. I learned my scales for the guitar the traditional way. All of them! I read musical notation and learned where to place my fingers. I memorized every key, all the sharps and enharmonic spellings. Then I started to map out the fretboard visually. I think visually and that is how I like to get my information. I can naturally understand it and it can happen quickly. In other words, it's easy and fast. So I mapped out the entire fretboard and saw some things that startled me and made me mad. I found out the people teaching me did not necessarily know all this stuff. They knew some of it, but it became evident there were some holes in their knowledge base. I found out that this is pretty common. And most people try to cover those holes up, so you don't know who knows what.

What made me mad was this. I spent years learning scales by using the traditional methods. These were the same methods that were supposed to be the correct way to learn.

Then I took the information I had learned at such a great cost of time and money, and mapped it out visually. The difference in the ease of communication, not to mention what you could see at a glance, made this comparison a "no brainer".

I found this out by visually mapping and by improvising guitar leads over someone else's work. What I learned is this. There is a simple pattern of notes on the fretboard. It is so simple that anyone can learn it. Once learned, it gives the person immediate access to every scale for every key for the entire fretboard. It is so easy and 100% complete. It actually explains everything if you look at it and examine the rules.

BUT THE POINT IS, I WAS BEING TAUGHT THE SLOWEST AND MOST DIFFICULT WAY. THAT MADE ME MAD! It did not have to be so hard. It actually could have been much easier and that additional time could have been poured into getting better.

Here is my answer. Pick a resource that will explain all the concepts in a way you can understand and transfer to the guitar, and do not shy away from work. Anyone who learned to play the guitar, had to put in work. There are no exceptions to this.

You must work the muscles in your hands and arms. They must know what to do. You cannot play the guitar if you do not know how to! So the first thing you do is learn and exercise.

Sounds simple but consider this. There are several ways to pick up a guitar, some ways are better than other ways. There are several ways to sound the notes, like strumming, finger picking, flat picking and double picking.

Shouldn't you be aware of them and how to correctly use these techniques when you want them? There are lots of ways to make mistakes. Mistakes that must either be corrected or unlearned later. The longer it takes to unlearn them, the greater the damage. If you are trying to learn, take the easiest, surest way of getting a grip. Leave nothing to chance. By the way, this is no harder than learning the wrong way! Do not cheat yourself.

Order Uncle Tim's First Year right now and put this beginner stuff to rest once and for all!

You might be saying but "I only want to play a little. I am not planning on becoming a professional. Do I really need the best method?" Mistake! Yes, you need the easiest and surest way. If you aren't willing to put in the time to make mistakes and then recover from them, you need to get it right the first time. Just like everybody else.

Most of the time you pick up a guitar to play, you will play for over one half-hour.

A half hour! What is your time worth? It won't take long to get 15 dollars worth out of it! Figure it out now before you start. Order it now!

You will probably only give yourself one or two chances to get this right before the other aspects of your life start to make demands on this block of time. Do it right the first time and put it to rest. Make the guitar a part of your life.

Remember we offer a lifetime 100% money back guarantee to anyone and everyone. What are you waiting for? This is fun! Order it now!

Errata Sheets For the Fifth Printing

Notice: The current version is the sixth printing. It has been shipping since February 2006.

Uncle Tim's First Year $14.95

Uncle Tim's Building Blocks $19.95

Uncle Tim's Book of Chords $19.95

Purchase all three and get a free leather pickcase. $54.85

Uncle Tim's First Year Price $14.95
Author: Tim Gillespie
First printing 1998, second printing 1999, third printing 2000,
fourth printing 2001, fifth printing 2002, sixth printing 2006
88 pages
112 photos
Hundreds of illustrations
Cover: 4 color, film laminate, perfect binding (this binding will not tear out)
ISBN 0-9647059-5-8
Library of Congress Card Catalog Number 97-092762
Price $14.95
Publisher: MOUNTAIN STUDIOS

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Uncle Tim's First Year

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