I'm going to share with you my story about my search for a full-time metal guitar rock fucking academy around the world. I called this operation Metal Hogwarts
Few words about myself. I'm a 30-year-old guy from a minor city Murmansk in northern Russia. I've became passionate about metal and acoustic music at age of 13-15 and always wanted to start a band, write songs about stories and emotions. However, I've always found excuses not to do so: education, finding source of living, low self-esteem (am I cut out for this?), relationships etc. I started to play guitar more than 10 years ago but have done it so infrequently that it might not be worth mentioning at all. Lately I found out that I have both resources and decisiveness to make the dream come true. I started with more constant guitar lessons (hey Gab!), collaborations and music video making:
After couple of years of guitar self education I found out that I'm tired of sitting and practicing alone, so I've made up my mind to find a community of musical soulbuddies to share passion, ideas and fun. I made a global research of institutes that answer the following requirements:
- full-time education; - English (or Russian haha) language; - contemporary music (metal, rock, country, soundtracks etc.) emphasis; - low admission requirements; - flexibility in both individual studying plan and length of programs they offer; - reasonable tuition fees.
The best option I found was Musicians Institute in Los Angeles.
It answered to my needs better than any other institute around the globe and I went for it. I've chosen 1.5 year Guitar Performance program and now I'm starting my third quarter. It was super scary and challenging in the beginning but I'm happy about my decision to come here: I dived into performance (never been on stage before!), music theory&harmony, vocal lessons and ear training all of which opened a whole new perspective on musical world for me.
By the end of the second quarter I surprisingly formed a band (!!!) of symphonic power metal dudes from Russia (guitar), France (drums), Poland (keys) and USA (bass, vocals). We called it Everdream and already performed one cover song at the main Concert Hall Metal Show - Bless the Child, Nightwish.
Here's a few of my performances at Live Performance Workshops (where you learn a song with a tab and perform it with random fellow musicians):
Facts about my program:
- every quarter consists of mandatory 6-7 classes, Live Performance Workshops, 1-2 electives and a private lesson every week with any tutor you want; - every quarter costs around $7000 depending on classes you choose, housing costs around another $1000/month; - there's around 30% of international students and lots of internationals among the faculty (the head of Guitar Program is from Norway); - there's masterclasses with guest musicians, Open Counselings (every teacher has an hour/two during the week when you can come to discuss any question or just jam together); - practice rooms operate 24/7; - MI operates year round with two week holidays between quarters.
That's it so far! If you have any questions go ahead and ask
Recently I thought about learning some Blind Guardian songs. However, when I got the guitar pro tabs for most of their songs, I noticed that almost all of them have a tuning down 1/2 step. I attach here some examples.
Do they really use this tuning for most of the songs and if yes - why?
What is the right hand tecnique in the beginning? I mean playing down-down-down-down-up. Is there any lesson on GMS showing how to play this one or similar?