“Superb playing and exemplary teaching.” Steve R. — Guitar Student
If you’re someone who’s passionate about learning country blues guitar (think people like Robert Johnson, Fred McDowell, Muddy Waters, or others), then these lessons could be a great match for you.
Here’s the big picture of what you can have with these 1-on-1 lessons,
Learning more blues repertoire (ie. songs like Crossroad Blues)
Filling out your fundamentals (ie. understanding the mechanics behind the songs)
Progressing in techniques, such as bottleneck slide or fingerstyle
And having a teacher hold you to your steady progress so there's less "stopping and starting" of learning
If those sound like things you’ve been itching to have, but haven’t had the time or energy to make it happen, keep on scrolling or swiping.
With that being said, complete beginners or people interested in different genres (like rock or country) are very much invited to explore if lessons would be a good match. If you’re one of these folks, I would suggest booking a discovery call to ensure there’s learning roadmap that fits your style and goals.
Let’s say this turned out to be a nice fit for your needs and you took lessons for a full year. Ideally, 12 months from now, you’ll comfortably know 20 new tunes which you can easily play to yourself or family, jam with friends, or play at BBQs. Plus, over that time-span, you’ll more than likely have an upgraded toolset of theoretical and technical knowledge based on learning how those songs work.
To dig in a bit more, we’ll go through the lessons on a song-by-song basis. To start, we’ll choose a song, and, over the course of 2-3 lessons (depending on your time to practice and pace of learning), learn the song’s ins and outs. Once you’ve learned the song, we’ll move onto a new song and carry out that same process, picking up theoretical and technical bits along the way. It’s a nice alternative to what can be a more banal pathway; that is, learning concept after concept, with little musical application.
Each week, we’ll meet for a 45 minute lesson, which includes a 15 minute “grace” period for the usual setup time, conversation catch-up, and in-case the lessons go overtime.
In case you’ve had private lessons before, you probably know that more time doesn’t always mean more learning, so the aim will be to keep these lessons concise and engaging for better learning “stickiness”.
If what you’ve read sounds good thus far, the next step is to ensure you’ve got these pandemic-proof, remote work supplies handy,
Next, there’s more information about lesson packages below and how that works, but, after you choose a lessons package, you’ll automatically get redirected to a bookings page (see above), where you can schedule your first Zoom blues lesson. After we meet and have that first lesson, from there, we can “play it by ear” and choose following lessons based on what fits your schedule best.
You’ve got some options, as far as price; the more lessons you get, the more you’ll save per lesson.
My recommendation would be to begin with a package of 4 lessons, and, if you’re satisfied with the progress and learnings, continue with packages of 12 lessons for a more ongoing engagement. That initial package of 4 lessons will provide the opportunity for meaningful change, while not risking too much money at once, and the package of 12 will give you the best value henceforth.
In case you’re quite happy with the arrangement and know you’d like to continue for, say, six months or a year, we can certainly chat directly and work something special out.
Access Ploddings video lesson content
Join Ploddings members' group on Facebook
Join Ploddings members' group on Facebook
Join Ploddings members' group on Facebook
Note: the only reason why I suggest to kindly book sooner rather than later is that I only take-on up to 10 students at a time. For the rest of my time, I work on other sub-projects related to Ploddings (such as more lesson content), and also I try to do my own practice and learning on the guitar.
In case there’s already a surplus of students and we can’t meet for lessons, don’t worry at all; I guarantee I’ll refund your purchase immediately and you’ll be prioritized when a spot frees up.
At the time of writing this, however, there’s room for get started with these online lessons.
What follows is a collection of testimonials and feedback from various people – past students, purchasers of the Ploddings membership, and Youtube viewers, which hopefully provides an approximate indication of the quality and depth you can expect from these 1-on-1 Zoom lessons.
For more context, please feel free to visit my Youtube channel, youtube.com/blah148, and browse through the comment sections on the library of videos.
I had the pleasure of working with Mitchell for 3 years in my quest to play fingerstyle blues guitar and learn all about Robert Johnson, Mississippi John Hurt and other legends.
Mitchell can not only play all the standards and classics flawlessly and with ease, but he has a knack of explaining the hand and chord positions in a manner that makes sense to the mere mortal guitar player. On top of the amazing chops and technical skills Mitchell has, he also has an amazing understanding of the musical history and impact on future generations each of the early masters has had on the blues genre.
Mitchell is the most talented guitar teacher I have met in my 40+ years of trying to improve my playing. Thank you Mitchell!
— Al K.
These lessons are mainly intended for blues guitar enthusiasts who would like to expand their repertoire, round-out their fundamentals, hone their theoretical and technical knowledge, or simply work with someone to hold them to their goals and progress.
With that being said, complete beginners and enthusiasts of other genres are more than welcome to purchase lessons. In such cases, we can discuss in more detail what you’d like to learn and if these lessons may be a helpful fit for you.
The roadmap is to ideally learn a song (in-depth) every 2-3 weeks, ensuring you completely understand it, and can “own” it for the future.
Using the songs as the “conversation-starters”, we can dive into theoretical or technical concepts which are related. That way, you can hopefully easily understand the practical uses of the theory and technique.
Each lesson is for 45min, though there’s a 15min grace period in case small talk, setup time, or other wild-cards use up lesson time.
As a musician, my time is quite flexible during the day. Upon purchasing your lessons package, you’ll see that you can easily book a time that works well for you in the calendar.
If your schedule is irregular, we can chat more about it as a special case to ensure it works out.
Ideally, I’ll only teach 10 students at a time. Though, depending on the time of year this may be flexible.
In case there’s currently no capacity for new students, I’ll immediately fully refund your purchase – no questions asked – and prioritize you on the lessons waiting list. Once an opening arises, I’ll reach out to you and in case you’re still looking for lessons at that time we can try again.
Your instructor is, myself; a Canadian named Mitchell Park, also known by the Youtube channel name of Blah148.
I began teaching on Youtube around 2011, and am excited to share as much I can about the guitar.
TYou can reserve lessons in packages, so that the more lessons you get, the more you save per-lesson.
To see the different packages available, please click here.
Yes — if the lessons you’ve purchased are yet to take place, you can have a those lessons refunded no problem.
As a default, we can use Zoom. Although, as a backup we can certainly use other options, such as Google Meet or Skype.
Yes and I’ll return your message within 1 day.
Here are the ways you can message me.
i. Ploddings contact page
ploddings.com/contact
ii. Email
mpark148@gmail.com
iii. Skype
live:mpark148
iv. Discord
blah148#9221
From a more scientific perspective, the reasons to make fresh, new leaps & bounds on the guitar are plentiful. The following are some quite interesting benefits of progressing with musical instruments:
According to the Autitory Neuroscience Laboratory in Northwestern University, learning an instrument strengthens memory and reading skills. It can also protect the brain against dementia.
Brain scans have shown a difference in brain structure between musicians and non-musicians. For musicians, the corpus callosum, a massive bundle of nerve fibers connecting the two sides of the brain, tends to be larger & filled with more gray matter.
Also, music increases blood flow to the left hemisphere of your brain, meaning that a 30-minute jam with friends may energize your mind more than an energy drink or two.
Though of course, as with anything, there are also health risks related to over-indulgent guitar practice. For example, in case you have conditions such as arthritis or back pain, it’s most likely important to practice moderately for the sake of your overall well-being.
In case you’re not in a position to try this private learning, another option is to join Ploddings.
Note: this GIF below is only grainy since it’s compressed; the actual site isn’t as grainy as it looks below..
With a Ploddings membership, you get access to 24 hours of delta blues lesson content (over 120 song lessons), covering greats such as Charley Patton and Peg Leg Howell, for less than $20 per year!
On top of that, you get tabs for every song (custom-commissioned for the site, so they won’t be found elsewhere), as well as a members’-only Facebook group where you can interact with other members.
In case that sounds interesting to you, click here to find out more.
Otherwise, I hope to see you soon for your next big guitar leap with private Zoom lessons!