East Cobb Guitar Lessons

Hello All- Man..I don’t think it get’s much more fun than this!  We are at year 3 and East Cobb Guitar Lessons continues to achieve what I originally had conceived….guitar that makes sense!  As I have progressed now having literally thousands of lessons under my belt I’ve learned to adjust my guitar skills with my educational skills and I think they are aligning flawlessly.  East Cobb Guitar Lessons was a concept I had to combine alot of the curriculum from The Atlanta Institute Of Music (which I attended in the mid 90s) to alot of the guitar ideas I had retained from years of private lessons, music book study and also from the great guitar players that I had encountered and still encounter.  Guitar is a lifelong  journey…the concept of a destination is laughable.  I have students that started in high school and have since went on to form college bands to students that are now 9 or 10 and are playing their first elementary school talent shows to students with college age kids that are just now having time to re-visit the guitar passion they had before their college experience, kids and career.  It does’nt matter where you are at music is good for the soul!  And for me, well, my musical soul gets some filling with my family (i.e. the East Cobb Guitar Lessons family) every week and when that’s not enough you will find me studying music charts and writing and recording my own music by late night.  You might even catch me on stage in some smoky blues bar on open jam night around Marietta on the weekend if you look hard enough.  Who knows?  One place you can ALWAYS find me is in the studio of East Cobb Guitar Lessons and I’ve always got an extra amp on and a cord ready for ya!  Or a stool and a pic if ya lost yours if your an acoustic guitar kinda person but you get my point…the light is on.  Let’s hit some campfire singalongs or some garage jams this summer!!  Happy picking!!  Shane Prentice

Howdy all!  Man..what a fun year!  I’m excited about the new studio and the move my wife and I made.  The audio and design work took me a few months to tighten up in the studio but I think it all pays off in the end.  Contractor white walls in a cubicle being treated like a number is NOT how we operate around here.  Some things haven’t changed.  My competitors(Draisen Edwards,Jennings Music,Music And Arts) still try to hire me.  I still refuse.  Still will refuse.  I’m not going to drag people along hoping to retire teaching them a few chords every few months.  When I attended Atlanta Institute Of Music with the intention of teaching guitar I had already taken my fair share of private lessons in the expensive cubicle in the retail music store.  I always found myself lighter in the wallet with not much to show for it talent wise.  I was somehow convinced that you had to pay $30 for a half hour of someones time to learn a new chord.  I will never subject my students to that “drag ‘em along so you don’t lose ‘em” mentality.  I always have and always will promise you this:  if you come out for your first lesson and don’t walk away sounding musical on guitar it’s on me.  Period.  That’s how confident I am about what I do.  That being said,  I’m excited to announce that I’m going to be holding music theory classes on Saturdays at 1P.M.  Don’t get nervous about words like “theory” and “music” being mixed.  This is painless and I’m offering these guys for $10 to exsisting students and $15 for non-existing so you can’t beat it.  And those who are already in the East Cobb Guitar Lessons family will attest…I can get long winded about things I’m passionate about.  These will go for an hour on a short day!  Anyhoo, I hope this blog finds you and yours well and Santa is coming soon so if you know someone(or you yourself) who seems to want to dig into that musical hole in their soul and fill the sucker up I hope this gives you a good place to start.  The holiday guitar sales are coming up by the way and PLEASE by all means do not hesitate to call me if you have any questions about making a purchase.  I’m very approachable:)  Hope to talk to you soon!  Love to you ECGL’ers!  You know who you are!  Shane

Well, summers almost over.  Or for those of you who have kids its just begun since you can now relax again with somewhat of a normal schedule to rely on with school back in.  Speaking of schedules,  its now an excellent time of year to schedule in some guitar for yourself or a loved one.  I personally really love hitting the campsite or the backyard with my trusty acoustic watching the leaves change and getting a little low humidity moderate temperature strumming in.  It’s been a great summer for me.  I’ve had the opportunity to watch my students grow in their musical journey and I’ve done a good bit of no pressure just because I want to studying of my own to add to my own versitility as a player.  As I’ve said before,  this is the most fun life long journey I think one could take.  Also got to take in some great concerts and meet a few of my personal guitar heros and thats always inspiring.  Hope this blog finds you and yours well and if you arent currently part of the East Cobb Guitar Lessons family what are you waiting for??!!  Heh…I kid.  Seriously,  I will leave the light on for ya if you are new to guitar and looking for guidance and to all of you currently in the family much love.  Look forward to seeing you all this fall.  Cheers!  Shane

Hello All -

This is an exciting time of year for us guitarists. For many of us it is that time of year when we are still fresh with excitement about that shiny new guitar Santa just brought a loved one that’s been begging to play. Or maybe it’s the time of year a certain loved one brought YOU that piece of musical artwork you have been pining over hoping to replace that beater your cousin gave you 15 years ago. For some of us it could be that we’ve HAD that piece of musical artwork for a few Christmases now and it’s time to dust it off and give Jimmy Buffett a rest and add to the musical grabbag we have to work with. Whatever the case we all have one thing exactly in common. Spring is around the corner and the backyard cookouts and camping trips, beach vacations and runs to the lake, family reunions and mixers with friends aren’t too far off. And neither is the time to take those opportunities to show off how your baby doesn’t just look pretty but you can make her sound pretty darn good too, thank you very much. And we don’t have to tell them you got help getting there either. I’ll keep the secret. We’ll tell em it came to you the way it comes to all the greats: in a “vision”. Or we’ll tell ‘em little Johnny or Jane must’ve been born with it or something but its the darndest thing.

In all seriousness, whether you have a loved one that’s just starting or you yourself have been playing for years but never took it as seriously as you wanted to I’ve got your solutions. I founded East Cobb Guitar Lessons with the intention of creating a different experience than what I knew existed in most of the learning environments: a personal, comfortable experience and atmosphere wrapped in a solid STRUCTURED musical curriculum that, while being very serious does not feel like anything but alot of fun. In laymans terms you have a lot of fun playing good music FAST while I trick you into learning music theory and understanding WHY you are doing what you are doing unbeknownst to you. I learned it from a Chinaman. I’m kidding. There’s a good bit of kidding that goes on around here as well. You’re not gonna be popular in musician circles if you can’t cut up. Seriously, the East Cobb Guitar Lessons curriculum is a combination of years of private lessons, my formal musical education (Atlanta Institute Of Music Master Guitar Program alumni and the best of what THEIR curriculum has to offer) and 27 years of jamming, gigging, recording, writing and studying. (And yes, I STILL study nightly when I’m done teaching and always will.)

Oh, and don’t let the photo fool you. I AM that old. Photoshop ROCKS. Anyway, your first lesson is on me if you don’t like it. Your child’s first lesson is FREE even if you do like it if they cant play music before they leave in that hour. They may not be playing Hendrix but I’ll have ‘em playing that guitar. I’ve got an award I’m gonna give to the first kid that leaves out of their first lesson not playing music on their guitar that’s collecting dust around here somewhere. Again, in all seriousness, I’ve got references a plenty and I’m pretty approachable so don’t hesitate to call me in person with any questions this site may not answer or write me here on the Google machine. It’s all good my friend.

Happy picking!

Shane Prentice