On Monday, November 1st, I watched an interesting demonstration video created by the web group, “Mahalo”. The demonstration was titled, "How to Play Guitar for Newbies". Veronica Belmont opens her demo with a quirky James Bond theme, attempting to capture the audience’s attention and teach them how to play the theme song from the James Bond films on the guitar.
Belmont first introduces the basic terms and key notes of the average six-string acoustic guitar. She assessed various concepts involving the use of a guitar, such as the importance of the guitar neck and its effect on the guitar sound.
"The farther down the neck you press on the strings, the higher the pitch will be produced by the guitar" (Belmont)
Some outstanding gestures that Belmont made in her presentation were (1) constant eye contact with the audience (or in her case, the video camera), (2) speaking with flawless pronunciation, and presenting with an optimistic attitude, (3) execution and use of visual aid (guitar), and finally (4) giving a clear, organized presentation in a chronological order (introduction, background knowledge, basics, etc.).
A significant drawback to this presentation was the fact that she wasn't an expert in playing the guitar. She was still at the beginners or intermediate level herself, and it would have been nice to have been taught by someone with complete knowledge and experience with a guitar. Fortunately, she only talked to the audience about the guitar basics and then brought in a professional acoustic guitar player, Bob Quartez, to teach the audience the finer chords. He demonstrated his expert skills to the audience, in hopes of attracting their attention and interest in playing the guitar.
To view this demonstration, click on the link below:
http://www.mahalo.com/how-to-play-guitar-for-newbiesIf this link is not working, follow the youtube link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RaXQKL-xbQ
Alison Schmitz, November 2010
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