Being a full-time, professional guitar coach is an amazingly interesting and fulfilling job. It has been my dream to do that for a living since I was a little kid – I started teaching guitar at age 15. Therefore, I decided to write a short series of mini-posts on the most usual mistakes people will do when learning to play guitar. These are mistake that will SERIOUSLY hinder your progress, and I suggest you find ways to avoid them at pretty much all costs…. So, in essence, this is something similar to FAQ – or rather an “F.M.” – Frequent mistakes. You literally CANNOT believe how many times I’ve heard these exact stories… so let’s see if I can help a little bit in “preventing” these from happening again… Mistake #1: Waiting to get “good”  [ Read More ]

Hey, guys & girls! Check this out! http://ping.fm/0ZbRu

Why do they? Is there a specific reason or is it just the roll-of-the-dice,  governed by a totally whimsical fate? Well, from my experience, the main reason why most people fail, is LACK OF BALANCE! (in their skills and approach to music) This lack of Balance manifests itself in many different areas that manifest in a multitude of ways eg. going CRAZY on technique and never learning the other important skills in music… Focusing SOLELY on lead guitar and neglecting the craft of rhythm guitar… playing only by ear and never learning any theory… learning ONLY one musical style and not diversify your approach…

This  was a very exciting month! Organised 2 Greek Guitar Power Festivals – at Volos and Athens, Finished all the mixing and masterings for my Orbital Attempt CD, Finished recording the CD and creating the DVD for my upcoming “Sweeping Licks” book/CD/DVD for MEl Bay Publications, Met Greg Howe and spent quite some time talking music & Music Business with him, and FINALLY getting my sponsoring from Roland and my Roland VG 99! Colour me VERY happy!

I often get asked what are the characteristics that will determine whether a young kid picking up a guitar will become successful in learning this craft and hopefully even make a successful career out of it. The answer is VERY simple, really ATTITUDE. 1% of the aspiring guitar players will be insanely talented at the instrument – learning really fast without a lot of effort. 1%-3% of the aspiring guitar players will be “lost causes” – due to lack of ability related to finger mechanics and lack of ANY kind of musical sense & direction That leaves 97%… The vast majority of people will obviously be in that 97%… ATTITUDE is what will determine the outcome. What do I mean by attitude? There’s  a LONG list of qualities, desirable qualities that will help significantly. But  [ Read More ]

Once again, I woke up (REALLY late) this noon  and found another AMAZING Christmas present! My sponsored Visual Sound Effect Pedals for myself (and Greek Guitar Power) had arrived in a nice hefty box ! I did not even have to carry it – my brother dropped it off at my studio… Everything I wanted to use and try out was included – 8 packages all together Many sincere thanks to Visual Sound for trusting me with their equipment ! Stay tuned for photos from the unboxing – Christmas is EARLY this year!!!

I am asked VERY often about the technical requirements for playing contemporary Electric rock/Fusion guitar – so i made a little list for you! ·        Alternate Picking ·        Crosspicking ·        Chordal Picking ·        Legato ·        Sweeping ·        Tapping ·        Pick & Fingers ·        Wide Stretches ·        String Skipping ·        Left-hand Tapping ·        8-Finger Tapping

Let’s get thing rolling , as far as my new Instrumental CD is concerned! Here’s an audio track for your listening & downloading Pleasure! The Promised Land

I must admit, that these last few days have been VERY interesting, at least as far as various Sponsoring and collaborations with major music-related companies! Just received a BRAND new, smashing SCHECTER guitar – to be used by my students during our guitar lessons! I am VERY excited about it – not to mention how excited my students are! Pics are forthcoming!

Ioannis, I am confused! WHERE are YOU located currently? “I am in Greece – specifically in Athens. That’s where I live and teach. Although I enjoy travelling and performing around Europe, I DO have a stable “base of operations”! Ioannis, I was wondering if you could give me some GUITAR LESSONS…. “Probably – at the very least, we can definitely meet, chat and do some guitar playing together. I’ll assess your playing level & discuss your music goals and we’ll either work together or I will refer you to one of my MORE ADVANCED students that teach using my method” Hi! I am a big fan of your music and I was wondering if you could give me some advice on how to get REALLY good on guitar… “Yes! GET A COMPETENT GUITAR TEACHER! That’s  [ Read More ]

Just ordered the first posters for the January 2009 GGP festivals. They should be here in a couple of days! Stathis has done  a great job in updating the design of the posters with the new members and it’s good timing that we get them now, just before Christmas season!

Been trying to figure out the best way to produce some custom T-shirts for the GGP team and fans – we ALREADY have a few requests for them! Theodore seems to think that having a very stylish, ambroidered t-shirt would be the best choice – I am torn between that and a regular heavy-metal style of T-shirt, featuring our handome faces and our guitars! No definitive desicion yet!

Well, it is time for some “deep thoughts” and ramblings – fuelled by some amazing quality chocolate (gift from a very very nice student!!!) I keep thinking that even though this upcoming CD is my 4th (or my 5th? I’m losing track here…), it NEVER ceases to amaze me how much hard work and how much micro-management of a million little damn details is needed to produce a final result that reached acceptable standards! Honestly, artists that continuously nag about the “record companies doing nothing”  should really try to produce their own CDs for a change! I can (almost) guarantee that most of them will finish this project with newfound respect of the quantity of man-hours it takes to produce this!

I just got my sponsored Elixir string sets for the 2nd part of the year – as well as a few brand new Elixir guitar cables   Strings included 009 sets, 010 sets, Acoustic, and even a few Custom sets for C# tuning and some for my trusty Schecter & Caparison 7-string guitars!   Very happy about getting these – these are amazing strings! Many thanks to Elixir for trusting me with their equipment ! Here are a couple of photos from the the unboxing!  

  CD BABY   – http://cdbaby.com/cd/ioannis2 Guitar 9    – http://www.guitar9.com/suspensionofdis.html   (EDIT: Sorry, Just SOLD OUT ) Abstract Logix  – http://www.abstractlogix.com/xcart/product.php?productid=23143   (EDIT: Πάλι SOLD OUT – Βρε, κακός μπελάς!!!  ) iTunes       – http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=255588175 Tradebit    -  http://www.tradebit.com/filedetail.php/1835498   (Digital Download Only!!!) Buy.com    – http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=204742978&loc=18250 (Digital Download Only!!!) PayPlay.fm    – http://payplay.fm/ioannis2    (Digital Download Only!!!) Στην Ελλάδα, η διανομή του CD γινεται απο την Soundforge  

I must admit that almost on a daily basis I will stop and think how lucky I am that I have such an amazing job: Helping young kids reach & realize their dreams, take timid teenagers and help them literally transform themselves to uprising guitar stars! It is an amazing feeling, very fulfilling and very exciting! Sure, the ride is often bumpy and it can (occasionally) be a VERY thankless job… but I wouldn’t trade it for the World!