When And How I Started Learning And Playing The Guitar
At the age of 13, I was in class 8th, I started listening music sincerely because of Amit Shankar Gupta (a music teacher, and a good guitar player), who lived in a flat we rented him to run a music school “branch” (Sound of Music). That time I was not allowed to play or even touch the guitar. So I often used to sit there at the class time and listen them playing, and of course I used to listen Shankar Da, how he teaches. The same situation continued for another three years or so.
Suddenly Shankar Da left the place, as well as the city, with all the classroom set up and went to his native place for some reason and asked my elder brother to take care of this institution with the help of some well learned students of him. The same happened, but could not sustain longer than 6 months. Meanwhile I had a freedom now to play and interact with the students. Sometimes I corrected and taught them to play and follow the right things which I had listened many times from Shankar Da and other guitar players. So I can say that I became a teacher before I was a student.
My brother noticed this and handed those students to me and asked me to take over the branch school (Sound Of Music). I was being paid for that. That was the time when I became a music professional/teacher. Simultaneously, almost for four years I performed here and there, with so many individuals and local bands also.
I came in Delhi in 2000 finally and started giving guitar classes, after 3 years of “painful job experiences”. I could not sustain in any job. Some of my friends suggested me to offer guitar sessions, at least to survive in Delhi. They were happy to help me when I said “YES”. My “first paid student” was “Nitin Chandra”; I can remember his name because;
(1) He was the first paid student and
(2) His sister is Neetu Chandra (a film actress).
Those were the days when I took a blue print of my musical experiences and designed a lesson structure. I formally established a name “Guitar Studio” in 2005 and started offering guitar sessions in groups. During this period I met many music professionals in Delhi, and learnt many things from them, and still I do the same.
“I thank to everyone who have wished me or even thought for my institution for a single moment. Thanks to all of my past and present students for their support and cooperation”.
My Connection With Music
I am very much connected to music. I can say only one thing in current scenario that “music is everything for me and on my way of survival”. Music helped me a lot to connect with people; it is the language, which I learned to connect the souls, where no other language can communicate.
My Teaching Method
I keep few things in my mind while design lessons for my school.
Music also has a “language and literature” part as other subjects have. I believe that we all have learned language in beginning and literature comes later.
I believe that “all subjects” are like thoughts or can say it belongs to the conscious world, intangible/untouchable which needs objects or Substance to run or work well. Like bodies need thoughts and thoughts need bodies? So I prepare students for instrumentation and then music.
In our student and teacher journey, we both need cooperation. In my method I ask students to come along with me for a while and then take teacher/s to your desired goal.
How People Should Be Learning The Guitar:
Learn from, anyone who knows little more than you.
A healthy body can have a healthy thought. So good instrument is needed for good quality sound.
Listen to your teacher carefully. Because music is a subject of sound and it is related to ears. Your listening ability defines your sense of music.
Do learn what you want, but first let your teacher/s teach you what he/she wants.
Build strength, speed and stamina in your fingers. As a matter of instrumentation.
An “individual” music professional can teach you better.
It is good to hear music but try listening “musicians” also. Read about them, and their culture.
Being a guitar player, do not stick with a single genre of music or a guitar playing.
ABOUT THE GUITAR MAESTRO
AMIT UPADHYAY is the Founder, Owner Of Guitar Studio imparting structured courses in music education. Being an avid connoisseur of blues music, he fervently promotes it through his interactive classes and public events.
