Rob Johns Workshop

The following day, a workshop was held in the same venue. Guitarists travelled from Glasgow, Inverness, Fochabers and Arbroath to attend this very special event. Rob led the attendees through a number of left hand and right hand exercises. He directly related the problems players have to the benefits of the proposed exercises. Awareness of the basic of the guitar such as note identification and placing were also covered. The afternoon was much more a music lesson than a guitar lesson where Rob reminded us of some of the features we often lose in our efforts to ‘capture the notes'. He started the afternoon by demonstrating the almost primordial nature of rhythmic understanding. He then related this to a pre-selected piece and offered a learning process based strongly on visualisation for memorisation. Rob provided an informative and entertaining day that was accessible and of value to the beginners through to the teachers in attendance. His friendly, approachable manner, punctuated by many examples and caricatures of struggling guitarist, made the day very memorable and enjoyable.