WHY

Why a webpage for weird guitar playing lessons? Specifically lesson. Because there aren’t any! Go ahead, google “weird guitar lessons” or “avant-garde guitar lessons” – this is all you will find. Even the usually extensive Wikipedia seems to be at a loss.

This scracity may lead one to believe that there is little interest in weird guitar, but I believe the lack of educational materials is due to a few salient points.

1. Most weird guitar player spend most of their time playing and recording, not necessarily teaching.

2. Many weird guitar players are of a D.I.Y. mindset and perhaps think it is silly to teach “how to be weird”. My intent is not to teach how to be weird, but to demonstrate some uncommon musical ideas.

3. Where to begin? Is weird guitar the “noise” of Glenn Branca and Sonic Youth or the individualistic composition styles of Frank Zappa and Janet Feder; the whole-tone heavy progressive music of Robert Fripp (King Crimson) and Primus or the frenzied metal of Mick Barr and Buckethead; the acoustic musings of Robbie Basho and Shawn Persinger is Prester John or the improvisations of Sonny Sharrock and Derek Bailey? For me it’s all of these and much more. So where to begin? Just begin. Here we go.

LESSONS

– Shawn Persinger is Prester John

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