How are you? The year is slowly getting into gear after the quiet and leisurely holidays. And the days are finally getting longer again. I managed to dodge it for a while, but now I’ve come down with a cold. It’s Sunday, and I’m stretched out on the couch. Since I’m self-employed, there aren’t really any true days off, but I’m trying to take it slow. I’ll finish this newsletter, then I'll head to bed. So don't forget to stay warm, keep away from germs, and take your vitamins! :D And practice...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Happy New Year! I hope you have enjoyed the holiday season and that you have had a good start to the new year. My holidays were full of family gatherings, presents, and LOTS of food. And as much as I enjoyed all of it, I'm quite happy that it's over now, and we're fresh into the new year. The start of a new year is the time for new plans, goals, and, of course, New Year's resolutions. And the things that always come up are: Lose weight Exercise more Practice guitar! I have quite some...
2 months ago • 1 min read
I hope you're having a good time. As we're rushing towards Christmas, here in Vienna the days are not only dull and gray and wet, these are also the darkest days of the year. But only for one more week. After the shortest day next Sunday, after the Winter solstice, the days will be getting longer again. To make things a bit festive for the holidays, as my little Christmas gift for you, here is a simple but beautiful fingerstyle arrangement of Silent Night. You can download the transcription...
3 months ago • 1 min read
Seems I only blinked twice, and suddenly December's here. And I have to confess, I'm a bit like this guy when it comes to Christmas and the holidays. On the bright side, I'll probably only have to blink again once or twice, and I'll be back in Spring :D In the meantime, let's play guitar! This week I have another great piece from my latest book, The Anthology of Baroque Violin for Guitar. This is the 1st movement Allegro of Violin Concerto in E minor, Op.1 (No.7), Bre6, by Guiseppe Antonio...
3 months ago • 1 min read
I hope you've had a nice week! I've just published my new book "THE ANTHOLOGY OF BAROQUE VIOLIN FOR GUITAR: 29 Selected Pieces by Bach, Vivaldi, and Handel, and other Masters of Baroque in Standard Notation and Tablature". Whether you're a beginner, an intermediate guitarist, or even a seasoned pro, THE ANTHOLOGY OF BAROQUE VIOLIN FOR GUITAR will help you take your guitar playing to the next level. With scalable difficulty, the 29 carefully selected pieces by Baroque masters, including BACH,...
4 months ago • 1 min read
I've heard so many times, "It's so hard to practice, often I just don't feel like it. How can I keep motivated?" And they're right. Especially now that the days are getting shorter and grey, it's sometimes hard to find motivation. But IMHO we don't need any motivation. All we need is consistency. Motivation comes and goes. And some days I don't feel motivated at all. That's why I'm trying not to rely on it. I just stick to the plan. I just "show up", sit down, and practice what's on my list....
4 months ago • 1 min read
I'm back from Southern Italy, and boy I had needed this vacation! We had rented a renovated, hundreds-year-old stone farmhouse in an olive grove. Very simple, the only luxuries being a nice swimming pool, a fridge, and a Bialetti coffee maker. It was wonderful. It's incredible how little you actually need to be happy. So here I'm back in autumnal Vienna, with recharged batteries, and full of good ideas. And the solution to get rid of all the clutter in my house :D At the moment I'm working on...
5 months ago • 1 min read
Hello from Apulia Vacation, YAY! By the time you’re reading this, I’ll already be somewhere between the olive groves and the sea, enjoying Southern Italy and plenty of espresso. In Vienna, fall is arriving. The sun is weaker and the nights are chilly. It feels good to extend summer this way. How about you, have you've been on vacation this summer? Don't let the autumn blues get you! I’ve put together a guitar transcription of the 3rd movement (Allegro) from Antonio Vivaldi’s Concerto for...
6 months ago • 1 min read
Some weeks are better than others. And some weeks are better forgotten. Good thing is, bad weeks are over just as fast as the good ones. Although they can feel much longer. :D My week started with me not writing this newsletter I had scheduled last Sunday, and then only a very few people showed up for the Open Air Acoustic Summer Jam Session I had planned for weeks. I blame the bad weather. *ggg*. And the whole week I didn't really sleep well. But now this week's over, and I'm sitting in a...
7 months ago • 1 min read