My name is Chuck Blitzer, and at the young age of almost 70, I started taking formal guitar instruction with Vince Lauria in July 2010. Until then, I was a self-taught guitarist who had mastered just about all chords north of the 3rd fret. Just think about that! I have also been a successful CEO in both the private and public sectors, so I know a great deal about leadership, mentoring, and how to get the best out of those with whom I have had the privilege to work. I also come from an extraordinary musical family, though I was the musical "black sheep" out of seven. My sister was a concert pianist at 16, my brother a child prodigy on the violin by 12. I won't bore you with the rest.
Vince Lauria is simply one of those highly unusual, creative, dedicated, and humble accomplished individuals/teachers/professors you maybe meet once or twice in a lifetime---if you are lucky! To be around Vince is like being infected with a musical virus that won't shut down. He's always there to help, guide and take you to the edge of your abilities---even when you are ready to call it quits. And, he does this with charm and no intimidation! There's Vince encouraging you, gently pushing you, guiding you, never letting you or himself down---and, then always saying, "I knew you could do it!" or asking, "Does this make sense?If It does, then, let's move on"! When I finish an hour with Vince, I'm so pumped, I can't wait to get in my car, head home, forget the evening news with Katie Couric and just get to it!
On November 5th, just about 5 months into my guitar lessons and having learned some easier pieces like House of the Rising Sun (the easy version, then Vince's "symphonic" version), Sunshine Of Your Love, Day Tripper, and a few others, Vince asked what I would like to learn next. I casually mentioned, Ry Cooder's "Feeling Bad Blues," which was featured in the movie Crossroads, with Ralph Machio and Joe Seneca. This is a 4 1/2 minute sophisticated slide guitar solo (with every measure for 4 1/2 minutes being different than the next) that sounds so cool and to which I have always enjoyed listening. But I never ever held a slide! I figured Vince would blow me off as being too premature for my talents, but to my surprise, Vince said, "Sure, you can do it." Again, this was November 5th. Vince, who's famous for never wanting to work from sheet music other than that written by him (he thinks sheet music is wrong 50% of the time), dials up the actual Ry Cooder recording on YouTube. Painstakingly, over 2 months, twice a week, Vince logged onto that video 15-30 seconds at a time per hour, and by December 31st, we had finished the YouTube session along with 20 pages (yes, 20 pages, 9 boxes a page) of Vince's carefully handwritten chords, notes, and slides---even every "ghost" note---of that instrumental, and believe it or not, when it was all over, I played the full 20 pages for Vince---not as well as he or Ry Cooder would play it, but for sure well enough so you knew it was the Feeling Bad Blues. Vince would listen to the YouTube video, stop the video, write down what he heard, play it for me, then we would play it together and then he would go onto the next 15-30 seconds. That's devotion and commitment!
He is also uncanny in another way. He can listen to any recording, and in a heartbeat, add his own variation and make it better than the recording artist did! His devotion to me and dedictation to "perfection," not to mention his constantly asking, "Do you have it? Does it make sense?" continues to astonish me. We're onto new "slide" instrumentals and songs, but because of what I learned, learning Ry Cooder's Feeling Bad Blues, each instrumental/song gets easier and easier.
I also need to add, with Vince, it's not all about songs and instrumentals---he's dedicated to teaching you music theory, strum patterns, fingerpicking, flat picking, hybrid picking and tons more---if you are willing to learn. One day he said to me, "We're going to learn every note on the neck of the guitar, from the first fret all the way down to the last fret and across all 6 strings, 1-6 and 6-1." I about died. Yet in 2 lessons, I could do it, and for a dyslexic, that is quite an achievement.
I see that I have probably rambled a little too much, but it's easy to do when you have someone like Vince Lauria as your instructor. So, in closing, if you are serious about learning guitar, can commit to the kind of hard work it takes, and want the very best, Vince Lauria is your man!And, I feel honored to have him as my guitar mentor. read more
