Homespun Is An Award Winner!

We're thrilled to have recently been informed that "Electric Guitar for Kids" (DVD 1 and 2), has just been given a 2008 "Recommended" Award by Parents' Choice, a highly prestigious organization devoted to upholding quality in products for children. You can see what they wrote about these excellent DVDs here. Congratulations to Marcy Marxer and Pete Kennedy for doing an excellent job on this set.

In addition, Homespun has been given "Honorable Mention" in Practical Home Schooling's 2008 Reader's Awards! According to publisher Mary Pride, "This is the highest honor the home school community can bestow. The winners are the products that received the highest ratings from hundreds of seasoned users." We're very proud to have been honored by this group.

Tips on Practicing for all musicians:

• Guitarist Mike Dowling says: “I think the best routine is just getting into the habit of picking up the guitar every day. Play whatever you can and keep pushing yourself because that way you'll be able to chip away at things that may have seemed intimidating at first.”

• Banjoist Tony Trischka likes to practice with a metronome, and suggests that you learn a lick at a slow tempo, increasing the clicks on the metronome one step at a time until you can play it cleanly at your target speed.

• Dobro and steel wizard Cindy Cashdollar advises that you not do too much in one session. If you are tackling a difficult passage, break it down into small segments instead of practicing the whole thing to avoid becoming overwhelmed.

• Steve Kaufman says that you should allot a specific amount of time to your practice routine and divide it into two parts. Dedicate the first part to going over your song list and work on perfecting licks or solos that you already know. In the second half of the session, work on a new tune, progression, chord form, etc. “When the time you have set is up,” Steve says, “Stop! Even if you are in the middle of a run, just stop. This way, you are eager to get back to it the next day. Do this Monday through Friday, and when the bell dings on Friday, no more practice over the weekend, just play for fun. This way, you can't wait till Monday to get back to it.”

• Pete (Dr. Banjo) Wernick: My best advice on practicing is to include both seriously goal-oriented practice (I call it "The banjo is my enemy") and completely free-floating bonding with the instrument ("The banjo is my friend"). The goal-oriented part can be broken down into many short segments featuring looping exercises played in rhythm, mostly very slowly. The exercises are based on the weak spots in your playing, repeated as slowly as necessary to play them perfectly, then faster as they lock in. That is a very efficient way to deal with sloppiness and bad habits in your playing, or to master any new technique. After a while of doing battle with your weaknesses, it's time to reward yourself by just enjoying the instrument and having a conversation with it. Both the hard-nosed focused practicing and the easy-going bonding will build your mastery of the instrument. Enjoy!

• Fiddle master Darol Anger : I try to at least touch the fiddle even for a few minutes, each day. You have to maintain a physical connection with the instrument. Stephane Grapelli told me that some days he'd just take the violin out of the case and handle it for a few minutes. It really seems to make a difference!