Instructor Spotlight - Frankie Guerra
Bio
Frankie grew up listening to all kinds of music, from pop to rock to punk to R&B and soul. Her parents listened to artists like Pat Benatar and Tom Petty, as well as Janet Jackson, Luther Vandross and Smokey Robinson. It made her love anything with a great melody, no matter the genre. Some of her first favorite artists were Tina Marie, Spice Girls and Pink, and by the time she was in high school, she was getting into bands like Hole, Bikini Kill and the Riot Grrrl punk movement. Around age 14, she picked up the guitar that had been in her room for a few years and fell in love with the idea of conquering it. She asked for guitar lessons and was enrolled for about 6 months before she felt ready to start learning on her own. From that point forward, she started learning by ear, playing along to songs on her iPod. She began teaching herself songs she wanted to learn, sometimes with the help of songbooks like Tom Petty’s Greatest Hits. Her uncle later gifted her her first electric guitar and multi-fx pedal with which she began to experiment with tone and various effects. In senior year of high school, she bought a Taylor acoustic guitar at a swap meet where she was working and began busking with it at the beach, encouraged by the compliments she received from the public. She then began taking songwriting and recording courses in college which further helped to grow her passion for music. Some time later, she formed a band with her best friend which would ultimately become a 7-year period of beach busking that developed her skills as a singer, songwriter and live performer. It was also fruitful for networking, as she met a lot of great people along the way who helped her make music videos and develop her artistry. She began to feel inspired to share her musical experience and knowledge with anyone who wanted to learn, and in 2018 she found Guitar Ninjas. She’s been teaching passionately ever since and is now the lead instructor at our Orange location. In addition to teaching at GN, she writes and records original music in her indie emo band “Who’s Cuter Now?” and is currently organizing a music festival called Sincerely, Emo that supports local independent artists which will take place in Santa Ana in August of this year. She continues making as much music as possible, every single day.
What is a distinguishing aspect of your teaching style?
“I think I show a lot of patience with students and I always try to make them feel comfortable in every way. I always compliment them on something they accomplished, even if it’s a small thing. And I always try to joke around and have fun and make them feel like they’re hanging out with a best friend for 30 minutes. And we’re just jamming, we’re playing music, but there’s no pressure. It’s like we’re just hanging out. I think that’s kind of my style, just wanting people to have a good time.”
Embodying the Way of the Ninja
Vibe: “Overall my vibe is very chill and about having fun, but also taking it seriously. Music is such a special thing, you don’t want to go half-energy on it. You’re here to play music, you’re here to feel something from it. So I always tell my students to approach it with sincerity and wanting to be good at it, but have fun at the same time. Don’t take it too seriously to the point where you get really frustrated and cry and want to quit. It’s great to want to be the best, and to try to strive for that, but have fun on your way. It’s a balance.”
Method: “Something I like to tell my students is to play 4 or 5 notes of something they’re learning, and do 4 or 5 reps of it. And once it starts to flow and sounds good, then add 4 or 5 more notes to that. Focus on one section, or even just one small part of a section, and almost imagine that’s the song. Can they play that part well? Once they can, add a few more notes to it. And repeat that process. It’s kind of like the GN “stacking” method. But if you’re struggling with a particular phrase or chord change, you can hone in on that and just do reps of that over and over, without always having to go back to the beginning. For example, when you’re playing Mario Kart, you might struggle with one little corner of a lap. But you have to do the entire lap around the track again before you can attempt that tricky corner again. When you’re playing guitar, you don’t have to do that. It’s like you can just re-start right before that tricky turn and try it as many times as you need until you get it. You can use that as a kind of shortcut or cheat code when practicing music that you can’t when playing a video game. I also remind them I use these same methods when I’m learning something new on guitar.”
Mindset: “I always try to be a better musician in some way than I was yesterday. In any way. Whether it’s that I learned a new chord today or I learned a new rhythm, or I’m exposed to a new genre and now I’m a better musician today because now I can play this jazz thing whereas yesterday I hated jazz! So I’m always encouraging them to be open to discovering new things in music. And try to be better at the next thing you’re trying to do than you were yesterday. If you have the mindset, ‘I want to do better tomorrow,’ you’re unstoppable.”
