Photo by Jake Silco

Trey Anastasio took to Instagram to share a free nearly 20-minute music lesson geared towards young and aspiring musicians. The Phish guitarist started the video by stating that many introductory instruction books and videos leave out the basics and can be too complicated and that he was excited to use social media for something good.

“I go to bed early because I’m so excited to wake up and play guitar in the morning. I wish everybody had that feeling, so maybe I can help with that,” Anastasio said.

The lesson was focused on dividing rhythm. “If you’re a parent or a kid watching this I would highly recommend considering drum lessons,” he shared. He then broke into a sweet anecdote about his first drum teacher who told him to play the pillow for a year and warned his parents about the dangers of a musician’s life.

Next, he broke out a metronome and broke down time signatures, exploring 4/4 time, triplets, 8th note triplets, fives, sevens and more. For a homework assignment, Anastasio recommended viewers listen to Billy Holiday, J.J. Cale and D’Angelo’s album Voodoo, all fine examples of artists playing on the backbeat. He also shared the most important thing a musician can do is love music first and listen to everyone and everything.

*Update*

Anastasio has since shared three more lessons, exploring, “thoughts on composition,” “From C to Shining C” and “Morning Routine.” All are available to view on the artist’s Instagram page.

Watch Anastasio’s first music lesson below: