Online Lessons

Graduated Spring of 2007

Curriculum and original lessons with emphasis on finger style guitar play. A full guitar, bass, percussion and lead sound. Reading music and music theory plus improvisation and jazz. 

My hope in touching on these points is to simply convey a sense of what life was like, my passions for pursing music, and a taste of the 'struggle' I had to walk through to get to where I'm at in this crazy, fun, stressful, beautiful career.

My Dad:

Growing up, I was surrounded by a family immersed in music and entertainment. My father was an acoustic cover troubadour and many a family reunion was spent listening to him sing or having one of his children, a cousin, or whomever get up and sing while he played guitar. So many childhood and family memories hold this backdrop in my mind. It is definitely safe to say that my dad was my first musical influence.

When I Started Playing Guitar:

During the spring of 1986, I stayed home from school for a week with an illness, most likely a strep related bacteria. This was long before smartphones, Internet, and all the amazing technology that might tempt a child to stay home “sick.” I’m pretty sure the highlight of my mornings home was Wheel Of Fortune. So there I was, just turning 13, home alone sick, and bored. I got out my dad's guitar, his songbooks loaded with songs I had heard and sung a million times, a chord chart, and began working on learning to play. No technique, no lessons, just matching my fingers to the chord charts. It would be more fun to say I that I’d had an epiphany the moment I picked up the guitar, but nothing that spectacular happened. I can, however, say that making the actual music from my own fingers ran all over me like a warm blanket. By the end of the week I was playing songs on the guitar.

The Teenage Years:

I had spent the early 1980's listening to much of what my older sister and her friends were listening to: Heavy Metal Rock and the beginning of the “Hair Band” era. Bands like Quiet Riot, Twisted Sister, Van Halen were all over MTV and the radio. However, my first love in that era was the opening guitar riff to Ratt's “Lay It Down.” Enter Mötley Crüe, Dokken, Tesla, Def Leppard, and I fell in love with the guitar. February of 1987 I turned 13 and was definitely the kid at home in his room singing and trying to keep up with the cassette tape while I cranked up my guitar.

High School and Beyond:

I continued my guitar playing through high school. You could count on one hand the number of actual lessons I had, but none of them were “formal.” It was simply a kid learning to play a song. Most of my musical background was with choir. I was always the soloist for an event, auditioned for and was awarded a spot at All-State Choir, was the lead in my high school musical my senior year, and even had the Western Kentucky University choir director trying to talk me into scholarship ideas if I was interested. As I was weighing my future and musical options, I was told by most adults in my life that I would probably never make a living with music. I usually am very practical and knew they meant well, and in reality that is a correct observation for most people. So I put my music over in the “fun hobby” category and proceeded with life in a very practical way.

Career:

I have had many different and unique non-music jobs. Fast food. Hotel auditor. Mailman. Lumber yard hand. Restaurant server. Cook. Selling manufactured housing. Landscaping. The main company I worked for that was the biggest part of my early employment was Papa John's. Being completely honest, I loved that job. The hours were easy, the money was good, I loved most of my co-workers and am still friends with them to this day, and for most of my shifts I was riding in my car listening to music. Around 27 years of age I was offered advancement within the company and what would have been a 'career' position and a very comfortable living. It was around this time I began questioning where I was going with my life. I knew I was being offered a position that I would not walk away from once I became comfortable. I eventually asked myself: "If I leave this job, walk away from what's being offered to pursue my ‘dreams,’ and wake up one day when I'm 60 living in a cardboard box because I never made any money, would it all still be worth it to me?”..........Yes.........

Back to College......at 29:

“Have I lost my mind?” “What am I doing?” These questions were always at the front of my mind. Those 4 years for me were a mixture of amazing fun and out-of-control stress. I did have the good fortune of going through a music program with a great group of “kids,” many of whom are now very good adult friends of mine. During those 4 years I immersed myself into every musical thing I could participate in--choir, jazz band, vocal performance, jazz improvisation, writing, piano, but guitar was always my main focus.

Graduation Spring of 2007:

Let the fun begin! There was no job or parade waiting for me upon graduating. I probably slept until July, then started shopping and looking for work. I was picked up by a band. I got an offer to start an in-school guitar program at a private academy. I was briefly “signed” as a Nashville artist with a management company. I became a music director for Saint Anthony Catholic Church in Utica, KY. I started up 3 more school programs. Eventually I consolidated and opened Gary Weilage Guitar Studios, and here we are!

The Future:

All I've ever wanted with this career was to be employed enough to continue pursuing music and wake up everyday with a guitar in my hand pushing myself to the next level. I am truly thankful to all my students over the years who have been a part of my life and the building up of this career. I will continue to push. The fire is not diminishing.

To be continued.