Meet DTone Martins, a self-thought guitarist and vocalist, he makes soul and high-life music and was born in the ’80s. His birth name is Dolapo Martins. He’s from Lagos state.
How did you teach yourself to play the guitar?
I am from music, my dad was a Jazzist, he played with the likes of Bobby Benson and he was the band leader for Bobby Benson.
So I came from a musical background and he told me that if I want to be serious with music, you just have to how to play one or two musical instruments so I just picked up one of the guitars in the house and I started playing.
How important is it to learn an instrument?
Music is life and I believe that knowing how to play an instrument, is an added advantage as well as writing songs and production. Knowing all this helps you to build and own your own music and it also helps you to invent.
You do folk music, how has the journey been so far for you?
It was just natural for me to do folk music, it wasn’t something I just decided to do because people were doing it. It was based on my background. It is the kind of music I grew up with and my dad plays it and Jazz.
I felt comfortable around that circus, it makes me feel more natural and I can just speak my mind.
I can do other sounds but this is my own comfort space and it is self-healing for me.
The basic for guitar playing
- #1 Know the parts of the instrument.
- #2 Choosing the right guitar.
- #3 Learn to hold the guitar before you play it.
- #4 Look at the numbering of the fingers.
- #5 Play with the left hand for the first time.
Regarding the numbering of the strings of the guitar, the correct way is to count from the bottom up (the string with the highest pitch is the first, while the lowest-pitched string is the 6th). The note for each string is shown in the table below.
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- 1st string: E
- 2nd string: B
- 3rd string: G
- 4th string: D
- 5th string: A
- 6th string: E
- #6 Compose your first chords and learn basic chords no
- #7 Learn how to play with your right hand
See the video below for more!
