About Me & The SoloBand Secret
Hi, I’m Ron Lemire. I didn’t learn guitar in a classroom…
I learned guitar in my bedroom.
Like thousands of others, I started playing guitar when Rock ‘n’ Roll was exploding across North America. Back then, we didn’t have the Internet or YouTube, and music teachers hated Rock ‘n’ Roll. If you wanted to play the popular hits, you had to discover a new way of playing guitar. And keep it a Secret!
We had something better than a textbook: a guitar learning method that was Fast, Easy, and Fun. In the 60s and 70s, guitar sales jumped by over 1,000%. Thousands of new bands were forming, and we all used this same simple approach. It was a way of playing that allowed anyone to get themselves “stage-ready” almost overnight.
Five Decades of Music
That bedroom practice gave me over 50 fantastic years as a local musician. I’ve spent my weekends playing everywhere from pubs, bars, and Legion halls to weddings, rodeos, and high school dances. From community centers to hockey arenas, I’ve performed on stages near and far, across the region.
My Mission
In 2024, I retired, as a local musician, at the age of 79. I remembered that most local bands stopped playing by the mid-1980s. Then I realized, the “Secret” Fast, Easy & Fun way of playing guitar had also faded away and was replaced by slow, expensive lessons that make learning guitar so frustrating that students give up and hang their guitar on the wall.
I am not a “music teacher” in the traditional sense. I am a performer who wants to show you the fast, easy, and fun way to play guitar (that I learned as a teenager), how to play guitar beyond strumming chords, and how to become a solo band local musician for fun and profit.
Moving Forward
On a more serious note, I’d like to share some advice for young musicians that I’ve gathered over the years.
If you’re interested in playing music professionally, you have two paths to consider.
**Option one:** Spend years sharpening your skills to become a recording star. To reach this goal, you’ll need a good manager with connections — someone who controls your life, telling you when and where to sing and play (for a small cut, of course). The typical career lifespan is five years or less. Often unhappy with life, former recording stars are usually too proud to become local musicians.
**Option two:** Sharpen your skills to become a local musician, for both fun and profit. Never hire a manager who wants to dictate when and where you play (for a small cut, of course).
Build a lifelong business by serving your local and nearby communities as a needed and valued service. Live a long, happy life filled with the satisfaction of being a useful member of society.