Even though I'm right-brain oriented, I'm still a tech journalist by profession, and this got me thinking: Could artificial intelligence help me improve my guitar playing and my dedication to practice ...

I will forever be indebted to my parents for the gift of the guitar. My patient and kind mother encouraged me when I wanted to give up. She believed in my potential and pushed me to keep practising.

And, fortunately, Simmonds is a talkative sort. “Well, I always come back to the Les Paul,” he said, “but it wasn’t my first guitar. My first professional guitar was a Fender Telecaster ...