Nov 3, 2010.
NEWS WITH ME: Hey everyone! It's been a while since the last newsletter in May! A lot has been going on...big life moves, a month long trip to Spain, getting a working home studio together, and the usual business. I have not kept up as much with this newsletter as I would've hoped to, but I am still making time here and there to bring awesome guitar info to you.
PRACTICE WORDS
This issue centers around words about practicing an instrument: philosophies, technique, methods, and general advice that I've come up with or encountered over the years.
- Method For Smart Practicing
- Dave's Practice Tips
- The House of Knowledge
- How to Teach Kids
- Quotable Quotes - Motivation for Students of Music
I often encounter students who are very talented, but simply don't know how to practice correctly. As with most things in life, there's a smart way to go about it. It's about focusing your practice session on what needs to be practiced! Many times, students just play what they're good at and hope that the spots that need work will get better on their own. That's the main difference between practicing and playing the guitar. Practicing promotes growth, playing is quite simply loving the experience of playing and living in the now. We need both and the recognition of the need for discipline comes from appreciating what good practicing can bring to your enjoyment of the guitar.
1. Identify the problem area(s) and/or phrases that are found in multiple places.
2. Circle notes, write in fingerings, picking, string numbers, note letter names, TAB, or anything else on the page that will assist with technique.
3. Repeat the passage 8 or more times. (4 or more times for beginners.)
Additionally, one may say fingerings, string numbers, note letter names, or TAB out loud. This can be done while playing the guitar with the left or right hand only. It can never hurt to sing a passage.
This third step is impossible without playing the passage slowly enough to begin to teach the muscles without accruing bad habits.
Dave's Practice Tips
1. When learning something new, play slowly at first. "You have to walk before you can run." It's close to impossible to play something at the proper speed without being able to play it much slower.
A. Learn a new piece first without time restraint. This is called "no-tempo practice" and it allows the performer to get to each note at his own pace. A metronome should not be used.
B. Isolate passages: one hand/finger/etc at a time
i. with metronome - with each click think and prepare a different element
ii. with metronome - in time
Record the name of the passage and your range of tempi from beginning to end of practice session.
Record the highest tempo which was mastered.
2. Transitions are difficult. Between two phrases or sections of music are often neglected because it doesn't make immediate musical sense to hear the end of one phrase and the beginning of another. Because they don't sound "right," many players gloss over transitions and they sound awkward or suffer in other ways because of this. Transitions are usually difficult because there can be completely different musical ideas between the two sections, and these will necessitate different techniques. Switching techniques can be difficult.
3. Play it perfectly 8 times in a row. Many times students are content with "making it through" a passage one time. A lot of times it can be attributed to luck and the student won't be able to do it again, especially in a more strenuous situation, like the guitar lesson or performance. Great players are absolutely sure they can play a passage and the only way to know is through repetition.
4. Economy - prepare other fingers before they're needed. Where's it coming from, where's it going?
5. Practice station - always set up. Music stand, metronome, computer (backing tracks)
6. Create technique exercises that apply to the challenging part at hand
7. Tension - when we use our bodies inefficiently, tightness and strain occurs. Efficiency is gained through a two-fold knowledge of precisely how the body moves (anatomical motion) and the instrument itself. Knowing how to detect and alleviate tension is crucial.
A. Breathe with the passage: once every 1/2, 1, 2, 3, or 4 measures
B. Hand exercises and proper warmups
C. Diet - enough sodium, carbs, protein, leafy greens
- UPDATE: It's interesting how much what you eat can affect you. I have "gluten sensitivity" which has caused me countless playing problems: Tendonitis, joint pain, circulation issues, amongst other things. Read about Celiac Disease to learn more.
Another aspect of this is learning when to let something go. Music is cumulative - if you didn't get it perfect the first time around, you'll surely encounter it again if you keep playing.
9. Question and Re-evaluate: How do you feel about what you've played? What are you interested in learning at this point? How do you feel about learning a new style? Have you ever thought about composition, another instrument, another aspect of music, or a non-music topic?
How is your practice method working for you? Are you putting in enough practice time?
The House of Knowledge
There is much to know about the guitar, much less all of music. If the body of guitar knowledge can be equated with a house, then there are ways to get in and out of the house. Some will use the front door, which is open to the public, and anyone who has never encountered any aspect of music or the guitar will most likely enter here. The back door is always available, but it leads to other houses and pathways which relate less to the guitar, and more to other topics.
The front door: making something more accessible, simpler, more broken down, less technically difficult, plainer language, more diagrams/visualizations, metaphorical to the universal / well-beaten paths.
The back door: pushing to the edge of recent thought, adding complexity through combinations, more refined, more technically difficult, more specialized language, more diagrams/visualizations, relating disparate concepts.
If we take this analogy further, there are rooms in this guitar house, each with front and back doors. Now, any topic concerning guitar can be thought of in this way.
How to Teach Kids
I don't have enough experience teaching kids. Here's a short list of things that seem to work, any suggestions are welcome.
Children live in the moment. Give them goals that are attainable NOW.
Make learning materials more colorful, more engaging.
Always have a well-thought out curriculum.
Provide enough variety not to get bored, but also...
Give the children boundaries: clear-cut exercises which do not lead to confusion.
Quotable Quotes - Motivation for Students of Music
Anybody who tries to get better at their instrument is a student of music. A student is always trying to understand new ideas and approaches. A student studies their instrument from top to bottom. It's very easy to "plateau" and get stuck somewhere along the way. The theme of this issue is practice tips, and these brilliant quotes offer some great advice.
"I'd rather be a failure at something I love than a success at something I hate."This is the first thing to keep in mind - remember that you love music! When you're down and out about how much you suck, remember that you're doing something that you love and that it takes time, focus (and sometimes miracles) to get better.
-George Burns
"Sam always said that amateurs practice until they get it right, but that professionals practice until they can't get it wrong."As I discussed previously, this is the idea behind repeating what your practicing four to eight times. This adds even more emphasis to repetition. If you get it right once or twice, it could be complete luck. Play it eight times correctly, then revisit it later in the day. Then visit it tomorrow. Then the next day, and the next day...
-Dr. Sam Hamilton, USMC excerpt from The Inner Art of Airmanship
'If you don't practice one day, you'll know it. If you don't practice for two days, your friends and fellow musicians will know it. If you don't practice for three days, everyone in your audience knows it!'"Can you imagine a professional musician getting on stage and saying "I haven't touched this thing in a week...I just haven't had time." That would be ludicrous! Music is his job, and his life. Many musicians I know have "muse" (a voice in their heads) that guilts them if they don't practice enough. Ask yourself how much you need to practice. More, right? (Make the voices stop!)
- George Van Eps
"It is a paradoxical but profoundly true and important principle of life that the most likely way to reach a goal is to be aiming not at that goal itself but at some more ambitious goal beyond it."Practice until you get it right...and then some. Play the piece faster than you would need to. Figure out music that you want to play, but don't think you can. Always challenge yourself.
- Arnold Toynbee
"These teachings are like a raft, to be abandoned once you have crossed the flood. Since you should abandon even good states of mind generated by these teachings, How much more so should you abandon bad states of mind! Conquer the angry man by love. Conquer the ill-natured man by goodness. Conquer the miser with generosity. Conquer the liar with truth."Learning isn't just "learning the notes." Learning is accruing habits. The idea is to find bad habits and get rid of them fast by practicing good habits. Many times, these bad habits are psychological. Telling yourself that you can't do it, you don't have time, it's too difficult, I'm not good enough, it's not my thing, etc, won't get you very far. Turn negative thoughts into positive thoughts. You can't do it...yet. You will be able to in the near future! It's not your thing, but why not try it anyways? I don't have time now, but I'm working on cutting out the mindless entertainment and want to fit more music time in. Stay enthusiastic even if you're not good enough for your standards - which are probably too high.
-The Dhammapada
"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense."Finally, as has been emphasized in the East for thousands of years, we must always question what is presented before us. Use your minds to really understand, and to make sure you see exactly why something is done a certain way. Ask probing questions. Ask why. Ask until you get to the bottom of the issue.
- Buddha
LINKS
Dave's Links - links to my youtube channel, myspaces, blogs, etc.
New Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock
Dunlop Nylon Max Grip Jazz III Guitar Picks 6-Pack - I recommend this pick for fast-type playing.
Dunlop Nylon Max Grip Guitar Picks - 12-Pack - I recommend the .88 for general, all-purpose playing.
The Wizard of Shred's website. He has some great practice tips concerning keeping a practice log and making concrete goals.
The Wizard of Shred's channel.
Licks you won't wanna share with your friends! #1 Chris Brooks
Guitar Right-Hand Physics
"Josie" Lesson Demo
Right Hand Guitar Position
Guitar hand position
I Love Guitar.com: CAGED System for Guitar
Adjusting Your Guitars Pickups by Greg V
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