When an individual has invested time in developing skill on a musical instrument, they eventually come to a point where they need to evaluate what their goals are in regard to their musical pursuits. Specifically, are they playing the instrument for fun, or are they interested in a serious undertaking? This of course determines how much time they spend practicing, what they play, and the level of scrutiny and diligence they apply to their endeavor.
Generally, someone makes this decision following several years of experience during which they have developed their skill to a reasonable level. Whether they have professional aspirations or simply want to pursue a high level of skill for their own fulfillment, they are no longer content with flailing away at power chords or strumming through simple progressions. Whether you are giving lessons or taking lessons, that can be an important question to consider.
Let's take it for granted that you’ve decided to be a serious musician. What should you spend your time practicing? It can be very frustrating trying to prioritize your practice material with so many possible choices. The guitar offers an almost paralyzing amount of options due to the number of varying styles and genres that feature the instrument. It therefore becomes necessary to narrow the focus of your study. However, I believe that there are universal techniques and concepts that should be studied by guitarists of any style which will help avoid gaps in knowledge and playing ability.
My next several entries will explore different areas of study, their relevance to various playing styles, and suggestions for budgeting practice time around these subjects. Some that I am considering include: Dexterity, Chords/Rhythm, Lead Playing/Improvisation,
As I’m preparing this next entry, I’d like to invite you to leave your own comments and suggestions. Are there concepts/techniques that you think are vital to EVERY guitarist? What are they? Are there techniques and concepts that are so specialized that most of us don’t need to concern ourselves with them? What area should a guitarist spend most of his or her time practicing? How could you encourage a serious student to work on these areas? What would you teach a student before they have reached a level of playing where they can decide how serious a player they intend to be? What should your guitar teacher have taught you that they neglected?
Also, I’m always up for lesson posting requests on the site. So far, I’ve posted the nasty minor key solo (which I plan to edit somewhat so you don’t have to read a lengthy essay on bending techniques and chord tones. Yuck!) and the Turnaround Licks lesson, which is of moderate difficulty. So, request away and I’ll see what I can come up with.
17 comments:
Excellent idea Rob. There is lots of ground to cover for the guitarist that wants to become a professional musician, and it can all be very frustrating and confusing. Hopefully your blog will be a light in the foggy darkness of the intermediate guitarist's woodshed.
Not one of my nine teachers taught me how to read music, I really wish they had.
I'm sorry about the foggy darkness in your woodshed. I'll do an entry on reading and we can discuss how to teach it in a private lesson and when it is a good time to start that with a student.
In my case, my teachers neglected working with me enough on improvisation.
Rob,
I think you absolutly correct...i am starting to get to that stage in m life in which i have to choose...espessially since im going off to college next year...so that a decesion ill be making soon hopefully with a little help from you.
As far as techniques go, i do feel reading is important (like paul said) and im starting to realize this the further and further i get in my music, but depending on the age and ability of the student i think the key is mixinging it into other ideas involving the advancment of your playing as well. From there is really starts to branch off pending on the style you choose.
look forward to future blogs. =]
-Luke
I don't think I have much to offer in response to your request for suggestions on lessons, being that I stopped playing the guitar a few years ago. But I agree with the others in that reading music is important. I think before a person can move on to more difficult areas of music, one must have a firm grasp of the fundamentals.
hey rob~ feng here!sorry i didn't know that you put more stuff on the site. haha~~ sorry, but i starting to learn that new lesson. it was really cool.thank you so very much!!! you always make some stuff sounds different.im really think like this.Hope you make more cool stuff and teach us~!Thank you ~ feng
Rob, recently I had to play a solo over a really quick shuffle feel, and I found that most of my blues licks didn't fit will in the triplet feel. Could you post some ideas for playing over a shuffle?
man... where do i start with lesson ideas?....
Hey Rob, it's A.J. I've been trying to work on my speed lately and I've always admired your speed and clarity with the notes. What type of exercises do you do to improve speed?? I've been using a metronome and doing chromatic licks and scale sequences to imporve picking speed and left-hand technique but I'm looking for an exercise that actually makes you think instead of sequencing and running up scales. Any help would be appreciated.
Playing chords correctly..... I see.
The shuffle licks and speed questions both sound like great topics. I'll see if I can start on some lessons covering those. Look for a new lesson early next week (March 12 or so).
Great blog, Rob. Regarding getting motivated... I have five points as
follows: 1. I find it much more fun to play songs I know than to learn new songs. It is hard to get motivated to pick up a new sheet of tab and start learning it... much easier to just practice playing. 2. I find it difficult to determine which songs I want to tackle... I don't want to invest time in songs that I won't enjoy playing in the future. Moreover, some songs, while they would be cool to learn, aren't conducive to learning -- i.e. have too many guitar parts, etc., or
3. after getting started, I find they are just too darn hard... an example would be the slide guitar in "One Way Out" by the Allman brothers...4. Um... fortunately I have Pro Tools so I can slow parts down and record myself, etc., that helps a lot. 5. I also am finding it difficult to think of five points to make (the fourth one was a struggle, actually.) Um... my Martin D35 makes my shoulder
hurt... so I tend to stick with my Les Paul... it has great tone, btw. ;) Oh, I know... if I practice and learn cool songs I'll be even more popular with the babes, right? (as if that is even possible.)
So, I am also interested in your tips on motivating myself to learn new stuff.
In response to AJ's comment, I'll be posting a lesson later this month with some concepts along those lines. In the meantime, one of the best things I can think of for working on clarity in your playing is recording. Pick a fairly busy lick (or better yet, write one!). Something at the very limits of your playing ability. Then record it, preferably over some backing tracks, and then record it, record it, record it, until it sounds exactly like you want. Some of the best progress I'm made in the mechanical aspects of my playing has been during an all night recording session when I sat and spent 4 hours trying to get a solo to have the feel I wanted. I wasn't working on improvising. The solo was already written. I was merely trying to execute the licks and communicate everything I wanted through accenting, articulation, and phrasing.
Hi, Rob! Very good lessons (I'm stole a few yours licks)! Why? Because you are great! You teach to me so much stuff..... "if you play rock - stand up!"..."if you play blues - just do that!" :) that's joke :) for real - Thanks so much!
Probably, in the future, I'm will write song about you ......in Melodic minor concepts ;) haha! Peace!
p.s. Sorry for my english!
Vitali
Rob,
I've got a question about working on a song that has 9 challenging licks that you need to practice heavily with a metronome. Do you practice lick A for 9 minutes and then lick B for 9 minutes, etc.... or do you work on each lick for just a minute, and switch between them 9 times? Sometimes if i try the first method, i feel like i get the lick down well, but my fingers get so locked into it that everything else i play afterwords feels really stiff. Or maybe in the long run, it is in fact the better way to do it??
Kevin, you've mastered the number 9. Now it is time for you to move on to 5, my son.
dude this is a really good idea. thanks a lot for doing this. And "Hi Rob!"
Hi Rob,
When I discover a lick or riff, I find that the more I play it, the more it evolves until I have so many variations on it I feel like I need to start a guitar ensamble.
How/Where do I pare it down?
When recording, what do I record first?
And how do I get the music I hear in my head out? When trying I often miss what I hear and the mistakes obscure what I'm shooting for.
as always...
keep a coolin' baby
J.
Hey, I got another question. The other day I was playing around and I hit upon the melody to "Jesus loves me". What I am wondering is how do I determine which chords go under the melody? And how do I figure out the key?
I don't know if any of my questions could evoke a lesson, but they are questions that have come to me more than once and I still can't answer them myself.
Way down inside you need love,
J.
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