by Jamey Andreas
July 12, 2001
Okay, I'm going
to explain some powerful things for the practicing guitarist who wants to see RESULTS
from their practice. In other words, the guitarist who wants to do what I call
CORRECT
PRACTICE.
Have you
ever had trouble playing something on the guitar? Have you ever seen or heard
someone play something, tried to do it yourself, maybe practiced it for a long
time, and ended up with only frustration and bad feelings about yourself as a
player? Be honest now. I've been playing for 30 years, and I have never met a
player, including myself, who could honestly answer no to that question.
There are
a few things that are always true when we are unable to play something we want
to play on the guitar. One of the things that you will always find, if you look
for it, is what Arron Shearer called, in his first book, uncontrolled muscle
tension. Many, many players have in fact commented on this fact, mainly because
this fact becomes obvious to anyone who plays for awhile,
pays attention, and starts to discover the path to gaining increasing ability
on the guitar. Many people mention it. The problem is they never tell you what
to do about it!
Oh sure,
you'll hear people say "play S-L-O-W-LY", or "RELAX"! I
asked, ordered, screamed, and pleaded with students to do that for probably 20
years, before I realized that almost no one was listening to me, or maybe they
didn't believe me, or maybe they thought I was kidding (well, his face is
turning purple, but, nah, I don't think he's serious)!
No, it
seems most people would rather try to play that bar chord or that scale with
their shoulders tensed up to their ears, their pinky tensed up and pulled 2
inches from the neck as they dislocate their shoulder trying to get it to it's
note on time, practice and play that way day in and day out, and then wonder
why they find that scale hard to play, that it breaks down at a certain
speed.
Or maybe they
wonder why they have a pain here or there. Hell, they may be really persistent
and keep at it till they qualify for this new disease I'm always reading about,
Repetitive Strain Injury.
I got a new student about a year ago, we'll
call him Tom. Now Tom had been teaching himself for a few years, is very
musical, very intelligent, and managed to learn fingerstyle guitar well enough
to attempt some rather challenging pieces, including some classical repertoire.
In fact, he would play for friends and often impress them. However, it was also
true that he knew he never played anywhere near his best in these
circumstances, and the piece would often break down somewhere. It was also true
that he had a growing pain in his left shoulder when he practiced.
Tom has
two very important qualities that a player must have in order to overcome
problems, and make what I call Vertical Growth. Those two things are Desire,
and Honesty.
Tom
doesn't have the pain in his shoulder anymore, and his playing is getting
better and better. This is because he has learned a few things. He has learned
about the incredible state of muscular relaxation that a player must have as
they play. He has learned how difficult it is to actually make sure you have
that relaxation as you play. He has learned about Sympathetic Tension, how
every time you use one muscle, others become tense also, and how if you are not
aware of it, and allow it to be there, it becomes locked in to the muscles
through the power of Muscle Memory.
Tom is
also learning, over time, that by always making the effort to focus his
attention on this muscle tension, he can always eliminate some part of it, and
by consistently doing this in practice, things begin to feel easier and easier,
because he was really fighting his own muscle tension, which made it feel so
hard.
Tom
inspired me to invent a phrase, something for him to always keep in mind when
he practices. In fact, I told him to do what I do. Write it out on a sign and
keep it somewhere in front of him as he practices. On the music stand or taped
to the wall like I do. The phrase is “DISCOVER YOUR DISCOMFORT". Pay
attention, notice what happens in the body as you play. How does it feel. Good
players are not experiencing that discomfort when they do the thing you struggle
to do. If they had to struggle they wouldn't be good players!
Now as
usually happens, I began to use the phrase myself, and began to discover new
levels of my own discomfort. And I began to see my playing improve, I mean
fundamentally improve. You see, there is no end to this process.
Why do so
many of us allow such discomfort when we practice and play? There are many
reasons, I'll go in to them at another time. What I want to do now is give you
some ways of discovering your own discomfort, and begin to minimize it.
Hold the
guitar as comfortable as you can.
Allow
your left arm to hang limp at your side.
Place
your right hand fingers on the strings, keeping them very loose and relaxed. If
you use a pick, float the pick in between two strings and keep it there.
Focus
your attention on your shoulders, as you raise your left hand slowly. Raise it
straight up without extending it, and place all your fingers on the sixth
string, around the tenth fret. Keep them on the string so lightly, you don't
even press the string down. (Not easy at first)!
Do you
feel anything in your right shoulder as you do this? Do you feel any tightness
come in to the pick hand, perhaps you are gripping the pick tighter, or tensing
your wrist? Be honest now. Keeping your left hand fingers on the string
lightly, begin to move your hand down toward the first fret. You must do this
VERY SLOWLY. Notice what happens throughout your body. As I have had students
do this, I have seen everything from tense ankles or belly, to practically
falling off the chair!
I hope I
have provided a starting point for further investigations and insights for you.
Take nything you find hard to do, stop yourself in the middle of it, and check
out what is happening in your body. You will be amazed.
For more
information on how to develop these insights, visit http://www.guitarprinciples.com.
Good Luck!
Copyright 1999 by Jamey Andreas. All Rights Reserved.