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The
Principles of Practice
Based on "The Principles of Correct
Practice for Guitar"
by Jamie Andreas
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| IN
THIS ISSUE |
March
11, 2001 Volume 35
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Why Should I Take Guitar Lessons?
Having spent my life making a large part of my living giving guitar
lessons, you might suspect me of having a biased view of this subject!
Let me assure you at the outset that I do not. Even though there
may be a small part of me somewhere that does think that everyone
should take guitar lessons, (whether they plan to actually play
the guitar or not!), just to keep me in business, I always keep
that part under control, and never let it sway my judgment!
So don't worry, you're in safe hands here. In fact, there have been
times in my teaching career that I have actually told a student
not to take lessons anymore, or to go to another teacher. So I don't
make any blanket statements about taking guitar lessons. The way
that lessons, or the process of educating yourself as a musician,
fit into your life will be a decision you make based on your unique
circumstances, and your unique goals.
One general statement I will make is that for beginners, lessons
are ALWAYS a good idea. This doesn't mean that you should make no
efforts to perhaps teach yourself, using books, videos and the Internet.
But along with all of that, especially in the beginning, and especially
if you have no previous experience with music, you should seek out
a teacher.
If you are teaching yourself, and coming along well, then lessons
will increase your progress, usually greatly increase your progress.
I started by teaching myself for about three months. I was learning
and could play lots of songs, and was teaching myself to read notes
from a method book. But when I started lessons, I really started
to make progress, simply because of the guidance of someone who
knew the route to take a lot better then I did. Also, and most importantly,
a great number of misunderstandings and wrong steps were corrected
by someone who had two things I didn't have: knowledge and experience.
Re-Inventing the Wheel
Let's get a few things straight right at the beginning. Let's really
look at this question "should I take guitar lessons".
I have to tell you, whenever I hear a beginning player ask that
question it makes me laugh. It's like a five-year-old saying they
want to be a doctor or lawyer when they grow up, and asking if it
would be a good idea if they went to elementary school! The mere
asking of the question shows how much the person asking doesn't
have a clue about what they are getting into, and how best to get
into it.
When I hear this question, I think "why on earth would it ever
be a bad idea to learn a very complicated subject from someone who
knows a whole lot more that you do, and has years of experience
with the subject." Why on earth would it ever be a bad idea,
before beginning a journey to an unknown place, to ask for help
from a guide, who has traveled the route many times? The very fact
that someone is asking the question shows they don't understand
how the whole process of the development of talent works.
They don't understand, for instance, that playing the guitar is
a very sophisticated mental/physical process. Like many activities,
such as various sports (tennis, golf, basketball) it has evolved
over many years, and continues to evolve, becoming increasingly
complex, and new standards of excellence being set all the time.
Would anyone seriously ask the question "would it be a good
idea for me to go to baseball camp", or would it be a good
idea to take tennis lessons with a tennis pro", or "I'd
like to improve my golf game, do you think I should take lessons
with Tiger Woods". We all know the answer would be "Duh!!?!!"
Yet, when it comes to learning the guitar, people somehow think
that perhaps it might be a good idea if they shut themselves up
in a room and spent their time re-inventing the wheel!
Why do so many people adopt this attitude as they begin guitar (and
many people do, bear with me if you are not one of them)? Here are
the reasons:
Ignorance: Plain ignorance about the entire subject of education,
that is, of learning anything. They don't understand that ALL resources,
such as books, videos, watching players, talking to players, as
well as sitting with players who make a regular habit of transferring
their knowledge and abilities to others (teachers) should be used
if at all possible, ESPECIALLY in the beginning.
Intimidation: They imagine they would be just plain embarrassed
fumbling around with something new and looking and feeling like
an idiot in front of a stranger.
Illusion: they look around and see people who just "pick
it up" on their own (or at least say they do!). They don't
understand that some people have "natural talent", which
is the tendency to do the right thing, but that even those people
would go much further with lessons, and may very possibly never
get as far as someone with less talent who does take lessons. Sometimes
people see other people who just "pick it up" and say
"I should be able to do that", and doggedly keep trying
to learn on their own, even though nothing is happening, they aren't
learning! Just like men who won't stop and ask for directions, it
begins to become an ego thing, and leads to the in-ability to recognize
that we need help, and to put ourselves in the vulnerable position
of asking for it.
Ego: They want to feel like they HAVE re-invented the wheel.
This one especially gets people who do have talent, and can get
relatively far on their own. They really like the idea of being
able to brag to people that they are "self-taught". The
psychology of this one is very similar to the syndrome I expounded
in my essay "Why Should I Learn to Read Music".
Money: Well, we can't argue with this one! Sometimes people
just don't have the bucks for lessons. Personally, at one point
in my life I worked 20 hours a week in a factory for minimum wage
and spent it all on my lesson with a top teacher in New York City.
I put off having a car and used to hitchhike to get around so I
wouldn't have to support a vehicle. We all decide the price we will
pay for what we want.
So, if you are one of those people with a bad attitude about taking
lessons, decide which of the above reasons applies to you, and whether
you want to deal with it or not.
You, The Teacher
It is very important to realize that even if you are not taking
lessons you already have a teacher. YOU! Understand that especially
if you are not going to someone else for guidance that leaves YOU
in charge of your own growth, and responsible for your progress.
It leaves YOU as the ONLY teacher on the scene. And you better make
sure this teacher is a good one! You better make sure this teacher
is honestly working their best to make sure the student is learning
how to play, and play well, and building the foundation for continuous
growth.
The job of the teacher is two-fold: to present new material to the
student and to make sure the student is actually learning it. If
you are your own teacher, these jobs fall to you. Just like buying
yourself a book to present yourself with new material, buying yourself
some lessons is fulfilling the same teaching function.
And besides, if you are your own teacher, and doing a good job,
sooner or later you will arrive at the conclusion that it would
be a good idea to get some assistance from someone who has already
given some, or many, years to playing the guitar and being a musician.
True, you never know if you are going to find a great, or even good
teacher, at least right away. However, a teacher would have to be
pretty lousy to not be of SOME benefit, at least for a while. You
can always leave and look for another, and knowing WHEN to leave
a teacher is an art in itself!
No One is Self Taught, Everyone is Self Taught!
The fact is, in one sense none of us are "self-taught",
and in another sense, we are all "self-taught".
None of us are self-taught, really. We are all influenced by what
we see and hear around us, whether we are aware of it or not. A
baby learns to walk by watching others walk. It doesn't take "walking
lessons", but without watching others it would never learn
to walk, (or talk, for that matter). So, the baby doesn't take lessons,
but would they be justified in going around when they're about 10,
bragging to their friends "Yeah, walkin', taught myself!"
I don't think so.
Segovia went through his very long life telling people he was "self-taught".
It was great PR, and the press loves that kind of stuff. He liked
to give the impression that he started the classical guitar from
scratch. Of course, he did add immeasurably to the domain and reach
of the classical guitar, but only by thoroughly learning what came
before him. There is a great picture of him sitting at the knee
of Miguel Llobet, (the main student of Francisco Tarrega, who was
the greatest guitarist of the 19th century, right before Segovia
began his career.) Segovia is watching intently as Llobet plays,
and you better believe he is absorbing every detail of what and
how it is being done. He is "taking a lesson".
If you play electric guitar, or folk guitar, or any style for that
matter, one of the best things you can do is watch (and listen to,
of course) other players. If your inner teacher is functioning,
you will pick up something every time. You may not know it, it might
just appear, show itself in some way, the next time you play.
The great players are doing this all the time. They were doing it
when they first picked up a guitar. They MADE everything be their
teacher, whatever happened to come their way, other players, recordings,
and teachers. This kind of aggressive attitude is essential, and
this kind of aggressive attitude would never even ask the question
"should I take lessons". It knows the answer would be,
"Yes, if you can".
The real teacher is the "inner teacher" we all have inside
of us. If that teacher is not on the job, no learning gets done,
no matter who is standing in front of us playing the role of teacher.
That is the sense in which, ultimately, we are all "self-taught".
It is this "inner teacher" that recognizes and makes use
of all the "outer teachers": people, books, etc.. So,
in the sense that we will, and must, be absorbing knowledge and
influences from what is around us, none of us is "self-taught".
Lessons at different times, and for different styles
I have said lessons are always a good idea in the beginning. As
you move along, there may be times when it is best to stop lessons,
at least for a while. Sometimes, we simply need to be alone with
our playing and our development for a while in order to reach new
ground, the place that is right for us to grow into.
Especially for players of improvised styles, where the activity
of playing with others is so essential to the growth process, this
can become an important consideration. And often the student doesn't
recognize this. There have been many times when I had a student
who was happily spending all his time learning scales and doing
exercises, but couldn't jam a simple blues solo with another player!
If someone like this tells me they have aspirations of being in
a band, I will tell them "stop lessons and join a band! It
is more important for your development to play with other people
with what you already know, than it is to stay in lessons and learn
more scales or exercises"!
And this leads to the understanding that the need for lessons is
not only different at different stages of our growth, but it is
also different depending on the style we wish to play. As time goes
on, lessons are less important for the blues./rock player. Actual
playing experience is more important. The same is true for the folk
player. Only when Vertical Growth is desired are lessons necessary.
A great blues player becomes great because they are steeped in the
language of blues, and speak it all the time as they converse with
other players. You cannot become a great blues or rock player by
staying in your room or taking lessons for the rest of you life.
If you are going to pursue the classical guitar, you'd better get
some lessons right away, and work hard to make sure it is with the
best teacher possible. Also, you should expect to be in lessons
for at least ten years, if not the rest of your life, depending
on how professional and developed you desire to be.
Summing up, understand that even if you are not taking "formal"
lessons, you still have a teacher, and that teacher is you, and
you have the same responsibility that your teacher would have if
you WERE going to formal lessons: you must make sure the student
is learning, and if not, you must do something about it.
If you are taking "formal lessons" understand that even
though there is someone sitting there who has the title "teacher",
YOU are really the teacher, you are really the one who decides whether
anything is really going to be learned, and who actually does the
learning. You are going to decide how effective the lessons really
are by how well you apply yourself.
If you are in lessons and not learning, than your "inner teacher"
must tell you it is time to leave, and time to begin the active
search for another teacher. Many people don't do this, and that
is why they can be in lessons for a long time, and not be learning.
Teaching and learning are in reality two sides of the same coin.
You cannot become a great teacher unless you have already been a
great student. Realize that you must play both roles in the process
of your own growth as a guitarist.
Husband Finally Gets Some Respect!
I love getting letters like this one, where someone tells
me about changes not just in their playing ability, but in other
areas of their life as well. This time, "The Principles"
are enriching the quality of another marriage! (I've heard this
kind of thing before).
From Scott, 3/6/01
I'm kicking myself for not doing this so soon, but what's fair is
fair. After only a few weeks of using your 'mental' approach to
the basics, my wife has noticed a major difference in my playing
style. So much so that she has actually "requested that I play
for her because of the soothing effect it is having on her",
this has never happened before; she also continually peeps in on
my practice sessions and this has never happened before. Now its
happening so much I am having to politely ask her to leave occasionally
with the promise of doing some of my practicing in front of her.
Before I received your book I am convinced she just tolerated my
"hobby" as a non-serious venture on my part. I'm impressed
and I have to compliment you on your book, it is very well written.
I am reading slow and have not finished all of it, nor do I want
to as yet (unless you advise me differently). I am absorbing more
this way.
Anyway, thanks. I have no regrets.
Scott
Hey Scott, glad to hear your playing is reducing your wife's stress
level, that can only mean good things in lots of ways around the
house from now on! Go at whatever pace you like. Absorbing it, as
you say, and using it, are what it is all about. All
material copyright © 2003 by Jamie Andreas, GuitarPrinciples.com |
