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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 |
January
6, 2002 Volume 69
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SPECIAL Q&A SECTION
Finger Preparation
Hi Jamie,
I have a question about preparation while playing arpeggios. I've
been learning classical guitar for a couple of months now.
My tutor uses Noad's Solo Guitar Playing vol1 as the primary book.
I've learned to 'prepare' arpeggios by placing my fingers on the
strings whenever possible before they are to be plucked.
However, while playing the first Solo piece in the book, the Spanish
Study (a simplified version of Albeniz's Asturias), I was told to
not do that for this piece since the first string that is constantly
played open throughout the piece must appear to constantly ring
out and this would not happen if I prepared the string before I
plucked it. By preparing it, I would essentially be damping the
string and therefore preventing it from ringing out.
Now this is confusing since it means you have to learn two ways
of playing arpeggios, one with preparation and one without. What
is your take on this matter?
I hope I have been clear in stating my problem.
Thanks & regards,
Sunil Arvindam
Hi Sunil,
That is a very important question on a very misunderstood issue,
and yes, you have stated it very well. I hope I can state my answer
with sufficient clarity.
The short answer is that if you were to play that Spanish Study
slowly, yes, it would be a concern that the B note (the 2nd string)
would be cut off. However, at a fast speed not only would it not
be a concern, but further, you would not reach the highest speeds
that others will reach if you do NOT prepare the finger on the 2nd
string. Put more precisely, the middle finger which is playing the
2nd string should touch the string AT THE SAME TIME that the thumb
plays. Although this will cut the note off noticeably in slow playing,
you should ignore that during practice, since this is the only way
to teach the fingers to do what you want when they play faster,
where the cut off will not be noticed. (In fact, at high speeds,
this "cut off" helps to give clarity to the sound, the
space in between the notes providing a discrete beginning and end
to every note).
Now, let me explain in more detail this whole idea of finger preparation.
I had wrestled with this myself for years, trying to sort through
the conflicting advice from various sources. When I was in my early
years of playing, I remember reading in a Christopher Parkening
method his advice on the necessity of preparing the fingers on the
strings for fast arpeggios (done free stroke). I asked my teacher
at the time, who was an excellent player. He looked at me aghast
and gave the same reason against it as your teacher, saying you
can't do that because it will stop the sound of the notes on those
strings. Later, while reading Pepe Romero's excellent book on guitar
technique, he taught the necessity of preparing the fingers. He
used the word "planting", a word often used for this technique.
So, what is a confused student supposed to make of this?
I believe I have come to a full understanding of this issue, through
training myself and others. I observed, over the years, the trouble
which not having clarity on this caused me, and that is why I consider
it so important.
First of all, let me tell you, without a doubt, if you do not train
your fingers to prepare on the strings, you will never attain the
speed and control over arpeggio passages that the best players have.
Very often, the strings on which the fingers are prepared are NOT
being used at that moment, and so the concern of cutting the note
off that your teacher mentioned does not apply. As stated above,
even in such cases as you mention, which is an alternation between
the 5th and 1st strings, it is still not a concern at fast speeds,
and here is the reason why.
One of the most important understandings a player needs to have
is that, very simply, all notes have a beginning and an end. You,
the player, must control exactly when each note begins and ends.
The faster the music is, the shorter the notes are, and the closer
together are the beginning and the ending of each note. At very
high speeds, the beginning and the end of each note are so close
together, the ear hears them as connected. The best example is a
fast tremolo. As each finger touches the same string in turn, over
and over to produce the tremolo (which means one note played over
and over very fast) it stops the note being sounded at the same
time it begins a new note. Done slowly, you will hear the gap in
between. Done very fast (160 bpm), it all flows together. This is
true also if you are doing a tremolo with the pick, of course.
And, at the very highest speeds, you will absolutely NEED to have
that finger ON its string BEFORE it is needed to play. You will
not have time to have it BEGIN its trip to the string AT the same
time the note is supposed to begin. The effort to do so will cause
tension and strain, even if you make it. You must understand I am
talking about very high speeds.
Listen to Bream play Leyenda. He plays it at 132 to the 8th note
triplet. Believe me, when his thumb plays, his m finger is already
in contact with the 2nd string! Similarly, one of the best practice
techniques for a fingerstyle tremolo is to train the ring finger
to touch its string at the exact moment the thumb is used (the ring
finger plays right after the thumb, so it should already be there
ahead of time, which it will be if it touches AS the thumb plays).
If you train your fingers in this way, you will notice an incredible
increase in speed.
Further, you will find as you grow into more advanced repertoire,
especially playing something like the Bach Lute Suites, if you do
not constantly prepare right hand fingers ahead of time for upcoming
"groups" of notes, well, you will be in as much agony
as I used to be in before I learned the wisdom of doing so!
But, there is one important thing to understand in order for all
this to work as I am describing.
You see, what I have told you is not really going to help you much,
without a deeper understanding of the whole matter. The sad fact
is, many players DO practice this "finger preparation",
or "planting", and yet they STILL do not attain speed
or security! And that is because the word "plant" is an
absolutely horrible word to describe what the fingers are really
doing. Anyone following the advice to "plant" the fingers
will undoubtedly place the finger on the string with much too much
tension in the fingers, and indeed throughout the arm, and so defeat
the whole purpose of preparing the fingers in the first place!
It is almost impossible for a beginner to appreciate the extreme
degree of delicacy and lightness with which the finger must touch
the string as it "prepares". Beginners ALWAYS place the
finger too tightly on the string. This lightness of the finger must
be cultivated with extreme care, especially since the finger to
be used next, being presently inactive, will TENSE in reaction to
the active finger being used (sympathetic tension), and so, the
student will most assuredly place a TENSE finger on the string!
And remember, if your finger is tense, it means your whole forearm
is tense, since the muscles that flex and extend the fingers originate
at the humerus, or upper arm bone. So, it is really those muscles,
not just the fingers, that are tense.
Now, I struggled for many years to teach students how to develop
this lightness of the right hand fingers, the kind that would make
performance at the highest levels possible, and also make all the
ordinary demands of fingerstyle playing one meets in folk type playing
a breeze. Finally, I developed the "Finger Dipping Exercises",
which are a part of the right hand training in The Principles.
In these exercises, the player is required to keep all inactive
fingers dipped and down between the strings, immobile, while the
active finger plays, and, all the musculature of the forearm, arm
and shoulder must remain "soft" and relaxed. This takes
great attention, control and time in training, but I have found
it to be possible for everyone. You can view the results of this
in the video
of my student Don on the site.
When you say "I have to learn two ways of doing arpeggios,
one with preparation and one without", that is not really a
valid concern. In other words, a properly developed player will
be able to prepare the fingers when necessary, and would also be
able to have them extremely close to the string and relaxed (dipped
in between), and ready to play in a split second. Which way you
decide to do it for any particular passage is up to you. In the
beginning it is hard to realize things like this because everything
is so new and you are trying to get a handle on "rules"
about the way things should be. That is why you must do your best
to get these things clarified, which you are doing by asking me!
In my experience, I have found the exercises to be found in all
the usual books, such as the Noad book you mention, or the Shearer,
or any of the usual methods, absolutely USELESS in developing this
finger lightness and awareness. I have had many students over the
years who worked with these books before coming to me for lessons,
and they NEVER had this finger lightness.
Now, I am not saying it is not possible to get it unless you do
the exercises in my book, that would be ridiculous, since all the
great players have it. But they are the lucky few who have it naturally,
or found their way to it somehow. I am talking about the other 99%
of people trying to get good on the guitar, the ones watching the
years and the dollars go by and wondering what is wrong with THEM!
What I AM saying is that when this issue of extreme finger lightness
is properly understood, and my Finger Dipping exercises are properly
practiced, anyone can develop this speed and control, especially
when the idea of preparing this extremely light finger is used as
well.
After thinking about what I have said here, you should take a look
at the video
where I demonstrate how to develop the fast arpeggio pattern used
in Spanish Romance.
You will see me preparing the middle finger on its string as the
ring finger plays. Any person coming to this arpeggio pattern for
the first time will, guaranteed, have that middle finger tensing
and sticking out from the string as the ring finger is used, the
exact opposite of what you need to have happen! Preparing the LIGHT
finger trains this bad natural tendency out of the finger and is
essential in the training process.
Likewise, in the much simpler Spanish Study you mention in the Noad
book, think about this: if you do not prepare the middle finger
on the string ahead of time, WHERE will it be at the moment it is
needed to touch and sound the string? I will bet it will be where
I have seen it in student after student over the years: FAR from
the string (a 1/4 inch is far at high speed). And HOW will it be?
I bet, again, it will be how I have always seen it, TENSE! Preparing
ahead of time also has the advantage of training the finger to remain
closer EVEN IF you decide to not actually prepare the finger on
the string ahead of time.
Tremolo Troubles
Here is a letter that amply illustrates what I have been saying
about the agonies of students trying to develop various techniques
to the professional level. Here, the writer is expressing his frustration
over trying to develop the tremolo (which is a free stroke technique
similar to arpeggios in terms of finger action, in fact, Segovia
said "the tremolo is an arpeggio done on one string").
If you haven't already read my essay "Teaching By Travel Brochure",
do so after reading this letter. In it, I explain why it is so common
that, like this person, a student can sit in front of master players
who are supposedly teachers, and receive absolutely no help whatsoever
in actually learning anything, in this case the tremolo. Read this
essay here.
Letter from Chris:
Jamie, I have been playing guitar for almost 20 years -first as a rocker
then mostly studying classical. The one thing that I find to be
totally confounding about the classical technique and is ALWAYS
a major point of irritation for me is my complete failure at mastering
the tremolo technique. I know that probably less than 1% of the
whole guitar repertoire even uses it but it has nonetheless become
almost a point of guitarist pride/"self esteem" (for lack
of a better word). I have looked at everything I could get my hands on from players
describing the mechanics of it all -Charles Duncan, Scott Tennant,
Sharon Isbin, Philip Hii, Stanley Yates, Christopher Berg, Lee Ryan,
Aaron Schearer, etc. etc. not to mention grilling the teachers I
have sat under in the past. It just doesn't seem to matter...after
a few months of applying (whoever's) technical advice -SLOWLY and
conscientiously (I thought) -I always end up with the same inconsistent,
non-flowing, usually choppy sounding tremolo(?!!??). To add insult to injury, a few years ago I sat in a master
class with Antigoni Goni (who has a beautiful liquid tremolo) and
someone asked her how she arrived at her technique (which she used
to great affect in Rodrigo's Invocation and Dance) to which she,
more or less, replied 'I don't know, I've always been able to do
it since I was a child.' !!! AAAARRRRRGH!!!!!!
Any advice to get me past the hump would be greatly appreciated.
One day I WILL bust out with a righteous rendition of Recuerdos
if it kills me! Chris C.
I answered Chris and told him that if he were sitting in front of
me, week after week, I would get that tremolo happening, guaranteed.
However, in order to do so, he would have to endure being told the
following:
1. Everything you know is wrong
2. We must start at the beginning
Yes, he would have to face the fact that the real problem is systemic,
meaning, utilizing his present "system" of technique,
with all its constituent elements, he WILL NEVER DO A TREMOLO! Everything
must change. It isn't a matter of getting over some hump, as if
you could somehow muster enough strength or willpower to get that
tremolo. That is how people end up with severe medical problems
and have to give up guitar all together.
It is a matter of realizing that, simply put, there is so much muscle
tension being generated in your attempts to play that tremolo, that
it is impossible to perform the movements necessary to create the
result you want. The tension is locked into your entire playing
mechanism from years of bad practice. Until you deal with that,
you are wasting your time in your efforts to play that tremolo.
You can do all the exercises in those books all day long, and as
long as you are doing it with all that tension, you will be lucky
if you don't cause severe and perhaps long-term damage to yourself.
For some reason, teachers do not see it, and even if they did, it
seems they don't want to tell someone who has been playing for 20
years "uh, you know, the fact is, you don't really know how
to hit the string properly". But, that is the truth, and I
tell people all the time. Those that listen get pointed in the right
direction, finally, and start to move on the path to that tremolo,
or whatever it might be.
For Chris, my estimate would be that after facing the situation
as it needs to be faced, and finally beginning to do correct practice,
it would take about a year to develop a professional tremolo. I
advise him, if he is serious, to get The Principles, and begin to
apply them to his tremolo practice. If he does so, I will create
some lessons specifically for tremolo practice (I know there are
many frustrated "tremolo-tryers" out there). In addition,
you should read everything on my site, especially the accounts of
people I am working with personally, who are getting a good idea
of what real practice, the kind that brings results, is.
Alternation of i & m
Jamie,
I have a question about alternation of the i and m fingers of the
right hand while playing classical pieces, especially rest strokes.
Assume I need to play the C and D notes on the 2nd string and then
the open G note on the 3rd String. I play the C note with the i
finger, and then the D note with the m finger. I now need to play
the G note. Since my m finger is already resting on the 3rd string,
would it not suffice for me to play it with my m finger rather than
strictly alternate and play it with the i finger? This seems more
efficient.
What is your opinion on this?
Thanks & regards, Sara
Hi Sara,
Yes, there may be times when using the same finger twice as you
suggest is very workable, in fact, at extremely fast scale speeds
it can make all the difference when it comes to dealing with certain
string crossings (crossing the strings is the most difficult action
involved in scale playing). What you are really talking about is
the same logic as sweep picking in electric playing, where the pick
does two down or two ups in a row, across adjacent strings. For
a long time, everyone was taught to do strict alternate picking,
and then new levels of speed were reached in many techniques by
using the sweep technique. However, the notes must be arranged to
fall 3 to a string to make this possible.
Now, here is where I stand on this. Yes, it is okay, and even advisable
to depart from alternation depending on circumstances. However,
I believe the best path of training is to develop the alternation
technique first, pick or fingers, and then go on to develop the
other, and be able to switch from one to another at will. Most often,
beginners want to do it the way you suggest because they CAN'T get
the alternation ability down, and that is not good.
I practice both techniques with various exercises on a regular basis.
One important thing for you to realize though Sara, is this: if
you have just played the C note with the index, and the D note with
the middle, then, your index could just as easily be still resting
on the 2nd string as could the middle finger! In other words, what
happened to the index after it played its note? It came to rest
on the 3rd string the same as the middle finger, didn't it?
I will tell you the answer! After you played with the index, it
went bouncing away from the 3rd string, and went away from the string,
where it proceeded to get tense in reaction to the middle finger
being used. There is no reason to not have the index remain relaxed
on the 3rd string where it came to rest after its stroke, and remain
there while the middle plays the D. Then, the index will be just
as ready to play as that middle finger!
I have trained my fingers in this way. It is a great asset.
Now That's Some Serious Intention!
I met yesterday with a player who got his copy of The Principles
last month, and realized he needed the full treatment! Jim Challenger
took a flight from Chicago to New York for a two hour consultation.
He has been in lessons for a year with the usual clueless type teacher
giving him the usual type of "I know you can't really play
this week's material, so let me give you some more material that
you won''t be able to play either" instruction week by week!
After a year of these totally inadequate lessons, Jim came in and
played like someone wearing a strait jacket! That is what the built
in tension was doing to him. He played for me, and made most of
the notes in the single note piece he played (Greensleeves), but
what an effort! Then of course, came a few notes that required a
stretch for a note with the pinky and then......... Breakdown!
He will become a different player in a short amount of time. He
practices 4 hours a day, and has his son and some friends playing
as well.
The good news for other players working with The Principles is that
Jim is a very energetic and people friendly person. He has posted
in the forum a number of times asking various questions. We both
agreed that he would now be in an excellent position to clear up
questions for people, after seeing me in person. So, I hope some
of you meet up with Jim in the forum, and pick his brain!
How to Develop "Musicality"
Hi Jamie,
I am becoming more knowledgeable of scales - Minor Pentatonic, Major,
Major Pentatonic and some of the Modes in most keys. I can do exercises
using them but the leap into melodic" musicality" continues
to escape me.
I often "hate the way I play," and further comment to
myself, "I have been playing for years and continue to practice
and really can't play."
I want to pick up my guitar and play musically intuitively. I want
to be able to remember songs and riffs which still today go in and
out of my mind like a sieve. I feel I just don't get it. Meaning
playing that is. I know the chords. I know the scales. I can improvise.
I know lots of songs and can play them (all simple three/four chords
things) but feel I still can't really play.
Why is it someone can pick up a guitar and play a "C"
chord somehow making it sound beautiful, and another person could
then take the same guitar and play the same chord and it sounds
flat and boring? What is the magic? What is it really? Is anybody
listening and connecting to this?
Please advise with the magic answer or at least a clue to help me
develop "musicality."
John
Hi John,
Unfortunately, for you, you are an adherent of the "some people
got it, and some people don't" philosophy, a very dangerous
belief system for anyone who wants to be anything more than a worshipper
of other people's achievements. Of course, it is a belief system
that artists themselves love to sell to their adoring public, keeps
them in their place (the audience), and us artists in our place
(the stage). I advise you to be a little smarter than that. I advise
you to think through this and examine yourself in relation to what
I say.
No, it is not true that some people "have" something that
others don't. Yes, it is true that some people "need"
something others don't. They "need" to do a certain thing
others don't. They need to touch the emotional core of their being,
and they do it through one of the arts, in this case music. They
need this the way the holy man needs to pray to God. For the musician,
the true musician, music is praying to God, it is the ultimate experience.
And, at it's best, it is an experience of self transcending rapture.
This is what the greatest musicians are doing, and this is what
anyone who is moving someone with their music is doing to some degree.
I treated this subject quite extensively a while ago under the heading
"What Does It Feel Like To Play". It seems I need to elaborate
a bit, and make a complete statement on this issue, which speaks
to the very essence of why anyone bothers to play the guitar. Here
is the heart of the matter: a person does not play "musically"
because they have "musicality". What they DO have is something
else. What they DO have is the ability to surrender to the music.
When you surrender to the music, there is no "you" left
to wonder if you are being musical or not!
You are in a great dilemma. It is also a common dilemma. It LOOKS
to you, from the outside, that these "musical" people
have something you don't have. But the truth is they are DOING something
you are not doing. They are surrendering to the music, they are
communing with the music. This surrender and communion can be done
by anyone, even the beginner touching the guitar for the first time.
It is also possible to play a lifetime and never take this position
of real surrender. If you are a person who finds it difficult or
impossible to connect with your true inner self, where your real
feelings are, then, you will not be able to have this magical, musical
experience either.
And, of course, we must realize that there ARE many people in this
world who are disconnected from their real selves. In fact, there
are many people in this world who are actually and literally incapable
of real, full and true "feeling relationships" with themselves,
other people, or anything, including the music they play. I know,
I have met many of them. These people WILL NOT make good musicians.
It is this inner connectedness, this honesty, that you feel from
a great musician, from a Jimi Hendrix, a B.B. King, a Bob Dylan,
or a Beethoven.
Why can B.B. King play one note, one lousy note, and let it sustain
for 10 seconds and drive everybody crazy with emotion? Why? Because
of what he is feeling that makes him play that note, that's why!
The feeling comes first, the notes come second, that is the truth.
Go try to copy him, go try to play that note without the feeling
that made it happen, and yes, YOUR note will be dead! Carlos Santana
said "it's no good unless I make myself cry when I play".
He is a man who knows.
So, the first thing anyone wishing to be an artist, a musician,
should ask themselves is "how intensely do I feel my own real
self, my own inner reality". The tricky thing is, if you ARE
disconnected, you won't be able to see clearly enough to answer
the question honestly! I have met many dishonest, disconnected people
who will swear on a stack of Bibles that they are the most sincere
and honest people in the world, totally in touch with their feelings.
And, they really believe it!
Now, I had to mention all that because it is the truth, and it is
the foundation of this matter. However, to get a little more specific.....
"Musicality" is like a spiritual seed, floating around
in the air. It is always looking for the fertile ground upon which
it can land and take root, and grow. It knows when it sees that
fertile ground, and it knows when the ground is barren. The fertile
ground it looks for is the "open feeling heart". For instance,
the experience that thrills me the most in teaching is if someone,
say a 10 year old kid, is sitting in front of me for his first lesson.
He (or she) watches me tune the guitar, and then hears me play a
few notes or a chord or something. At the mere sound of that chord,
his face lights up, and he can't help a big smile. Believe me, the
seed of musicality will land inside of this person, and if that
person continues to provide that seed with nourishment, which is
done by the continuous "feeling response" to music and
the guitar, day in and day out in practice and in playing, that
person will grow into a "musical" person, and his music
will have the "magic" you are looking for.
If, along the way, this person begins to worry about whether or
not they are any good, or if their music is quite as wonderful as
what the guy down the street is doing, then, he will begin to lose
his "musicality". That is because this person has decided
to worry about music, rather than enjoy it. He has decided to be
concerned with himself, rather than with music. The seed of musicality
will begin to wither, because it is no longer fed. It is fed by
our surrender and enjoyment of the music we make, and it is starved
by worry and self-concern.
Now, it sounds like you have been worrying for quite a long time.
It sounds like the sacred, spiritual seed of "musicality",
which is another name for the ability to be a channel for "beauty
expressed through music", has not been able to take root in
you. I am trying to get you to see that it is your own fault. You
have decided to worry about whether or not you are "musical",
rather than just enjoy and give thanks for the sound you hear. You
have decided to be judgmental and critical about yourself. By not
simply surrendering to the sound that comes out of your guitar,
in a selfless manner, you have in essence said to the spiritual
seed of musicality "don't land here, there is nothing to feed
you". And so, it hasn't.
I strongly suspect that if this "magical C chord" that
you talk about enjoying so much when someone else plays it were
to come out of YOUR guitar, you would not even recognize its beauty!
You would reject it! I mean really, think about it. Unless your
guitar is out of tune, or your nails are really crappy and you get
a horrible tone, how different can a C chord really be from player
to player?
Now maybe I'm wrong. Maybe your C chord really is horrible. Maybe
anyone listening to your would agree that your music is dead, but
I doubt it. I'll bet that C chord you think is so beautiful and
wonderful when played by someone else is not really any better than
yours, you just think it is, because it is coming from someone else!
You do not "give yourself" to the sound you make, and
that is why it has no magic.
A person who is ready to be the fertile ground for this "seed
of musicality" does not place conditions upon the C chord they
just played, saying to the chord, "now, be beautiful, so I
can enjoy listening to you"! They play the chord, and enjoy
it for what it is, they get a thrill out of the sound just as it
is, you might say they "love it unconditionally" to use
a popular phrase. That doesn't mean they will not try to make it
better, or improve it in some way if they feel it needs improvement.
It's like relating to a person. We can love and enjoy someone even
if they are not perfect! We can love ourselves even if we are not
perfect, and still have fun trying to become even better than we
are.
You, John, are not having fun. If you have the attitude " I
will not have fun, or find my playing enjoyable or beautiful, until
this or that happens, until the notes just rise in the air, glowing
and shining like stars", you will never find what you are looking
for.
Start enjoying what you have already, what you can do already (review
my essay last newsletter "The Fundamentals of Fun" to
get the right understanding of the word "en-joy". If you
start appreciating what you have already, you will find yourself
getting more of it.
Also, ask yourself "what music turns me on the most? What song,
or piece, just gets me all emotional, all worked up?" I don't
care if it makes you laugh, cry, or want to run around the block.
Whatever gets your juices flowing. Now, if the answer is nothing,
then, we have a worst case scenario on our hands, and you need to
take serious heed of everything I said in the beginning.
Being optimistic, we'll assume there are such songs. Well, play
them. Enjoy them. Feel them. Give yourself to them. Play for other
people and share what you have, even though you think it's crap
(it will help you to realize it's not, and help you connect with
your own "magic". The seed of musicality loves to plant
itself in people who are providing music for others). Things will
happen.
Examine your feelings. Examine your feelings when you play the guitar,
and when you are not playing the guitar. Do you have any feelings?
Are you ever moved to tears in listening to music? Are you ever
moved to tears while playing music? Do you ever feel a sense of
awe? Of gratitude? How about sadness? Sadness is great for musicians!
Probably more great music is written from sadness than anything
else; that's because there is always more of it to go around! That's
why we have 3 forms of the minor scale, and only one major scale.
The only thing you can't make music out of is depression, because
depression is not a feeling, it is the blocking of all feelings.
I can tell from the tone of your letter that you are frustrated,
and you are bordering on anger (I hate the way I play). You have
to be careful, because anger is like a fork in the road, it can
lead to one of two things: action, or depression (which is the cessation
of action and feeling). You will know if you choose that fork because
you will start to lose your motivation to practice and play.
Also, let me say John, that a certain amount of this torturous self
doubt is normal in the beginning of developing as a musician, or
any type of artist for that matter. I went through it in my first
couple of years. Then, thankfully, I started paying more attention
to my music than to myself, and the question answered itself. I
suggest you do the same.
You asked me in the beginning "What is the magic? What is it
really? Is anybody listening and connecting to this?"
So, I have answered you. It is the magic of your own real inner
self, the same inner self that all artists who wish to know that
magic for themselves must connect with. When you ask "is anybody
listening and connecting", well, that IS the question, isn't
it!
Players Don't Let Players Practice Without The Principles!
The Principles continue to be recognized by players as one of the
most important books that any guitar player can have. Here, a long
time player offers some pearls of wisdom to a beginner to whom he
just sold a guitar on E-Bay. Thanks for spreading the word Gary!
Hi Jamie,
I thought this was the nicest way to say thanks for your book. I
recently sold one of my guitars to someone on ebay. Here is an excerpt
from the letter I sent her along with the usual info required to
complete the deal.
Cathy,
I wonder if you are a beginning player or at what stage of your
playing you are now. I am 56 years old and own 6 guitars and I have
owned many more in the past. Over the years, I would get interested
in playing and then after a while, when I wasn't getting as good
as I liked, I would give up. What seemed easy to may others just
seemed impossible for me.
About 6 months ago I happened across a self help kind of thing on
the net. It was www.guitarprinciples.com. Now I'm not big on self
help (I usually figure out how to do things myself) but what I did
was this: On this site there is a place to click on and they will
email you "10 things you can do right now to become a better
guitarist" I read these very carefully and slowly included
them in my practice and after about one month, it was obvious that
I had overcome most if not all of the hurdles that had haunted me
for the past 35 years. Then I spent the $30 and bought the book
and I have not looked back since. I read through the book often
and constantly apply the theory in it. I have spent perhaps a couple
hundred dollars over the years on guitar learning books. With the
exception of one other book with notes and chords in it this is
a MUST HAVE.
Gary W.
Thanks Gary, of course, I agree.
All
material copyright © 2003 by Jamie Andreas, GuitarPrinciples.com |
