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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 |
February
17, 2002 Volume 72
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REAL LIFE
SCENES FROM DR. Jamie'S STUDIO:
ANOTHER GUITARIST ROUGHT OUT OF "MUSICAL COMA"
Headbanger Has Concussion After Years Of Banging Head
Against Wall While Practicing!
Yes, I have often felt that I run a Hospital For Dead And Dying
Guitarists. The cripples hobble in to the emergency room, or are
carried in on stretchers, and I diagnose their case. I take their
medical history, and assess the harmful, and sometimes fatal effects
of what some teacher has done to them, and/or what they have done
to themselves through ignorance and bad practice.
I had a very dramatic case recently, as a new student signed up
for a group of four lessons. When Terry walked in, he explained
to me he was a naturally right handed, but had to play left handed
due to a motorcycle accident many years ago. He had been playing
his left handed guitar for about 4 years, and wanted to play rock/heavy
metal/blues, which he loves.
He had taken lessons with a few different people, the latest teacher
was, he told me, an extremely talented player who plays in a local
rock band. My ears perked up when Terry told me that this teacher
had told him the exact opposite of what I teach about how to do
bends and vibrato on an electric. "He told me definitely keep
your thumb behind the neck when you bend a string and do vibrato,
not wrapped over like you say".
For those who may not know, vibrato on an electric is that wonderful,
undulating, pulsing quality a player imparts to a note as he or
she plays. It is done by bending the string, and moving it up and
down in a rhythmic manner. It is the single most essential technique
an electric guitarist must have. In fact, I always say "if
you have a good vibrato, people will think you are good, no matter
what you play. If you have a bad vibrato, you will sound bad, and
people will think you sound bad, no matter what you play."
Now, being the humble person I am, I was quite willing to learn
something new, and was anxious to see Terry amaze me with a great
vibrato using his hand in this way. True, I have never seen anything
but the most incompetent attempts to do so, but hey, you never know.
Well, I guess sometimes you do know! What I saw was another very
incompetent attempt to bend a string. I don't even think we got
to close to the "try to do a vibrato" part. Terry was
huffing and puffing, probably putting out enough energy to light
a small city. In fact, as I looked at his hand and arm, everything
seemed to be moving except the string!
Well, I knew I had a tough case in front of me. Here I have a guy
who is forced to play lefty. In addition, he has been following
advice from a trusted source, and basically, HE CAN'T PLAY! I mean,
he really sounds bad on the most basic level of functioning on an
electric, bending strings and getting a controlled vibrato.
But last, and I don't think least, the amazing thing is that Terry
is not really aware, at least I don't think so, of what state he
is in. In fact, he was quite happy to show me some scales that he
felt he was doing well with using the sweep picking technique. They
were okay, but the picking was weak, and they contained essential
flaws in execution that would have prevented improvement.
So I am having a hard time understanding why Terry isn't screaming
about how he is not able to bend a string properly. He told me he
loves rock and heavy metal, and he sure isn't going to play any
this way. He told me he spends a lot of time jamming to tapes, and
I am wondering why he hasn't noticed that he doesn't sound like
the guys who play the way he wants to play.
But over time I realized "there I go again, insisting that
every body be like me". But I can't help it, at least when
it comes to guitar. However I realized that it's not really Terry's
fault. It's not like he is able to devote all his time to the guitar,
or is planning on becoming professional. He's 43, has a job, and
just happens to find he loves the guitar, wishes he started sooner,
and is basically going along trusting his teacher, and probably
figures it will all come together eventually.
But still, I had to get across to him, no, it isn't. It's not all
going to come together. I had to tell him "You, Terry, are
doing this SO wrong, you must be taken apart, and put back together.
Please notice that there is no result happening from what you are
doing. Your teacher is wrong. Maybe he CAN do a great vibrato the
way he has told you to do it, I don't know, because I haven't heard
him. But I have heard you! And, I have seen you. And, I hope you
will agree with me that YOU, Terry, are not doing it. And further,
trust ME when I tell you, you are not going to be able to do it
if you continue this way.
And of course, these things were not addressed by his previous teacher,
these hard cold facts were not being acknowledged. Instead, it was
the usual "well, I know you can't actually play anything, but
how about we learn ten new scales this week anyway". And for
that, I firmly feel, there is no excuse. The teacher is the professional,
and should certainly be willing to address the reality of what is
happening, and not happening, with a student.
Bends and vibrato are the building block of all rock licks. Competent
control over these building blocks, along with solid technique with
the basic mechanics of picking the notes of a pentatonic scale,
is kindergarten and first grade for the rock guitarist.Instead of
acknowledging reality, and trying to find a way to deal with the
fact that the student is not really even able to handle this level
of playing, he is getting "high school" material; long
scales with sweep picking. What possible good would that do him?
If Terry were jamming with a band, and tried to pull out those scales
and run them up and down some chord progression, he would be blown
away by the first teenager who came along and just laid out a few
long, slow beautiful bends with a shimmering vibrato. For Terry,
right now, those scales are a bunch of meaningless crap!
In fact, as I just demonstrated a couple of simple licks, Terry's
eyes got wide and he said "man, that sounds good". And
it did, and it was just simple licks and bends. The job was to get
him to be able to do that. And I will tell you how I accomplished
that, or I should say how Terry and I accomplished it together.
But first, let me make a little "public service announcement........
HEADS UP ALL YOU GUITAR STUDENTS OUT THERE! If you are in lessons,
and you seem to be constantly "shoveling away" the mountains
of material your teacher is always piling on top of you, BUT YOU
CAN'T REALLY PLAY, then you better start considering whether something
is wrong with that picture. I'm telling you there is. And I have
seen it so often in my thirty years of teaching, that I am quite
confident that a lot of people will be nodding their heads in agreement
as they read this.
Now, back to Terry's "recovery".
The essence of Terry's wrong approach to bends and vibrato had to
do with the fact that all of his "anatomy" was working
the wrong way, he was using it the wrong way. He was trying to bend
and move the string by the action of FINGER MUSCLES alone. In other
words, he was actually using the muscles that extend and flex the
fingers themselves. This is how a beginner will almost always first
attempt to do string bending on an electric. This is because those
actions are familiar, and the actions of the muscles that SHOULD
be used are not familiar.
As Terry tried to get that string to move, he was not only using
only the finger muscles, but also tensing and moving his entire
shoulder. I explained to him that the muscles he was really using
to do all of that were located in his back, chest, and sides of
his body. By using all these muscles in this way, the only thing
that might bend would be his spine, not the string.
So, how should it be done? Hold your hand up in front of you, palm
facing you. Then, turn your hand so the palm is facing away from
you, without moving at the elbow. That twisting motion of the forearm,
which is performed by muscles and bones in the forearm itself, provide
the motor power for bending and vibrato on an electric guitar, NOT
the muscles that extend the fingers. The fingers are held FIRM,
and simply serve to DELIVER that power to the string. That is why
it is hard in the beginning, because usually the fingers will collapse
at that point, they are not strong enough to hold up under the pressure
of the string as it is bent. And, as the fingers collapse, the student
does the most logical thing, tries to push the string by extending
the collapsed fingers.
Another big tip-off of the wrong approach being used, which I want
to mention so that all you electric players can troubleshoot your
own problems with the area of technique, is that Terry's elbow kept
coming in to his body. The muscles that bring the arm into the body
are located in the back and sides, and again, have nothing to do
with bending a string or vibrato. This action was just another of
the body's rather un-intelligent attempts to get what the mind wants.
Well after pointing all of this out, and working with it, and grabbing
his arm, hands, fingers at various times, we started to get some
results. I was extremely pleased that by the 4th lesson Terry was
producing the right action, and the right sound. Most importantly,
he is on the right track for continuous development now.
Last newsletter, I told you that there are 3 kinds of students.
The third kind I described this way........
"the person whose natural talent is not really
showing up on the radar screen! There are certain people that I
have taught that I am convinced would NEVER have learned to play
without the kind of intense, "let me take you by the finger"
kind of instruction I have given them. These people flounder around
for years in the usual type of instructional setting, and they NEVER
get it. The physical obstacles are never overcome, because they
are never addressed at the sufficiently deep level they need to
be addressed at."
Terry is definitely that kind of student.
In many ways this is the most satisfying teaching experience. Talented
people are easy. They will be players with or without you. But to
actually take somebody who is so far from the right track, because
for some reason, God only knows why, his foot was never set ON the
right track, and to in a sense, "plug them in" for the first
time; well there is just something special about that.
There was a poignant moment during one lesson, when we were both expending
an extreme amount of energy to attack certain problems in the way
Terry was using his body to attempt to get the right sounds out of
the guitar. I had to get downright anatomical with Terry as I was
explaining which muscles he was actually using to cause movement at
various joints, and which muscles he wasn't. It all sounded so complex
that he looked at me in wide eyed amazement and said "man, does
everybody have to go through this?!"
The fact is, no, everyone doesn't have to go "through" this.
But, everyone must "do" this in order to be able to perform
these actions of bending and vibrato properly. We must leave it to
the general state of unfairness of the Universe that SOME people are
able to just pick up a guitar and with very little trouble get to
the point where they can do these things, and other people, like Terry
will never do them, unless taught as illustrated above. But, there
are two very important points to appreciate here. First, as far as
one's "potential" for becoming a good or great musician,
it absolutely doesn't matter! Once set on the right track, Terry may
develop into an incredible musician doing wonderful and valuable things
on the guitar, just as someone with dyslexia may have trouble reading
for years and be thought un-intelligent, and prove themselves extremely
intelligent upon being properly treated (President Woodrow Wilson
is a case in point).
Secondly, we must realize that the appropriate attitude, the attitude
that is going to bring us success, is that we DO WHATEVER IS NECESSARY,
and we base it on ourselves, and our own situation, no one else's.
And we do it with humility. We don't feel like spending time practicing
some "simple" thing is beneath us. I don't know why, when
it comes to singing, I was just like Terry, unable to do things it
seemed everyone else was just able to do naturally. I said to my voice
teacher the same thing Terry said to me as she was breaking things
down into atoms and molecules for me (and I knew plenty of people
that could DO these things who wouldn't know what she was talking
about), I said to her "what am I, an idiot!"
Lastly, I like my students to understand that the incredible expenditure
of will power, effort and focus that is needed to break through our
limitations, such as I have outlined in Terry's case above, essentially
never changes. It is the same effort I must make on a daily basis
to transcend whatever my limits are at any given time. Acknowledging
this, respecting this, and acting accordingly is what leads any of
us to our next level of ability.
It's exciting!
Student Discovers "Brick Wall" Of Tension!
I am happy to see that there is a lot of very intelligent discussion
going on in the GuitarPrinciples
Forum. If you haven't checked it out, you might find it a big
help.
I also like this exuberant display of enthusiasm posted by a new
user of The Principles after working with the book.......
"After playing fingerstyle for 3 years and wondering why
my technique had seemed to hit a brick wall, I now know the reason:
my shoulders, neck, upper arm and belly are nearly locked up with
tension. Funny thing is, I never even realized it until I practiced
with the Principles. Jamie is absolutely correct; it did indeed
feel "normal" to be in that locked up condition. Playing
with relaxed body parts feels totally unnatural to me and is going
to take some getting used to. In fact, my technique in a more relaxed
position is much worse than it is in a my normal tensed up state.
However, after 3 days of applying the Principles, it has already
improved. I had one of those "eureka!" experiences when
I was able to slowly play a passage without the usual tension lockup.
My body seemed to shout at me: "Yes! This is what it feels
like to play skillfully! Aha! So, this is the reason why Pat Kirtley,
Tommy Emmanuel, Doyle Dykes et al can play things you can't! Now
you know what it takes to play well!! So do it and do it right!"
My next plan is to get the book Pumping Nylon by Scott Tennant.
I'll use the Principles in working with that book, (which comes
highly recommended by a lot of classical guitar players). Finally, I'm absolutely thrilled to have made such a profound
find in my playing as this has been. You know, (pardon my immodesty)
I think I can be a damned good player now! "
Freddie C.
Yes, Freddie, you have gotten the point, and it sounds like
you are on the right track. The book you mention is very good. "Pumping
Nylon" has a lot of good exercises, but they wouldn't do you
much good if you did not know how to practice. Many people buy books
like "Pumping Nylon" and keep themselves busy with a bunch
of new exercises, but really gain no fundamental improvement of
playing abilities. If you had worked on this book with all the body
tension you have been aware of up until working with The Principles,
you would just be tying yourself up in even tighter knots. However,
if practiced correctly and intelligently, this book and others like
it can be a great help.
Have a
Seat! Sitting with the Electric, Acoustic, and Classical
In response to many letters from people seeking further clarification
on sitting with an electric for practice, as well as acoustic, we
have posted pictures
of how to sit with various guitars. I hope this helps clear
things up for you.
All
material copyright © 2003 by Jamie Andreas, GuitarPrinciples.com |
