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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 |
July
7, 2002 Volume 84
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The Most Asked Question At GuitarPrinciples
Dear Jamie,
I am 19 and have played electric guitar (like a chimpanzee) for
5 years on and off. Much thanks for your enlightening book. You
offer treasures of essential guidance and help. I am only at page
32, but have already gotten rid of a stiff right shoulder. This
has made my playing faster, more precise, and more comfortable.
I am happy to have discovered other tense areas and will continue
working through your book to fix them, and other problems in my
playing. I would also like to share with you a useful analogy that
I use for my left hand fretting fingers. This analogy helps to remind
me of some of the crucial concepts you introduce in your book.
I think of my left hand fingers as my babies. They need constant
attention and guidance to grow properly. If they do something wrong,
they must be stopped, and corrected. They cannot be rushed but must
learn things in baby steps at first. And, one must be very patient
with them and kind to them. However like a parent, you must also
take care of the rest of your family and house (i.e.. be aware of
other parts of the body besides the left hand fingers). All of this
care and love for your babies eventually pays off when they grow
up and are able to do things very well and they make you proud.
Once again, thanks,
Harry
Thank you Harry, for that evocative and useful analogy. You know,
in earlier years, when I would say really strange things like that,
people would just look at me funny. One good result of having written
my book is that now lots of players out there are saying weird things
such as the wisdom of treating your fingers like little babies.
And you are exactly right, and now I don't feel so alone anymore!
Dear Jamie,
Have you ever done a video or DVD of your foundation exercises?
If so, where can I purchase a copy? If not, have you considered
it? This morning I was doing a Taebo workout and I thought, "wouldn't
it be great to have a workout video or DVD of the guitar principles
foundation exercises!" The Taebo workout has 4 videos on one
DVD. The first one simply shows how to do the movements. The second
one goes through a beginner workout. The third one is an advanced
workout. The fourth one is a quick workout (8 min) when there is
little time.
I find that when I do my guitar practice sessions, I don't spend
enough time with the foundation exercises or I don't feel clear
about how long to spend on them. A video might help a player to
focus on the time needed to spend with the exercises. I think it
would also be great to have your instruction as one moves through
the exercises. These are written in the book, but it might be very
helpful for the player to hear the tips while moving through the
exercises -- (eg. like when the workout instructors will say, "don't
arch your back here" or "keep your knees soft", etc.)
Donna
PS: Last week I wrote to you about my wedding audition of "Jesu,
Joy of Man's Desiring". The audition was yesterday and I got
the job! The piece is not nearly where I want it to be as I haven't
reached Level 3 practice (shaping) yet; but I was able to get to
Level 2 and get through the audition. The wedding is not until Nov.
30, so I have time to spend on the different levels. As always thanks
for the principles!
Hi Donna,
Yes, as I hope you saw, I shared your story of "deepening the
bottom of your practice" last week with all the readers. Congratulations
on doing well at your audition. Keep on it, and focus on "being
one" with all the movements required to play the piece, and
it will continue to improve. Practice it as much as possible from
memory as well, to make the emotional connection, and move it to
Level 3 practice. Hit the hard parts every day (important).
Now, as far as your question "have I thought of a video".
Well, Donna, I have to tell you, lately, here at GuitarPrinciples,
we are hardly thinking of anything else! For months now, I have
been working on the script, and we have started "pre-production"
shooting. It is a lot of work, more than we thought, which is always
the case, and in fact, a Principle I take as a given for almost
any project: it always takes about 10 times the time and effort
to really do it than I thought it would.
But, yes, of course I realize the need for it, and if I didn't it
wouldn't be hard to figure it out, since we get a constant stream
of requests (and sometimes demands!) for a video. In fact, half
of my motivation to do it comes from a sense of guilt for not having
one already! And I will tell you this, as Geraldine and I have been
working on it lately, we are both VERY excited, because we expect
it to be absolutely mind blowing and amazing! It will make everything
come alive for students, literally the next best thing to me seeing
you in person and being able to move your hands and fingers myself.
Actually, we are planning to include footage from workshops, so
you will not only see me doing things, you will see students, even
beginners, (doing things in that adorably clumsy way that only beginners
can manage), and you will see me make them look like professionals
in minutes! I expect that to be extremely helpful, even more so
than just seeing me do it.
And yes, like the exercise tapes you mention, you will "practice
along with me", so nothing will be left to chance in terms
of all the little details. We expect to have it available anytime
from the fall to the end of the year.
Now here is the thing I want everyone to understand. We are a small
company, in fact, we are downright tiny! As you know, The Principles
is a self-published book, and if it were left up to an established
publisher, you probably would never have heard of it. It is not
the kind of book that gets picked up by publishers. So, we are making
our own way here, slowly but surely. Our only income is in actual
book and CD sales, the workshops, lessons, and whatever little bit
we make from "affiliate sales" at the site. I have never
been able to get myself to do things "just for the money",
and so, I spend a lot of time on things that probably don't make
a lot of "business sense" but do make a lot of "musical
sense", like the Mel Bay Course. It does not represent income
for us, but I feel it is desperately needed, a way for aspiring
guitar players to acquire a solid foundation in music without the
technical handicaps everyone always ends up with.
So this is my way of doing things, and it is probably not the fastest
way in the world. But, I am assuming it will all come together as
time goes by, and we will go from a tiny company to a great big
fat company, and, we will have created something really special
along the way. So, the bottom line is, things being the way they
are, and me being the way I am, it means we have a limited supply
of two important things: time, and money.
There are many things to do around here, even of just a "maintenance"
nature. Taking in the orders, shipping them out, dealing with computer
problems, writing the newsletter, getting my own practicing in,
and trying to remember that sometimes I have to put my guitar down
to do something that can only be done without a guitar in one's
lap!
But, we will get this video done, and it will be great, and it will
give me great satisfaction to
offer it to students. I think it will be about the most powerful
learning resource for guitarists out there, and will be like an
"entrance ramp" to the guitar highway that anyone can
take. I believe it will bring success in learning the guitar to
anyone who uses it faithfully.
So hold on, it's coming. In the meantime, I am trying to get across
the essence of my methods in all the other ways we do so, the website,
the newsletter, the workshops, etc. I am as anxious as you are to
see this video! Also realize that you can help just by letting people
know about GuitarPrinciples, because it is basically a grassroots
kind of effort, word of mouth, players telling players.
We are unique, I know it, and the players who know about us, and
who use my book and methods, know it too. And I expect we'll get
"uniquer" as time goes on, too. It's all good, it's all
fun, and when I can quell my own impatience, I enjoy seeing the
slow but sure growth of things.
And thanks, great thanks to everyone for all the letters and reports
and personal success stories. It does make it feel very special
here at GuitarPrinciples, to me, and Geraldine, (who handles all
that nasty business stuff), and Steve, who handles our network of
sites carrying my writings. We all feel really good about what we
are doing, and are very excited for the future!
For a look at the GuitarPrinciples staff, follow this link.
Checkpoint #5: "Shenandoah"
This is the first "chord melody" solo in the Mel Bay Method.
That means the musical arrangement you are playing contains the
melody notes (the notes we sing that make the song recognizable),
as well as the harmony notes that make it sound "full".
A good way to think of melody and harmony is to realize that "melody"
is like the actors on a stage, whereas "harmony" is like
the scenery. Take away the melody and you take away the individuality
of the music. Take away the harmony and it sounds pretty bare bones,
like the stage with actors but no scenery.
When you play this or any other chord melody arrangement, your most
important job is to make the melody stand out prominently. This
is done by control of the pick as it applies pressure to the string
to play. We must always make sure the melody note is emphasized,
and rings out clearly. Usually, the melody note is the top note
of the chord in arrangements like this.
This is a very simple arrangement, most of the melody is already
a single note, with only occasional chords thrown in to fill things
out. When the melody does appear as the top note of a two note chord,
as in measure 2, 2nd beat, make sure that top note is heard clearly
and a bit louder than the two notes below it.
In this respect, the solo below this one, "The Blue Bells Of
Scotland" is the more traditional type of chord melody solo.
Composed mostly of chords, the melody is all the top notes of the
chords.
This type of playing where we can make the melody AND the harmony
is one of the primary benefits of understanding the guitar on a
more sophisticated level, with reading and theory, as was the intention
of Mel Bay when he wrote this book. It puts you above just "strumming
and singing" (not that there's anything wrong with that, as
far as it goes! If you are studying this book, obviously you are
interested in going further.)
Thanks to Chris Belot for submitting an mp3 of "Shenandoah".
Chris is following my advice to submit to the discipline of recording
himself practicing, and reaching the goal of a "perfect"
(all the notes are there) recording of the piece. It sounds good
Chris. You and everyone working on this should review your practice
of this piece in light of the instructions concerning finger movements
I give here. Even though you have achieved the goal of a smooth
playing of the piece, you may find some ways of making it even easier
and more playable. In any case, the logic of the fingering approaches
I give here are applicable to an infinite number of playing situations.
Here
are the things to observe, and ways to apply The Principles when
going through this piece.
"What was that great book on singing you mentioned last
week, huh??!!"
Yes, I know it was very cruel of me to tease you last week by mentioning
that great book on singing I am using, and not tell you what it
was. Well, I always say, consistent nagging is the secret of getting
what you want from other people, so, I am responding to all the
letters asking me for the name of the book. In fact, I have written
a little review below, and put a link to the book on the site.
"The Voice" by Michael McCallion
This is the best book on the voice that I have seen in my MANY
years of collecting books aimed at helping the "severely vocally
challenged" aspiring singer, a category nature has placed me
in!
I will give this book the highest compliment I can, it is for the
voice what my book "The Principles of Correct Practice For
Guitar" is for the guitar. With great analytical detail, the
author gives you ALL the right information, in the right order,
along with "Foundation Exercises" to remove the obstacles
to improving your ability to develop your voice.
Beginning with explanations about the vital head/neck/back relationship,
the author draws heavily on his training in the Alexander Technique
to begin to build the foundation of vocal technique, which as every
singer knows, is the breathing apparatus. The great thing about
this knowledge (and the practice of the exercises) is that it improves
everything you do in life, since most of your life is spent dragging
your body around and doing things with it!
In fact, it will improve your guitar playing, as you learn and re-enforce
many of the Understandings from The Principles, such as the need
for profound attention, the concept of "stopping habitual responses"
and replacing old muscle memory with new patterns of response.
In the course of my quest for a real understanding of how great
singers "do it", I have been to some of the supposedly
best teachers in New York City, which means, some of the supposedly
best teachers in the world. None of them conveyed to me what this
book has conveyed. True, many conveyed bits and pieces of the right
information, but so what! It is the teachers job to convey all of
it, AND to put it together properly for the student.
I once had some teacher, (highly paid, all the record companies
sent their artists to him) tell me "come on, you have to put
all the pieces together". No I don't, YOU do. In fact, I once
asked this teacher what this "support" thing was he was
always telling me to have. He had me tense my stomach and that was
about it!
Michael McCallion, the author of this wonderful book, explains,
clearly and elegantly, that support is "strength with direction",
and emphatically states that it is NOT any rigid state of fixity,
such as this teacher told me. As I read this book, I keep saying
what people say to me about my book "it just makes so much
sense"!
So, before you put out the money for lessons, arm yourself with
the knowledge in this book, and you will join me in saying about
this book for voice what so many guitar players say about The Principles
" I wish I had this book years ago"!
I study many different subjects that interest me. Once in a while,
I find a book that serves a unique function: by reading that one
book I feel I am in a better position to understand any other book
on the subject, because the author has penetrated to the First Principles
of the matter, and done so in a way that cannot be bettered. This
is the feeling I have about "The Voice" by Michael McCallion.
For ordering information click here.
All
material copyright © 2003 by Jamie Andreas, GuitarPrinciples.com |
