• Do, Then Get!
• More Incredibleness! Reaching the Bottom of Your Practice
• Posting Practice Schedules
• Book a Consultation with Jamie
• Unbalanced Approach to Scales
• Mel Bay Checkpoint - Checkpoint 15
• Book Reviews - "The Beatles: The Beatles Complete"

One thing guitarists, and especially Principled Players know, is that "it don't come easy." We really have to put out a maximum effort to get what we want, and then keep on getting more! Excellence does not come cheap, it exacts a very heavy price. Most people don't even know what that price is, they don't even understand the "currency" involved, which is, essentially, your whole self, your complete commitment of intelligence, attention, and intention during practice. Many, after beginning to find out the price, don't want to pay it. Many others, fortunately, become willing to pay it, or at least make an adequate "down payment," and get better as they go along.

Sometimes the price required for our next step of growth, our next achievement, is of a different nature. Sometimes, it is not the usual price, it is not just the "sit down and do lots of great practice." Sometimes, the thing we need next can only be gotten by acting as if we already had it! When this happens, we are in a situation I call, "Do, then get!" You see, you really want to know when you are in the position of "do, then get." If you don't know this, you will be waiting to "get," before you "do," and so, you will never get! The only thing you will get is very frustrated!

Guitar students are very prone to this. Guitar students are very prone to waiting until they reach some kind of "perfection" before they will play for somebody, or even just PLAY! They can flounder around for years and never "take the plunge." They say, "I will wait until I feel confident about playing for others, and then I will do it." Well, guess what!?? You GET confident by DOING it, you don't DO it because you GET confident! Improvising players will wait until they reach some stage of exalted technique and inspiration before they will try to improvise. In both these cases, it needs to be understood that you don't "get" these things without DOING them first!

Ah, but of course, that begs the question, why, why don't we "do"? Why do we keep waiting until we "get"? Because we are chicken, that's why! We are afraid of making idiots out of ourselves; a natural fear. All I can tell you is that when you are MORE afraid of NOT developing as a musician, you will face your fears, you will do it anyway. And then, you will begin to get! You see, one thing the Universe doesn't like is "chickens," unless you are a chicken of course, in which case the Universe has no problem with you. But if you are a human being, and especially that highest form of human being called "a guitar player," you're not supposed to be chicken! You are supposed to know what you want, and go after it.

If you have been a guitar player for a while, and have never, or rarely, played for anyone, there are probably things you are not getting because there are things you are not doing. If you are a purveyor of scales, frantically racing your fingers over the fretboard and wondering, "Are we having fun yet?" then, there are probably some things you need to do before you "get" what is beyond what you have now.

So examine yourself. If you seem to be in a holding pattern concerning getting certain things you want, perhaps you need to take out your "to do lists," figure out the correct "do," and DO IT! Then, you will GET!

Recently, Helen made a post based on her recent consultations with both me, and pick virtuoso Ney Mello. She wrote a hugely enlightening description of her awakening awareness of the kind of practice that leads us increasingly toward guitar mastery. We are fortunate that our forum has many people like Helen who are so articulate and observant of the process of their own development. This post is a highly recommended read!

Helen's Post on deepening the bottom of your practice.

I thought it might be a good idea to put up a forum where players can post their current practice schedules. It will be very good for the person posting, as it forces us to be organized. It will also be good for those reading the schedules of others, as we get ideas from how others are handling their practice.

Many students flounder in their progress because they have no plan. We must first know where we want to go, and then have a plan for getting there. If you cannot plan, you cannot achieve anything of high value. It is a part of "Intention." So, fortify your "Intention." Post your practice schedule, let others see and comment on it. Remember, any plan is better than no plan, because you can change a plan that exists, and make it better, but you can't improve a plan that doesn't exist! So, don't use "I don't know what to do" as an excuse! Doing anything is better than doing nothing in this regard.

There are two primary reasons people have trouble making a plan to get from "here to there." Either they don't know where they want to go (there), or they don't know where they are (here)! We can't get from here to there if we don't know where "here" is. (Try getting directions by only telling someone where you want to get to, and not telling them where you are!) Making a schedule, a plan, forces us to know both these things. Part of evaluating where we are is to ask and answer the question we should always have an answer to: "What is the worst thing about my playing, the thing that, if I improved it, would improve my overall playing ability the most?"

"Is my technique faulty? Do I need more knowledge of the fingerboard? Do I need to increase my repertoire, learn how to memorize and/or complete whole songs or pieces?"

Make a plan, and re-evaluate it each week. Modify it as progress is made and goals are reached. Evaluate it against your long term goals as a player and musician. If you have been floundering in your practice, you will feel an immediate jolt of energy simply by making a plan!

I agree that technique is not everything, but it is the foundation for everything.

- Donna Z., in the forum

At least that is what some folks said about their recent trips to see Jamie for a consultation on the state of their guitar playing!

Says Drew, who recently finished a series of lessons, "If there is any chance, even a remote possibility that you can become a continuing student with Jamie, do it. If a consultation is all you can get together, do it. The value will be a multiple of the money you pay, and will be with you the rest of your life."

To which Brian (who recently took a leisurly drive from Indiana to New York for two 2-hour lessons), answered, "Amen brother! I only spent a few hours with Jamie, and it has changed my entire way of practicing. I am FINALLY seeing results.

"Until I heard Jamie's resounding 'NO,' I didn't know what it meant to get to the bottom of my practice. I listen to the tapes of the lessons over and over. Some people go to Disneyland for vacation, I went to the Magic Kingdom, Jamie's house."

Thanks for that guys, I had a great time teaching you, too! And by the way, Drew has made excellent summaries of our lessons together, containing quite a bit of valuable information. I suggest you go to the forum, and do a search on "Drew" to dig up all his posts.

Information on Consultations With Jamie

No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your own knowledge.

The teacher who walks inthe shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom, bur rather of his faith and lovingness. If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind."

Kahlil Gibran

Hello,

I have started back playing guitar after about a 5 year hiatus. I still have the same old problem with guitar scales. Learning them is nothing, but it is the constant up, down, up, down the fretboard that has me somewhat deadlocked (if not bored!). Are there any help guides that
you may offer that could help me expand from this and apply them to writing music?

Thanks a million!

F. Ryan

Hi Farrell,

You are in a common and dangerous situation, which can lead you to a place you don't want to go: nowhere!

You are suffering from a lack of understanding of the place of scales in a guitarist's life. Often, this comes about because we take lessons, and the teacher simply gives us mountains of scales week after week, and we assume there is a plan that goes something like, "After I learn all these scales, I will be able to play music and sound good like those other guys." Well, that is simply not true!

A teacher who does this does not do it because they think this is the way to become a guitarist. Nobody becomes a guitarist just by learning scales, no matter how fast they play them. They teach this way because it is easy, and because they are lazy and/or don't care whether you actually learn to play. It is easy to hand people scales, it is very difficult to make them become able to use them in a creative way to make music. Now, perhaps you are not even taking lessons, in which case you are handing yourself all these scales, and making the above assumptions all on your own. In either case, you must begin to get the right understanding, and practice accordingly.

Scales are simply the "vocabulary words" you will use to speak the language of music. You can no more learn to make music by simply playing scales than you can learn a language by studying a dictionary and learning to say all the words! You have to know what the words mean, and you have to learn how to put them together, and most importantly, you have to have something to say! Then, it is a matter of using the scales to say it.

You learn this the same way you learn to speak: by copying others. You must learn solos by people who are using the scales you want to use. If you have an hour to practice, practice your scales for 15 minutes, and learn solos for 1/2 an hour, and then spend 15 minutes making up things (playing to chord changes) that are like what you are learning in the solos.

It is best to have a teacher to guide you in this. It is also best if you have an understanding of basic music theory, so you understand the most essential dynamic operating when you use a scale over chords to improvise: every note you play is creating a harmonic effect against the chord being played at the moment. This may sound very basic to those that know this, but believe me, it is a whole new world for many students, and many teachers make no attempt to teach the harmonic significance of the notes of scales.

As a simple example, many students don't understand that there is such a thing as being "on" the chord, and "off" the chord. If you play a note against the chord, and that note is actually IN the chord, you are "on" the chord. If you play the root, you are really ON the chord, and very often, we time the end note of a lick to be on the root of the upcoming chord. This takes practice, as well as a clear understanding given to the student from the teacher. Personally, I have never seen a book that clearly explains all this (but I am sure they must exist), and I have devised my own systems over the years to convey these things to students, and begin to give them an idea of what solo construction is all about.

Study solos, see what makes them work. Analyze each note of the scale you are using. Pentatonic are easy, they only have 5 notes. Do you know why we bend the notes we do? Do you know why you can't just bend any old note? You must understand what is happening harmonically each time you play a note, or bend a note, and that means understanding how it is relating to the chord being played. Is it "on" or "off," and how far "off" is it if it is off? Anyone in this situation should MAKE their teacher explain these things.

It is a curious thing, but true nonetheless, that there are many students who think they need to master a mountain of scales before they can attempt to make music. That is one of the dumbest attitudes you can have, if you have it, get rid of it! Better to learn one scale, and learn how to use it, then master a hundred that never are put to the service of making music. Many people are afraid to make music, and use this as an excuse to keep putting it off! You cannot sit and practice scales all day. It is only a small part of becoming a musician, and by itself, will, and should, bore you to death!

As usual, we are given the primary chords of the key, meaning the I-IV-V chords (Em-Am-B7), and also given the common accompaniment patterns used with these chords. We learn the alternate basses to use, and there is even a nice bass line created by using the C note as the bass in the Am instead of the usual root or 5th. This technique is used in countless songs to create interesting bass lines as the chords change.

Also, I have given a "verbal event analysis" of the micro-details of how to practice the classical piece on p. 42 "Night Song" by the great classical guitar composer Fernando Sor. It was pieces like this in the Mel Bay method that let me know, when I was a kid studying at the local music store, that there was a greater world of guitar to discover. This piece is quite tricky, and you will learn a great deal about intelligent fingering and finger habits by studying this.

I have also put an mp3 of me playing this piece on the nylon string, fingerstyle, (although it is intended for pickstyle in this book).

If you are not taking advantage of the incredible opportunity offered here for FREE in the Mel Bay Course, you should seriously consider it. More info on the Mel Bay Study Course.

Check out the lesson, and hear the mp3 of "Night Song."

Many of the greatest songs by THE greatest pop/rock (and beyond) songwriters of my lifetime! The great thing about this book is that all the songs are in easy guitar keys, so it is perfect for those just getting the hang of chord changes and strumming. This, of course makes it a perfect candidate for those Principled Players absorbing all the essential knowledge about how to practice chord changes and understand and strum rhythms that is contained in "The Path Level One: Chords & Rhythm."

More book reviews - beginner & intermediate

All material copyright © 2000-2003 by Jamie Andreas, GuitarPrinciples.com