Why Should I Buy The Principles? (Jul-07-05)

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Why Should I buy the Principles method? I've been playing guitar for nearly 12 years now and I have bought and seen a lot of methods. Sure this method looks really good and really promising but I have my doubts... This sight has been helpful and I already seem to have the slanting pick method down pretty good. Also I've been relaxing my picking arm more, with my arm sort of hung over the guitar's body. My speed and coordination has increased within just a couple of days practice. I also own Troy Stetina's Speed Mechanics although I haven't used it very much since I got it... All of the great players that I've looked up to(particularly 80's metal guitarists) never had this course and still became great players.

I've spent a hell of a lot of money on guitar courses over the years and have been really hesitant to buy another one ever again. I guess I just need a good solid reason for purchasing this method. A lot of methods seems to complicate things rather than just explaining them simply so that you can solve your problem. IE. Scales and Modal playing. Also in Troy Stetina's Speed Mechanics there is a section on "the five different picking mechanics" which he demonstrates with the E minor pentatonic scale. He goes on to say that "There are more than 5 if you really want to get technical" but still only shows these 5. A player like myself runs into problems with this method of teaching.

-Dioman9

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I don't think you should buy The Principles. They're not for everybody.

Best,
Jamie

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I got the Book & DVD a few months ago. I started playing again about a year and a half ago after stopping for several years. I started playing around 1975 and I played a LOT for many many years.

My practice habits have changed a lot since I've picked it up again.
I really want to figure out the Science of playing guitar -- being able to hit the notes I want, at speed if I want, consistently WHENEVER I want. Playing is the Art, Principles is really about the Science.

I used to think, after I learned a cool trick here and there, that I knew everything. But, really I knew very little. And still do. That, combined with bad practice habits, prevented me from progressing. So I eventurally stopped playing thinking I'd never get better.

I got the Stetina book a while ago and practicing those excercises has helped a lot. But, what I found missing, is how is it SUPPOSED to feel if you're doing it RIGHT? What's the technique? That's where the GP books came in very handy. Within a few short weeks I had completely changed my picking for the better and have had a few other epiphany moements. It's easily paid for itself.

I take the shotgun approach now and try out EVERYTHING I can find on practicing and learning more. GP is just one way of getting there and you're free to incorporate as much or as little as you want. Yeah, certinaly LOT's of great players didn't use this method. You don't need it. The way I look at it is if you really take the principles to heart, you greatly improve your chances of becoming a good player -- say up into the 90% bracket. Some people have natural ability and start out with high odds, but most of us are probably in the single digits if left to our own fumbling around. So, what odds would you take?

Of course, it takes some work. I actually find the mundane practice stuff fun now, so it's not work to me. If you didn't find much use in the Speed Mechanics books, you probably won't find much use of the GP stuff either.

-edg-

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Maybe you want to try something which is in the style of the excercises in the principles book and then decide for yourself.

Read this essay and do the described excercise:

http://www.guitarprinciples.com/Getting ... scomf.html

All my best,
Patrick

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You say you have been playing for 12 years, yes?
Why are you still looking at methods?
Why aren't you playing?

If you feel you can't play then buy the book "The Deeper I Go the Deeper It Gets".

If the essays on this site do not convince you to purchase these materials, then wait for 5 years, see you have not progressed and then buy them. I advise you not to waste 5 years of life, remember it will end, you just don't know when, live accordingly.

Robert

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Troy Stetina's Speed Mechanics there is a section on "the five
different picking mechanics" which he demonstrates with the E
minor pentatonic scale. He goes on to say that "There are
more than 5 if you really want to get technical" but still
only shows these 5. A player like myself runs into problems
with this method of teaching.

Yeah, that had me scratching my head as well. Why did he pick only
the 5? It's really just a quibble though. If you expand how he constructed those, there's actually at least 12 of them that you
should practice (more if you include circular and crossing patterns). Each one is going to feel different -- he might as well
have included them all.

-Edg

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To answer your original question: you should buy the book because it addresses all technical ( physical movement) problems at the utter foundation. No other books do this- in real depth, anyway. It will change how you approach practise, you will begin asking different questions and your playing wil become effortless ( if you read and reread and understand the material - and obviously practise the exercises). It's more of a perspective, or standpoint than a bunch of exercises - Jamie says the same thing himself ( more eloquently) at the end of the book.

Furthermore, everyone who writes regularly on this forum offers free advice and more importantly intelligent insights, all of which can only benefit you. When I started I was ( and still am ) what some call a 'wannabe shredder'and was frustrated with the lack of emphasis on speed and examples - I was wrong. This (the principles)is what the greats ( the guys you mention) know insinctively, but they never teach it.

Finally, I have never met anyone on this site ( even though I owe them all a great debt of gratitude) and have no financial interest in anything that I have just said. I am hopefully repaying my debt by convincing you to find the joy that I did.

-Alin