TIME FOR A TEST (Nov-08-03)

[moved from old forum:]

I've given this one a lot of thought.

I don't know what great technique is. If I did, I would have it and be able to exhibit it.

To me this is a moot question anyway. Great technique is not an end for me, nor do I seek others' judgements that I have great technique.

I want to produce music that pleases me and possibly others that I care about. I know that if I use bad technique that I will not make sounds that I want. Good and bad technique are tautoligcally defined based on outcome for me. It's bad technique if I can't make the sounds that I want. It's good technique if I do. I can't tell whether any technique will be good or bad until I have applied it to see the results.

I guess I see technique as a potential solution to a problem. I never quite know what will work until I try it.

And of course, a problem, well defined, is half solved. That's what I see as the key to slowing down and getting to the bottom. It helps to reveal what the real problem might be.

-AndyH

[moved from old forum:]

"I've given this one a lot of thought.

I don't know what great technique is. If I did, I would have
it and be able to exhibit it."

contemplate:the above points directly to 505 of the answer... go deeper

"To me this is a moot question anyway. Great technique is not
an end for me, nor do I seek others' judgements that I have
great technique.

I want to produce music that pleases me and possibly others
that I care about. I know that if I use bad technique that I
will not make sounds that I want. Good and bad technique are
tautoligcally defined based on outcome for me. It's bad
technique if I can't make the sounds that I want.

It's good
technique if I do."

contemplate: At what price?

"I can't tell whether any technique will be
good or bad until I have applied it to see the results."

contemplate: results that one desires can come from great, good or deficient technique.

All my best to you,
NEY MELLO

[moved from old forum:]

I think people have made a great point in saying that technique and performance are so argueably closely related.

Mainly because "what you do, how you do it, to GET WHAT YOU WANT" is what technique is used for, to perform to people, to large crowds or yourself.

A key point that Ney has made and pointed out about technique is to learn it correctly, through the principles and he emphasized that by practicing and learning it is through our physical intelligence or genius.

Once we obtain the correct motions, we have the desired technique to do whatever we want.

Now for some people, the desired technique can be different, such as fingerstyle to picking to a left hand that can fret anything. But at some point we neeed to the fundamentals to do left and right together but well. Most people jut want to have good fundamentals with the left and right hand, because from there you can jump to higher places.

When looking at the masters, the natural gifted players that have this ability to do all of this, they all have great technique.

They also are great performers, but then again you would need to define that as well, because everybody thinks differently on these as well.

Someone like Steve Vai is very animated and super energetic and lively on stage and plays so beautifully, performance and technique meld together. But his fast picking, legato, sweeping, and other stuff is amazing.

Joe Satriani has the same thing going for him, he brings technique and performance together yet in his own individual way unlike anyone else.

Neil Zaza, another instrumental guitarist who I got to see in a local clinic in columbus, ohio, is compared to the like of Joe and Steve. When I watched him, he was playing with backing tracks, I noticed he always had his arm in the same position, good placement over the top of the guitar. His guitar wasn't down to his knee's but comfortably near his sternum. His picking was so effortless, I mean EFFORTLESS!

This brings me to real point of the technique desired by most players. All these players, play everything so effortlessly, it becomes a part of them, sweep picking to string skipping to super fast pull- offs, they let the guitar play itself.

Playing the guitar at any level you desire should definitely be efortless. This something that Jamie teaches in the Principles, is one of the quickest results I found with NO TEMPO.

When looking at Shawn Lane, he transcends technique because he takes it to a whole new level.

So I guess if you want to play super fast, or play fingerstyle really fast you can. If you want to pick cleanly and loudly at any speed or play fingerstyle cleanly and LOUDLY then good technique is definite.

But I think the best thing to aim for in technique is effortlessness. So no matter what your doing, no matter how "advanced" to how "elementary", this effortless mastery is what good technique is. Because then, you can play fast and perform it as a peice of true music. When it has pshysically become a part of you, you can take it to the next level.

John McLaughlin said technique is an ever evolving state.

-Navanax

[moved from old forum:]

Hey man, great response. I think you got at what I was trying to say much better than I did.

-John Bushong

[moved from old forum:]

Very good responses from everyone so far. I will be reading them in depth soon. Give it a few days for insight to emerge and please change or add to your current responses as insight deepens. It is not meant to be a quick answer test . The process should take about a week more or less.

Do I mean playing technique or practicng technique?

There is no difference in the TECHNIQUE. The definition stays the same you have to have it for both playing - or why practice at all..- and practicing- one(NOT THE ONLY ONE!) goal of practicng IS great technique-.

It is going to be very purifying and energising for each student to come face to face with their current definition...so no need to feel pressured to rush to come up with something.

We need more students to contribute.

I am not going to grade anyone in public( maybe there IS no grade..)
and no one's answer will be "corrected" in the forum.

That's all.. but as we will see.. it is avery BIG "all"

I want to see a further stage of awakening arise in many more students, since I see a true spirit of devotion to the guitar prresent here,and it is not restricted to those who have a lot of time to practice. It is present in those with busy family lives as well. This is very cool and more powerful than meets the eye...

Let's give JAMIE another big hand of applause for making all this a reality in the first place.

Have fun!

All my best to you

NEY MELLO

[moved from old forum:]

I couldn't agree with you more!

-Jazzarati

[moved from old forum:]

Wow, this thread is great! When I first read Ney's question my immediate response was: Hey, I know what great technique is, it's ummm...uh ...

Here are my thoughts. I don't mean to be redundant, but my opinions/beliefs on the matter happen to coincide with many that were already posted. Actually, its more like my definition of good technique was formed by reading a lot of the posts here (and not just in this thread per se)

For me great playing technique means being able to pull off the music inside just as easily as you were having a conversation. You don't have to really concentrate mentally, you just sort of "go with the flow" so to speak... Basically, if you have enough technique to play the music that makes you want to play guitar in the first place then you have great technique. Whether you want to play like Angus Young or like Rusty Cooley, technique should be enough for you to play like you desire, no more and no less. Ney said in one of his posts: "your music should dictate your technique" I agree and believe in that statement 100%.

Also, whatever level of playing you are at, playing must feel effortless enough that you can focus on the music in an emotional way.

Okay, so much for not being reduntant, but this is what I believe having great technique means.

Thanks to Ney and everybody for this thread, it brought my understanding of playing and practicng to yet another level...

-Mike

[moved from old forum:]

Here's some more thoughts.

Great guitar playing technique:
Is the process that one will follow in order to play any piece of music flawlessly.

One thing I have noticed about Jamie and Ney is they talk of finding new ways to advance their guitar playing. They seem to keep adding to or refining their "fundamental process" to get to the next level. They always seem to get to the next level whether it be from the mental or physical aspect, or from something else such as music theory....or whatever it takes.

"infinite vertical growth" is my short version definition.


-John

[moved from old forum:]

"Wow, this thread is great! When I first read Ney's question
my immediate response was: Hey, I know what great technique
is, it's ummm...uh ...

Here are my thoughts. I don't mean to be redundant, but my
opinions/beliefs on the matter happen to coincide with many
that were already posted. Actually, its more like my
definition of good technique was formed by reading a lot of
the posts here (and not just in this thread per se)

For me great playing technique means being able to pull off
the music inside just as easily as you were having a
conversation. You don't have to really concentrate mentally,
you just sort of "go with the flow" so to speak..."

Hi MIKE,
contemplate:Arent these results of great technique?

All my best to you,
NEY MELLO

[moved from old forum:]

Ney,
to me great guitar technique is simply

Making music.

So you have to 1) be in touch with your emotions, 2) you have to be able to structure or filter the emotions somehow with your intellect and musical knowledge, and 3) you have to have a playing apparatus/technique which enables you to do this with as little interference as possible.

Technique is impossible without knowledge or intellect, which must be driven by the emotion/personality. The player who ignores any of these does so at his peril.

Now in the traditional sense of the word, the mechanical ability to express simple musical ideas, guitar technique encompasses the ability to play anything needed with no hesitation, physical or mental strain.

-miguel de maria