Posted in: Guitar by Harry K on December 11th, 2007 | 2 Comments
Lots of kids will be getting guitars for Christmas, and for those that do, and their parents, and for anyone already on the path to learning the guitar, or any instrument for that matter, here are my best tips. I am a professional guitarist of 28 years experience.
Get a good one. There are plenty of good guitarists around but that does not necessarily mean they can teach. Your local music store is a good starting point. Tell them your concerns; you want more than just flash for your cash.
For too long guitarists have played by tabs, or numbers. This is like going to an art lesson and painting by numbers. There is a wealth of knowledge out there, a lot of it in music notation only. Some of the hottest riffs and licks come from saxophone players. Listen to Charlie Parker if you don’t believe this. Tabs won’t teach you this music.
…and a time for messing around. Scales and chords are important but so is exploring the instrument, just finding out where the sounds lay on the fingerboard.
If you are an electric guitarist spend some time practicing standing up. The position of the instrument is different when standing and things learned sitting may feel unfamiliar when standing.
Spend your time leaning your instrument. The other stuff can come later.
Sure, Heavy Metal may be your thing but unless you are at the top, it won’t earn you a living and you will have to invest megabucks in equipment. I have found that all farms of music, when you delve into them become interesting. This is how you develop a personal style, a sound that is all your own, by investigating a variety of music. It will all find its way into your playing. My first love is jazz and I thought if I had the ability to play that, I could play anything. Then I got invited to a country gig and since I needed the cash… well I discovered that despite a highly developed technique I had no idea what-so-ever on how to create an authentic country sound.
If you practice an hour every morning only, then come next practice session it is 23 hours since you picked up your instrument.
…and preferably with people better than yourself. It doesn’t matter if they are not playing your thing; if they are good players you will learn from the experience.
Sing a phrase in your head, or out aloud, then imagine where the notes are on the instrument. Then try to play the phrase. You may be way off at first but keep trying. Eventually you will arrive at the point where you can do this instantaneously; imagine the phrase or lick, and play in on the guitar. This is improvisation. Google improvisation if you don’t know what it is.
Despite the image of some of the top rock players, many of them have a background in classical music, or jazz, or composition. The long hair, tattoos etc may hide it, but it is there. Many young players seem to pride themselves on musical ignorance, expecting the world to believe it is pure talent and nothing else.
Well, raw talent is great. Raw talent that knows what to do is far, far better.
Good luck, practice hard, have fun.
Cadoink December 11th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
Man you are so right. I hate it when people spend all their time making their image perfect. People will like you for your playing alone. Also learning to read notes is quite critical. I didn’t learn my scales and theory until much later and it really came back to bite me. Jamming is very true as well. It is not only loads of fun, but its just great practice and good to learn to listen and appreciate the other instruments in the band.
Great article!
portorikan December 12th, 2007 at 9:17 am
Good stuff. I’ve been thinking about getting a guitar teacher but funds are low right now and I’m a little nervous about who I should get and what to look for.
It’s a bit like getting into a new relationship I guess. Will it work out? Am I wasting my time? yadda yadda yadda.