Around The Neck

I am amazed that people don’t know about Tommy Emmanuel. His name seems common to me, but others that don’t associate in the acoustic world have heard little about him. This is his aboriginal inspired song. I think that you will be pleasantly surprised by his unorthodox use of the guitar.

I obviously teach many students of many different backgrounds. They have very different goals and ambitions when it comes to their guitar playing. I can honestly say that all of them are committed to learning the guitar. But today I thought I’d hit those who think they want to learn guitar.

I have people contact me for lessons that are excited about learning the guitar for any number of reasons. The next thing they will ask is about purchasing a guitar. I first ask them their price range and try to give them the best response that I can. But many of them don’t heed my response to quality of the instrument. The always come back with this type of statement, “I don’t want to spend much money until I know that I will stick with it.” At this point, I already know what type of person I am dealing with. If they decide to take lessons, then I know they will be gone in two months or less. Why you ask? Commitment.

I am not suggesting that a new student go out and buy a five thousand dollar guitar. But I am suggesting that the lack of willingness to spend the money for a good instrument, a tuner, and any other necessary items shows that there is no commitment to them playing the guitar. Without a good instrument the learning becomes a struggle because the instrument is harder to play. Without a tuner the guitar sounds awful. Without the right materials to learn from, you just flounder in progress on the instrument.

It is important to know that to get good at the guitar takes time and persistence. It comes with many frustrations before enjoyment is fulfilled. Before you call for lessons to your local guitar teacher, take a moment to ask if you are willing to commit the time and the money to play the guitar well.

I am amazed at how many guitarist, in every genre, seem to think that their health doesn’t have an effect on their playing and composing ability. It seems that they feel that playing the guitar must take less effort than playing a sport. I have to firmly disagree with this conclusion.

We tend to spend hours sitting and practicing and working on technique. That technique takes a toll on us physically and mentally. Our hands must be maintained by stretching and warming up before playing. Our bodies sit for hours and therefore become sedintary. The fact that a guitarist has become sedintary has a direct effect on things like weight and blood circulation. Weight has a direct affect on longevity of both the physical and mental functions. Blood circulation, obviously, is the greatest factor in making sure our entire body, including our brains, are funcioning properly.

Lastly, when we perform our bodies are under great distress. It takes a physical and mental toll like any other performance related activity. It increases our blood pressure but also releases endorphins. If you have high blood pressure due to how you eat and exercise, then performing is not neccessarily for you unless you feel like keeling over on stage. On another note, we don’t even consider how what we eat before a performance will affect our feeling on stage!

The bottom line is that you need to begin to pay attention to your health just as much as your playing if guitar is something you tend to do for life. Just because you think the two are unrelated doesn’t mean that you are correct. Take care of your body and your guitar playing will live as long as you.

Little is known about his beginnings other than his birth place. He began performing all over Europe at the age of 28 and it continued for at least a decade. A young Francisco Tárrega listened to him in 1862 in Castellón and played for him after the performance, on the request of Tárrega’s father. Arcas then invited Tárrega to study with him in Barcelona. Tarrega plagiarized, deliberately or not, a number of Arcas’s pieces including Fantasia sobre los Motivos de La Traviata. Arcas wrote about eighty original works and transcriptions for the guitar, including waltzes, variations, preludes and dances. Thirty were published in Barcelona by Vidal y Roger and fifty in Madrid by Unión Musical Española.

Interest in Arcas was sparked by his teaching of Tarrega and the discovery of Tarrega’s plagiarism. Recently, Arcas has become more well known due to the beauty of his music and the release of his complete works.

Through the work of the guitar maker Antonio de Torres, Arcas influenced the development of the classical guitar, particularly with regard to the design of the soundboard.

As a guitarist, I have tried to find the quickest and most efficient route to every end. Whether it is speed or agility or playing by ear, I have sworn many times that I have found a better way. All that is useless.

Learning the guitar is like anything else, it takes time and dedication. I have a saying, “There’s no substitute for time behind the box.” That’s it. You have not substitute for the time you spend playing your guitar. I do feel that quality practice over quantity is more valuable. But in the long run, I know many players who are not very good at getting quality in but their quantity more than makes up for it (this doen’t help their bad habits though). I know a player that keeps a guitar in every room of his house. If he is in the living room and wants something to eat, then he goes through the dining room to get to the kitchen. In the dining room is a guitar. He picks it up and works on something for thirty minutes before he remembers to get his food. He even has one in the bathroom (thought that would just be odd to me). The point, again, he is playing all the time.

No matter what your goals are on guitar. You have to have “time behind the box” if you are going to see any progress. We say we don’t have the time, but I guarantee you can find at least 30 minutes every day.

Suggested Resources:

Fretboard Logic SE – Special Edition The Reasoning Behind the Guitar’s Unique Tuning + Chords Scales and Arpeggios

Blues by the Bar: Cool Riffs That Sound Great over Each Portion of the Blues Progression

Many of us attempt to be the “Jack of All Trades” when it comes to our guitar playing. We all know how the ending of that statement is supposed to go, “Master of None.” That is usually how it is with most guitarists. We tend to work on one area for a couple months and then another area for a couple of months and so on. By a years time we have some skills that have improved through the shear act of playing but nothing that is mastered or perfected. Here are some pointers to get you out of the “Jack of All Trades” cycle.

1. Ask yourself what you really want to play. This may seem obvious but many people have no clue what they want to play on the guitar. They just want to play for playing sake. Listen to music that has guitar in it. Can you see yourself playing that kind of music on the guitar? Do you want to play with others? If not, then listen to instrumental guitar music and then answer the question of what you want to play.
2. Find out what it takes to play what you want to play. Do some research. Obviously you have a computer or you wouldn’t be reading this and therefore you have the ability to do some good research. A word of warning, “Not all the info on the net is good.” Choose wisely. The best source of finding out what it takes is a local teacher. They can continue to point you in the direction you choose to go with steps to get you there.
3. Decide and commit to your goal. This is the biggest step. After you know what you want to play, you have to commit to seeing it through. I tell my students that whatever they start the must finish. Finishing it means that the goal for that element they are working on is achieved. You might choose to get the rhythm part but not the solo. If that is your goal and you can play the rhythm, then you have achieved it.

It is actually just time that prevents us from reaching most of our goals. But we have to set them first. The hardest part is figuring out, in this large world of music, what you actually want to play.

Suggested resources:

Goals : Setting And Achieving Them On Schedule