Around The Neck

As I have grown as a musician and guitarist, I have come to the conclusion that two separate entities need work. The first is in the physical ability to move around the guitar known as technique. The second is the internal ability to make and understand music. It is very possible to be a great musician without being a good technician just as it is possible to be a great technician without being a good musician.

Any good practice regimen requires one to think about these two separate and connected ideas. Our fingers must be able to play that which we want to hear. Yet to be able to hear that which you want to play is another separate issue. The technical aspect is usually the easiest to practice for most people. This, of course, has to do with the fact that it means you’ll be putting your hands on the guitar through scales, arpeggios, and pieces. The musician part is not as easy.

Becoming a good musician is a much more difficult thing to master. It involves being able to hear chord structures, sing melodies, know where to put an emphasis on a phrase, and even the simple or difficult ability to count a rhythm correctly. The study of all of this falls under becoming a good musician. Therefore, in your practicing this area must be one that takes a good bit of your time. Being a good musician is not dependent on you being a good technician and vice versa. However, you must attain ability in both to allow your music to actually convey its intended result.

It is always rewarding to see a student go beyond where they thought or intended to go while taking lessons. I believe Alan Masinter is one of those students. I do not think that when we began working together that he thought he’d be arranging music for his own playing. But, that’s where we ended up. This is his arrangement of the famed Summertime by Gershwin. I think you’ll greatly enjoy playing it and hearing a new take on a classic.

Masinter Summertime

Other resources:

George Gershwin – Summertime Solo Guitar Sheet Music (Digital Download)

George Gershwin – Summertime Lead Sheet Music (Digital Download)

Often I am asked about books to help someone that wants to begin on their own before studying with a private teacher. I am always reluctant to give any answers to this question. Not because I am a private teacher but because I truly believe that studying with someone that can give you feedback is extremely important. It is essential for a beginner to begin good habits of playing from the beginning in order to prevent having to return to basic technique later on in their playing.

In some cases, people just have to adventure on their own until they discover the above truth. Therefore, I am currently happy to suggest the book by Greg Horne published by Alfred Publishing and associated with the National Guitar Workshop. Horne has a firm foundation in American roots music but also finds time to power in some bluesy rock. This diversity and a clear way of presenting ideas finds its way into every aspect of the book. He takes the student through the basics with clear explanations and builds on playing songs from the beginning. Each chapter reveals a new technique and eventually leads to blues playing after walking a bit through some fundamentals including American roots music basics. The book ends with the infamous barre chord. By then, the student should be ready to take on the barre without reservations. With Horne’s advice and teaching, moving from chapter to chapter is very rewarding for the “self-studying beginning guitarist.”

I will, once again, say that a student runs a chance of developing bad habits in their playing when studying on their own. However, if a student wants to go for it, then beginning with Horne’s series of books will help them to move efficiently through the basics with good instruction.

Recently I came into ownership of a series of magazines title The Etude. Most people born after 1940 probably never heard of such a publication. It began publication in1883 and continued in its publication until 1957. I have been amazed at the content in these publications.

It is geared toward the home musician rather than a professional musician. The amazing thing about the publication is that it has very little “fluff” in it. There are serious discussions on interpretation of musical styles as well as some serious and simple music for play at home. This tells me that the musician at the beginning of the 20th century was truly interested in being a musician and understanding the music they played. This is, of course, much different than many students today that just want to figure out how to play three chords and then write their great rock anthem. I am not suggestion that the music of today is inferior in its use. I am suggesting that our microwave society has created a much less capable home musician than it did 50 to 100 years ago.

As I research each issue, you will undoubtedly find their content making its way to my blog. I am sure that you will be amazed at how much of it is still of great value today. It seems that humanity and music changes very little over time. I leave you with this excerpt from an article titled, “Practical Considerations in Pianoforte Interpretations” by Walter Gieseking. Though it is written with the piano in mind, I am sure you will agree that the concepts are valuable for the serious guitar student as well.

One of the first things I learned from Mr. Leimer was to practice with my head as well as with my fingers, to concentrate intently on every note of the scale or arpeggio, to play with the utmost accuracy. It is only through constant attention to the individual note that fingers accustom themselves to play evenly and acquire the ability to effect exactly each nuance desired for giving appropriate expression to a musical phrase. When one practices like this, three to four hours a day is the limit of mental endurance – and anything beyond the point of mental endurance is time and effort wasted. It should be spent more profitably in health-building out-door exercise and acquainting oneself with the other arts – literature, painting, sculpture.

Those of you who visit this site have probably noticed a slowing down of current posts. This is due to a sense of urgency for finding a new place to live. Our landlord has sold the property we rent from and hence the new landlord is forcing everyone out. I’m bummed but not down. Therefore, other priorities have taken order.

With the above in mind, I have been pondering the sense of urgency for the guitar. Did you ever think about urgency when you were in school? Probably not, but I bet you felt the sense of urgency. Remember those assignments that you had all semester to finish? When did you begin working on them? I bet for most of you it boiled down to the last week before the due date. Even for those that worked throughout the semester, you put in longer and more intense hours the week before the due date to ensure the best results. The same applies to guitar, even when it is for enjoyment.

We all need a sense of urgency to really motivate us to finish what we start. We need it to drive use to a higher level than we would otherwise achieve. That’s why you need to create a sense of urgency when it comes to learning the guitar. There are a few ways to do this and probably many more in reference to your own life.

1. Create a deadline for a YouTube video. This forces you to get your work done because it is a performance to be seen by millions of people over the web.
2. Create a deadline for sending a recording to a friend. This isn’t as “out-there” as a YouTube video but still puts a sense of urgency into your practice. Another way to think of it is to record something for a birthday or anniversary.
3. Schedule a live performance. This is the end all of everything you are doing to learn the guitar. The goal is to share music. Even if you are not performing to a huge audience, this type of motivation is hard to beat. Schedule a dinner party and let everyone know that you are going to perform for them after dinner and before dessert.

The above are just a few ways to encourage you to begin to create a sense of urgency in your playing. It will make you a better player and will reward you by getting feed back and giving enjoyment to those who listen.

Acoustic guitars, when taken care of, can last a lifetime. If you are about to take a step into buying your first acoustic guitar, then looking for a new or used guitar requires the same considerations.

1. If you’re going to take your buying seriously, then you need to take a guitar tuner with you when you are on the hunt. If you do not know how to use the tuner or you have never played guitar before, then you need to take someone with you that can accomplish all of these tasks before buying a guitar. Back to the tuner . . . the strings should be tuned up and the guitar should be played from the lowest to the highest frets to make sure it stays in tune. You can easily check the intonation by playing a harmonic on fret twelve and then playing the fingered note at fret twelve. These should be the same. If the tuner or your ear hears differently, then make you know the intonation is out and you need to look at another instrument. If only one of the six strings is off, then you know that it is probably just the string itself that needs to be replaced.
2. Now that you know the guitar has good intonation, it’s time to inspect the rest of the guitar. Begin by looking over the joints, tuning keys, the bridge and other areas where pieces connect. If you see open spaces, drops of glue or shoddy details, the guitar is most likely not put together well. A good acoustic guitar will have tight seams and tuning keys made from metal or pearl but not plastic. The bridge will sometimes have lifted off the guitar. This is a crucial inspection place. If it is lifting and you can see a space, then move on to the next option.
3. Always play or have each guitar you are considering played for you. Compare the sound to other acoustic guitars you are considering. If you are considering from two different stores, then do your best to find a similar guitar in the current store you are in and compare it. Each guitar may have a slightly different body style and be made from a different type of wood. These may not be important to you right now, but each instrument will sound a little different based on the wood and size. There is no such thing as good or bad sound, only different. Think vanilla ice cream or chocolate. You may not like chocolate but then you may be a vanilla type of person.
4. Check to make sure that the size of the neck of the acoustic guitar fits well in your hand. Some guitars have wider necks than others. While this will not affect the sound quality, it can certainly affect the way you play and your comfort level. remember that if this is your first guitar, then you may get it wrong when it comes to feel. You will develop a “feel” for your preferences the longer you play and the more guitars you try. For now, just make sure you feel pretty comfortable.
5. If you are interested in an acoustic/electric, a guitar with electrinic pickups installed, then test them with at least two different amplifiers before you make your purchase. Built in pickups vary greatly in sound and quality, so it becomes a serious consideration when choosing this type of instrument.
6. When you are satisfied with the previous litmus tests, then it’s time to head to the check-out counter and purchase that new jewel of a guitar. Then, get home and get practicing!!!

You might be thinking that this is going to be an post about effect pedals, pick-up selectors, or string gauges. However, this is about finding the sound you actually like to play. And, it may not be as easy as you think.

Many of us, including myself, came to guitar because we wanted to play a certain type of music. For me, I wanted to be a rock star. Let’s face it, in the back of my mind I wanted the rock ‘n roll life of fame and fortune. I am glad that my conscience lead me down a better path. As I began to play rock and roll, my ambitions were high and I worked hard at it. However, after a while I realized that I really didn’t love to play rock as much as other styles of music. I enjoyed listening to the rock more than actually playing the rock. I found that I enjoyed the nuances of fingerstyle for my playing and I enjoyed the energy of rock for the weight room.

You see it took me a while and a lot of experimentation to find out that I really loved fingerstyle. I was in college when I began the guitar and I had to play fingerstyle for my degree. But outside of the college work, I worked on the rock ‘n roll, studied with jazz players (guitar and other instruments) and through it all found that the fingerstyle playing is where I wanted to land. I can play rock and jazz using fingerstyle but it is in arrangements and pre-composed pieces for guitar that really intrigue me for my own playing.

I still love the occasional jam session on electric guitar, but on a daily basis it is the fingerstyle acoustic (and mainly nylon string) that I find myself leaning on. All of this is to say that you may need to go through a few different styles and genres and even techniques to find the one that best suites you as a player. It does not mean that you cannot enjoy other music, but it means that you probably lean toward a specific style more than others. Pay attention to that intuition and your playing will be rewarded because you will have greater joy through the occomplishment of your innate inclinations.

I have to say that re-committing my time to playing has become challenging in just the first few days. Yesterday I had to squeeze every thirty minute time slot out of my day. I, unfortunately, had some down time during teaching yesterday and decided to not waste the time and put in the hours I need to get back to par. My hands are feeling quite good and I am amazed at how much I have not lost due to the time gap between now and the last time I prepared for performances.

I have found that having a baby boy, a business, and a lovely wife to fill my time has presented challenges. I many times want to be with my boy rather than just pick up the guitar. Here are few things that I keep in mind:

1. I know my goal. I can see where I need to be in 30 days, 60 days, and 90 days. This forces me to always ask, “How am I doing and what do I need to do today to meet those goals?”
2. I know my plan. I have a plan written out. I know what pieces I want to have finished and polished by a certain date. I have measures and tempos to meet by certain times. If I don’t meet them, then that’s o.k. But I will still be closer to my goals.
3. I am preparing to perform. My goals are all focused on presenting new videos online. Therefore, I am, in essence, working towards a performance. There is no more driving factor than having to perform for others. In this case, I am not in front of them in time, but rather a recorded time.

Like I mentioned before, I may not reach these goals in the time specified. Even so, I will have made it one step closer to their accomplishment. As for you, make some goals, make a plan, and try to reach them on a daily basis. It is the only sure way of somewhat predicting success.