Today I had a really great guitar lesson in Plano with a lawyer who is looking to start a band with some of his friends and really get back into guitar playing. He played a lot of rhythm guitar in his earlier days through college, until law school “sucked the creativity out of him.”
Haha. It’s great to see those in other professions come back to something they love and really making time for it. Often times, these people are the best people to give lessons too. They always seem so motivated and willing to work in whatever they can in their somewhat limited schedules. And they never have a problem paying for the lessons either! ; )
This particular guy has even purchased a travel guitar that folds up into a briefcase-sized carry-on and takes it with him when he travels during the week for business. Prioritizing your time around the specific goals you wish to achieve is a great trait to have. It is amazing what just setting a goal for 15-30 minutes a day of strategically aimed practice can do for your improvement in any area of life.
Set Limits to Break-Through Your Limitations
Here is something he mentioned to me in his e-mail:
I feel like I have learned all of these scales and modes, and don’t know how to use and develop that knowledge for improvisation. So while I know the scales, I really have not developed much in the way of licks and chops that I have confidence in, beyond some rudimentary things in the pentatonic scales. For example, if I am playing a song in the Key of G, and the chord progression in G, Am, D, and you said “improvise in Mixolydian, Dorian or Phrygian modes,” I would not know what to do. I play those things as scales, but I do not know how to apply those scales to chord progressions – which scale works with which progressions. That drives me nuts because I feel like I have some of the basic building blocks down, but do not know how to put it all together. I feel like that’s holding me back.
This guy really knew his scales and basic chord theory really well. His jam room where the guitar lesson was taking place was filled with instructional guitar dvd’s on learning the fretboard and booklets on scales and modes. As we were jamming a bit and getting a feel for things, I noticed him moving around the neck quite well, but something seemed to be missing. The feeling and musicality just wasn’t there. He was playing notes, but he wasn’t really playing them.
He was suffering from scale and mode overload.
The guitar seriously has an endless amount of musical possibilities. That is why it is important to set limits for yourself when learning and practicing. Don’t worry about learning the second mode of the harmonic minor scale just because you haven’t learned it yet. You might not even really need to learn it depending on what style of music you play.
Being musical is more important than any shred of knowledge you can learn from theory books and guitar lesson DVD’s.
Think BB King. He probably has never even learned all his arpeggios, modes, and scales. But he understands how to play musically and with emotion and style. His vibrato is renowned for being the sweetest vibratio EVER (My opinion at least).
My recommendation for my new guitar student was to slow down and focus on the subtleties of music. To set limits on his practice. For example, play over a groove or chord progression, but only solo and make melodies on the G string. Then go back and only use the B string. Then try only using the 5th and 2nd string. And so on with different combinations. Getting creative with the limits you set yourself is a great way to break through ruts in your guitar improvement. Try limiting yourself to certain fingers, certain areas on the fretboard, certain strings, to just using slides and hammer-ons, etc.
Anything really.
Something to Think About
What makes the great guitar players sound so great?
- Their phrasing and stringing together of melodies.
- Their touch
- Their vibrato
- Their embellishments
- Their tone
- Their feel
- Their style
- Their rhythm
What else would you add to the list?
Check out a great article by notable guitarist James Wilsey (who has played guitar with Chris Isaak) titled Expanding Creativity by Setting Limits at my online creative guitar magazine, Guitar Player Zen.
James has some serious style so be sure to check out his music through the link at the end of the article.
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