Top 10 Practice Tips: Stick to the Plan (8 of 10)

"If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail" as they say. By "they" I mean about a zillion people. But some attribute this exact quote to Harvey MacKay.

Some of my guitar students have expressed to me the frustration of not improving after hours of work on a song, technique or exercise. In some, very few cases, these frustrations are due to what physical trainers call "the hump". Getting over it takes discipline and resolve. What one is doing is maxing out his or her physical capacity to perform.

But I don't think the "getting over the hump" theory is what prevents most people - and most guitarists - from improving.

I think the real challenge - the real hurdle - is a lack of planning - or not knowing how to plan - in order to succeed. Developing a plan isn't always easy - especially for young players - but with a little practice, everyone can improve his skills on guitar.

There are two things I want to touch on here as we really get in to what a "guitar playing improvement plan" can look like:

1. Continue to practice everything you've learned.

This is hard to do, but for anyone who has played for more than about a year, you really need about an hour of playing five days a week in order to continue improving. Half of that time ought to be practicing what you already know. The remaining 30 minutes ought to be skills you're developing. Yes, I'm talking 60 minutes a day. That's five hours of guitar a week. (Cut back on Call of Duty, please.)

Here's one suggestion for your 30-minute daily reviews:

Day 1: Pentatonic scales and exercises
Day 2: Bar chords and inversions
Day 3: Major and natural minor scales and exercises
Day 4: Arpeggios (major, minor, augmented, half- and fully-diminished 7th chords)
Day 5: Harmonic and melodic minor scales and exercises

2. In order to pass "the hump", athletes and musicians have to increase their capacity by focusing on their weakest links.

For me, this applies really well to rock climbing. It's simple: if I focus only on the types of climbs that I'm good at and like to do, I'll never be a great all-around climber. If I'm a great slab climber and I choose not to work on finger strength on over-hanging routes, I'll never be able to climb over-hanging routes.

On guitar, maybe you hate scales because you suck at alternate picking. Well, you'll never be able to play those quick lead/solo lines well. Want to learn that Jimmy Page solo in "Black Dog"? Not gonna happen without some serious practice on your weaknesses. You know where this is headed...

So how do you know where you're playing is weakest?

Time to eat humble pie, folks. You need to play with people who are better than you. They don't have to be guitarists - just better musicians.

Let this be duly recorded:

If you are in a band and you don't think to yourself at every rehearsal "What a privilege! I get to play with musicians who are better than me every week", then you need to quit and find a new band.

Photo credit: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Housee_BLueprint.jpg

Lesson 1b: Picking Technique and Open-String Exercises

One of the toughest things about starting to learn guitar is gaining control and accuracy of your right hand - both single-note picking and strumming chords (if you're learning on a right-handed guitar, that is). In my first lesson, if we have time after covering the parts of the guitar (lesson 1a), we dive right in to playing the guitar.

Not particularly musical or fun, but fundamental. Open-String exercises are helpful to new students in a few ways:

1. The student gets comfortable holding the guitar and practicing good posture.
2. The student begins to develop right-hand precision - getting a feel for the spacing between each string - which will help with playing scales and strumming.
3. The student is practicing ear-training from day one (that means the student is beginning the process of being able to know what each note of the guitar sounds like and what the relationship is from one string to the next.)
4. The student begins to practice playing even, or steady, rhythms - necessary to play any form of music on any instrument.

But before getting into actually playing these exercises, we have to talk about two things:

1. How to hold a guitar pick. Flip your right-hand index finger straight out and completely flat, palm-side up. With your other hand, place the pointy corner of the guitar pick on your index finger, make sure that about 1/4 inch of the pick sticks out over the end of your index finger (like an extension of your nail), then quickly "snap" your right-hand thumb on to the pick comfortably. That's it!

2. Rule*: Use Alternate Picking. Alternate picking means using an alternating "down then up then down etc." motion when playing each note or chord. If your first note is played by picking down (approaching the string from above and striking it down toward the ground), then the next picking stroke should be up (the opposite of the last). Always "down, up, down, up" when we're working with steady rhythms (IE: the rhythmic value of each note is the same).

*Every week or so I add a new key rule or principle for students to memorize. Most of the time, it's the absolute, bear essential piece of information a student has to walk away from a lesson with.

Here is the worksheet I often use with my students. Remember, it's all open strings, so pretty much all students can get started with this right from the first lesson. No chords to learn or worry about. Easy peasy.

Disclaimer: All resources on this blog are intended for personal use only. If you are a music instructor - public or private - and would like to use some of the resource materials I have created, please contact me to get permission before using them with your own students.

Buying Acoustic Guitars over $1,500

This post is a continuation of a series I've been doing on how to buy a guitar. You can read the other posts here:

Buying a Guitar 101

Buying a Guitar 102: Electrics

More Guitar Recommendations

Acoustic Guitars over $1,500

Now we're getting into the really good stuff. Once you hit this level, you're looking for hand-crafted instruments only, built right here in the US of A or Canada. I don't personally know of any premium quality guitar makers outside of the States or Canada. In this price-range, it's all up to personal preference regarding body style, tone quality, types of wood used, etc.

Personally, I prefer Gibsons uber alles (over all others). Next come Martins, then it's a toss-up between Seagulls and Taylors. I prefer the sound of Seagulls, but the Taylors appear to retain their value better. Remember, though, there are a lot more Taylors on the market right now, so conceivably that could mean they'll be worth less over time - which is not what you want when you're paying this kind of cash.

Guitars in this price-range - and especially over about the $2,500 threshold - are instruments that ought to appreciate in value over time. You aren't just buying a guitar - you're buying an investment. (And that means get it insured! Standard renters or homeowners policies often don't cover these items and require an additional rider.)

This price-range also means that you can seriously consider buying "used" - or as collectors say "vintage". The key here is to do your homework. Find out the make, model, and year of the guitar you're looking to purchase and then find out if the manufacturer fudged on quality or materials during those years, etc.

Go with your gut. If the instrument feels and sounds great, buy it. In some cases, you should do "blind" playing tests to see which ones you like best.

For vintage instruments, I steer clear of Craigslist, Ebay, and other online shops. I also steer clear of big-box retailers like Guitar Center and Sam Ash - especially in Chicago. (I actually don't buy anything from Sam Ash - ever.)

I go with guitar shops that specialize in vintage gear. And unfortunately, there aren't many like that in the Chicago area. Your best bet for vintage is to take a trip South. Make a weekend out of it. Go to Nashville. Even Guitar Center in Nashville has a killer vintage section (this is the only time I'd still consider a big shop for my purchase).

I don't have any specific shops in Nashville to recommend to you at the moment, but if you're serious about making the trip, I have a handful of musician friends who live down there and I'd be happy to get a few recommendations from them.

In addition to snagging a killer vintage instrument, there are other, great reasons for making the trip just to buy a guitar: the experience will be unforgettable, the prices are cheaper than Chicago (because of the high number of vintage pieces available), the variety is greater (you get to try out a ton of guitars before you decide what to buy), you'll meet and network with real musicians in Nashville.

Questions? Comments? Need to contact me? Visit my Guitar Lessons site and email away!

Top 10 Practice Tips: Build on the Basics (7 of 10)

Photo source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lego_Color_Bricks.jpg

It's important to stay sharp on the basics. My first guitar teacher, Jack Hammond, once told me that, in order to maintain my current skill level, I needed to practice at least 30 minutes a day. Those 30 minutes would be filled with the basics: scales, chords, arpeggios, right-hand technique, and sight-reading. Now, that was a long time ago, and I would certainly say today that I have to practice much more than that - daily - to maintain my skill level - probably closer to somewhere between 60 and 90 minutes plus.

When I say "the basics," here's exactly what I mean:

• Major and minor pentatonics
• 7-Tone major and natural minor scales
• Harmonic, melodic, and jazz melodic minor scales
• One-Octave mixolydian and dorian box patterns
• At least one diminished scale with all box patterns
• Major and minor arpeggios
• Major and minor inversions, including drop-2 and -3 voicings
• Maj7, dom7, and min7 chord inversions, including drop-2 and -3 voicings
• Sight-reading in both rock (or jazz) and classical styles
• Strumming patterns practice and finger-picking methods

Why are the basics so important? Simple: they're the building blocks for everything else you'll learn on guitar. Without them, a guitar would just be a wooden stick with a few strings, attached to a hollow box. These techniques get you in the door, if you will - get you invited to the party. When somebody is serious when he or she says "I play guitar", this is what the person is talking about. These are the skills the person is talking about.

Lesson 1a: The Parts of the Guitar

My first lesson always includes a section on the anatomy of the guitar. Why? Because every guitarist ought to be able to converse intelligently with other guitarists about the instrument they love. And, if you don't know your own instrument, no self-respecting musician is going to take you seriously. Now, you probably already know that electric and acoustic guitars look different. True. And that means they have different parts. Many are the same, but enough are different that I use two different diagrams, depending on which type a student brings to his or her first lesson. Here, I have included my acoustic guitar sheet.

For some of you, this might be a refresher. Or, you might just learn something new. For others, this is totally new. Take a look for yourself...

Disclaimer: All resources on this blog are intended for personal use only. If you are a music instructor - public or private - and would like to use some of the resource materials I have created, please contact me to get permission before using them with your own students.

From the Beginning...

I've decided to begin posting my entire guitar lessons curriculum to this blog, starting at the very beginning - what I do at lesson #1, and how I proceed. I hope that this blog can become a resource for other teachers, improving their own teaching methods. And I hope that these posts benefit learning and eager guitarists (and aspiring ones) everywhere to improve their game, get stoked about the instrument, and learn music theory, too. First curriculum post coming soon...

What to Do When You Forget Your Notebook

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lost.jpg

I can't tell you the number of times that a student has forgotten his or her notebook at my studio after a lesson. It happens all the time. And, embarrassing as it may be, it's even more embarrassing to show up to your next lesson totally unprepared because you couldn't remember what to practice.

So what should you do if you forget your lessons notebook?

Call your teacher immediately. If it's me, just give me a buzz and leave a message, if you have to. Most likely, I'm in the middle of another lesson, a gig, or a recording session. In any case, call as soon as you find out you left it.

Practice what you can remember immediately following your lesson. If it's impossible for you to pick up your notebook right away, it's really important to practice as soon after your lesson as possible. Doing so helps to solidify all of the new content from your recent lesson.

Arrange a pick-up time ASAP. This one is pretty obvious.

Call if you have questions. Okay, yeah, you forgot your notebook. Yeah, it was a stupid thing to forget. But it would be even stupider to not practice because you couldn't remember what you worked on in your lesson. If I'm you're teacher, you can always call and ask questions.

All teachers do things differently, but I like to try to make myself available to my students via phone or email throughout the week, just in case they have questions about their homework. Give me a call. Let's try to work it out over the phone.

In some cases, I have also been known to hand-deliver forgotten notebooks to students. Again, not standard protocol, but I do it every once in a while, if I have the time and I have your address.