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more to the point is that first time around, although I had the backup rig, I wasn't prepared at all..
the cut-over was kinda "scruffy" and took longer than it should have
Hi Chris, how's it going? How's the Greco working out for you?
I think someone like Bucket would be more qualified to offer advice on the technical side of things, since my technique isn't nearly as good as his (or as good as it really should be). However, I've found the exercises in Guthrie Govan's 'creative guitar' books quite helpful even if they're just as a sort of warm up routine, so I'd definitely recommend having a look at these.
What has made a big difference to my outlook on learning the guitar, or any instrument, is watching these videos of the incredible Victor Wooten. The first one is a bit artsy, but I like it cause he plays bass in it, and roger me with a fence post that guy is good, and the second one he goes into a bit more detail and background of the ideas he's talking about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yRMbH36HRE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zvjW9arAZ0
He puts it a lot better than I ever could, but I love the analogy to learning a language, when you learn your mother tongue you don't do speaking exercises you just watch others and try it, make mistakes, and get better. The main thing I take from it is the idea of 'playing more than you practise', or as Joe Pass put it never playing anything that isn't musical. While purely technical exercises certainly have their place, and a scheduled practise session is definitely helpful to make sure you're moving forward and learning new things, great technique is wasted if what you're doing comes from the fingers' muscle memory and not inside, so to speak. The only purpose of your technique is to facilitate what it is you want to say, so it's more of a priority IMHO to find out what that is than it is to have great technical ability, and this comes from listening to lots of other musicians, playing with them, and creating music rather than practising exercises all day long. One way this can be implemented into a practise routine is if you're trying to learn new scales or arpeggios or even just playing a technical exercise, make yourself a super simple loop/backing track of the chord that it goes with so you can internalise the colour of the sound and improve your understanding of theory as well as learning it with your fingers. This is much more useful when you come to use the things you've learned in your own music.
There's another great video which you might've seen already, from Tom Hess talking about playing a 1 note solo and making it sound like your favourite singer and this is a great exercise too. Just don't sign up for the e-book thing, he sends you a million trillion emails trying to get you to buy stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkW8VeaAhbs
Above all, make sure you're enjoying it and make sure you make lots of time for putting the things you've learned together and into practise as well as trying to make progress, it's no good if you can execute the 5 shapes of the pentatonic at a million miles an hour in your bedroom but can't use it in your playing. I think Clarky covered this point though.
Oh, and that Oliver Sacks book on music is brilliant isn't it, when he's talking about what makes musicians tick and things like musical hallucinations and that guy who got struck by lightning and obsessed with Chopin!
Hope that helps and good luck
As I have limited time this week (probably about 1 hour/day) I shall do
15 mins scales/warm up (Ie finger gym + scales in one)
10 mins chords/arpeggios
10 mins on random exercises from a (random) book (I have loads) different each day
25-30 mins jamming with a backing track
And getting to Jam nights to play with others.
Next week (probably 2 hours/day to practise)
15 mins scales/warm up (again finger gym + scales in one)
15 mins chords/arpeggios
30 mins working through a book (actually working through, not just random exercises)
30-45 mins jamming with backing tracks
15-30 mins of revision of stuff I know
Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21)
I feel that becoming a good player is a case of learning to highlight your strengths and disguise your weaknesses. Playing music isn't really about 'not making mistakes' (although it helps to play it right). It's how you react to your mistakes that matter. Great players still make mistakes but they're pretty adept at bluffing their way out of it. Most in the audience wouldn't recognise a mistake if it slapped them in the face with a wet fish, anyway - but they DO recognise someone on stage getting all embarrassed and self-conscious because they've gone wrong.
@ChrisMusic
It's literally going to a local jam night (or 2) and standing if front of others and playing different songs with others. It doesn't matter if you make mistakes, these will reduce the more you do it. The other part of it is you will have songs you don't know thrown at you to play (last night, for me Black Magic Woman), ask what chords they are if you don't know, and play along.
The benefit is you'll soon realise what does and doesn't work when playing with others, and you'll learn how to lay at (slightly) higher volumes.
Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21)
@ChrisMusic
I should say, there's 2 ways of doing the chords/arpeggios
1 - using 1 chord (Eg Cmajor) and playing it in as many places and inversions* all over the neck
2 - using one scale and playing every chord within that scale, again I as many places over the neck
* an inverted chord uses all the notes from a chord (Eg C has the notes C-E-G) and changes the order, so ie E-G-C or G-C-E
Why random exercises? Because it will make you do something different each time you practice. I will be using different books from the ones I shall work my way through.
Also, when you go to a jam night, try to watch what the other guitar players are doing, especially when there is a lick/solo/riff you like, as you'll see where on the neck they're playing it, and what the fingering is.
Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21)
@ChrisMusic
What books/DVD's etc do you have to use to practise with/get the tools to practise with?
Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21)