Schooled and Tooled

[ch willie]

We have a new guitarist in our band, and he's a virtuoso. He has a great understanding of music, a good ear, and dexterity like you wouldn't believe. Guy can play a number of styles.

I feel pretty good about my playing--I'm pretty good rhythm player--timing is good, taste is good, brag blah blah. But when I play with this guy, I realize my weaknesses.

1. I'm slower than shit at leads. I love playing lead and tell myself it's okay because Gilmour is also slow.
2. I don't know my scales like he does.
3. I think so differently than he does. I'm so old school, and boogie comes naturally to me. He's just so much more fluid in the way he approaches songs. It puts me to shame.
4. I can't shred or tap or get even close to having the dexterity to play something like "Cliffs of Dover."

My real strengths as a lead player are that I have a strong sense of melody, I can coax a good tone out of a guitar, and I'm fairly tasty.

But man, I so want to up my game. It just seems so overwhelming, and I'm not sure where to start. There are so many things I need to learn, so many ways to learn them.

I have such a hard time reading tabs or notation. My ear is strong, and I usually get the notes that way before I can read them on the page.

Input? Relate?

[Doc W]

I teach guitar and often deal with students who are, generally, in your situation, but since I can't sit down and play with you, it is hard to know exactly where you are.

You want to up your game and I take that to mean you just want to be a better player and not necessarily become a virtuoso like the new guy in the band. However, we don't know what kind of music you are playing, so it is hard to advise you. I think you need to establish some clear goals with regard to your playing. What is it exactly that you want to improve? Think six months down the road. What do you want hear in your playing that you don't hear now? What skills do you think you need to become a better player? Give us some more info.

The good news is that if you have any talent at all (and it sounds like you do), you will be amazed how much you can improve with focused practice, and I don't mean six hours a day. I tell students like you that if they can get in 20-30 minutes a day, five days a week, of truly focused, goal-oriented practicing, they will notice a big difference in their playing within months. Of course, the more you practice and the more you play the more you will improve, but if you are truly focused, you don't need to put in as many hours as you might think. It is also better to practice regularly than to binge once a week.

[Offshore Angler]

I'll add to what Doc says, when you practice - practice. Spend the time trying to learn, not just noodling what you already know.

[ch willie]

That's great advice. I appreciate you taking time to give me such a thoughtful response, Doc (and thanks too OA).

I'm planning on putting at least 30-45 minutes a day at this. I need to grow and I'm willing to put in the work.

My band plays a combination of classic and contemporary rock, but with a harder edge. We cover things like Born to Be Wild, Helter Skelter, Monkey Wrench, Jumping Jack Flash, and a host of other such songs.

I would like:

--to improve my sklls at playing jazz--chords and scales

--to be more fluid in my lead playing for rock--one specific thing I'd like to do is learn every song on Led Zeppelin II, all the main guitar parts.

--to improve my picking skills, especially with arpeggios and sweep picking.

--to improve my slide playing, which isn't bad but needs a larger vocabulary.

--to develop finger-picking skills. I can't seem to get the rhythms.

This all just sounds so overwhelming to me.

[Offshore Angler]

I hate to be the first one to say it, but learning to read music will pretty much cover all you seek.

Things like fingerpicking, you can practice that without the guitar using pima notation and just bang out the rhythm on the table. If you can say "Mississippi" we can get you a long way...

It's not the only way to go, but it sure makes the path shorter and in the long run, easier.


Jazz scales - I'd focus on intervals and chord theory. Know what makes a A7 a dominant seventh, and understand why if you play a "normal" D scale over said A7, it sounds "right". Or why a C scale works over an Am.

Then learn chord scales, not scales and chords, but chord scales. Like this one: C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, Bdim, C.

Now learn the Circle of Fifths - Bells should start to go off.

Sounds like work but what's cool is, you can practice your theory anywhere, anytime. Driving to work. while taking a 5 minute sanity break at the office. While your wife is yacking at you about something.

Look at it as an opportunity to enjoy making music even when you're cutting the grass.

It's not hard, we teach this stuff to 4th graders!

Of course, this all my humble opinion and YMMV but consider it food for thought.

[ch willie]

OA, I agree with it all. Thanks for laying it out for me like that.

I've tried to understand theory intellectually. I play a lot of this stuff intuitively, but I do want to really understand it..

I've tried to learn to read notation with a Mel Bay guitar book. It's well explained.

I took a couple of years of piano lessons and know the notes but can't relate them to the guitar like I can to the piano. I know my guitar neck, just can't ge the notes on the page with the notes on the guitar.

I got frustrated after a couple of weeks. I was spending about 45 minutes a day, and it was so start and stop and start and stop.

Any tips to have a bit more success with reading?

[melody]

One thing I would add is learn all the note's on the fret board...

This may help; http://vimeo.com/29530482

[Offshore Angler]

One thing I would add is learn all the note's on the fret board...

This may help; http://vimeo.com/29530482

+1

[Offshore Angler]

As far as reading, start SIMPLE. Like, Mary Had a Little Lamb simple.

And when it comes to reading, counting is paramount. Not just what note to play, but when to play it. That will help you understand phrasing, and thinking in terms of phrasing might add some of the fluidity you're looking for. Listen to Robben Ford or Larry Carlton for example, notice how much they AREN'T playing. (Or if you want to get really serious and deep, listen to Louis Armstrong, the king of phrasing.)

[Doc W]

That's great advice. I appreciate you taking time to give me such a thoughtful response, Doc (and thanks too OA).

I'm planning on putting at least 30-45 minutes a day at this. I need to grow and I'm willing to put in the work.

My band plays a combination of classic and contemporary rock, but with a harder edge. We cover things like Born to Be Wild, Helter Skelter, Monkey Wrench, Jumping Jack Flash, and a host of other such songs.

I would like:

--to improve my sklls at playing jazz--chords and scales

--to be more fluid in my lead playing for rock--one specific thing I'd like to do is learn every song on Led Zeppelin II, all the main guitar parts.

--to improve my picking skills, especially with arpeggios and sweep picking.

--to improve my slide playing, which isn't bad but needs a larger vocabulary.

--to develop finger-picking skills. I can't seem to get the rhythms.

This all just sounds so overwhelming to me.

Willie, I am not surprised that you feel overwhelmed. I think you are trying to do too much at once. Here are a few suggestions about how you might start. You say you do mainly hard rock, so let's forget the jazz and finger picking just for now so you can focus a little.

You say:
"to be more fluid in my lead playing for rock--one specific thing I'd like to do is learn every song on Led Zeppelin II, all the main guitar parts."

I am not a big fan of that music but this is a great idea. You can read theory books until you glaze over but you will learn TONS about how to play in a particular style by learning specific solos. Keep in mind that many great players started by learning the solos of others note-for-note. If you do this WHILE you are learning scales, you will gain a lot of insight into which notes work and why.

In addition to this, in spite of what I said about theory books, start learning about scales and intervals. This is not rocket science but a lot of guys like to pretend it is for some mysterious reason. I learned most basic "theory" before I was 12 (piano lessons) so, trust me, it ain't that hard. I did a music degree in university and our main prof insisted on talking about "materials and techniques of music," not "theory." His point was that it is practical knowledge that musicians use every day, not some airy fairy abstract gobbledy gook. Scales are meat and potatoes, nothing exotic. So start understanding scales but don't worry too much about playing scales right now. When you understand scales, intervals and especially triads (and chords), your knowledge of the fretboard will expand very rapidly.

I have some notes typed up that I give to students who are in the same position as you. I would be happy to share what I have. Feel free to send me a message.

[ch willie]

Can't say thanks enough for the helpful responses, guys. I am going to go the route of one thing at a time. I'm not a disciplined person, but I'm going to try hard.