Great Practice Technique.......

[onewilyfool]

In my advancement in playing style, ahem, I am starting to do a lot of slides and embellishments while chording, adds a lot of interest in sound, moving up and down the neck, learning chord positions all over the neck. So Last night I started practicing with my eyes closed. For other hobby players like myself, I usually just play sitting down or propped up in bed, so often find myself "watching" my playing. So this was good practice for me, and I really got into the tactile "feel" of the playing. So I suggest it as a practice technique. I found myself really trying to visualize the fret board in my mind's eye, and concentrating on the position of my hand on the neck. It's pretty easy when I'm playing C,F,G.....lol...but when I start moving around the neck....oops....gets a little harder.....have fun....

[Thermionik]

.

.

 

Sit or stand (whatever you do.....) with guitar comfortable in hands and your eyes closed.

 

Sing or hum a note.

 

Without doing ANYTHING else, finger that note and only THEN play it.....

 

Eventually you will hit it everytime, and you should be able to sing the solo in your head out loud AND play it too, think of a riff and hit it first time, hear a melody and play it without thinking.

 

Practice.....

[brians356]

Try singing or whistling in unison (or octave) with some blues riffs you play. It's amazing how satisfying that can be, and you sound like George "Bad" Benson. I knew a college jazz band teacher who had his players all sing their parts before they played them, scat style. He used to say "If you can't say it, you can't play it." It wasn't to learn the notes, but the swing and phrasing.

 

It's also a fact that you can practice too much. That's right. Practice sometimes does not make perfect. The best (and most famous) guitar teacher I ever had taught me to practice really difficult passages (the ones that make you sweat) no longer than 5 minutes per day, and, even more importantly, at a tempo no faster than I could play it without mistakes. That might be embarrasingly slow., but play it that slowly for 5 minutes straight, really concentrating on mistake-free repetition, preferably with a metronome. Then put the guitar down and walk away. You might play some other, easy stuff later, but not that particular passage until the next day. You will be surprised how quickly you progress. Something about muscle memory, mental fatigue, and your unconscious mind.

 

I used to play a lot of pool, but I would reach plateaus and get "stuck" Then I noticed that by stopping playing for a few days or weeks, I would come back and play better than ever. Once I lost interest for a year to so, and was surprised by how much better I played when I took it up again. I thought I wasn't playing pool, but my mind was actually still processing it somehow. I've noticed this with golf, too. Often my best round of the season is the first one I play after the winter break, even though I'm out of golf shape.

 

Here's another trick: When you go to bed or are taking an afternoon siesta on the couch close you eyes, relax, and visualize playing in your mind something you are working on. Hear the notes and see your fingers playing them. You might drop off to sleep and dream it, maybe not, it doesn't matter. You are visualizing it the way a golfer visualizes the flight of the shot he is about to hit. You are relaxed and letting your mind and body learn.

[Hawkcity]

I usually always play with my eyes closed or looking away from the guitar. I find this is not conscious after playing for many years. Looking at my freeting or picking hand almost always results in distraction. I do look at the fretboard when I play up the neck.

[Thermionik]

.

.

 

It wasn't so much the not looking aspect - as the ability to hear or sing a note and put your fingers straight to it.

 

I often hear folk say they can hear it in their head.....

.....but struggle to get it out of the guitar.

[onewilyfool]

therm, guilty as charged.......I am a fantastic guitar player.....in my head....lol.....now to get it out of the sound hole

[James Allen]

Hey Onewilyfool, that is great advice. I had a guitar teacher tell me once that to become a really good player I had to turn down the lights, close my eyes and play what I was FEELING. Don't look, don't over think, just feel the music.

 

I still do it after all this time. You are giving great advice, my friend.

[onewilyfool]

Thanks James......I read one teacher actually talked about closing your eyes and playing the guitar in your mind. Just visualize playing leads, or chord progressions......mentally practicing.....I haven't tried this but a lot of Pro atheletes and olympic athletes use this method.....so could be a good practice too....I've done a little in my mind while lying in bed before sleep at night....Keep pluckin' guys!!

[dadeedo]

very interesting ideas. Thermionik's pitch finding exercise is extremely helpful. I try to remember to do some of that every day in order to become less dependent on music or tab. A trained ear is necessary to grow in musicianship. But you might try by confining yourself to a single scale. Here's how I do it: Play the I-IV-V-I chord of the scale, then play the scale to get it all in your ear. Then try singing a note and finding it within the scale you just played. Once you can nail that, try other scales (esp. C, G, D, A, and E). Then you might try singing any pitch and locating it anywhere on the fretboard. Small steps will get you there.

 

I also endorse Brians356 recommendation against over-practicing. I retain more from several 20 minute practice sessions in a day than in one long one, and the wear and tear on the physical equipment is much less!