Thanks for the direction. I thought it was just me.... :rolleyes:
At first you have to fully focus on every little motion & movement. You have to think, "Put my finger here, don't mute the other strings, this is a ... what note? a C note, now, pick it carefully ... what's the next note ... "
Gradually, as you repeat these things, they become automated (shifted over to your subconscious), and you are able to think in larger units. Eventually, after enough practice, you don't have to focus on each & every note or movement. Instead, you can think, "C major scale in 4s" and your brain & hands will take care of the details.
Of course I knew better, but the encouragement and direction really helps and means a lot. Thanks!
Rockin' Rod
Originally Posted by: CSchlegelThat's a great moment to have. :) I love those moments.
You've got yourself a false dichotomy there. :) It's not one or the other: reason or emotion. It's both, put together properly. Integrated.
I know many musicians that like to explain it that way: being "detached". But it is mistaken & very misleading. What they should say is that they have mastered & automated the mechanics. They have practiced so much, they have made the physical process of playing any given scale over any given chord progression, in any given rhythm at the drop of hat completely second nature.
It is so automated in their subconscious, that their conscious awareness is allowed to think in larger units.
They don't think about each note as they play it. There isn't time to do that. What they do is think in a large unit that contains a whole group of notes they are already extremely familiar with.
So, for example when an accomplished guitarist, like Paul Gilbert, plays a lick like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xrh6jgWLB3I
That fast lick or a whole solo on "auto pilot", he is not explicitly thinking, "Okay, let's see. A, down to G, F, E, down to D on the G string, back up to the B string ..." and so on. He'd never get the lick done at all, much less done blazing fast! :)
At one point a long time ago he did have to think that at least once. Then, he practiced it for 8-10 hours a day for a few years. With enough practice doing one of those giant licks only requires him to think, "A minor scale pattern down & up in 16th note triplets." If even that much!
At a certain point, whole phrases, fretboard patterns & even songs can become second nature because they are automated. The only way to memorize the fretboard and licks like that to competently play those scales (or anything on the guitar) is sheer repetition. There is simply no substitute for hours, days & years of practice. This is completely a matter of practice. Everyone has to go through this stage. For some it's longer; others, it's shorter. But the same thing has to take place: you must repeat the physical motions until it becomes second nature to you.
What's happening is your brain must build those new neural pathways, and your muscles will get more and more used to these new signals being sent to them and respond quicker ("muscle memory").
At first you have to fully focus on every little motion & movement. You have to think, "Put my finger here, don't mute the other strings, this is a ... what note? a C note, now, pick it carefully ... what's the next note ... "
Gradually, as you repeat these things, they become automated (shifted over to your subconscious), and you are able to think in larger units. Eventually, after enough practice, you don't have to focus on each & every note or movement. Instead, you can think, "C major scale in 4s" and your brain & hands will take care of the details.
Eventually, you can get to the stage of playing whole sequences of chords or notes or even songs on "auto-pilot". This is because it's been practiced enough to be automated.
So, you don't stop thinking when you play fast. You just think in bigger terms. You think in whole groups or phrases of notes, instead of each note one at a time. Make sense?
Now once a guitarist has accomplished a large group of mechanics, then he can do exactly what you correctly suggest is the next step: use these skills as tools to express thoughts & emotions. :) To tell a story with music.
So, it's not thinking versus emotions. It's thinking as the first required step, then using the results of your thinking to express emotions.
