This is something that i wrote in an email to another guitarist who wahted to know some of my "rules" that i use for my play and practice - i will also add this to my host section for i think it might help some of you folks....
Basically accuracy, speed and stamina are a result of constant and, lets call it "intelligent" or "smart" practice.
All technique is only a means to an end and is just the basic for making music. But - no doubt about that - it is necessary.
I always practice with the help of a metronome. I practice difficult parts at slow speed to the metronome untill i feel comfortable with the riff/lick/run/whatever. Then i slowly increase the speed.
It is very important that, when playing fast, you use the same technique as when playing slow!!
When i talk about "Smart Practicing" i mean a specific way of thinking. Just playing scales up and down untill your fingers bleed will not realy help you to push your play to new regions.
It is important to seperate music and training!
When you train/practice a song/lick/riff/etc. you should use your ratio - the left side of your brain - practice untill it becomes part of you, untill it flows out naturally. Then your emotional being - the right hemisphere of your brain can take the lead.
At certain points of your practice you may seem to be stuck. At such points it is important to know that most of the stuff does not happen on the fretboard or in your fingers - it happens in your mind! Sometimes it helps to just mentally aproach a lick differently and suddenly you will be able to play it - even if you didnt change anything technically at all - i hope you understand what i mean - just make the lick feel "right".
I dont know if you focus mainly on classical or electric guitar, but a few things are important on both of them:
Small movements:
There is always more than one way to play the same lick. Rearrange it on your fretboard so that the fingers do not have to move too much.
Think of what fingers you are using for what notes in a specific lick - this will help you to stay out of trouble when it comes to higher speeds.
example (Sagreras - "el colibri"):
e----------------------------------------------
b----------------------------------------------
g----------------------------------------------
d----------------------------------------------
a----2-slide-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-9-7-6-7-9-etc...----
E----0-----------------------------------------
Which finger would you use to make the slide from 2 to 7 ?
Most people would tend to use the index finger to do the slide.. but then look at the figure that follows the silde (marked bold) - you would have to rearrange the fingers in order to play the 6 because your index finger is resting on the 7.
A more economic way would be to use the ring finger for the slide - then your fingers are in the right position to play the other notes with only a small amount of movement.
Add some fingering principles to your play - guitarists normally do not care about that - a violin player has fingering principles to solve problems as well as poaniplayers - why dont the guitarists??
Round movements:
We have never learned how to correctly move our fingers from one positiion to the next - we only know how to correctly fret a note so that it sounds ok.
Normally we move away our fingers from a certain position too fast and that leads stressed movements. When our hand is moving too fast we have to slow it down very fast again to hit the correct position and that leads to a bracing of the hand and 'jerky' movements.
Always relax when playing - think of making smooth, round movements witout abrupt changes (even if sometimes they can hardly be avoided). You should think of the movements as beeing linked together in a smooth flow - not as seperate parts - just like the movements in Tai Chi Chuan. It is important the the fingers do always leave the "old" position correctly!
The Thumb is a very important tool when changing fret positions - it works like a break - it fixes the arm in the right position and it releases it when it comes to a change - have you ever thought of those things?
Breathing:
Breathing is a very vital aspect in making music! Each time we start so speak a sentence we have to breathe befor and after it. Breathing is one of the most important musical tools to create tension.
If, for example, you start to get faster at a certain point of your play, it is very often due to the fact that you do not have enough air to finish the phrase relaxed. Watch yourself how you breathe when you play .. and see what happens when you come to a difficult part of a song. Some peeoples thend not to breathe at all at a specific passage in a song - thats unnatural and you wont feel calm and comfortable.
Lets for example take a toccata-style piece. Those pieces are normally very long. When to breathe in such a long piece? There are of course two alternatives: Follow the musical line with your breath or breathe normally in and out at a relaxed pace troughout the whole piece. As you see your breathing can be learned, and it helps you to get more relaxed and comfortable when playing.
So long!
[FONT=Times New Roman]Holiness is in right action and courage on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves. What you decide to do every day makes you a good person... or not.[/FONT][br][br]
