How do you integrate new skills?

Iam curious about your thoughts about how and when to integrate your new skills/techniques into your guitar playing.

[br]1. How do you intregrate all the new things you are learning?

2. When do you start to integrate all those new things into your guitar playing? Once you mastered the skills? Right from the start?

[br]It would be great to collect some ideas here on this VERY important topic!

Great questions!

Originally Posted by: Matthias Hornstein

1. How do you intregrate all the new things you are learning?

[/quote]

By finding a way to do something practical & musical with it right away. Use one idea to generate multiple musical examples. Apply it to a song I already know, a song I'm learning, find ways to use it to improve things I already do.

[quote=Matthias Hornstein]

2. When do you start to integrate all those new things into your guitar playing? Once you mastered the skills? Right from the start?

ASAP! If you wait until you master an idea or technique, then you'll never get around to integrating it!

Hope this helps!

Yeah, what Christopher said! :)

I actually don't spend time on a skill or technique unless I already have an application for it in mind. I have limited time I can spend on learning so I try to use it wisely. I am also of a personality type that doesn't like learning things I won't use. I was the kid whining in shcool about "when am I gonna use this stuff" :).

As an example, I've wanted to spice up some of my soloing with both speed and scales other than the pentatonics. I chose some solos as examples experimented with ways to expand upon the pentatonics, mostly Dorian mode. This approach keeps me motivated rather than sitting down and doing speed drills or learning all of the modes.

My speed lead example is YYZ by Rush. I swear the day will come that I will be able to play it for real (master it). Even though I'm not there, it has helped my speed, accuracy, picking, and muting technique. So even though I haven't mastered it, it's useful as Christopher points out.

I have also found that just learning a pile of songs helps my playing in general. For example, I learned Mystery Achievement by The Pretenders recently. At the end of one of the solos, there's this galloping thing he does through the scale. It was a struggle at first but now I can do it without thinking about it. The bonus (and it's a big one) is that it has become part of my playing and I've had some "whoa, where did that come from" moments. I can now alternate pick through part of a scale across strings fast...I've been struggling with that for YEARS. So learning that song helped me break through a significant barrier.

The point is much of what you need to know is there in the songs. Whether you go to the song before or after learning the technique...the song is still involved, and that's what it's all about...making music.

Well, once I discover a new technique I immediately write myself studies for it in various difficulties and try to incorporate them into a song by creating a hook out of them.

Each technique, as well as chords and scales/melodies trigger certain emotions which can be turned into a story --> song/piece.

That's how I deal with new skills and how I incorporate them into my playing schedule. By having a song that uses a particular skill, you immediately start practicing it in a real musical context, thus giving it meaning and with meaning you are more likely to practice it as you need it to complete your current stage (i.e. playing that particular song). HOpe that wasn't too confusing lol

Hope I could help,

Lukas

Well when it comes to apply your new skills it's very useful to start improvising and including those new techniques even if you don't feel ready yet. Because it's easy to play a scale fast, but if you don't know how to use it in a song, it might not be useful! So you can add them, as they already said, in a song, or you can use them while jamming, and that will improve your new skill and also your jamming technique.

I hope this helps! =)

Funny. I don't really ever think about it. If it's for the sake of learning a song, whatever skill or lick I would learn is for that song but I assume that some day in the future I'll use that skill/lick elsewhere.

If there's any integration, it's in my warm-up/'try-a-guitar-at-the-store' licks; I'll add it there if I really dig it or want to keep on playing it. Any example was from reading a George Lynch thing where he said that you can almost play any note on the fretboard for whatever key you're playing in, so long as you resolve the right way (eg - on a root note, for instance). I've played many George solos in my day (he was a fave) but never thought about it that way. Silly I know. There were a few licks I noodled out with 'out notes' and they somehow fell in to my warm-up licks.

I like to keep my practice well rounded, so the new things I'm learning have time to integrate in the deep brain. Think einstein working in a patent office. Often our most profound developments come when we least expect them, after we have spent time focussed on something else.

Obviously time spent on the fretboad is key. I like to find my way into the flowstate, where I'm not thinking so much as doing, then I start to find whatever I have been practicing will begin to manifest itself as musical ideas.

I go out and street perform fairly often. Getting real life feedback helps me discern what is musical/tasteful