TECHNIQUE

Description

TECHNIQUE

Webster's dictionary defines technique as \"the manner in which technical details are treated or basic phsical movements are used.\" Notice there is NO reference to \"good\" \"bad\" \"right\" or \"wrong\". Whether sloppy or refined, technique is a metter of personal choice.

For musicians, technique referes to the mental and physical command of music. Instrmental prowess may or may not be a musician's objective. There are great composers who don't perform and virtuoso instrumentalists and singers who don't compose. Regardless of your chosen niche or goal, aquiring the ability to manipulate music-mentally and/ or phsically- requires honing and balancing two totally different sets of chops.

The basic physical technique of playing the guitar requires TOTAL SYNCHRONIZATION between both hands. I'm not talking about BRAIN SURGERY here, but that doesn't mean it's easy. The initial learning curve is very steep- it can take from 6 to 18 months before your hands even start to do what you ask of them. Be patient, and practice diligently. Learning and technique go hand in hand (forgive the pun)- the more you learn about music< the more technique you accumulate.

But acquiring technique is more than a physical ritual. The mechanics of the learning process can be divided into two areas of study- Mental and Motor. Each requires a different approach. On the mental side, ideas and concept's- such as scale and chord formulas, melodic and rhythmic fragments, and fingerboard shapes- can be understood, internalized, and recalled fairley quikley buy reducing the amount of information they convey to a series of mental \"snapshots\" (peopla with so called photo-graphic memories excel at this process). Performing the new idea - the motor side of the learning process is an entirely different matter. This involves training your nervouse system to respond in new ways and requires considerable physical repatition before the action feels comfortable. Depending on it's degree of difficulty, a new idea will become reflex after 50-100 repetitions. (remember learning to write the alphabet?)

Until both the hands and mind converge, technique will remaine spotty at best. An idea cannot be performed without hesitation or mistakes unless it is absolutely clear to the performer mentally. Practice new ideas at a tempo where you can play them flawlessly- OTHERWISE YOU ARE JUST REHEARSING YOU MISTAKES.

Musical memorization entails singing notes and rhythms in your head or aloud. If you can't hum, sing, or grunt some approximation of an idea, you'll certainly find it difficult to play.(Of course, you can't hum or sing chords, but you can learn to hear them internally.) Vocalizing new ideas shifts your focus to the sound of the notes-rather than how to physically play them-and allows you to synchronize mental and motor skills. The key to memorization and instant recall is working with small bits of information at very slow tempos and visualizing phsical shapes on the fingerboard.