Learn Guitar Slow
It all sounds a little ridiculous to anyone who has ever attempted to wrap their thumb behind the neck of a guitar and make some noise. Hard to believe, but as it happens, this "get it all done as quickly and efficiently as possible” pressure is really the foundation of a lot of pedagogy and the allure of get-a-lot-of-hard-stuff-done-quick is at the heart of most good guitar teaching.
What is the alternative to aim directed movement, hyper-vigilance, informed musical analysis, and the detection of poor habits of movement? Without these wouldn’t my playing tend to veer toward sounding like a hot and sloppy mess? Yes you're right, it would. Still it is worth considering if, in our quest to perfect the perfect practice prototype, we haven't tossed out a baby or two in all the dirty bath water.
Here's the premise. A guitarist is someone who plays guitar. In fact, the best thing you can do with guitar is play it-and the longer the better. Practice it, play it, tune it, record yourself playing it -the sky's the limit and God forbid something takes 10 minutes to learn instead of 5. One of the verses of my favorite song in nursery school wen like this :The more we get together, together, together the more more get together the happier we'll be.
Has guitar become a daily chore because it is something you are just trying to fit in to your life rather than something that seems to surround your life in a happy way? When it comes to the guitar, time, as they say, is of the essence. Gary Marcus in his book Guitar Zero uses the Yiddish term "sitzfleisch" (Sit flesh) -the sheer ability to sit until you a something done.
More scales, arpeggios, pieces and practice strategies? Maybe our first strategy should be to sit a little longer with our six string friend everyday. Last year I found I was unhappy with my practice time so I stopped teaching one day a week and took some of the time for practice. Why? Because it’s fun. I like playing guitar and taking or making the extra time to do it is a main ingredient to improve my playing.
By: David Reynolds - Tuesday, March 14, 2017