Been playing 40 years...if I could go back and teach myself, this is what I'd teach..

[SwingSwangSwung]

This next Christmas I will have been playing guitar for 40 years, most of which I have been a fairly serious student of guitar. I've learned a lot of lessons along the way which I wish I'd known back in the beginning and know I wasted a lot of time working hard - not smart. Here are the tips I'd give myself if I could go back in time.

1. Practice with both hands TOTALLY RELAXED

2. Practice in SLOW MOTION focusing on tone and making EVERY note ring clear (no buzzing or muted notes)

3. Spend 20% of the time practicing scales and such, and the rest of the time learning tunes, arrangements, licks, etc.

4. Get out and play with other musicians as much as possible - even if its just a living room jam

5. Search out a GREAT teacher - go for the best one around.

6. spend time improvising in SLOW MOTION over tunes and changes

What would you teach yourself if you could go back in time?

[Dookychase]

I think you pretty much nailed it. I only wish there had been this much information available back in the early sixties when I got my first guitar.

[Little Jay]

Originally Posted by SwingSwangSwung

5. Search out a GREAT teacher - go for the best one around.

Or better: find more then one great teacher. Learning is partly stealing from others and reshaping it into your own style. And it's good to "steal" from different approaches. I visit two great teachers and I especially learn from their differences somehow.

By the way: great contribution, thanks for sharing!

[fep]

Your list looks good, for me I'd add a heavy dose of Ear Training - preferable via the series of college ear training classes (probably available at your local community college if you're in the US)

[default87]

Concerning your #3, did you previously spend more than 20% of your time on scales and such and you wish you spent more of that time on songs and arrangements, or the other way around? I'm guessing the former . . .

[SwingSwangSwung]

Originally Posted by fep

Your list looks good, for me I'd add a heavy dose of Ear Training - preferable via the series of college ear training classes (probably available at your local community college if you're in the US)

Ah, great catch! I didn't think about that one. Yes, I would definitely would spend more serious energy and time in ear training if I had it to do over again. However, I find that the shear number of years playing has eventually put my ears in pretty good shape as far as being able to play what I'm hearing.

[SwingSwangSwung]

Originally Posted by default87

Concerning your #3, did you previously spend more than 20% of your time on scales and such and you wish you spent more of that time on songs and arrangements, or the other way around? I'm guessing the former . . .

Bingo! I had a 3 or 4 year stretch a couple decades back where I was young, single, a full time musician, and lots of time on my hands. I spent those years working towards becoming the fastest guy on the block. 6 - 8 hours a day with the metronome. Lots and lots of scales (however 3 of those hours each day were devoted to fast SONGS, heads, pre-conceived solos, etc.). In retrospect the speed I gained during that era was not that important from an overall musical perspective - and I lost those ultra fast chops when life no longer allowed me 8 hours a day to practice. In retrospect, I would have been wiser to spend the majority of those hours learning tunes and improvising instead of trying to play faster and faster. What can I say? It was the late 70s/early 80s and speed was cool - at least in the crowd I was running with at the time.

[gsharpe]

Such an interesting question !

I never had any formal training , and couldn't improvise at all . I had a very good ear , but early on I convinced myself that improvising was for musical giants ... and I wasn't one of them . The resources weren't what they were today . There was no such thing as tablature , or the internet , and what good were fake books when you couldn't read music ?

So contrary to some , I would have taught myself scales .

The study of rhythm advanced my playing by the greatest amount in the shortest period of time . So I would have taught myself that .

Finally , I would teach myself to be a Hustler .
What I mean by that is that I became a recluse with my music .

Music is a community thing , and always will be . You need to be a leader , bring all aspiring musicians into the fold , be aggressive with gigs , and be extremely hip within your community , so people will want to be there when you play .

The one thing I was lucky with , was to be around those kind of people . In my early "Joe Tex" gigs , my band leader would always be hustling house parties , and renting halls . Later A Latin Jazz group ... we had an outstanding musical leader among us ... but a people leader too . Everybody wanted to be around this guy , he was so cool . Our house was always packed .

Unfortunately I never picked up on that huge lesson until it was too late.

I wish I could go back 40 years . But I can't .
Perhaps I can save somebody here from my fatal mistakes .

[Champy]

This is interesting stuff, definitely some things to think about.

thanks for sharing guys!

[Curly Redfern]

great advice.
Ive only been playing for 8 years, but my education has been dicey to say the least. gotta keep at those scales, and most of the time when i play i dont really listen to myself or the notes im playing.

hopefully will get some help here

[FatJeff]

How about solo transcriptions? (Maybe this falls under the category of "licks" and "stealing other people's ideas".) I'm enrolled part-time in the local Univ. jazz studies program, and they have us transcribing several solos each semester. Mostly horn stuff - so far this term we've done Hank Mobley, Lester Young, and Woody Shaw - and I have to say, it has really opened my eyes not only to what a good solo should sound like, but what's actually possible on the guitar if you get away from always sitting inside the comfortable "boxes" that we all tend to play in. I do way more shifting up/down the neck these days, and I think it has really opened up and improved my playing, particularly in terms of articulation. Not to mention the benefits of just hearing some great jazz artists!

The other thing I wish I could have taught myself a year ago is to just play what comes naturally, and stop worrying so much about what other people think of me.

[Michael Keller]

Your list is great; the only thing i would add is learn to sing, and practice singing what you play.

[C.A.JO.]

I'd go back and tell myself this:

1. Learn the basic theory
2. Use your ears --> always develop your ear
3. Spend max 25% of the practice time on technique
4. Get organized
5. Set some goals --> go for it!

[default87]

Surprising the amount of people who wished they could have traded their time spent on technique to something else.

[vsaumarez]

Just being born in a different era would have been useful. Playing every night with the best hones the art. BTW love the avatar Swing Swang Swung ...catchy for a CD title maybe?

[C.A.JO.]

Originally Posted by default87

Surprising the amount of people who wished they could have traded their time spent on technique to something else.

For my part, I don't regret it. It's nice to have. BUT.....

I wish I'd honored my other musical skills at the same time.

If you practice technique for the first 5 years of your playing, and then creative skills the next 5 years, then it takes 10 years to achieve your goals (It's a purely hypothetical and simple example, I know.) What I would have done instead was to approach in a more non-linear fashion. Meaning that I'd find a way to practice it all. Then I wouldn't have been as technical proficient after 5 years as I was, but my other musical creative skills would have balanced that out.

My point is: music/art is not a linear process. You can't learn A, then B, then C etc. It's all connected, so why not approach it from all angles?

[emanresu]

Oh. I wish that my teacher would have said 7 years ago that my timing was awful. No one ever tells other person that he is a bad player but the value of that uncomfortable sentence can be measured with practice time... that can be either wasted or well spent.

[mrbean]

I would wire back in time the money to study jazz guitar at the Berkley school of music, and not have to worry about pesky little thoings like paying the rent.

[Metal Fingers]

Originally Posted by SwingSwangSwung

. What can I say? It was the late 70s/early 80s and speed was cool - at least in the crowd I was running with at the time.

Talkin bout your g-g-generation.lol

[Jazz Bug]

What would I change?

E V E R Y T H I N G ! ! !

#1

Instead of spending hours on forums, discussing how to play, learning better ways to play, deciding on new gear to buy. I would have instead sat down with my guitar in my hands and actually spent the time practicing.

Who knows where my playing would be...

#2

See #1 and repeat for eternity.


Seriously, I've been talking about becoming a Jazz guitarist for years now, and that's about all I have done, so what I am working on now is self discipline, see I have none. I'm trying now to create it. It's easy to sit here, discuss, read, think, imagine, plan, but the fact is, we need the guitars in our hands, and we need to actually work at what we want to play, whether it be chords, timing, or learning to read music.

I'm a good talker/writer, let's see if I put my words to real use. I finished my physical guitar practicing today, so as a part of my mental/relaxing practice in becoming a Jazz guitarist I want to make sure I check in here each day just to keep my focus, read new ideas, discuss, ENJOY the journey that I am on.

The basics are this, if I could go back in time, I can't, but I already have, because I have never really gone anywhere, it's about doing today for me, no more talking about doing.

Today I met my goals.

Tomorrow is a new day, I can't worry about what I need to learn, or how long it will take to meet my personal goals, it's about small steps, to get to big places(Giant Steps maybe...).

If I do what I need today, then maybe in a year I will have a totally different story to post. If you look back to my posts a year ago, I am no more advanced today than I was then, why?, because all I did was talk about doing, but I took no action.

Today I am going to try some self discipline. I'm confident. I'm hopeful, but the fact is, as long as the guitar is in my hands, eventually my goals will be met. If I don't take the action, I will be saying the same thing next year...

[RAQ]

Excellent point Jazz Bug - for years I carried a guitar through life with me and took it out of its case from time to time to see if I could play it yet; and do you know, each time I took it out and fumbled with it I was no better than I was the time before. Eventually (when I was more or less retired) I got serious, took classical guitar lessons for three years or so and, all of a sudden, I got a lot better. For a couple of years I've had a few important family things to sort out that have disrupted my playing, but I am in real danger now of slipping back into my old routine of having no routine. So yes, I absolutely agree, practice with a purpose - and I've learnt that by not doing it. Also - although forums can disrupt my good intentions - it is important to at least mix with other musical people.

[patted]

I’ve been learning jazz guitar for about six months, with the help of this site and a couple of books. I can play about ten times more voicings now than when I started; my chord changes are smoother; I know a bit about chord construction and scales; I can work my way through the changes in almost anything from a Real Book. In short, I thought that I was making good progress - until this morning when I recorded myself for the first time.

It is one of the most horrible sounds I have ever encountered, clunky and staccato. I have obviously been hearing what I wanted to hear while I was practicing, not what I was actually playing. So, for me, I wish that I had recorded every practice session and really listened to what I was playing. I’m just pleased that I have only been doing this for six months, so at least I have the chance to sort things out reasonably quickly!!!

[princeplanet]

Originally Posted by patted

I’ve been learning jazz guitar for about six months, with the help of this site and a couple of books. I can play about ten times more voicings now than when I started; my chord changes are smoother; I know a bit about chord construction and scales; I can work my way through the changes in almost anything from a Real Book. In short, I thought that I was making good progress - until this morning when I recorded myself for the first time.

It is one of the most horrible sounds I have ever encountered, clunky and staccato. I have obviously been hearing what I wanted to hear while I was practicing, not what I was actually playing. So, for me, I wish that I had recorded every practice session and really listened to what I was playing. I’m just pleased that I have only been doing this for six months, so at least I have the chance to sort things out reasonably quickly!!!

You are so lucky to have developed the habit of recording yourself so early on. It WILL be your greatest teacher if you keep it up for at least another 5 years. Best of luck to ya!

[patted]

I’ll see if I have the stamina for five years. The only two bits of advice that I have not given enough credence to from this forum is 1) practice with a metronome and 2) record what you play. With hindsight these are probably the most useful tools that any beginning guitar player could use, I hope that my experience may save someone else from wasting an awful lot of time correcting avoidable mistakes.

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

Originally Posted by patted

I’ll see if I have the stamina for five years. The only two bits of advice that I have not given enough credence to from this forum is 1) practice with a metronome and 2) record what you play. With hindsight these are probably the most useful tools that any beginning guitar player could use, I hope that my experience may save someone else from wasting an awful lot of time correcting avoidable mistakes.

Seconded. I remember working on a piece at some metronome marking. Made a recording of it. Then practiced it for a week at higher markings. Made another recording at the same marking as the first. Now it could have just been the fact that I played it for another week, but in any case the second recording showed my playing was cleaner.

[Goofsus4]

Funny, I had the complete opposite reaction when I first recorded myself. I recorded me comping a progression, then I recorded myself soloing over it. Played it back, and I thought "OMG, I can play music!"

Not that it was all that great mind you - it just blew me away that I had created original music. It was one of the most exciting feelings I think I've ever had.

Years later, of course, it's not so easy to impress myself, but it's still a heck of a lot of fun.

[jazzyo]

this thread is really helpful. Its one of the things I ask older guitar friends to try and improve my own practice sessions.

[daveg]

One thing I don't see mentioned a lot is "being a good reader".

Reading TAB ain't going to get you no studio jobs!

The best way to learn to read is to spend as much time as you can afford WRITING.

Transpose tunes into Alto or Tenor keys etc - you get a better reading experience from doing this than just about any other method. Do it on the train or bus.

Don't neglect the Bass Clef.

[Big Ron]

I would learn to sing. Good singers that are absolutely flakes on the guitar abound in the millionaire neighborhood. Great guitarists often wind up pawning equipment to buy food.

I would, if given the chance to start over, try to be both a singer and good player. Unfortunately - the way it wound up after 45 yrs or so, I am really good at neither; but, I have a good time trying.

Ron

[Spikesime]

I think that as you progress as a player, you learn what you want to, or are interested in, at the time. You become the player you are by developing your style as you go.

I could play most what I heard and improvise just fine. Now I want to know, why? I went back to the basics of theory and chord building and this opened up all of the other things you learn with formal training.

I wish I had this information in my head early on, but that was not of interest then.

So, what I'm saying is you learn your interests at the time. Keep focused.
SS