-
I think I'm naturally gravitating toward circle picking now that I'm trying to keep my pinky and ring finger curled instead of mounted on the guitar. I say mounted on the guitar because it was a point of tension, I was pushing on the guitar to focus harder, causing unnecessary strain.
-
-
I think I'd learn music differently overall (though not necessarily the guitar) -- I'd study more theory/composition/arranging, plus some piano lessons. Those are all things I could have and should have done just by taking more music courses as electives in college than I did (as a non-music major). Because I was a rock/blues guy (though with some prior classical lessons) then I was scared that stuff would be too hard for me. Then when I finally got over my trepidation, I found theory both fun and easy. D'oh! You're a musician; take music classes, ya idjit!
-
Great question...
My guitar education was kind of all over the board. I took lessons for a few years as a kid and picked up the rudiments, however, never really took it very far, just fiddled around.
I was in a handbell choir in high school which greatly improved my sight reading though!
In college I studied with a couple of good teachers, both classical repertoire and chord melody. I didn't put in the time I should have. My last lesson was probably in 1982. Then because of medical school and training again the guitar got back-burnered until the early 2000s.
Here's what I would have told young me back in the latter '60's:
Stick with the lessons and look for teachers who will push you into different areas.
Work on classical skills as early as you can, then move into jazz once you've got some technique on both fingerpicking and plectrum playing.
Don't skimp on practice.
Look for every opportunity to play with other people even if (especially if!) they're above your level of playing. (It would have been great to be in the high school jazz band, but unfortunately there were already a couple of guys who had a lock on that position.)
Think about majoring in music in college.
At the very least, in college I think I should've formed a band. Hey, lesser players than me have gone out there and done it. Tina Weymouth and Phil Lesh hadn't played bass before they joined their groups. Luther Perkins could barely play--had to be taught what notes to play by Sam Phillips--when he backed Johnny Cash.
In other words, lack of playing experience or knowledge is no detriment if you're really committed.
-
Two things I would have done differently:
- As a teenager I was both smug and gifted; and so, rather than spend the week between guitar lessons actually shedding the lesson plan, I would show up the following week and sight-read the material. My teacher caught on pretty quick, and far too many lessons ended with his comment "Well, that was really good...for sight-reading. But next time, try practicing!" So in hindsight, I wish I would have practiced more diligently, rigorously, and with discipline during my formative years, because there's no way to recreate that neuroplasticity later in life.
- But also as a teenager, I really wish I had not forced my bandmates to perform tunes that were purely a vehicle for my to use the materials, sounds, and techniques that I had been learning in those weekly guitar lessons. It was selfish and unfair of me, and frankly we as a band had no business playing some of the tunes I brought in. When I listen back to those now ~50-year-old tapes all I hear is me forcing my ego and my needs on the rest of the musicians. And it's not like the material the other bandmates were bringing in weren't equally challenging; they just weren't the Shiney New Object that I was learning in my guitar lessons. So I wish I'd been able to separate the music I was learning in my guitar lessons from the music that my band had been playing; that probably would have motivated me to play out with other people earlier in life, and it would have allowed that band to stay true to their unique musical vision and vocabulary.
-
You hear stories about music teachers insisting that the student master solfege before being allowed to touch an instrument.
I never would have tolerated that kind of approach, but I'd probably be better off if I could.
I'd been playing for decades before I ever heard of "ear training".
If I had to do it all over again, I'd have done as much ear training as I could stand.
If there's one thing all great jazz musicians have in common, it certainly isn't chops or theory, repertoire or specific transcriptions, rather, it's good ears.
-
^ That isn't correct. The greats all had a balanced to high level across all 4 aspects of playing music, not only 1: ear, theory, technique, and creativity.
-
I think the big thing I would want to change (but try explain that to a young me) is making sure that I really knew the things I thought I knew.
So to make sure that everything I learn is internalised on an atomic level. I have a better sense of what that entails now, but as a young player I was always trying to assimilate everything and over valuing the importance of intellectual understanding. Playing music on a physical level requires a different process.
Also, being more open to feedback and forming deeper and more lasting relationships within the community as a learner with experienced mentor and teacher figures. That's really important. The community is basically everything.
The specifics - less important. I feel I have the tools I need to develop what I'm doing now, but I could have got there a lot faster if I'd been more open.
-
Sorry I could have done better. But coulda shoulda woulda don’t mean squat… so I’ll be happy with what I got. A few actual lessons may have helped….
-
If you were to learn guitar from scratch again what would u do differently?
It is not really possible that anyone has ever really learned guitar from scratch, is it? We all knew something about music prior, even if we just enjoyed it, right? I didn't learn guitar from scratch the first time. When I was a toddler in the late 50s I regularly heard the jazz combo at the Fort DeRussy officer's club, Honolulu, Hawaii.
I heard a lot of music before I ever played any instruments. I learned to read music and play the clarinet in grade school, additionally began six years of classical piano instruction at eleven. By the time I held my first guitar at thirteen I had already critically listened to a lot of music and had acquired some understanding of basic theory.
From the beginning I decided to teach myself how to play the guitar exclusively by ear. I learned to play melody lines first (two years transcribing lead guitar solos by ear) before exploring how to create chords - which were really easy and sensible, since chords are made of pitches. Does learning chords first make learning melody lines more mysterious? Piano starts with melody (and scales) first.
All the elements of how I play really just fell into place naturally
- all four left hand fingers for all the finger board, all styles, all tempos
- efficiency circle picking (Chuck Wayne picking), no rest strokes ever
- no set fingerings, positions
- inventing scales and chords
- no thinking of named things
Those last three make sense when playing by ear. I look back and imagine I must have led a charmed life. I would not change any of these things my ears and hands figured out themselves.
Is there such a thing as a method or lesson plan that teaches to play by ear?
-
Hm. Classical or Jazz?
If it's classical, I would spend a ton of time figuring out how to sit and be comfortable—posture, the shape of all the limbs, and whatnot.
I’d also work on getting a huge tone out of it while keeping everything comfortable. And the real difference would be not giving up just because of my natural clumsiness… Back then, I didn’t know that it goes away, though it takes many years for the physically untalented.
But if it's jazz? I’d focus on learning the chords well on as many tunes as possible. That was always kind of mundane and a bit annoying, but it’s probably more important than just learning to play scales fast—such a stupid way to approach jazz, in my opinion.
Just rotate through them, play them, and try to learn melodies by ear as much as possible. Get the ears and fingers connected early. Build trust.
And most importantly, focus on maintaining a constant groove, no matter what’s being played.
Last edited by emanresu; 03-14-2025 at 03:46 PM.
-
I would find a good teacher and work through Mickey Baker instead of trying to be the Neil Young of southwest Ohio. Oh, and I would ask Connie W. out for a date rather than squishing around red-faced and insecure. She certainly gave me enough hints. And I would buy the ‘62 Jazzmaster at the 3rd street pawn shop - the one somebody hand-painted magenta with house paint and a 4-inch brush - for $80.
-
-
Originally Posted by
wolflen
learn piano...
Piano has just this one sound. No vibrato. No aftertouch.
-
Quit, and learn to play sax instead (*sigh...)
-
Would have gotten a good teacher starting day one.
-
I would have tried harder at learning to read music.
Reply With Quote
Desmond/Bickert video
Today, 02:25 PM in The Players