Practicing
Aug/22/2014 Filed in: practicing
http://www.sweetwater.com/insync/how-to-practice-effectively-part-i/?utm_source=insync&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is822
How To Practice Effectively, Part I
By Don Carr on Aug 21, 5:11 PM
Whichever approach suits you best (or combine them all), be realistic about your available time and draw out a plan to achieve your goals. Writing out your practice schedule may help if you have various materials that you’re working on simultaneously.
Growing your abilities as a musician is a rewarding experience that takes effort. Use your time wisely but most of all, have fun!
How To Practice Effectively, Part I
By Don Carr on Aug 21, 5:11 PM
| “I don’t have time to practice” is a commonly heard phrase by music teachers everywhere to which the answer, “You have the same 24 hours as the rest of us” is the usual response. We’re all busy. Whether it’s school, work, family, extra-curriculars, or any number of distractions, time seemingly vaporizes and the day is suddenly over. So the question is: how do you figure out where to fit practice time in your schedule and make the most of it? Being a student of the guitar most of my life and dealing with every kind of scholastic, travel, and work-’round-the-clock schedule imaginable, I devised three plans of attack to help maximize precious practice time. |
| It’s amazing what five minutes of intense concentration can do! Start first thing in the morning with warm-ups and every time you have a break from whatever it is you’re doing, pick up your instrument. With short periods of time you need laser-focus on what you’re working on: a short section of a song that keeps tripping you up; learning a new scale, chord, or lick; playing a song or piece from start to finish without stopping, whatever it is. If you do this several times during the day, you’ll be surprised at the practice hours you log and the progress you’ll make. At first, it may seem like you’re barely getting started when your time is up but you’ll soon get used to the short-burst method and always stay in anticipation of your next practice session. Another bonus is that you’re always warmed-up and music is always on your mind. Assuming you can bring your instrument with you, this method works best if you have a job that is task-based, where you can work at your own pace, or where you have alternating periods of “work and wait” on your job. |
2) Schedule two or three longer practice sessions during the day
Planning is key here, not only with the material you want to work on but how much time and what times of the day you have available. I used this strategy when I was in college and also during heavy travel periods on tour. My college schedule gave me an hour between classes sometimes or a late rehearsal meant I had time between classes and rehearsal. On tour there’s a lot of hurry-up-and-wait; transitioning between load-in, soundcheck, performance, leave-time, etc., so I often had 30 minutes or more of down-time, which is perfect for practice. Look at your schedule and plan ahead.
3) One long practice session
This is the traditional method and if you have the time, patience, and focus, it can pay the most dividends. The danger with long practice sessions is not planning and drifting off into playing things that are fun and easy or losing your focus completely. If you have a longer block of time — one hour or more — break it up into smaller, timed segments and pick out specific things to work on in each of those allotted times. Use a timer to be super-efficient or just watch the clock.
Whichever approach suits you best (or combine them all), be realistic about your available time and draw out a plan to achieve your goals. Writing out your practice schedule may help if you have various materials that you’re working on simultaneously.
Growing your abilities as a musician is a rewarding experience that takes effort. Use your time wisely but most of all, have fun!
mic and recording guitar
Aug/09/2014 Filed in: recording
Good article on mic placement and mic for recording guitar.
http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/20356-the-recording-guitarist-mic-makes-right
producer/guitarist/genius guy Daniel Lanois about analog sound vs. digital:
At one point he stopped mid-sentence. “Look,” he said, indicating two very rare and expensive microphones hanging nearby. “The difference between analog and digital is only a fraction of the difference between that mic and that one.”
http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/20356-the-recording-guitarist-mic-makes-right
producer/guitarist/genius guy Daniel Lanois about analog sound vs. digital:
At one point he stopped mid-sentence. “Look,” he said, indicating two very rare and expensive microphones hanging nearby. “The difference between analog and digital is only a fraction of the difference between that mic and that one.”
On Reading Music- Jimmy Page
May/12/2014 Filed in: theory, reading
"….music reading is major part of it(session work)"
"Once you can read, you can write it down and for me, that was really quite an asset."
"Music has so much power. To be in a position where you've done the thing that you're pretty much best at, which is making music, and bringing joy and pleasure to other people, it can't really be much better than that, can it?" -- Jimmy Page, 2014 Berklee commencement speech
"Once you can read, you can write it down and for me, that was really quite an asset."
"Music has so much power. To be in a position where you've done the thing that you're pretty much best at, which is making music, and bringing joy and pleasure to other people, it can't really be much better than that, can it?" -- Jimmy Page, 2014 Berklee commencement speech
Stairway solo fingered
Feb/26/2014 Filed in: Solos, improv
When I teach any solo, I focus on the correct fingerings/position,etc. The fingerings determine the phrasing of the notes. Pay attention and learning the details make a big different between players.
Ok, this might be done to death but I wanted to get a version out there with the “correct “ fingerings. I seen a lot of versions of this solo. Fingerings for Bar 14 and 8 always bothered me. This version is an accumulation of fingerings I have seen over the years via transcriptions and Youtube stuff. A must solo to learn for any rock guitar student. Pay attention to Bars 3, 7-8, especially Bar 14!
Mr. Page uses the Am and F major(Dm) Pentatonic scales. Using the F major pentatonic over the F chord. He transitions from F major to Am in Bars 7-8. There is only one note different between the scales( E or F) and make note where he uses the F notes. Again another detail. One could use only the Am pentatonic for the solo but the use of the F note adds movement/ tension/release to the solo.
Any comments, questions, please contact me.
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Ok, this might be done to death but I wanted to get a version out there with the “correct “ fingerings. I seen a lot of versions of this solo. Fingerings for Bar 14 and 8 always bothered me. This version is an accumulation of fingerings I have seen over the years via transcriptions and Youtube stuff. A must solo to learn for any rock guitar student. Pay attention to Bars 3, 7-8, especially Bar 14!
Mr. Page uses the Am and F major(Dm) Pentatonic scales. Using the F major pentatonic over the F chord. He transitions from F major to Am in Bars 7-8. There is only one note different between the scales( E or F) and make note where he uses the F notes. Again another detail. One could use only the Am pentatonic for the solo but the use of the F note adds movement/ tension/release to the solo.
Any comments, questions, please contact me.
Subscribe to blog
Any questions, please contact me.
For guitar lessons in person or online( via webcam, FaceTime, Skype,etc), please contact me.
Hotel California - easy guitar style
Feb/12/2014 Filed in: easy guitar, strums, ryhthm guitar
Beginners request Hotel California but to me that is a pretty advance song in term of technique. Barre chords, arpeggiation,etc.
So I looked at it and came up with a simple capo version if you want to strum the chords. Actually, that how the rhythm guitar is played, with the capo on the 7th fret
Here’s it is: Capo 7. Basic Version. The only “advance beginner chord” would be there the B7
I gave you an option of two strums for the verses.
Also there is an optional fingering for A7(9) chord.
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Any questions, please contact me.
For guitar lessons in person or online( via webcam, FaceTime, Skype,etc), please contact me.Hotel California basic strums_2