The Contemporary Guitar Performance Workshop

[littlegreenman]

See, I'm not a great fan of Vai - I heard Van Halen and Zappa before hearing him ... so...

Fan or not, there's no denying his technical ability to do very hard guitar stuff. Due in part to many hours practicing non-diatonic physical exercises, hence the reference in a thread about a non-diatonic exercise routine.

I seem to recall FZ hired a certain young Mr Vai for this very reason.

[frankus]

Fan or not, there's no denying his technical ability to do very hard guitar stuff. Due in part to many hours practicing non-diatonic physical exercises, hence the reference in a thread about a non-diatonic exercise routine.

I seem to recall FZ hired a certain young Mr Vai for this very reason.

Hmm maybe I'm being a jerk - I'd just rather sound like Jeff Beck than Steve Vai and if one meant standing back from music a bit, in order to sound less like a typewriter - I'd try that approach. 10 hours is daft and possibly a publicity thing.

[Rocker]

Taking all this into consideration, it shouldn’t be too difficult to conclude that pretty much anything that can be done, can be done by you. This is something I find myself saying to my students all the time. Furthermore, a direction that the guitar can be taken in the future can come from you. Raising standards is important to guitar playing because without higher standards and more challenging targets, the guitar doesn’t get to move forwards. If guitar playing fails to move forwards, it’s at risk of becoming stagnant and tiresome. At it’s very worst, if any serious and committed guitarist doesn’t aspiring to take the guitar further than they found it, their aspirations “to be as good as” rather than “better” could actually be considered a contribution to the instruments stagnation!

Apologies Nik for possibly taking your words out of context, but most guitarists are content to play to the best of their abilities and have little or no ambition to take the guitar forward. Few guitarists have done anything new with the guitar in recent years, Edge and Matt Bellamy are two that did IMHO, and there are others I am sure. Guitar playing is similar in many regards to golf, the vast majority of golfers are content to spend several hours hacking their way round a golf course in the company of fellow hackers. In his heart each knows that their chances of winning their clubs major prizes are almost nil but they enjoy the comradarie and the fresh air and the challenge of trying to recreate that great drive on the 5th. Guitarists to a man are more than happy to play instruments that are Gibson/Fender, both of which were started around the 1950s. We must never lose sight of the simple joy of playing a few chords during a singsong at a family or group get together.

[littlegreenman]

Hmm maybe I'm being a jerk - I'd just rather sound like Jeff Beck than Steve Vai and if one meant standing back from music a bit, in order to sound less like a typewriter - I'd try that approach. 10 hours is daft and possibly a publicity thing.

Not at all Frank. Like I said, just posted it in reference to the thread.

I was forced to give up the intensive approach when I was sounding like a typewriter and had to take a few years away from guitar due to an injury. Pissed me off royally at the time as I may have posted but it's made me re-think a lot of things. I much prefer how I play now

[frankus]

Not at all Frank. Like I said, just posted it in reference to the thread.

I was forced to give up the intensive approach when I was sounding like a typewriter and had to take a few years away from guitar due to an injury. Pissed me off royally at the time as I may have posted but it's made me re-think a lot of things. I much prefer how I play now

Sounds similar to me - except finding employment instead of injury

I stood back from shred (and how little I'd progressed in it, around 94) at that stage I had been playing 8 hours a day simply due to the sheer joy of the thing and jamming every night with some really gifted guys. When I next picked the guitar up, I'd moved from Satch, Vai etc and been listening to more funk and Zappa stuff...

I bemoaned being sloppier but my sense of timing and music seemed far better.

A book I'm reading at present by a time management specialist strongly warns against too rigid a timetable as there have to be gaps to allow creative thinking to occur.

[Nik Harrison]

Is this anything to do with mental practising - i.e. mentally rehearsing the act of playing guitar, visualising the fretboard, hearing the notes in the head - without picking up the guitar? I do this quite a bit - it is evidence based too, based on research on neuro rehab for stroke and brain injury.

There are elements of this, yes. It's based on the application of a combination of principles simultaneously. It's partly born or reverse-engineering a highly proficient skill level, partly influenced by the science of exercise, and partly based on time tested exercises.

[Nik Harrison]

Apologies Nik for possibly taking your words out of context, but most guitarists are content to play to the best of their abilities and have little or no ambition to take the guitar forward. Few guitarists have done anything new with the guitar in recent years, Edge and Matt Bellamy are two that did IMHO, and there are others I am sure. Guitar playing is similar in many regards to golf, the vast majority of golfers are content to spend several hours hacking their way round a golf course in the company of fellow hackers. In his heart each knows that their chances of winning their clubs major prizes are almost nil but they enjoy the comradarie and the fresh air and the challenge of trying to recreate that great drive on the 5th. Guitarists to a man are more than happy to play instruments that are Gibson/Fender, both of which were started around the 1950s. We must never lose sight of the simple joy of playing a few chords during a singsong at a family or group get together.

No apologies needed! I'm pleased that you've posted this actually because it's a great measure of the "big picture" which is often lost. However, where the CGPW is not to be dismissive of certain ways in which people enjoy their time with a guitar, regarding what I've posted here (and in a wider sense the entire CGPW project) my work with the CGPW is not for everyone. It's for guitarists who do want to take the guitar forwards, find their own voice, and move into a musical future by embracing the potential they have to take part in the guitar's evolution.

[barney.]

Today, I'm picking my guitar up for the first time this year. I've spent the last 6 days without playing at all so that I can properly test a practise regime that I've been developing over a number of years to see what happens. It's based on a scientific approach to practise, based on our understanding of the neurological communication between our brain and hands.

Wish me luck folks! Because if this doesn't work I'm going to need to completely re-write a sizeable amount of the CGPW handbook!

tell us more Nick, not sure i know what you mean...

[Nik Harrison]

tell us more Nick, not sure i know what you mean...

It's a devised practise routine which I've developed and refined over a number of years. I took some time off playing so that I could approach it "fresh" rather than to have it "informed" by the stuff I was already doing. As I mentioned earlier, there are elements of the 'visualise objectives' principles together with the application of a combination of other principles simultaneously. It's partly born or reverse-engineering a highly proficient skill level, partly influenced by the science of exercise, and partly based on other time tested exercises which have proven to provide desirable results. It's just for the development of technique though, and not for the exploration of the application of theory or developing musicality. It's about developing a strong measure of control over your playing which is invaluable in the development of a guitarist's ability to become a "sensitive" or otherwise musically "expressive" player.

[barney.]

It's a devised practise routine which I've developed and refined over a number of years. I took some time off playing so that I could approach it "fresh" rather than to have it "informed" by the stuff I was already doing. As I mentioned earlier, there are elements of the 'visualise objectives' principles together with the application of a combination of other principles simultaneously. It's partly born or reverse-engineering a highly proficient skill level, partly influenced by the science of exercise, and partly based on other time tested exercises which have proven to provide desirable results. It's just for the development of technique though, and not for the exploration of the application of theory or developing musicality. It's about developing a strong measure of control over your playing which is invaluable in the development of a guitarist's ability to become a "sensitive" or otherwise musically "expressive" player.

sounds intresting...keep us posted..