TOP 10 GUITAR LESSONS MYTH #5 – More Practice Equals Better Results | FALSE!
As I talk about in this video, renowned fitness trainer Bill Phillips talks about how absurd this sounds … that once you’re in shape well now, you can do more physical exercise why don’t you just go ahead and do so and then when you can do that why don’t you exercise even more because of course that’s what you need to do and so on until you’re exercising all day long! Well wait a minute: didn’t we engage in fitness to enrich other parts of our lives such as attracting a mate and feeling better and so on so that we can actually go do other things?!?! No way! Most fitness books tell us we did that so we can exercise more. What Bill says is that the highly skilled professional learns to do the same thing in less time whether it’s blowing out that perfect studio guitar solo in a few takes or getting better at writing hit singles in less time so you can write more of those, tour, and become more well known, and make money!
So the last thing you want to do if you’re trying to touch as many people as possible is sit in a room and practice scales all day. Because with the notable exception of a few Malcolm Gladwell style outliers, usually what happens with is that you get very good at playing scales all day but you’re not living life! You’re not writing, you’re not arranging, you’re not doing lyrics and melody, you’re not experimenting with different instruments and in many cases, you’re not even playing live. All you’re doing is becoming a practice-a-holic and the term in the industry is called a “bedroom shredder.” You can do amazing things in your bedroom but it never gets past there: You don’t want to be that guy or gal, you want to get out there and touch people with your music whether that’s doing the Rock star thing, touring, playing your friend’s parties, Bar Mitzvahs, the local clubs, serious hobbyist, etc. Learn to write interesting things by experiencing an interesting life! Practice is only one component of that. There’s really nothing more boring to me than playing an album of those shred guitarists with so-and-so’s “amazing technique” and then I put it on and it’s one long meandering guitar solo for 45 minutes. And when it’s done, not a single thing grabs me and I don’t remember a single thing from listening to that person other than that they can play fast!
So the whole thing comes off as very one dimensional and a great artist and great guitar players are actually just the opposite: they’re very multifaceted and that is what keep you engaged. Yes as John Petrucci and Marty Friedman once said, every artist will go through a certain period where they’re just completely immersed in guitar lessons to go from intermediate to expert or expert to professional to great. Yes the virtuosos that made a huge impact spent many many hours alone honing their craft. But also look at the downside to that, because all of those artists — Beethoven, Van Halen, Malmsteen, Mozart and I could go on and on — very often were not properly socialized and so when it comes to getting along with other people and collaborating with other people, those social skills are very lacking. The flaws in their personality ensured that their careers are very drama filled and they have incredible highs incredible lows. Now that may sound preposterous to say that Eddie Van Halen didn’t reach his true potential, consider that half of his career has been spent either arguing with band mates and/or producing no music at all (1998-2011) due to various reasons including substance abuse! So that’s something to think about: when it comes to learning guitar, more is not always more, less is more as the saying goes. And a diverse life where the approach to excellence is in a number of different areas is the difference between if not success or failure, certainly the level of enjoyment one is going to have in any music and for that matter other endeavors in life as well.
TOP 10 GUITAR LESSONS MYTH #4 | Practice Makes Perfect — FALSE!
We’ve all heard the statement “practice makes perfect” and it sounds really clever and really accurate and seems to make logical sense so we take it for granted that it is so. But there’s actually a fundamental flaw in going around telling everyone this. And that is: you can practice from sun up till sun down every day and if you don’t have crucial correct information about the techniques and approaches that the artist is using, it’s not going to help you one bit! I spent a lot of time in guitar lessons stressing this laying the groundwork and the right foundation for students. You have to have that concrete foundation built before you start to build a mansion on top of it – Mud is not going to cut it!!! You can be Frank Lloyd Wright building the most magnificent building but if the foundation is not going to hold up, you are wasting your time. I go through examples on the video with John Mellencamp and Randy Rhodes and of course there are countless others. You need to know how chords are fingered and scales are fingered and the approach that is going into this because you can have something that works great in another song that is totally non-applicable to either playing the song up to tempo or getting the sound the artist does. I really cannot stress this enough: get the correct guitar information and the right approach before you spend lots of time trying to perfect something.
Imagine if you are a brain surgeon and have to do very delicate surgery but the only thing available to you is a big gilette razor: it’s not gonna matter how much you practice or try to successfully hone the skill of doing the task that’s necessary. The fact of the matter is that you have chosen the wrong tool for the job. Now that razor might be great if you need a close shave for the day, the analogy being a completely different song. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that it is going to translate to the new song you’ve chosen, so do your homework, get a qualified guitar instructor who knows the material you’re trying to do to walk you through it. Time and money spent up from getting the right information with the right preparation before practicing all day long in your room will repay itself many times over and get you where you want to go much quicker.
Play it your way.
The Cypher Way
Rock on — Jimmy Cypher
Guitar coach Jimmy Cypher explains the common mistakes and myths that prevent students from reaching their true potential. Watching your favorite players perform, viewing instructional content (books, videos, classes etc.) is not enough! As many students have discovered, you can have all the correct information and all the best players… yet the skill set to play modern popular guitar at the elite level STILL remains elusive. Why? It is only when these underlying “paradigms” and social conditioning are changed that aspiring guitar players can become the best… at being themselves!
Guitar Player, July 1984.Rock and roll is feeling. And after you know most of the basics”chords, rhythms,
scales, and bends, which I’ll begin discussing in a minute”getting that feeling is just
about the most important aspect of playing guitar.
In my opinion, you can’t learn to play rock and roll by taking lessons. Although a
teacher can show you certain things, such as songs and licks, you still have to sit down
and learn how things feel by listening. My biggest influence was Eric Clapton when he
was with Cream and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. I learned his solos to “Crossroads”
[from Cream’s Wheels Of Fire, RSO, 3802] and “Sitting On Top Of The World” [Cream,
Goodbye, RSO, 3013] note-for-note by slowing them down to 16 RPM on my dad’s
turntable. By taking licks off records and listening, I developed a feel for rock and roll. If
you want to play, that’s the same kind of thing you’ll have to do. Eventually, you’ll take the
phrases and rhythm patterns you’ve copped and begin to put your own mark on them.
One of the areas that guys put too much emphasis on is equipment. Once when Van
Halen was on tour, we were opening for Ted Nugent and he was standing there watching
me play, wondering how I did it. The next day at the soundcheck when I wasn’t there, he
asked our roadie if he could plug into my stuff. Of course, it still sounded like Ted. In other
words, it doesn’t really matter what you’re playing through. Too many guys think a certain
player’s sound has to do with equipment, but it doesn’t make any difference. Your sound
is in your fingers and brain. If you’re going to learn to play lead, get an electric guitar. It doesn’t have to be an expensive one (I started on a cheapie Teisco Del Rey). Acoustic guitars aren’t good for learning lead, because you can’t play up very high on the neck and they take heavier-gauge strings, which makes it hard to bend notes. (I use light ones, Fender XLs.) Also,you don’t really need an amp at first, unless you’re in a band. When I’m noodling around the house, I rarely plug in.
Most beginners want to learn lead because they think it’s cool. Consequently, they
never really develop good rhythm skills. Since most of a rock guitarist’s time is spent
playing rhythm, it’s important to learn to do it well. Learning lead should come after you
can play solid backup and have the sound of the chords in your head.
Playing blues progressions is the best place to start learning, because they’re so
basic, and they form the foundation for a lot of rock tunes. After you’ve got one or two
patterns down in a couple of keys, you can start noodling with lead guitar. Examples 7
and 8 are two shuffle patterns in the keys of A and E, respectively. Memorize them as
soon as possible. Eventually, you’ll want to learn them in some of the other common rock
keys, such as C, D, and G. “Ice Cream Man,” from our first album, and “Blues Breaker,”
which I did on Brian May’s Star Fleet Project, are 12-bar blues. [Ed. Note: In the tablature,
the horizontal lines represent the guitar’s strings (the uppermost line is the first string),
while the numbers denote frets.]
So the last thing you want to do if you’re trying to touch as many people as possible is sit in a room and practice scales all day. Because with the notable exception of a few Malcolm Gladwell style outliers, usually what happens with is that you get very good at playing scales all day but you’re not living life! You’re not writing, you’re not arranging, you’re not doing lyrics and melody, you’re not experimenting with different instruments and in many cases, you’re not even playing live. All you’re doing is becoming a practice-a-holic and the term in the industry is called a “bedroom shredder.” You can do amazing things in your bedroom but it never gets past there: You don’t want to be that guy or gal, you want to get out there and touch people with your music whether that’s doing the Rock star thing, touring, playing your friend’s parties, Bar Mitzvahs, the local clubs, serious hobbyist, etc. Learn to write interesting things by experiencing an interesting life! Practice is only one component of that. There’s really nothing more boring to me than playing an album of those shred guitarists with so-and-so’s “amazing technique” and then I put it on and it’s one long meandering guitar solo for 45 minutes. And when it’s done, not a single thing grabs me and I don’t remember a single thing from listening to that person other than that they can play fast!
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