Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Great technique = great tone

A friend & I had a discussion about this the other day, and I thought it would be fun to share with the rest of the 'Farm faithful - mostly because it applies to all of us as players, and to some more than others. That topic: the long, lost art of . . . technique.

Each of us approaches their own technique in different ways, depending on style, preference of music, and frequency of playing. Inevitably, the headwaters for all guitar styles is one and the same. Playing the guitar demands many things, among them: dexterity, focus, knowledge, rhythm, and perhaps the most important of them all - - passion. The great players have these skills interspersed with their own styles / ideas, and it's no surprise that developing them takes many years of practice, along with a healthy dose of commitment. Once a player develops these skills, they require regular practice to maintain peak form. Indeed, this sounds a bit "old school" - but the truth is often times the most obvious: there are no shortcuts to becoming, or continuing on as a capable, well-rounded player.

One of the things I find most intriguing about playing is the constant ebb and flow of development. I'll get to a point where I'm really feeling like I'm getting better, and then . . . without warning, I'm back to the same old tricks. Vamping the same scales & progressions. Running multiple pedal effects. Using tons of distortion. Playing too many power chords. From the playing standpoint - there's actually nothing wrong with this. In an "executional" sense, however, what it ends up doing is getting you to think of easier ways around some of the more important aspects of playing technique.

Even experienced players hit ruts - points where our playing isn't on the upward curve. It's at those times that I find myself going back to the basics, and re-visiting some of the things that I think many players occasionally take for granted, or don't think about enough - things like fingering notes / chords cleanly, running though all of the different scales, and picking / strumming dynamics. These are things that you need to do all the time when you play, and staying sharp on these things pays big dividends for any style of playing that you do. Other things that I like to implement into my basic regimen include reviewing my notes on different sound settings (I have several stenographer's notebooks full of notes / settings for various guitars, amps, and other pieces of gear); playing different songs in different styles (ever tried Deep Purple's Smoke on the Water with major chords on an acoustic?); and playing different songs on a clean channel, so that I can fully understand, and appreciate, how they were constructed from a note / arrangement / chord standpoint. A lot of times, these sessions lead me into other discoveries - - which again, is the big reward for regular, focused, and enthusiastic practice.

The other day, I spent about (30) minutes running through an album I consider to be a benchmark for fantastic guitar technique - The Allman Brothers' At Fillmore East. Duane & Dickey both exhibit flawless command of so many basic playing principles on that set list. Along with that, they're both well-versed in many different musical generes - jazz, blues, country & rock - something which always played into their unique collaborative style. Anyway, I always feel rejuvenated when I get done playing along with the Fillmore set. It's hard to explain, but I'd equate it to the feeling you get when you have a nice visit with an old friend. It puts things into proper perspective.

However you decide to do it, make sure that part of your regular practice regimen involves something that focuses on your playing technique, for it is truly one of the foundation blocks of successful guitar playing. Great technique = great tone. Rock on - J.

No comments: