The Psychology of Guitar

[Alnus Rubra]

I saw a video where Mr. Vai said something to that effect, as he was talking about spending 8 hours practicing a pinch harmonic.

You can bet that I'll approach a riff or a song in that fashion.

These other things that I noted are probably going to take significantly longer.

From memory his practice regime was very strict!

 

[GuitarDrummer]

From memory his practice regime was very strict!

Yes, it's very strict. In the video I saw, he was probably talking about adding something new.

I can't really practice like him, as I'm not at that level. People at that level have to really fit a lot of things into their daily routine.

In a way, I'm still learning how to practice. We go somewhere with practice, and then one of my little personal issues shows up, and it has to be addressed. For my teacher, it has to be a lot like peeling an onion. Outside of not mentioning my diagnosis right away, I try to be open about what I do and how I do it.

But I have things I do that, from my perspective, don't seem like a problem. Then he sees them, and tells me that I've got a problem, and we work to fix it.

Sometimes there are subconscious things going on that I do not recognize. For example, I played an arpeggio, and he called me out for raising my left elbow when getting to the upper strings for an A minor 6-string arpeggio. It's a bad habit that had to be broken, so I'm thankful for the correction.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Yes, it's very strict. In the video I saw, he was probably talking about adding something new.

I can't really practice like him, as I'm not at that level. People at that level have to really fit a lot of things into their daily routine.

In a way, I'm still learning how to practice. We go somewhere with practice, and then one of my little personal issues shows up, and it has to be addressed. For my teacher, it has to be a lot like peeling an onion. Outside of not mentioning my diagnosis right away, I try to be open about what I do and how I do it.

But I have things I do that, from my perspective, don't seem like a problem. Then he sees them, and tells me that I've got a problem, and we work to fix it.

Sometimes there are subconscious things going on that I do not recognize. For example, I played an arpeggio, and he called me out for raising my left elbow when getting to the upper strings for an A minor 6-string arpeggio. It's a bad habit that had to be broken, so I'm thankful for the correction.

If I remember correctly he came from a music college where they probably had a very regimented practice schedule.

I try to put into practice my old brass teachers advice to find the right notes and then add the tempo.

My son made me laugh with regard my practice technique, tends to be over and over. I was learning/practicing the legato opening of “Stil got the Blues” - Gary Moore. He said: “Give it a month Dad and you’ll be playing that no problem!”

God my kid knows my regime!

 

[Steve's addiction]

Awesome thread. I can play like no one's business when I practice at home but as soon as I get out in public I tense up and playing sucks. I have found the more I play out the more relaxed I get. Playing in a music store could be a great environment
You're playing in front of people no stress in regards to pay for play, etc.

 

[GuitarDrummer]

If I remember correctly he came from a music college where they probably had a very regimented practice schedule.

I'm most definitely still working out the details of how to practice, when it comes to guitar.

For literally decades, I used to ask other guitar players how to get better. They'd say, "Ah, you gotta keep on practicing." So I kept on "practicing" whatever the hell it was that I was doing.

Eventually, it hit me to ask. The next time I got that advice, I replied, "Practice WHAT?" In that conversation, this was the forum equivalent of a thread ender. He walked away, and I had no idea.

 

[GuitarDrummer]

Awesome thread. I can play like no one's business when I practice at home but as soon as I get out in public I tense up and playing sucks. I have found the more I play out the more relaxed I get. Playing in a music store could be a great environment
You're playing in front of people no stress in regards to pay for play, etc.

I do fine on the stage, and have not experienced stage fright. When I have songs and a set list, and I'm well-rehearsed, it does not matter. If I have a job to do on the stage, then I do it, and all is fine.

To fine-tune my issue a bit, it's playing guitar in front of another guitar player. There's gonna be judgment, they're better than I am, I'll be laughed out of the room, or any other stinkin' thinkin' end-of-the-world scenario my twisted noggin can concoct.

I'd play guitar in front of, or with Steve Vai, because I know that he would not judge, and do nothing but encourage. It's that stranger guitar player, the person I don't know, lurking in the shadows, waiting to pounce.

It hasn't always been this way. This has come up once I started putting more effort into learning guitar by taking lessons. The more I learn, the more I realize I don't know, the more that other guy might know.

I understand that it's not a competition. They might not. I can't control them, but I can control me, so I control me by just avoiding the situation.

 

[Huggy Love]

Hmmm .......



.... how about some philosophy for your psychology.




.............and my personal favorite.

 

[walrus]

Technically, I "play" in front of Paul Gilbert - I'm doing his ArtistWorks Rock Guitar lessons. Highly recommended, BTW. And even though I'm at home, using my phone to make a video, I still tense up a bit. But he is clearly non-judgemental - it's all on me!

 

[GuitarDrummer]

I'm certain about the "old" part.

THIS guy needs to make a come-back. High school talent show in late 1980, playing that new hit tune, "Goodbye To Romance." That was the guy who didn't care what other guitar players thought.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

Am I going to get another rash if I answer this thread? My bubble suit and tin foil hat aren't here yet, so I don't want to be a "subject" in another experiment?

 

[Parralax view]

My only and basic issue is not stage fright, nor playing in stores or in front of people. My issue is age and my hands slowly wearing out, cramping, and just getting older and feeling the pain coming to my joints, specifically my right index at the first knuckle from so much finger style guitar, and my left wrist from so much chording. After playing since I was 8 yrs old... stuffs just wearing out even if the desire is just as strong.

 

[pennyroyal]

I lurk on here a lot, but this thread gets me and has encouraged me to weigh in.

I feel like it's easy to feel like the spotlight is on you if you play in a store and somebody, somewhere is judging your performance. But honestly, how often do you find yourself scandalized at someone else's playing while you're shopping? Conversely, I've also never stopped in my tracks because someone was playing something so awesome it deserved my full attention at a store.

I never used to plug in electric guitars in a store until recently when a salesperson insisted that I compare two amps side by side while I was browsing. I wanted to curl up in a hole and it felt like every small mistake was 1000 times more noticeable and yet I lived to see another day. This is one of those situations where trial by fire really is the only way to get past the anxiety. And I ended up buying a really great amp that day (though none of my current guitars sound as good as the McCarty 594 I played through it at the store).

As for what to practice, I tend to get inspired by whatever I've been listening to lately. I recently found a used copy of Fleetwood Mac's Rumors on vinyl and then eased my way into fingerpicking by practicing scales and Giuliani's 120 right-hand studies.

 

[GuitarDrummer]

stuffs just wearing out even if the desire is just as strong.

The physiology of music seems to be unpredictable, and I felt a genuine sadness in your story. My teacher [I should say mentor] and I discuss this as well, in the context of practice. Still, there are times when there is nothing you can do.

I've had physical issues relating to music. There was a labrum tear in my right shoulder that took me off the drums, so I gravitated to guitar.

There was another time, when I had ended up with Tendinitis, thanks to a workstation that was designed by an artist instead of ergonomic engineers. I was drumming with some guitar players, when I dropped a stick. I went to pick it up, and it fell right out of my hand. I had no grip. Physical therapy was helping, but I feared that I would never return.

I ended up going to a meet-and-greet, where Premier drums had Marilyn Manson drummer Ginger Fish, autographing posters. When the crowd died down, I approached him and told him about my story. He owed me nothing, and yet we spent 90 minutes talking about warm-ups, stretches, and ideas on what I could do to get back into the game. I found anti-vibe sticks, did as he said, stuck to my workers' comp therapy routine, and got back into the game after about a year, with full power returning in about three years.

My focus is on guitar these days, because of the physical toll associated with lugging gear around and playing.

A friend of mine, a hard-hitting pro drummer, got the news that he had a heart condition and needed to "take it easy." He did not want to take it easy, and had been active his entire life. At his next gig, he blasted the hell out of those drums, until he died from cardiac arrest. He was six months older than me. Because of this, my wife isn't too keen on me drumming again. He was also into playing guitar, and had custom guitar picks made. He gave me one over 20 years ago, and I always keep it in my pocket. I saw one on Ebay for $100, but there is nothing that could get me to part with it.

To tie this in with the psychology of it all, I know that there is a chance where something could start going wrong, I'll have to stop, and there will be nothing that I can do about it. In the back of my mind, I sometimes wonder if I would be prepared for that.

 

[GuitarDrummer]

But honestly, how often do you find yourself scandalized at someone else's playing while you're shopping?

I typically leave when it's a shred war. It doesn't happen a lot, but enough that it's on my mind. I get annoyed, and it has nothing to do with their ability, and more to do with what's happening in my dark noggin.

There was this one kid in the store, some time before Thanksgiving last year. This was when I was sweating it all even more. He's maybe 24 years old, and just bops in, plugs in this guitar he's been wanting to buy, and starts playing.

The thing that caught my attention was that he was playing riffs from songs that were popular when I was in high school, long before he was born. Scorpions, Iron Maiden, and similar things. He's clearly a beginner, but he's having such a great time that the sales guy, my wife, and I kinda make our way over. I felt compelled to grab a bass and play along. Salesman grabbed a guitar and played some leads, after the kid asked him if he knew the songs.

It was the first time that I'd had fun in a while. It came to an end when his break was up, and he had to go back to work.

After he left, my wife leaned over and said, "You need to try to be more like him."

She would never steer me wrong. And I really know, deep down, that she's right. Still hard to do.

 

[GuitarDrummer]

I've spent the day looking for some additional answers to what has been on my mind. Happened across this video about "guitar snobs." I assumed he meant hyper brand loyalists who take it to a negative level, but it was something completely different. He goes through his list of guitar snobs, and then follows up with what to do about it.

When he gets to the part where he talks about what to do about it, it made me think that he was reading this thread and answering my question.

I have work to do on this. While I'm here, thank you to everyone who chimed in. This is the best forum ever.

 

[alantig]

THIS guy needs to make a come-back. High school talent show in late 1980, playing that new hit tune, "Goodbye To Romance." That was the guy who didn't care what other guitar players thought.

That's still one of my go-tos. It's not one of my music store choices (usually) because I don't play it note-for-note (although I'd say I'm 90% true to the original solo).

Steve Vai advises to practice it until you can play it blindfolded and then practice it blindfolded!

From reading interviews with his band members and talking to some of them, Vai's practice and rehearsal routines are insane. Starting a song at a tempo well below what it will be played at, getting through it 10 times perfectly, then bumping up the speed - 1 bpm at a time. And starting over again if there's a mistake. I guess he comes by it honestly - he famously tells the story of his Zappa audition where Frank had him play this insane part in multiple time signatures and styles, then said to play it in 17/8 or something, and Vai said, "That's not possible", and Frank said, "Well, I heard Linda Ronstadt is looking for a guitar player."

John 5 said he likes to learn his live set, then practice it in a dark room so he doesn't have to look at the guitar when he's on stage. He's also said that he tries to learn his songs completely before going into the studio so he can record one take and walk out.

Some of these guys just think this stuff differently than the rest of us.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

"Well, I heard Linda Ronstadt is looking for a guitar player."

That would've been a way more Bangin'! gig actually.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

This is a great thread. Seems to have gone several different directions. I'll say this about playing in a guitar store. If I'm trying out gear, I do not, almost ever, play anything that would impress anyone. Whatever ability I have, and I'm not saying it's much, there are guys I've bought gear from for years that wouldn't even know I had the ability that I do have. I just don't go in there to show off. I go in to audition gear. I'm checking TONE. I might chug muted bar chords to check for bottom end tightness and punch, bend notes to check sustain on a guitar, etc... I don't go in and start playing fast lines or anything. And if I'm trying out a real "I think I want this" guitar and I do want to rip it, to check it out, I'll turn the amp down so low nobody can hear me. I have been busted more than once by people who walked up while I was shredding at whisper volume levels because I didn't know they were there. But if anyone is around and watching, I will play basic rhythms, hold notes, twist knobs, etc. Heck when I'm checking out amps, I usually get someone ELSE to play guitar and I twist knobs on the amp and listen.

I've seen way too many guys who like to crank amps in guitar stores and do it just to show off. Some are good. Some aren't. But music is not a competition.

Don't worry about impressing anyone. Play what makes YOU happy.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

That would've been a way more Bangin'! gig actually.

Not for Vai.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Not for Vai.

We will never know, he coulda been the next Waddy Wachtel*






* Excet for that whole suspicion of possession of child pornograhy thing.