As you may have noticed, I like to use sports analogies. When trying to motivate students to practice (as opposed to just noodling and playing their favorite songs) I often ask them this: would you go out on the football field without hitting the weight room?
Now I figure some of you (being “true” musicians) are probably vehemently opposed to sports, but work with me on a metaphoric level here. The point is this: if you try to play football without being in excellent shape you will get killed, or at least broken.
You should approach your guitar practice in the same way. You know you want to go out there and kill, so why not do everything you can to be in the best shape possible?
There are many possible “work-outs”, the point being that you should do something besides riffing and playing songs, something to exercise your mind as well as your hands. I have two favorite routines.
Method One is working on Ed Leavitt’s Modern Method for Guitar, playing my steel-string acoustic. Bigger strings are like lifting weights. After working on these studies my brain is tuned up and my hands feel powerful; now when I jump on “Eruption” (or some other shred-fest) those little dinky electric strings feel like wet noodles!
"Pumping Nylon", Scott Tenant
Method Two: Scott Tenant’s Pumping Nylon. Not surprisingly, I play these exercises on my classical guitar. In fact, working on classical music is a great way to improve your Rock chops, just look at Randy Rhoads.
Speaking of Randy Rhoads… Over New Year’s I picked up a gig with an Ozzy tribute band. I had one week to learn a set’s worth of Rhoads-era Ozzy (plus “Bark at the Moon”). People were impressed that I was able to do this in such a short period of time. First of all, I was very familiar (from a listening perspective) with the material. More importantly, I was able to quickly memorize the various themes and figures of the solos because I have an in-depth knowledge of scales and arpeggios.
When you have studied music extensively you can easily get inside a player’s head. Every guitarist has pet licks, ways they like to approach theory and licks. The more you study music, the quicker you can see where they are coming from.
Ok, back to the sports theme. The main point is this: you have to exercise your brain and hands in challenging ways. There is nothing wrong with learning other people’s songs; in fact, I encourage it. However, if you don’t want to just end up sounding like a clone, you should take some time to study outside your comfort zone.
Now for some more work-out pointers:
- Victor Wooten warms up for his clinics by shooting hoops, not by playing scales
- Zakk Wylde’s tip for playing better: lift weights and eat steak.
What is your work-out going to be?
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