I love this time of year: the NBA playoffs! I love watching high-caliber sports, so when it comes to playoff-time I spend some time in front of the old boob-tube. I often think of analogies between music and sports because I think great musicians and great athletes share a lot in common; no, not just that they are big-headed dicks. Both athletes and musicians must devote much of their lives to preparation.
As John Wooden (coach of many championship UCLA basketball teams) once said, “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail”. This is a golden axiom which can easily be applied to just about anything. As a musician you must be systematically devoted to preparation, and the quest for constant improvement. If ever you succumb to the belief that you are really good, you have become complacent, which is the kiss of death!
Andres Segovia
For example, I know that after years of diligent practice and hard work that I am a good guitarist. Compared to your average axe-slinger I might even kick some ass. But then there is Steve Vai, Joe Pass, Andres Segovia… These are the guys that make me want to practice every day, the reasons that I will never be content with my playing.
Which brings me back to sports: last night Kobe Bryant missed almost half his free-throws. He still scored 36 points, LA still won the game, but at half-time he was so disgusted with himself he could barely answer an interviewer’s questions. This is the greatest player in the game today. Do you think he puts his feet up and just waits for the next game? Joe Satriani still practices eight hours a day.
Let me repeat that: JOE SATRIANI STILL PRACTICES EIGHT HOURS A DAY!
This is your competition, except unlike team sports you can still score style-points. You probably won’t smoke Satch in a head-cutting duel but if you work hard on developing yourself as a player and an individual you can still carve a niche for yourself in the guitar world.
Learn to read!
One thing that I still constantly work at is sight-reading. I learned to read on guitar using Aaron Shearer’s “Classic Guitar Technique” method books, which also taught me how to finger-pick. Currently, I am still trying to make it through the three William Leavitt books: “A Modern Method for Guitar”.
Making it doesn’t mean playing through the book and saying, “Ok, I played every exercise”. It means that you can open any page and read/play it in a competent fashion, as well as actually absorbing the knowledge there so that you can employ it in your own music.
There are many other books I have used as well, they are included in the bibliography of my new instruction manual. I have stressed this in other blogs but I can’t stress it enough: learn how to read! This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t learn tunes, figure things out by ear, etc. But you need to develop yourself as a musician, not just as a guitarist.
Another great resource I have discovered is: www.good-ear.com. This a free website dedicated to helping you develop recognition of intervals and chords. I began every day for a whole year in college with ear-training on the piano; without that training I wouldn’t be where I am today. Developing your ear is just as important as learning to read, and here’s a free resource. Use it!
One last sports analogy: “If you are going to play football you can’t just run out and hit the field, you have to hit the weight-room first”. Ok. One, two, three: break!
Related Posts:
To Read or Not To Read, That is the Question – Why Guitarist Should Learn to Read Music
Lifting Weights – Structuring Your Guitar Practice Regimine
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Hello. I think the article is really interesting. I am even interested in reading more. How soon will you update your blog?
Hi,
I’m still building, but now that’s it’s up and I’m getting interest I will try to post a new one every week. Please sign up for the newsletter so I can keep you in the loop on progress. Thanks!