Wednesday, July 19, 2006

How to practice

Practicing a musical instrument is best done under the direction of a qualified music teacher. If that is not possible, you can get more benefit from your practice time by following the rules below:

    (1) Allow at least an hour or two for serious practice where you will not be interrupted or disturbed.
    (2) Divide your practice time evenly (see #4 below) between each of the following practice areas:

      (A) Scales and intervals
      (B) Sight reading new and unfamiliar material
      (C) Review a previous song
      (D) Learn a new song
      (E) Chord study (for chording instruments)
      (F) Work on memorizing a piece
      (G) Practice a technical or skill study
      (H) Study a little music theory
      (I) Work on your original music or improvisation
      (J) Put down the instrument when you get tired, sore or frustrated and listen to some music (see previous post)

    (3) While practicing all of the above, concentrate on:

      (A) Steady, even rhythm (use a metronome)
      (B) Proper posture and hand position
      (C) Clear tone - no "fuzzed" or "frapped" notes
      (D) Make sure you understand what this lesson will accomplish for you

    (4) It is OK to devote a little extra time to any of the above areas, for example: Practice new and previous pieces longer if you have a recital coming up or you want to play them at a gig, or, spend more time on improvising if you are beginning to make a breakthrough in this area or if you recently heard a good performance and are full of inspiration.

If you cannot practice 60, 90 or 120 minutes at one session, remember to make up the time later the same day or the very next day. Also, if your practice sessions must be shorter, you may not have enough time to get through all the study areas listed above. You might have to do half of the list one day and the other half another day. Remember, cutting back your practice time also cuts back your progress.

If you cannot devote at least this much time to practice, you may not be able to achieve the level of playing you desire. While a short practice session is better than none at all, you get out of the business what you put into it. The more you practice, the better you'll get; the less you practice, the worse you will remain!

When you get very tired (it's ok to get a little tired), sore or extremely frustrated (it's natural to get a little frustrated), then STOP for now - your practice will no longer be productive and you are just wasting your time (not completely - everything helps!)

If you have a music teacher, feel welcome to discuss this plan with your teacher. Your music teacher might be able to work out a customized practice routine that will work for you.

If you practice following this plan or a similar plan, you will get more benefit from your practice time than practicing for a long time with no goal or method in mind.


Tom Smerk

Listening is important!

One of the best things a musician can do to advance their playing is to listen to other players, both live and recordings. A jazz guitarist, for example, should listen to as many CDs as possible from trendsetting and influential jazz guitarists, both current and past masters. A bluegrass guitarist should listen to all the important and influential bluegrass guitarists. For each genre of guitar music, there are certain guitarists, certain albums and certain songs that can be identified almost universally by all others in the field as a "must hear" list of influential guitar playing. As I said before, while it is good to listen to a lot of different songs by standout players, most musicians have certain songs that they are "known" for, songs on which their playing is at an all-time high, and they are able to achieve an emotion in their playing that has previously been elusive.

If there is enough interest in this topic, I could put together some "starter" lists for certain types of guitar playing, such as jazz, smooth jazz, folk, classic rock, bluegrass and blues. Other users of this site could maybe contribute to some of the more modern styles or contribute lists for instruments other than guitar.

There are two additional rules to help make this experience successful:
(1) Do not just listen to one style of music; listen to all styles, or at least a wide variety of styles. Haven't you recently read interviews where certain bluegrass players base some of their licks on jazz scales, or where many of the best guitar pioneers listened mainly to old blues recordings?
(2) Do not listen exclusively to your own instrument. Listen to people playing your style of music on other instruments. When I was learning guitar, I played a lot out of clarinet books because it has the same range of notes as a guitar, but the exercised tended to be more technical and more advanced than most guitar books. I heard some guitar players who are praised for their unique style, and then hear them explain that they listen to horn players (trumpet and sax) and then try to play their solos as a horn would!

If you are not sure where to start, try spending some time on the Internet with your favorite search engine. I went into "Google" and entered the keywords "best bluegrass guitar players," and in two clicks of the mouse, I had a list of all the best bluegrass players.

See if your local library has a collection of records, cassettes and CDs that can be checked out. It would cost a small fortune if you had to buy all this music at the store. You will probably hear some outstanding music along the way and will end up buying a few anyway!

If you watch music DVDs instead of listening to CDs, you can also learn a little about stage presence and performance skills by watching the entertainer. Most top performers strive to make a visual connection with the audience. Even the ones that just seem to stand there and play have a way of looking good while just standing there!

This advice is not just for beginners. All musicians at all levels who realize how important listening is will continue to listen to other players their whole life long.

I remember three events in my career that really proved the value of this lesson:
(1) When I was very young and first learning to play guitar, my father used to take me to nightclubs so I could listen to my guitar teacher play. I liked the way my teacher played, and this was helpful because, as I studied my lessons, I could imagine how he played the same piece.
(2) When I was in my junior year of college, I was studying tuba with a professor that ate, slept, and breathed tuba. He had his students over to his house one evening for a party, and we listen to a wide variety of tuba playing from his record collection. He would explain what to listen for and why certain passages were significant.
(3) When I first started to learn bluegrass guitar, I went to a seminar where this whole concept was discussed and highly recommended by the seminar leader. He was nice enough to give everyone a list of all the best bluegrass players and the best CDs to listen to. I went to the store and spent a lot of money, but I now know good bluegrass playing when I hear it, and more important, I know what I have to sound like.

Well, that's it - very simple but very important to your advancement. Why not get started right now?

Monday, July 17, 2006

Getting a guitar with the right "feel"

Before you purchase a guitar you plan on keeping a long time, you have probably given a lot of thought as to what type (acoustic or electric; flat-top or archtop), and style (solidbody, semi-hollow, hollowbody) of guitar you want, perhaps you have even the make, model and color decided on. But independent of your decision, have you played enough different guitars to know which ones fit your hand best? There are many factors that affect the "feel" of a guitar:

Neck width
Neck thickness
Neck shape
Fingerboard radius
Fret height & width
Fret shape
Fingerboard material (ebony, rosewood or maple)
Bound fretboard or unbound
String gauge
String composition

It is possible that two different models of the same style guitar, or two different years of the same model feel completely different.

You can always "force" yourself to adapt to the feel of the guitar you choose, but it may never feel quite right to you. Another guitar might feel much better the first time you try it, and this would allow you to be more comfortable with the guitar, therefore making you a better player.

I notice this a lot because I have many different guitars. I usually have reasons for owning each of my guitars, but I must admit that some of them feel "right" and some feel "wrong." I make fewer fingering mistakes when I am playing a "comfortable" guitar.

Please try out enough different guitars before you sink a lot of money into a guitar that you might hate the feel of. Once you can tell the difference in feel from one guitar to another, you are ready to pick one that feels "right."

There are three other factors that affect the feel of a nice, comfortable guitar:
1. Body width, particularly in the lower bout
2. Body depth
3. Weight

For example, I love the sound of the large bodied guitars, such as a dreadnaught flat-top acoustic or a big 17" Gibson L-5 or 18" Gibson Super 400, but I cannot get comfortable with these guitars, so I personally choose smaller bodied instruments, in both width and thickness. This is why I play the 000-28EC Martin acoustic. It is thinner than and not as deep as other acoustic guitars. This is also why I play the 16" Hofner New President jazz guitar and the Epiphone Emperor Joe Pass model - smaller, thinner bodies!

As far as weight goes, I recently purchased a Carvin AE-185 thin semi-hollow acoustic-electric guitar as my main axe. It has all the features I want, can do all the sounds, and it is extremely light - one of the lightest guitars I ever played! After playing this instrument for four consecutive hours, I can't imagine ever plying a super heavy Gibson Les Paul guitar or something similar.

Let me know if this article has been helpful!

Thursday, July 13, 2006

You got questions? I've got answers!

When I was young and learning to play guitar, I had a million questions. I couldn't ask my guitar teacher because that would have used up all my lesson time. There weren't many other guitar players around to ask. There weren't any guitar magazines available for info. "Guitar Player" magazine started when I was in my teens, and I used to read every issue cover-to-cover. I also subscribed to "Sing Out" magazine.

I also enjoyed receiving monthly newsletters from major used guitar stores such as Gruhn Guitars in Nashville and Guitar Trader in Red Bank, NJ. I drooled over all the fancy guitars that were played by the pros, and then sat down and practiced on my Sears Silvertone guitar and amp.

When I started playing in bands, I was lucky to find work, because no one in the band knew how to put on a professional show. My father helped us select songs when we played for adult nightclubs, and his choice was remarkably good.

I created this blog as an extension of my web site, While is primarily for promoting myself and my music, this blog is where I hope to be able to answer questions, give advice and guide the musical careers of any musician at any level that wishes to ask for my opinion. Feel welcome to ask about equipment, lessons, practicing, song selection, playing technique, accessories, or anything at all. I am here for you - I am on your side, and I've been there before, right where you are now.

How can I help?