During the first couple of years of my playing Jazz Guitar, I adopted a rather smug attitude towards various kinds of popular music. I felt that in comparison to Jazz with it's extended chords, exotic scales, and complex rhythms, Pop Music seemed.......well, simple. "Why should I bother with songs that only have three chords in in them - what can I learn from that?", I would often say. For a number of years that was my view and I rarely partook in anything musically other than Jazz or Classic Rock.
However, one day while in college, I heard another Guitar Player playing a pop tune while I waited for our class to begin. He sounded great and the worst part of it was......HE WAS ONLY PLAYING THREE CHORDS! What was going on here? Analytically, I knew he was only strumming the chords G, C, and D, but I still couldn't account for how or why he was able to make it all sound so good. What was going on here?
What I began to realize shortly after this experience, is how important timing is. A person with a good sense of timing and feel can almost make anything sound good. This isn't to say that you should play the right notes, but without a good sense of timing, it's very hard to make anything sound very good. And, if you're timing isn't good, you can forget about being able to play with anyone else. Not good.
What I found was playing with a Metronome or drum machine, was the best way to practice my timing. Playing along with recordings is great too, but it can still allow you to "hide out" in the music, whereas when playing with a metronome, you're much more exposed and have to deal with the time more directly. Ok great - but how do I use a Metronome?
What I do with my Students, is first have them be able to just play on beat. I'll set the Metronome to around 50-60 beats per minute and have them play Quarter Notes (one note for every click of the metronome).The idea here is not to be able to play fast, it's to be able to play WITH the beat (or simulateously with the beat). And be able to do it for a long period of time. This is the key to playing in time ; you have to be consistent.
The next thing I usually have people do is work with Eighth Notes, Triplets, and Sixteenth Notes - all at the same initial tempo of 50-60 BPM. This step usually takes longer as the notes seem faster and more is required musically to evenly play the rhythms over each beat. However, these are really the most common, core rhythms used in most music and are more fun! In fact, you can really spend a long time working on these three rhythms and not feel stale.
Hopefully this sheds some light onto what a metronome is and how important it is to use. In fact, I always remind my Students that the little green quartz metronome in my room is mine and I'm just using it for our class. My point is not to be stingy ; I want them to realize that I too use this thing and it's important to me! I think if you start to use a metronome you'll begin to feel the same way after a short while. Have fun!
Tune in next week for the next installement of Have Guitar Will Travel.
Apr 16, 2012
Apr 8, 2012
What is I-IV-V ?
If you've played Guitar for more than a few months, you'll have inevitably heard of the phrase, I-IV-V (1-4-5). Visit any music store, online forum, or Music School, and you'll be hard pressed to NOT hear about it. As for myself, snippets of conversations like, "It's just one, four, five, MAN!!", uttered by some grizzled old bass player still roll around in my head from decades ago. So what's all the fuss about? What is I-IV-V?
Without going into alot of detail about how chords are constructed (see music theory/harmony), let's quickly look at the C Major Scale. The C Major Scale is made up of the notes: C D E F G A B C. It is arguably the most important scale in Western Music, at least from a theory standpoint. And, it's the source of many of the important chords that are used in music. Basically, each note of the scale yields a different chord ; we have seven notes and therefore seven different chords emerge. From the C Major Scale, the following basic chords appear:
Not only are the I-IV-V chords ubiquitous, as I hinted at above, they're recycleable. For example, if you learn how to play a Blues in G (G, C, and D), there are a lot of Blues tunes that use those very same chords. You could learn I-IV-V in a handful of keys and be able to sit in on a Blues Jam without even knowing the specific songs. You can think of them as Chord Templates. And, as I mentioned earlier, many genres of music use I-IV-V. If you know I-IV-V in the key of D (D, G, and A), you can play songs like Margaritaville, Southern Cross, and Back in Black (the chorus section). Nice huh?
So, the moral of this story here is this: YOU GOTTA KNOW I-IV-V! And more specifically, I-IV-V in all twelve keys. You will literally cut the learning curve in half when you get these chord patterns nailed down. Not to mention you'll be on your way to being a great rhythm Guitar Player. And next time someone shouts at you, "Come on, it's just I-IV-V, MAN!!", you'll be in the know! Welcome to the inner circle!
Tune in for the next installment of Have Guitar Will Travel.
Without going into alot of detail about how chords are constructed (see music theory/harmony), let's quickly look at the C Major Scale. The C Major Scale is made up of the notes: C D E F G A B C. It is arguably the most important scale in Western Music, at least from a theory standpoint. And, it's the source of many of the important chords that are used in music. Basically, each note of the scale yields a different chord ; we have seven notes and therefore seven different chords emerge. From the C Major Scale, the following basic chords appear:
- I. C
- ii. Dmi
- iii. Emi
- IV. F
- V. G
- vi. Ami
- vii. B dim
Not only are the I-IV-V chords ubiquitous, as I hinted at above, they're recycleable. For example, if you learn how to play a Blues in G (G, C, and D), there are a lot of Blues tunes that use those very same chords. You could learn I-IV-V in a handful of keys and be able to sit in on a Blues Jam without even knowing the specific songs. You can think of them as Chord Templates. And, as I mentioned earlier, many genres of music use I-IV-V. If you know I-IV-V in the key of D (D, G, and A), you can play songs like Margaritaville, Southern Cross, and Back in Black (the chorus section). Nice huh?
So, the moral of this story here is this: YOU GOTTA KNOW I-IV-V! And more specifically, I-IV-V in all twelve keys. You will literally cut the learning curve in half when you get these chord patterns nailed down. Not to mention you'll be on your way to being a great rhythm Guitar Player. And next time someone shouts at you, "Come on, it's just I-IV-V, MAN!!", you'll be in the know! Welcome to the inner circle!
Tune in for the next installment of Have Guitar Will Travel.
Apr 2, 2012
Dealing With Frustration
Let's face it, if you've played Guitar for any amount of time (or any other instrument for that matter) you'll have inevitably felt the pangs of frustration over your playing. Whether it's a part of a song you're trying to nail or some new, difficult technique, it can be very frustrating. As for myself, I'd like to say that this has never happened to me, but I'd really lying through my teeth! And unfortunately, I don't see this frustration ever completely going away any time soon. However, over the years I have been given some great advice and have found some ways to deal with these various frustrations about my playing, at least to a manageable level. Here are three tips that I think can help.
One thing to realize is that being frustrated about your playing can be a blessing. WHAT?! That's right, if you're always content with your playing and you never feel any frustration, you're probably never going to get very good! Think about it. Without the desire to improve, how would you improve? Getting better at Guitar doesn't happen by magic, you have to deliberately work at it. So while being in the throes of frustration and anxiety over your Guitar playing, try to remind yourself that this all comes from your desire to improve. And if channeled properly, will help you succeed in doing just that.
Another thing that has helped me feel better about all of this is the fact that many famous musicians often feel frustrated themselves. Sure while there are many grand, seemingly invincible master players out there in the world of music, the reality of it is that most musicians wish they were better than they are. I remember watching an interview of Jazz Piano legend Bill Evans where he discussed, "the problem" of Jazz. As he elaborated on this, he basically talked about the enormity of playing Jazz music and how musicians often didn't grasp how difficult it really was. Evans was also quoted as once being terrified of Jazz and improvisation, feeling that he'd never learn how to do it. Additionally, Jazz Fusion guitarist Mike Stern has said the same thing in interviews. Now no one, would ever accuse either of these guys as being bad at what they do yet they've clearly been frustrated over their playing at times.
Lastly, I think the thing that has helped me the most deal with being frustrated over my playing, is trusting in the process and loving the Guitar. If you have a holistic approach to playing / studying, meaning that you work on technique, ear training, transcription, sight reading, etc, you really will get better. You'll have a system of checks and balances with all of the various approaches cross pollinating one another. And of course anything that you love doing is much more palatable, even during the tough times.
So, when you're bummed out about your playing, remember, 1) it can be a good thing, 2) you're not alone - everyone feels that way and, 3) if you work smart and love what you're doing, you will get better!
Stay tuned for the next installment of Have Guitar Will Travel.
One thing to realize is that being frustrated about your playing can be a blessing. WHAT?! That's right, if you're always content with your playing and you never feel any frustration, you're probably never going to get very good! Think about it. Without the desire to improve, how would you improve? Getting better at Guitar doesn't happen by magic, you have to deliberately work at it. So while being in the throes of frustration and anxiety over your Guitar playing, try to remind yourself that this all comes from your desire to improve. And if channeled properly, will help you succeed in doing just that.
Another thing that has helped me feel better about all of this is the fact that many famous musicians often feel frustrated themselves. Sure while there are many grand, seemingly invincible master players out there in the world of music, the reality of it is that most musicians wish they were better than they are. I remember watching an interview of Jazz Piano legend Bill Evans where he discussed, "the problem" of Jazz. As he elaborated on this, he basically talked about the enormity of playing Jazz music and how musicians often didn't grasp how difficult it really was. Evans was also quoted as once being terrified of Jazz and improvisation, feeling that he'd never learn how to do it. Additionally, Jazz Fusion guitarist Mike Stern has said the same thing in interviews. Now no one, would ever accuse either of these guys as being bad at what they do yet they've clearly been frustrated over their playing at times.
Lastly, I think the thing that has helped me the most deal with being frustrated over my playing, is trusting in the process and loving the Guitar. If you have a holistic approach to playing / studying, meaning that you work on technique, ear training, transcription, sight reading, etc, you really will get better. You'll have a system of checks and balances with all of the various approaches cross pollinating one another. And of course anything that you love doing is much more palatable, even during the tough times.
So, when you're bummed out about your playing, remember, 1) it can be a good thing, 2) you're not alone - everyone feels that way and, 3) if you work smart and love what you're doing, you will get better!
Stay tuned for the next installment of Have Guitar Will Travel.
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