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  #16  
Old 02-20-2020, 08:41 AM
BallisticSquid BallisticSquid is offline
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Originally Posted by rmoretti49 View Post
I recently started to work on a song that I had always wanted to learn, but thought it to be beyond my skill. I wanted to play it exactly like it was played by its author in the original recording. Fortunately, I had a note-by-note transcription in tablature.

I have now played this song close to 350 times over the past 4 months or so (I am keeping count). It sounds quite good. Yet every time I play it, I make some "mistake". I put that in quotes, because these mistakes are merely deviations from the original in some way, not something a listener would be aware of. The more I concentrate on playing exactly as it was written, the more likely I am to fail to do so. If I forget about the goal of a perfect duplication of the original, the odds of a smooth performance increase. I believe this is because I am allowing my own feeling/interpretation of the song to come to the fore, which it seems to want to do.

Maybe it would be worthwhile for you to work on "owning" a song you are learning, instead of a technically perfect performance. Why not try this. By itself, this approach may help you relax more while playing. I agree with the post that stated that trying to not make mistakes actually increases mistakes. Timothy Gallwey has written about this in his book, "The Inner Game of Music."
Great post! Regarding the OP, perhaps the word would be "approach" rather than "attack".

For a very long time (20 years I'd say) my approach was to nail songs as played originally and to attain a certain style/sound of my heroes. This put me in a constant state of dissatisfaction with my playing. Eventually I came to realize that I was approaching it all wrong. What I needed to do was develop MY voice on the instrument. I started to approach songs by trying to capture the essence of them and adapt them to my style of playing. This allowed me to learn how to play songs FAR more quickly and gave me much satisfaction. It also allowed me to be comfortable playing in a band for an audience.

One of the best complements I got regarding my playing wasn't about my technical skill, it was that I "had something to say on the instrument and was able to communicate it".

The "Inner Game of Music" is a great book. Another one I would recommend is "Zen Guitar".

I still think there is value in trying to mimic others' playing and style because if we don't challenge ourselves our playing will remain largely static. However, it shouldn't be the primary focus, it should be with an eye toward further developing our own voices.
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  #17  
Old 02-20-2020, 08:54 AM
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ljguitar ljguitar is offline
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Originally Posted by pvfederico View Post
…I have thought about this a lot, and I feel that my problem is trying to reach two necessary (for me) states at the same time.

1) relaxation
2) sufficient level of concentration

These two states seem to be somewhat contradictory.
Hi pvfederico

For me memorization is the key. Once a piece is memorized, then I'm not dividing my attention between charts/scores and my playing. I know the piece inside out, and I can relax and focus on enjoying the music I'm playing.




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  #18  
Old 02-21-2020, 07:22 AM
BFD BFD is offline
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-Regarding emotion in playing: IMO it requires a good level of competency in playing a piece to be able interpret it emotionally
-Regarding mistakes: A mistake lots of players make when working on difficult parts is playing into them at a tempo than you can play the less difficult part before or after. When you do this you're practicing mistakes - not a good idea. You need to slow the transition into and out of as well as the difficult part down to a tempo you can successfully play the problem section. This is a great place to use a metronome to practice all of the above rhythmically, and bring it all up to speed as you can execute it cleanly.
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  #19  
Old 02-22-2020, 07:12 AM
Pitar Pitar is offline
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Originally Posted by pvfederico View Post
I've heard several guitarists talk about how one "attacks" the guitar. That got me thinking about how important the emotional side of guitar playing is. I am an older, retired man who has been playing for only 7-8 years. I'm self taught, and mostly finger pick folk and pop songs written before 1980. I also strum or finger pick a few traditional Mexican songs -- boleros and huapangas. I live in a relatively isolated area of Mexico, and though I am a US citizen, my principle daily language is Spanish, which I learned here. I have no contact with other guitarists.

I'm very pleased with my playing and with my rapid improvement. However, I seem to lack the ability to consistently play more difficult pieces without making mistakes. I have thought about this a lot, and I feel that my problem is trying to reach two necessary (for me) states at the same time.

1) relaxation
2) sufficient level of concentration

These two states seem to be somewhat contradictory.

I play only for myself, and have no intention of changing that. (I am a widower, and live alone.) My favorite guitar is my Larrivee LV-10 with Elixir 80/20 Bronze 10/47 extra light strings. I also have a Taylor and a Martin, and several classical guitars that I seldom use.

Any thoughts or similar experiences?
The more challenges to your motor skills you evoke will necessarily keep you focused. That's a place where relaxation doesn't visit much. While you may have a relaxed frame of mind about the challenges ahead of you, because you know progress is a just a natural achievement through practice, the very act of that practice answers a call to duty. That means work and doing good work is seldom a function of relaxing. I hope I'm making sense of your request.
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