The Perfect Player, Part One
by Andre Tonelli
Welcome to the first installment of The Perfect Player. In this first article, I will try to show you how to become a proficient player and musician, starting with a new approach to practice. I know, you are probably thinking 'Man, another article on how to practice?! Do we really need this?' That's the same reaction I have when I hear about this topic, and is exactly the reason why I would like to introduce you to the concept of "muscular memory." Stick to what you learn today and you will get rid of all the mistakes in your playing, and make a giant step towards the mastery of your instrument.
This is not to say that all other articles are not worth your attention. There actually is a lot of interesting stuff out there, and I encourage you to experiment with whatever you think could help you. The problem I found on most lessons on this topic, though, is that they'll just be something like: "Here's a good warm-up exercise, then practice some sequences, and you're all set. Oh, and always play slow at first…" Unfortunately, this won't make you any better than jamming for a couple of hours on your axe, and it surely is less fun.
The purpose of this article is to go beyond exercises and notions, and through strictly physical training (applicable to any musical contest and instrument), enable you to play perfectly with no conscious effort, which I believe is necessary to become one with your instrument and the music. In addition, we will not start with the technical aspect of playing, but we will derive it from what really counts: the music!
In fact, the first thing you need to do is find a piece of music you like and are willing to spend a good amount of time working on. I personally am a huge fan of classical music, and I like to transcribe a lot of flute and violin compositions for electric guitar. This gives me a lot of material to work on that is great for technique, harmony, melody, and pretty much everything that has to do with music, and is a lot of fun. But it can be anything, as long as it is compatible with your actual level as a musician. Only your good sense can help you here, but don't be too afraid to push yourself a little. If there is something you've played for a while but always sounded a bit sloppy consider giving it a try.
What you usually hear at this point is that you should play the song at half-speed, and then as you become comfortable with it you should play a bit faster, and then a bit faster, and so on 'til you are able to play it up to tempo. Conceptually, this is true (and we will use a variation on this) but, as you might have noticed, is definitely not enough. If you ever tried this, chances are that by the time you played the part up to tempo, you still sounded sloppy. This is simply because you focused on the notes and not on your fingers. "Wait a second" - you might say, "but this is what a real musician should do!" True, but not until you are ready to play perfectly without having to think about the physical aspect of it. Technically speaking, playing an instrument is a physical skill; in other words, the emotive part should come first in your priorities, but second in your preparation. After all, you don't need to be into the music emotionally to play flawlessly (many so-called guitar heroes have proven how cold and boring technique alone can be), but you need to be totally comfortable with what you are playing in order to play greatly and emotionally. This is simply because you don't have to think about the physical part of playing and can just focus on the music. Once you master the technical subtleties of the music, you will open doors to a much deeper emotional level of your playing.
But let's go back to our piece of music: as you play it, you will no doubt find parts that are harder than others, and some passages that you just can't play. This is normal, and depends solely on the fact that your fingers are not yet used to those movements. Very probably they are used to play the part wrong. As you all know, practice doesn't make perfect, but it makes constant. Sloppy practice will only make you a sloppy player… Here's how to avoid this and correct your mistakes once and for all.
Isolate these parts, and play them very slow (don't use a metronome or even worry about the tempo), so slow that you can actually feel the muscles moving. This is the main concept. Focus solely on your muscles, starting with your fingers, your hands, up to the wrists, arms, and your whole body. Stay relaxed and play the phrase over and over for about five minutes. Give your brain the time to register and memorize these movements. Once your brain and muscles are re-trained, you will never make the same mistakes again! This will take some time, so don't expect this to work after the first session, but I promise you will be surprised at how fast (and most important permanent!) the change will be. This will not only boost your technical proficiency, but also enable you to become much more involved with the music, and to truly connect with your instrument. It takes very little effort, when compared to the results.
Once your brain has re-learned how to guide your hands, you will always play the part right, and will be free to concentrate solely on the music. You will actually have to make a conscious effort to play it wrong! Just think of how good it will feel to pick up a guitar and confidently play an entire piece of music with no mistakes. Now, that's being a musician!
I can't teach you how to become a great player (I wish I knew that one myself!), but I can guarantee you that if you follow this procedure you will never make the same mistakes again. You can see that this approach is very different and makes more sense than just slowing things down and mechanically repeating scales and exercises. Oh, by the way, these five-minute sessions make for great warm-up routines as well…
I hope this brief article will help you in your progress as a guitar player and musician. Feel free to contact me about this or other subjects, and good luck with your musical endeavors.
