From: scott@bell.b17a.ingr.com (Scott Bell)
Subject: Re: What makes a giid guitarist?
Organization: Intergraph
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 18:01:36 GMT

In article <1992Nov11.013915.6307@spectra.com>, ohumukin@spectra.com (Kawika Ohumukini) writes:
|> In article <10NOV199209245199@elroy.uh.edu> math1rb@elroy.uh.edu (92F07486) writes:
|> >My wife and I were discussing what makes a "good" guitarist...
|> >I said I thought it was someone who could hear a song and instantly
|> >replay it, but she pointed out that is a "natural" sort of gift and
|> >didn't think that could be necessarily learned. She gave the example of
|> >my younger brother who after only playing for a few months, can pick out
|> >the notes and melodies to a lot of differnent songs, although he doesn't
|> >have the proficiency to play them at full speed or without being sloppy.
|> 
|> This is totally false.  What people think of as natural is really 
|> focus.  Anyone can learn something if they can focus and do it the
|> way THEY DO IT, not the way someone else does it.  Anyone can learn
|> to write with the opposite hand they are used to if they focus and
|> practice.

   Sorry, but having a "natural ability" is just that. No matter how much 
   you concentrate, your own mental and physical abilities determine what
   you might do! No matter how much I focus and bang my head against the 
   backboard, I'll never sky and float like Michael Jordan does.

   Practice is essential. But you must also know and try to expand your limits,
   remembering that you may never live up to the axe hero you try to emulate.
   Besides, music is creative - be yourself, not Satriani or Malmsteen(sp?) !

|> 
   << "being a good guitarist" marks in math1rb@elroy.uh.edu (92F07486) nuked >>
 
|> I can read very little but that never stopped me.  I practiced and
|> learned to tune my ear.  I am still learning to read from the point
|> of view of things I already know audibly.  This is kind of reverse 
|> and the practice will pay off.
|> 
    Yep.

|> >After I graduate in
|> >December I'll have more time, and we debated whether I should get lessons
|> >as sort of a regimented program, so I have to learn. But on the other hand
|> >I'm pretty disciplined, and don't have a lot of money, so I figure I could do
|> >it on my own.
|> 
|> Only you know what works best in a particular time and place in your
|> life.  I have gone through different stages of learning where I learned
|> by watching others, listening only, tablature only, tab & listening
|> and all worked well in a given environment.

    That's great! I wish I had the experience(s) you have, and was able to
   get so much exposure and critique from "those who know".
    
    If you ever want to write songs, you must know tabs and note diagrams.
     
|> Develop a memory.  There is nothing I know of more powerful in playing
|> than a great memory both auditory and visually and even kinesthetic
                                                      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
     Is this like Shirley McClain cranking her Marshall up to 10 and lettin'
   loose? :)  Exactly what do you mean?

|> at times.  If you see a riff or chord, or hear a riff or chord, or
|> can feel what they were doing and you remember it long after the
|> event, you will be able to reproduce it at sometime.
|> 
   << misc. about becoming a good guitarist nuked... >>

|> I still do it everyday for 2 hours.  I write originals and I play
|> mostly Joe Satriani stuff because he teaches me that no matter where
|> you are, there is something you don't know or haven't tried.

    Since you write music, I assume you know musical notations/symbols/etc.
   That's something that is much easier learned by lessons/books than by
   doing it on the fly.

     BTW, do you actually practice w/ Satriani-Johnson-et al, or just listen to
    their prospective tunes? If just lsitening, how do you know how to emulate
    their chord changes/riff movements/techniques? Just curious...
|> 
|> Consistent Practice
|> Stretching My Limits
|> Teaching Others

    ... let me add one that the great Jimmy Page once noted:
   Jammin' w/ Other Musicians
|> 
|> I don't know no other way!
|> 
|> Kawika 
 
   Good Advice. Good Luck.
   Scott
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| Scott Bell                               | "I may be N by NW when the | 
| Intergraph Corp. - Mapping Sciences Div. | wind is Southerly - but I  |
| M/S IW17A2  Huntsville, AL  35894-0001   | know a hawk from a         | 
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| 205-730-1776   #include <std_disclaim.h> |      W.S. , 'Hamlet'       | 
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