From: ohumukin@spectra.com (Kawika Ohumukini)
Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.guitar
Subject: Re: What makes a giid guitarist?
Date: 12 Nov 92 18:27:46 GMT
Organization: Spectragraphics Corporation

In article <1992Nov11.180136.5237@msdhsv.ingr.com> scott@bell.b17a.ingr.com (Scott Bell) writes:
>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.

Nothing to be sorry for.  Whoever came up with the words "natural ability"
never did what they were speaking of.  There is no doubt some people have
"natural advantages" which may be better suited for a given task and makes
it easier to do the task.  And there are those that PUT IN THE TIME to
get to a level that is comparable to what others have found easier to do.
I know plenty of people that are extremely limber in their hands and can
move their fingers with lightening speed and have no musical capability
at all.  I also know those who have trouble pointing much less ripping off
a 8 finger hammer on/pull off and have great musical ability because after
years of practice have progressed beyond what they thought was possible.

Natural ability is just another excuse for people that feel they cannot 
achieve something for whatever reason (laziness, learned helplessness,
pessimism, etc.).  Want to succeed at something?  Start by believing you
can and put in the time.  I have practiced diligently almost everyday,
bar 1 year when I nearly stopped all together, for 12 years and all that
practice has brought me to the point where I can play Surfing with the
Alien with ease.  1 year ago I could only dream I could pull off solo #1
with it's pick tapping techniques.

12 years ago I could barely listen to a whole song and have any comprehension
at all and today I can play for hours at a show and pull off every lick
and chord I wrote, and others wrote, while being a performer and showman.


>   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?) !

I never thought that.  What good does it do you and what is your incentive
to expand if you think you are not and never can be as good as your hero?
If I ever did think that I sure would not want to remember it.

>|> 
>   << "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?

No.  Just ask anyone at a show and ask them how they felt when they
heard the music.  If it is powerful music it will have a kinesthetic,
feeling, affect.  Kinesthetics is the body.  If you know anything about
the mind/body relationship you might believe that there is a direct
correlation to what the mind thinks and it's physical affect on the body.
And this works in reverse.  For example, when I type, very fast thanks to
keyboard and guitar work, I can feel when I have typed something wrong.
I don't hear it, I don't see it because I am looking at a book or paper.
This is kinesthetics.  You can't go by sound when you are playing live
because by the time you hear a mistake so has everyone else.  In this 
case kinesthetics comes into play "Am I in the right spot for this lick?
How should I position my hand for this upcoming sweep?" etc..


>|> 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.

Still learning, I don't use it as a tool in my day-to-day playing.

>     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...

Tab books and a CD player that allows me to loop any part of a song for
any amount of time.  This allows me to isolate a part that correlates
to a book or by ear.  I learn all my keyboard parts by ear from Tony
MacAlpine CD's.
 
>|> Consistent Practice
>|> Stretching My Limits
>|> Teaching Others
>
>    ... let me add one that the great Jimmy Page once noted:
>   Jammin' w/ Other Musicians

I totally agree!
 
>|> I don't know no other way!
>|> 
>|> Kawika 
> 
>   Good Advice. Good Luck.
>   Scott

Kawika 
Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.guitar