Stop me if you've heard this one. "There's something to be said for spontaneity." How about this? "I don't improvise or jam, I'm more of a riff guy."
Maybe you've said those very lines yourself. I'm hoping through these blogs, one thing I can break down for some folks are the stigmas that come with well...... practice, learning theory, playing with a metronome, etc. Basically anything that takes time, effort, and usually leads to frustration.
Many are discouraged from the above mentioned subjects because they will usually either learn it and move on, or learn it but not well enough to actually use it in real world playing situations. Real world being outside of the bedroom. That's ok though, I feel the same way about learning foreign languages. Sure I may know a few words but I would hardly dare use them in fear someone would ask me to complete a whole sentence.
So why is the title of this blog "Chi, Flow, Zen, The Force"? I don't think musicians need to learn theory or practice certain physical techniques to earn their stripes and suffer with the rest of us geeks. I don't think those are the only paths to musical enlightenment either. Of course you'll have additional benefits if you do learn the above mentioned subjects. I do believe that good practicing habits and as much time as you can invest is paramount though. Maybe it's mind numbing finger exercises, maybe it's songwriting for hours on end.
Let's face it, it's not always fun to think so hard. Chances are except for a rare occasion, I'm having much more fun playing a song I've practiced quite a bit or I've already played live many times before. How many times does one need to hear "Practice means perfect." to believe it. It's like a brainwashing motto to tell you that brainwashing is beneficial.
We're talking liberation here folks. We're talking about being so equipped from our day to day preparedness, that it takes little or no effort to execute what we hear in our heads.
Ear Training: When learning a part of a song, we can try next fret, next fret, next fret, and maybe we decide we've got the right notes. Or we can spend time frequently ear training, learning songs and eventually get ourselves at least in the right zip code.
Shows: Very simple. I can look down at my instrument the whole time, sweat various sections of a tune, and all other sorts of uncomfortable moments. Alternatively, I can prepare in large amounts and enjoy a bit more, look up and connect with the audience, focus on my articulation, just flow a bit more overall.
Be it theory all night long or inventing your own scales when you practice, one thing is for certain, the end result of what you do is the real answer to how hard you need to work or prepare. It comes out in shows, recordings, lessons, jams. "This section is really tricky" is something one unprepared guy at rehearsal may utter as the other players think "He doesn't even look like he worked on it." So nobody wins in that situation. The song doesn't that's for sure, nor does the vibe. While your sitting there sweating out a tricky passage or trying to find all the notes in the key of the song, your enjoyment is suffering. If your smiling, it's out of nervousness.
Music should be enjoyable. Forgive me but allow me to point out the world "able" in "enjoyable". If your able, your most likely going to enjoy.
Before I was Joe Musician, I used to watch all those Van Halen videos that came out to support the album "1984". One thing I noticed was Eddie was always smiling. While many guitarists are crying over learning his licks, this guy is smiling. Not because he practically invented a style, because he's that practiced. I'm leaving some live Eddie footage below to show those videos aren't just what happens when your playing along to a pre-recorded track on a soundstage.
Smilin' Eddie
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