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You never forget your first time!

8/22/2013

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One of my students, a junior high school age boy who’s been taking lessons with me for a year or so has put together a band with three of his buddies. It’s the classic line-up: two guitars, bass and drums. Although I haven’t heard them, based on my student’s ability and musical interests they should be pretty good. Their repertoire is pretty wide-ranging and includes songs by Wilco, Radiohead, Kenny Chesney plus some Beatles classics and other “oldies.”

They are making their public debut in a couple weeks at a big family party, which is a great idea as they are assured a friendly and encouraging audience. At his lesson last week he was asking me about a bunch of things related to performing, things like whether they needed a PA system (yes!) or could just plug mics into their guitar amps (no, this is a feedback nightmare). I told him he could use a small but serviceable PA I own.

I asked him to give me a set list, to which he said, huh…? Apparently they hadn’t thought that far, that it would make sense to have some idea in what order they’d play their songs. While I’ve played in a couple bands (early on) that actually abhorred set lists, thinking they stifled creativity and being in-the-moment, I soon learned that knowing what and when you’ll play songs goes a long way to ensuring a good performance. Set lists don’t have to be set in stone, so to speak. But knowing how to best use what you have comes with experience. Hold back your best tunes for a while, build momentum.

I tried to impress on him the importance of starting with something up-tempo, in a Major key. Virtually all good bands do this – audiences are excited or at the very least very interested to hear what you can do and by offering positive energy right from the start you make a statement: I’m glad to be here playing for you, I’m excited about my music and hope you will be too! Being slow, droning and generally disinterested may have worked for grunge bands in the 1990s but those days are gone (thank goodness!).

Tight beginnings and endings of songs make a hugely positive impression. They prove you’re well rehearsed and care about the finished product. A tight ending versus a random fading away usually leads to applause too, and isn’t that one of the reasons we do this?

Don’t waste time between tunes either, I told him. No need to jump into a new song seconds after you finish the previous one but audiences have short attention spans so be ready to move along. Again, this shows that you’re into the performance and like what you’re doing. Another transference of positive energy!

Be prepared to be nervous. Everyone is, myself included, but over time that feeling can and should be converted into focus and enthusiasm. I know from personal experience that the worst performances I’ve ever given happened when I wasn’t nervous at all when I started playing. Then, bad things happen, which makes a performer ten times MORE nervous than they might have been, leading to more disasters! Nervousness can and should be converted to enthusiasm. This doesn’t happen over night of course – it comes with experience. But that is what performing is all about, learning from what worked and what did not.

I’m sure they will be just fine and their debut will go fine. The next step (that I didn’t want to mention) is performing in front of their most critical audience of all: their young teenaged peers. I’ll warn him about that after they have a good show under their belts.

Peace & good music,
Gene

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Character vs. perfection: Guitar mojo

8/19/2013

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I went to a party yesterday (social occasion, not playing job) at the home of a couple we know. He is an absolutely superb woodworker, and artist really, who designs and builds custom tables, free standing cabinets and the like. He was showing a few of us some of his stash of wood and was explaining just what “spalted maple” is, which he has begun using for some of his pieces. “Spalting” is primarily found in dead trees and is the dark lines and color variations caused by fungal rot as it makes its way into the wood. The process of stabilizing, sealing and finishing the wood is quite involved, to say the least, but the results are beautiful and unique; no two pieces are the same.

Some guitar makers have begun using spalted maple for guitar sides and backs, Taylor Guitars in particular (and some boutique makers), and the results are visually stunning. I cannot attest to the sound as I’ve never played a guitar made of this wood. I’m not sure why but it got me to thinking about the relative importance of perfection in the wood of an acoustic guitar. After all, spalted maple is essentially rotting wood – these are our friend’s very words – and I had to wonder about the merits of using it in guitars, regardless of its undeniable beauty. Then a few hours later I happened to come across an online listing for a 1950s vintage Martin 00-18 with a large crack down the face, which according to the owner “in no way affects the tone.” Sorry, but I have trouble with that statement.

My mode of operation when searching for used guitars to offer for sale is to find recent, high quality instruments in as close to perfect condition as they can be. There is a simple, pragmatic reason for this. Although there are thousands of experienced guitarists out there who have no problem spending thousands of dollars for a “vintage” guitar that shows plenty of battle scars, most of the people I sell to would much rather have something in excellent condition cosmetically and with the best possible sound.

There are long running debates on the guitar forums about whether or not structural flaws, cracks in particular, affect the sound. Fans of vintage guitars will almost always claim they do not, especially if the cracks are “stabilized” by a guitar repairman by using tiny diamond shaped splits glued to the inside of the guitar over the crack. This keeps the crack from enlarging, most of the time anyway. But my feeling is this. Although cracks on the sides and back probably don’t affect the sound, ones in the top probably do to a greater or lesser extent. To my mind it’s only logical. The more evenly the vibration of the string can be transmitted to the top, unimpeded by any gaps or flaws, the better the resonance and sustain will be. I will grant that perhaps this is an exaggeration of the affect of cracks, or just plain wrong. I’m sure you can learn more about this debate with a simple internet search.

I suspect there is another issue in play with me however: pure cosmetics. I have always felt that a flawless guitar top is a thing of great beauty. Just my own hang up, folks, and I totally respect those who feel vintage guitars with plenty of playing mojo look like they have secret stories to tell and are in fact pretty darn cool. In fact, some brand new electric guitars like the Fender “Road Worn” series are made to look like they’ve spent their lives on stages in smoky bar rooms, travelling from town to town – on purpose, by way of dings and rubbed off finishes!

I am not the guy who will buy one of those guitars. If I carelessly put a tiny ding in one of my guitars I feel like kicking myself. From that point on I have real trouble ignoring it’s there, especially if it happens to be in an area I touch when I’m playing, like the back or side of the neck. OCD much, Gene??!

There are vintage guitars that have plenty of cracks, gouges, finish rubs, scratches and more and some of them sound fantastic. I just can’t help but wonder how much BETTER they would have sounded without these things!

Well, a fan of vintage guitars would probably say, without all that mojo, which proves the guitar has been “ridden hard and put away wet” would it sound that good at all???

I honestly have no idea!

Peace & good music,
Gene


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Requests. Yeah, I know that one!

8/12/2013

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Just a few random things today.

I hope I didn’t come across as too negative regarding kids and learning guitar in my last post! I guess I just wanted to convey to both students and parents that they should enter the learning process with eyes open. Most do; some do not. Anyway….

On a more positive note (so to speak!) I played a private party yesterday and one of the guests was a young girl aged 12 who was very nice and took immediate interest in my playing. When I took a break she very nicely asked if she could play my guitar, saying that she was learning to play through a program at her school. I usually don’t let anyone near my guitar in these circumstances but I had a good feeling about her and she was delighted to play a couple tunes she knew. Although definitely in the beginner stages of playing you could tell she loved it and everyone was encouraging and supportive. I did my best to encourage her efforts and would be more than pleased to have her as a student if she lived closer.

It was refreshing and reminded me that positive reinforcement is perhaps the most important component in how a mentor approaches a kid’s musical endeavors. This is not news, obviously, but I think it’s good for ALL teachers to be reminded of this from time to time. I think she will do just fine and I made a point to tell her so, and her mother too.

On the other end of the spectrum, an older couple requested that I play some French songs such as the cabaret style tunes by singers like Edith Piaf. Unfortunately I didn’t know any off the top of my head and I don’t usually bring fake books to gigs. I felt badly about this because they explained that they had spent time in Europe in the early years of their relationship and loved those songs. Had I known this before the job I would certainly have made the effort to learn a few for them. In any case, they were very pleasant and seemed to enjoy the stuff I did play.

All musicians receive requests from time to time (I did play a James Taylor tune that the mother of the young girl wanted her to hear) but in most cases trying to predict and prepare for them is daunting. A guitarist friend of mine has a standard answer to the question:

“So, do you take requests?”

He always answers: “Sure, as long as it’s something I know!”

OK, a bit glib I know but I get where he’s coming from. Pianists are usually better prepared than guitarists for requests. They usually bring along a bunch of fake books or lately, a device like an IPad loaded with lead sheets of hundreds of songs. Interestingly, for a long time – at least in my experience – it was viewed as somewhat amateurish and uncool for a guitarist to take the stage with a music stand and a pile of music. You were supposed to just “know” a gazzilion songs, or so it seemed! I’ve noticed however that this seems to be changing. Many single guitarists and even players in bands seem to have music stands, tablets or laptops close at hand these days. I still feel this is something of a crutch and reading lyric and/or lead sheets makes for a less than spontaneous and professional performance. But hey, I’m a dinosaur in more ways than one!

My brother, who is a superb classical trumpet player with a major international orchestra has probably never played the first few bars of Pictures at an Exhibition from memory, right?! Even though I’m sure he could… the music is always there.

I guess it may be time to buy an IPad!

Peace & good music (memorized OR read!),

Gene

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Kids and guitars

8/7/2013

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In the many years I’ve been teaching guitar I’ve had plenty of younger students. Most have done fine, some exceptionally well, some not so well at all. These days I only accept students who are at least at the age of 10. While there are certainly plenty of younger kids who can and do succeed, in my experience the success rate falls off quite dramatically with that younger age group. Why is this? I’ve given it plenty of thought and here are my conclusions.

First a bit of a back story. As anyone who’s read this blog for a while knows, I come from a long line of professional musicians. My dad was a superb drummer who played with some big deal bands in his day and was great at not only improvisational styles (jazz) but also in traditional drumming and reading. He also taught from time to time, including me when I was very young. He was the sweetest, warmest most forgiving guy about most everything – except the learning process as it related to learning a musical instrument. He was a strict taskmaster who demanded commitment and dedication, and did not tolerate students who didn’t practice. As with most things we learn from out parents, I have done my best to convey the best parts of his regimen to my own teaching while trying to be a bit more tolerant of the way kids sometimes tend to be.

I think that what parents of young students of the guitar have to understand is that there is absolutely NOTHING in every day life that a youngster has experienced that resembles the physical act of playing a guitar. Twisting a hand around, arching their fingers and pressing down on sharp objects is totally alien – and painful, at least in the beginning. This reality cannot be avoided. The job of a good guitar teacher is to balance the rewards of playing (making recognizable musical sounds) with the physical challenge. Unless the parent has played the guitar or some other string instrument themself, he or she cannot be expected to understand what the child is going through in the beginning.

All the parent knows is this: is my kid practicing, or not? If not, why?

“Did you practice today?”

“Yeah, but it HURTS!”

How does a parent react to this? Well, as someone who helped raise a wonderful son and daughter I know that the first, gut reaction is to do something to eliminate or at least minimize the pain. Maybe it hurts because you’re not doing right?

The truth is tough to accept. Most likely, it hurts because Little Johnny IS doing right! Pressing down on the strings with what is often the most strength he can muster will – and should – hurt, until those little fingers get stronger and develop calluses. Many times I’ve had young students who have come to their lessons proudly displaying callused fingertips after a month or so of playing – those are the ones who will most likely succeed.

But if a youngster gets to the point after a month of taking lessons that he or she is doing everything they can to avoid practicing the parent may have to conclude that the guitar may not be the right instrument for their child. A three-year old can sit down in front of a piano and plunk the keys to produce something akin to a musical sound. Short of just strumming open strings, such is not the case with a guitar.

Does that mean the child has failed? Certainly not!! It just may be too early for them to see the big picture, that some pain early on will lead to better things down the road. My advice in these instances is to put the guitar down for a while and perhaps suggest trying to play in a few months or even a year or so. What sometimes happens is that a kid has a friend, sibling or other relative who plays and on a casual basis shows him or her a little thing or two. Without the pressure (real or imagined) of going to regular lessons a curious child may very well pick up a simple tune or two and then decide he wants to learn more. That’s where a good teacher should enter the picture.

Good parenting has always involved exposing a child to many experiences and one of the most wonderful of them can be creating music. But again, it comes back to balance. Turning a kid off from playing ANY instrument is much more tragic than helping that child to succeed with encouragement or allowing him to not succeed, without retribution.

Peace & good music,

Gene

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