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how hard is too hard?
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Erik van Goch
Posts: 1787
Joined: Jul. 17 2012
From: Netherlands
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 RE: how hard is too hard? (in reply to turnermoran)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: turnermoran
a brilliantly cryptic response!
though somehow it makes total sense. I have been under the impression for some time that the nature (science) of string instruments is that there is a point where you strike a string hard enough that you actually get diminishing results in terms of output..though I was never clear if that was measured right when you strike the string, or over say, 1 second. Cos it seems a string perfectly and loudly struck has a combination of output and sustain that is ideal, and a string stuck too hard looses sustain, though I'm not convinced it will actually be quieter..
Anyway, why couldn't you cultivate it?
I was never able to cultivate it because it was pretty hard to grasp and needed way more efforts and focus then i was willing/able to give. It actually feels like you suddenly discover that you can fly like a bird.... you very much enjoy the moment, decide this is what you want to do the rest of your life, but after you have landed on your feet again you discover that despite various tries you don't seem to be able to do it again. Only once i was able to generate it by focused hacking after Paco Peña showed me how to do it:
----------------0----------0~/-0------------------
-------------0-------------0~/-0------------------
----------1----------------1~/-1------------------
---/2----------------/-4---------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
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../p........i.m.a....../ p >p
When i played Paco above part of Vicente's alegrias falseta he told me to try to play that last chord with a totally relaxed (read totally dead) thump/hand... after you have plugged the previous note on the the d-string (with your thump landing on the g-string) all you have to do is to relax that hand completely and let it fall down by gravity. Sounds very simple but the kind of relaxation he demanded was extremely hard to get and that lesson i was not able to produce the goods as he would say. When i left he urged me to study it as long as needed because the outcome would pleasantly amaze me once i was able to apply it.....That night i gave it my very best shot and after a couple of hours of struggle i did indeed succeed in applying the intended relaxation. The outcome was even more incredible then Paco's told me it would be and pleasantly amazed didn't even begin to describe it (it was my first flying experience). I enjoyed it time after time and finally went to bed in the conviction playing the guitar would never be the same anymore. But the next day my magic power was gone and i was never able to reproduce that specific feeling and outcome again. Similar things happened to me with various other techniques (like alzapua and up and down strokes with the index). But every single time i was only able to enjoy the moment itself, without being able to reproduce it on demand. All i know it is a totally different way of playing then the one i know and still apply, with far less input and far more output. It always pairs total relaxation to a feeling you can generate/transpose endless amounts of energy into your guitar using thought rather then physics.
Aside from those rare moments of flying i also enjoyed some pretty amazing things when studying/applying my "human" way of playing. I was able to bring myself in a higher state of awareness various times over a longer period of time and did some pretty amazing discoveries during those extremely intense study sessions. When i was in the right state of mind i was able to mentally slow down the vibrations of a string, like i had some kind of build in oscilloscope. That incredible ability showed me that when you have to replay an already trembling string things can indeed go terribly wrong. It tuned out to be very much like adding new energy to somebody on a swing. If you push them on exactly the right moment you add energy, if you push them when they are still coming at you you distract energy. It works the same with feeding a trembling string with new energy. If you do it on the right moment you add energy, if you do it on the wrong moment you distract energy. Don't ask me how i did it (like i said i was in a higher state of awareness) but i was able to slow down a trembling string mentally to swing level, allowing me to select the perfect moment time after time. I would not be able to do that anymore since it demands lot's of practice and focus (but only a fraction of the focus that is needed to learn yourself how to fly). You can indeed also create diminished output by unbalanced energy input... a string is very sensitive to the kind/amount of energy input you feet it with and small differences of input can create huge differences in output. If Paco want's a certain note to stand out over a longer period of time he plays it softer, not harder since high input levels also die quickly. You have to do a lot of full focus sound experiments to find out how things work more or less.... sometimes the spirits are with you allowing you to fly for a couple of seconds, minutes or longer. At those moments playing the guitar is as easy as breathing and you can not imagine you ever have to struggle again... until you open your eyes the next day.
I think Diego is probably the best example of what can be achieved playing this way... he's already a very experienced "guitar whisperer".
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Aug. 14 2013 23:17:47
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Ricardo
Posts: 14822
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
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RE: how hard is too hard? (in reply to Erik van Goch)
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quote:
At those moments i enjoyed the privilege to experience how it feels to play like Paco de Lucia for a few seconds or even minutes. It is funny (and frustrating) to realize that i (and probably many others) can basically play at PDL level if only we knew how to open that window to our subconsciousness.
Keep hearing about it, and I believe that it might feel like it or SEEM like it to the PLAYER's point of view, but simply put, I would have to hear it as the outsider. I seriously doubt that it is the same to the outside. In fact, this is very reason many players seem to think much higher of themselves for a while until they are recorded, and then suddenly the shock of reality hits like a ton of bricks.  The truly exceptional players never seem to think they are as good as they are, always striving to do better.
I will add that in the green stages of my guitar playing, I used to play some tough pieces for my level, for example I could barely read or keep time as a teen but I could whip out Bach bouree like no problem. I performed it on stage and realized that as I stared at my hand I had no clue what the hell my fingers were doing and it was shear luck or magic the sound I wanted was coming out. It scared me to be honest, and luckily I grew out of that phase of learning and actually got to a place where I am always aware of what my fingers are doing or capable of and it is a fantastically much much more confident and relaxing feeling. Especially on stage. One thing that helped was a quote of Paco in a magazine "If you think you are going to make a mistake, you are LOST!". Pretty simple.
Ricardo
_____________________________
CD's and transcriptions available here:
www.ricardomarlow.com
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Aug. 15 2013 16:55:37
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