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to completely lose my credibility
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Miguel de Maria
Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ
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 to completely lose my credibility
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I have been tossing around an image in my head for a few days that I would like to share.
Imagine a traveler who loves high places, on a windy road, mostly uphill, who comes finally to a ridge above his head. There is no path here, no handholds, and it seems there is no way above the ridge. And, in truth, if this ridge were passed, it would be too much toil for just ten feet of elevation. The traveler has reached his limit, and will go no higher. With resignation or contentment, here he pitches his tent.
Past the ridge and obscured from his sight, is a mountain that reaches into the clouds! The mountain is high, but there is a path, quite steep and arduous, that clings precariously to the side of the mountain and goes all the way to the top.
Of course this is an allegory I have fashioned. The path that stretches behind us is just that--all the work we have put in already. The ridge ahead--well that is the point where we come to believe our limit has been reached, that we can go no further. Just past the ridge, the path continues again, this time all the way up! To the very summit.
How many of us have come to the ridge, or at least--we have seen it and it has had its effect on us? We think we have reached the end of our talent. We think that there is no way, for us, to ascend this ridge. Even if we could, with all of our energy and resources, ascend this ridge, there may be another right above it, and another. There is certainly no point in wasting our lives on this particular futile quest.
My belief is that this ridge is here, but that it can be surpassed, and that beyond it is not another ridge but the mountain, that mountain we all desire to ascend, beyond it. Once we have passed the ridge, we merely have to set on the path, which is a difficult but clearly marked one. If you guys aren't following my New Agey mumbo jumbo, I'm saying that we all reach a point where we think we can't get any better, we can't play any faster or better. Or that we can, but we'll never be as good as we want to be. Or that we could get a little better, but only through a lot of really hard work, not even worth it. Well, I think this is total BS.
The ridge is the enemy. The ridge is a result of society telling us that people who play well were born that way. It's a result of amateurs telling us not to quit our day jobs, or of professionals telling us the same. Well, neither of them is qualified to tell you that. There is knowledge out there that will enable you to ascend the ridge and march on to your full potential. That knowledge must be sought, and it must be believed. The first step to getting over this hump is to believe that the hump is not the end of the road. It is merely a hump.
Are you guys still with me? I believe that most people learn to play extremely well in inefficient or thoughtless ways. Two examples: the child prodigy and the guitar geek. You have the John Williams of the world, who was taught to play guitar as naturally as he learned to speak or walk. And then you have the teenager who holes up in his room and plays guitar ten hours a day, the Steve Vais of the world. My belief is that John Williams tapped into a way of learning quite available to children, but still accessible to adults. I also believe that Steve Vai, who has mastered the guitar just as thoroughly, in some sense wasted a lot of time doing so. ]
I won't go on about those two in this post, but there are ways to learn very quickly and efficiently. It has more to do with John Williams than Steve Vai, though. You don't have to practice ten hours a day.
Self-taught musicians are very proud of having learned that way, and also the very worst teachers in the world. They will often look down on those who even ask for help, since they claim they didnt receive much themselves. And then they will prescribe to others that they should learn in the same way they did. This is like telling a foreign-born adult that he should learn how to speak the same way you did. Absolutely ridiculous!
I know it takes a lot of balls to make all these pronouncements, especially from me not having made any audio posts, but I hope these words make an impression on you all. The main idea I want to get across is that we often stop when we reach an obstacle. We believe that we have reached our limit, when in truth we have merely reached an obstacle, one that can be surpassed like all others.
I think that there are many ways of getting through these obstacles. For example, playing fast scales is one obstacle. If you practice scales with a metronome for 2 hours a day, you will almost certainly get good at them, but why? It's not because your hands need that much practice to learn them. It's because it might take that long for you to figure out how to do it right. With the proper guidance, images, and sensations explained to you, you can learn to play them much, much faster. Knowledge is the key. Others have gone before us and just rarely we can find one of these who is willing or able to part with valuable information about how to join him--on the mountain!
The image of the path and the ridge and the mountain ascending into heaven (pretty corny, eh?) means to me that our potential is much further than we tend to believe. The way is hidden from us, and we have to search for it. We can search for it on our guitar, but we should also search the vast database of knowlege--that of our fellow musicians, in biographies, in technique methods, in books. You may--you will come across the key if you search hard enough (oops, I'm mixing metaphors now).
And then, it's just a long, arduous, difficult climb to the top.
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Date Sep. 25 2003 18:30:49
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Ron.M
Posts: 7051
Joined: Jul. 7 2003
From: Scotland
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 RE: to completely lose my credibility (in reply to Miguel de Maria)
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Putting technical stuff aside, I find a great deal of the challenge is knowing "what" to play as much as "how".
To me, Flamenco is full of subtle little nuances, sometimes barely audible, like in a particular "pulloff" or way of striking a note.
The same subtleties I'm sure apply to the voice and the dance as well.
These subtleties add up to what we call a Flamenco sound or tone.
Everybody immediately knows it when they hear it.
But they are extemely elusive to the non-Analucian guitar student.
You can't find any indication in Tabs or Music to what this is.
Nor can you find any written work on this.
Just too hard to define.
But, (and I repeat), everybody knows it when they hear it!
It's just.....well....Flamenco!
That's why I feel that listening a lot to all kinds of Flamenco, not just the best of the best is so important.
And that's why I tend to concentrate on just sufficient technique (thumb/ras/arpegio) to enable me to explore this.
So I guess that's my own personal mountain, although a mountain would not be my image.
Too intimidating for me personally!
I tend to see it like slowly chipping away a few crumbs of cement from a prison bar.
It's gonna take a while and if you get obsessed with the big picture, ie "freedom" then you'll lose your marbles in the pure frustration.
But if you accept your current situation for what it is, and work a little bit each day at that cement, then one day the bars are gonna come loose!
That's probably a bad example as it implies a sudden and end reward for your efforts, which studying the guitar shouldn't be, but I hope you catch my drift anyway!
cheers
Ron
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Sep. 25 2003 20:24:39
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Merle
Posts: 218
Joined: Jul. 6 2003
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RE: to completely lose my credibility (in reply to Miguel de Maria)
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Michael, what you talking about? That is all screwed up! ;>)
You just got me over one of those bumps in the road! That thumb technique that you explained to me! I cannot believe how much better sound and control I have with my thumb! I really mean that!!!
Pushing 'through' and to the 'left' with my thumb and using my arm and wrist really gives me more control of the sounds of the basses! I cannot believe the difference! I mean that...that is good!
I was kinda of using my thumb like a pick, you know, just down strokes. But. pushing through the strings and sliding a little to the left with each stroke apoyando, well, amigo, you just made my day.
Now, it seems that I had to adjust my right hand a little and use more of the fleshy part of my thumb to get that wonderful sound. WOW, what a lesson!
However, after practicing this technique yesterday and today, it does remind me of that song;
"maybe get a blister on your little finger,
maybe get a blister on your thumb!
We gotta move those micro-wave ovens,
custom kitchens, delivery-ees-s,
we got to move those refrigerators...(Dire Straits)! ;>)
Really, I MUST CONFESS, that was a good lesson, and I thank you for that!
You da man for today!!!!!!! ;>)
Merle
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Sep. 26 2003 3:23:06
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Miguel de Maria
Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ
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RE: to completely lose my credibility (in reply to Miguel de Maria)
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Ron, it's amazing, but when I was writing my post, I actually had you partly in mind. I thought to myself, "ron has decided to tackle his own mountain." I guess great minds think alike. I have read a bit of your posts so I know some of your history, you kind of turned aside from the normal guitar geek priorities and set your mind to thumbwork and authenticity. Only you've found that it's at least as hard as the other way, right? But the prison metaphor is...kind of desperate, isn't it? We're not in prison, we're playing guitar, the instrument we love. When things are going well, it's so beautiful. When things are going bad, well, yeah, well maybe prison is being kind it's almost more like being in hell!
Merle, I'm SO happy to have helped you, even in such a little way. This tip I gave you is something that you or I probably would have taken a long time to figure out, but I was lucky to run across some chaps in Spain who taught it to me. I believe a lot of guitar is like that, little "tricks" that make all the difference in how we can play! Keep going, keep searching, and keep playing. You'll make it, my friend.
Peter, that's a very interesting thought. However, the difference between expert performance and amateur performance is incredibly wide! I mean, Paco plays twice as fast (100%) as many amateurs. He can play picado at like sixtheenth notes 220 bpm and most amateurs don't go too much above 100. A virtuoso musician might have a repertoire of 20 hours, while amateurs often stretch to hit 20 minutes. I think there is a lot of truth in your principle, but it's kind of misleading as well. Pro flamenco guitar players are not just 20% better than the amateurs, in my opinion at least, but more like 80% better! Just my take on it, of coruse, there is a lot of validity in your principle as well. Always good to hear from you, amigo.
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Date Sep. 26 2003 22:48:37
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