Make the most of the time you have by focusing on both the technical and emotional sides of practicing.
It’s hard to know what to practice and how long to practice for. I used to hate practicing, but I have found developing a ritual around it helps tremendously.
In this article, I’m first going to share an important tip on how to approach practicing. Then, I’m going to break down what a practice session looks like for me.
Let me lay out this one very important tip that radically changed the way I approach practicing:
Play, don’t practice.
My state of mind is an essential aspect of my practice sessions. One of my mentors, Bruce Forman, gave me invaluable advice when I was studying with him. He said, “We are never practicing, we are always playing.”
Bruce helped me realize it doesn’t matter if you’re running scales in your room or on a stage performing for a huge crowd—we are always playing. It’s a privilege to play music. Any time that we get with our instrument is a gift and we need to treat it like that. It’s an opportunity to create music, not a task to be completed. If we can reclassify practice into playing, we are already in a better place.
Alright, now that we’re in the right headspace, let’s dive into what my hour-long practice session consists of.
The First Five
When I first pick up my instrument, I give myself a little time to connect with it. It’s like when you wake up in the morning and need a few minutes to remember who you are and what you are doing. The same concept applies to the guitar: Take those few minutes to reacquaint yourself with it. I find that giving myself that moment to breathe with my instrument helps me be more musical during the practice session, which then continues on to live performances.
Also, I’ve found that this time has helped me tremendously with my tone. It sets a precedent of more conscious playing. I am listening to what sounds I am producing, and playing dynamically.
I typically choose a mode, a key, or a sound, and just go—chords, single notes, phrases. Your first five minutes is a great time to work on a new scale you’re learning. Instead of just running a new scale up and down, make music with it. Explore!
In Ex. 1 I’m exploring E Dorian (E–F#–G–A–B–C#–D). I am listening to my guitar, trying to connect with it, and create music. Notice that I am playing chords and single notes. some things are in time, and some things are rubato. There are no rules. I just play.
Something Brainy (10 Minutes)
Reading music notation at the start of my practice gets my brain and hands working together. This doesn’t have to be for an extended period of time. Even reading through an excerpt a couple of times can be a good way to start your practice with a solid foundation. Sight reading was not a part of my routine for a long time, so coming back to it has been eye-opening. Not only does it make me a stronger reader, but it also helps me play more fluidly. The first five minutes is my emotional warm up, this is my mental warm up.
If you are not a sight reader, I suggest putting something else “brainy” here. Maybe it’s a technical exercise, or running a new scale, maybe even new chord voicings. But keep in mind, it’s never too late to start reading.
Deep Dive (35 minutes)
The majority of my practice is spent on one specific thing that I go deep on. This is often a song I am working on. During this time, I develop ways to approach the chords and improvise over the song. This portion has a couple of main elements to it.
Record Yourself!
A very important aspect of practicing is recording and listening back. One of the hardest things to do is to hear yourself play, but on the flip side, it’s also a guaranteed way to improve. It hurts, but I promise you, recording yourself and listening back will help you improve as a guitarist and as a musician.
Variation, Exploration, and Regimentation
I give myself rules to follow, and then I record and listen back to see if I accomplished what I set out to do. I’ve found that giving myself structure to work around is a great way to force myself to actually be creative. I open new doors by having to come up with a way to work around the “rules” instead of slipping back into doing the same things I always do. Below, I walk you through what this all means. Over the following examples I’ll improvise over a C–E7–F–G progression.
Below are examples of “rules” I make for myself. I do each task a handful of times before moving on, but always stopping to listen back to the recording of myself.
Developing a Motif
In Ex. 2 I am still thinking of a melody, because melody is king, but I am using sixths as a way to develop a motif.
I am developing a rhythmic and melodic motif in Ex. 3. While the rhythmic motif repeats, I’m keeping an E melody note central to the theme.
Play Melodies, Don’t Play Licks
In Ex. 4 I’m simply thinking of melodies. I don’t think about playing cool scales or sounds, but rather just let my instrument sing. Sometimes I think of a beautiful melody and try to emulate that in my playing. This helps put me in the right zone, so I don’t play like a guitarist, but rather as a composer.
Focus on One Range
We all do it. We have our comfort zones and avoid certain areas of the guitar. This is a good time to work on those less cozy areas of our instruments. In Ex. 5 I am playing only below the 5th fret on the bottom three strings.
There are countless rules. Make up your own and see what new doors open for you!
Putting It All Together (10 minutes)
After playing through the progression with rules, I then play without rules to see what comes out. I find that I am most free during this part of my practice. After going through so many tasks, I have more control over what I do. This allows me to play what I hear, not just licks.
Notice in Ex. 6 that the things I worked on come out in my playing: various ranges, 6ths, and melodies.
Have fun. And wash your hands.
It’s not the blues scale. Thankfully.
Chops: Beginner Theory: Beginner Lesson Overview: • Demonstrate several uses for the major pentatonic scale. • Explore different forms of world music. • Highlight techniques that will give your guitar playing a more cosmopolitan sound. Click here to download a printable PDF of this lesson's notation. |
While many guitarists are aware of the minor pentatonic scale's use in blues and rock music, it's the major pentatonic that is known the world over. Or is it? In this lesson we'll span the globe searching for the prevalence of the major pentatonic.
The Global Scale?
The major pentatonic scale, (Ex. 1), is regularly cited as one of the most ancient and commonly used scales in the world. But is it true? While I have found several examples that highlight the use of the major pentatonic in music across the globe, there are fewer than I imagined. Much more common is the use of various hexatonic, or six-note, scales.
Conceivably, my research for this lesson may have been too limited. Or maybe it's the lack of non-Western music transcribed in standard notation that was a pitfall? If so, I welcome correspondence from readers remedying my shortcomings. But for now, let's investigate a few of the melodies that prove the claim true (if more limited than I thought when taking on this lesson).
China
The first destination on our global journey is China and the 18th-century folk song “Jasmine Flower" aka “Mo Li Hua." This song has lyrics, but it is also performed as an instrumental. As with all the examples in this lesson, the first performance, shown in Ex. 2, features a stylized version of the melody. In this case, I have recorded it on an electric guitar using volume knob swells and an exaggerated vibrato, doing my best to emulate an Erhu, a two-string bowed instrument akin to a violin. This first version uses the G major pentatonic scale (G–A–B–D–E). The second version, (Ex. 3), is a simplified performance using the C major pentatonic scale (C–D–E–G–A).
Click here for Ex. 2
Click here for Ex. 3
Thailand
Up next on our world tour is Thailand and the traditional song “Ngam Sang Duan," which is used for a Thai dance. This melody is typically sung with lyrics, accompanied by xylophone. Ex. 4 features tremolo picking, using the Eb major pentatonic scale (Eb–F–G–Bb–C), imitating a xylophone performance. Ex. 5 is a basic rendition using the C major pentatonic scale.
Click here for Ex. 4
Click here for Ex. 5
India
And we're off to India, playing “Vara Vina" aka “Vara Veena" a Geetam, the simplest form in Carnatic music, one of the two subgenres of Indian classical music. Like the previous melodies, this one is both sung and performed instrumentally. To honor traditional sitar technique, Ex. 6 is performed on one string (still using the pentatonic scale, though that may be difficult to discern), with exaggerated vibrato, plentiful slides, and an A drone accompaniment. Ex. 7 is a rudimentary interpretation using the C major pentatonic.
Click here for Ex. 6
Click here for Ex. 7
Ireland
The closing stop on our international expedition brings us to Ireland and “Peg Ryan's Polka," a jaunty little dance tune (Ex. 8). The D major pentatonic (D–E–F#–A–B) includes a few ornamental 16th-note flourishes and unexpected syncopations, whereas Ex. 9 is a plainer, though nonetheless sprightly, reading out of C major pentatonic.
Click here for Ex. 8
Click here for Ex. 9
As you can see, the major pentatonic does indeed span the globe. Nevertheless, I was surprised to find that it's not the major pentatonic per se but variations, including the minor pentatonic, the so-called Japanese pentatonic, Dorian pentatonic, the Ambassel scale of Ethiopia, a few pentatonic scales that don't conform to the Western tuning system (Javanese in particular), and the aforementioned hexatonic scales that appear to be more prevalent. That realization, rather than discouraging this lesson, led me to be as transparent as possible regarding my research findings. And, more importantly, it fed my interest in learning more about different cultures and their music. I hope you'll continue to explore as well. Bon voyage!
Patterns can be viewed as boring or trite, but a little bit of creativity can turn them into bits of inspiration.
Chops: Intermediate Theory: Intermediater Lesson Overview: • Learn different ways to arrange scales. • Combine various sequences to create more intersting lines. • Solidify your technique by practicing unusual groupings of notes. Click here to download a printable PDF of this lesson's notation. |
I want to offer some food for thought on making sequences musical. Using sequences in our playing helps develop our musicianship in various ways. It can help us tune into the fretboard, develop melodic ideas all around the neck, and further our improvisation and compositional skills. So, spending time with sequences is certainly not time wasted. Please note that I sometimes use the word “rule" in this column, this is only a pointer to keeping on track of our exploration of these concepts. The intellect is very useful, but intuition is where the creativity comes from. When in balance lots of great things can be done. Let's get stuck in!
It's simple to play a scale from bottom to top, or top to bottom, but we can develop a sequence by shuffling these notes around. In Ex. 1 we have a C Major scale (C–D–E–F–G–A–B) played in thirds followed by a sequence highlighting the diatonic triads of the major scale. By following a “rule" we can develop many different sequences. The options are endless and a little overwhelming.
Click here for Ex. 1
Lets start by simply combining an interval sequence with an arpeggio sequence. In Ex. 2, the first two beats of the first measure feature ascending thirds. This is then followed by a triad arpeggio starting from the third note on the string. The next set of thirds then starts on the “and" of beat 4. The entire sequence is a seven-note pattern that is created by combining two thirds and a triad. It gives us a nice bit of rhythmic displacement as the phrase is now starting in a different place in the measure.
Click here for Ex. 2
Ex. 3 is a descending idea in A minor that basically flips the sequence we looked at in Ex. 2. Here, we are starting with two descending thirds before the triad. I'm using pull-offs and economy picking to articulate the triads. This one works well over D minor as well if you want a D Dorian (D–E–F–G–A–B–C) flavor.
Click here for Ex. 3
You can see the effectiveness of combining different sequences and groupings of notes to create interesting runs. It's also really effective for making phrases. In Ex. 4 we take a small fragment from Ex. 3 and change the rhythm. In the sound example I repeat this a few times over some implied chords in my bass line: Am, F, and Dm. It's great to get more from one line by seeing the different chord types you can play it over.
Click here for Ex. 4
In Ex. 5 we're going to start using fourths and fifths. It starts with an ascending A minor triad (A–C–E) before leaping to the 9 (B) and then hitting a G major triad (G–B–D). A similar pattern leads into the C major triad (C–E–G). Throwing in these wider intervals alongside triads is very effective for creating a dramatic sounding runs.
Click here for Ex. 5
For our next example (Ex. 6), we will take fragments from Ex. 5 and space them out a bit. I wanted once again to show how these sequence ideas can also be helpful for developing melodic phrases. Once we have a cool sequence or fragment, all we need to do is be creative with how we play it. We can change the rhythm, harmonic context, dynamic, and much more.
Click here for Ex. 6
Before we move on, it's important to remember that we can add colorful notes to our triads. Let's begin with some seventh-chord arpeggios. Ex 7 features are diatonic seventh arpeggios in G minor (functioning as a IIm chord) to get a Dorian sound.
Click here for Ex. 7
Ex. 8 is a little gratuitous of me. It begins with an idea made of several different concepts. First, we start with an Am7 arpeggio (A–C–E–G), then descend down an A5 arpeggio. I follow that up with diatonic thirds and end with a pedal-point sequence. If that's not enough, we then take this bigger idea and fit it around a chord progression. I move it to G7, Dm7 and then I break my “rule" slightly and outline notes of a C6 arpeggio (C–E–G–A). However, it does keep the same melodic contour of the initial idea. I used my ear and fretboard to guide me. It's always healthy to have a fine balance between intellect and intuition.
Click here for Ex. 8
We dig into C harmonic minor (C–D–Eb–G–Ab–B-C) for Ex. 9's monster two-measure lick. It sounds evil! In composing this phrase, I kept to the basic concept of finding seventh-chord arpeggios within C harmonic minor in the 8th position. I followed my ear as well as my slowly developing intellect. However, if you look closely you can see I was following a mini chord progression through this line. We start out with a CmMaj9 arpeggio (C–Eb–G–B–D) in the first beat, followed by a G7b9 arpeggio (G–B–D–F–Ab). Here we have a very strong Im-V7 movement in C minor. I then move back to our CmMaj9 arpeggio and in the second measure we start descending down an Eb augmented triad (Eb–G–B). This is then followed by more CmMaj9 goodness.
Click here for Ex. 9
Ex. 10 is now taking Ex. 9 and extending it into a cool flamenco-inspired melody. The rhythms in this were inspired by the incredible Paco De Lucia. I follow the sequence from the previous example almost exactly, but I use a bit of artistic license to repeat certain fragments to fit into a “top line" or “head"-style melody.
Click here for Ex. 10
My aim here isn't to give you one rule to follow but instead to encourage you to take the sequences you know and love and start getting more out of them. Enjoy and stay safe!