Tomorrow Is A Long Time

"Tomorrow Is A Long Time" is a nice little tune by Bob Dylan. It's relatively simple 3-chord song with a twist.

Start off with a G major chord and strum for 3 beats of the measure. On the fourth beat, take your first finger off the 5th string, 2nd fret and move it to the 4th string, 2nd fret and mute the 5th string with the pad of your 2nd finger. You will now be play notes of (from low to high): G x e g b g for a chord by the name of "G6"

Then go back to the G major chord for the first beat of the next measure.

You can use this G6 chord in a lot of other applications, too - not just this one tune by Mr. Dylan. Try it out when strumming to yourself, or when you're trying to come up with an idea for a new song.

It's fun and sounds kind of cool, too.

Who is practicing?

Only you know for sure.

You have to be your own watchdog and find the discipline to make yourself practice. Don't rely on others to prompt you to practice your instrument.

Remember, there are all kinds of practice - new material, conditioning, exercises for speed and dexterity, sight reading, transposing, listening, creating new music and/or sounds. So, don't think you only have to practice your lesson from the week before. Of course, you should keep on the path you and your teacher have chosen, as everything new builds on something old.

Even Keith Richard from the Rolling Stones admitted that he is "about half way there" when asked how he thought of himself as a guitar player. There is always something you can do to learn more about your instrument. Even the most successful, influential and talented artists strive to be better. So should we all.

Back to School?

So, what did you accomplish over the summer? Did you learn some new songs? Did you work on your "chops"? Have you gotten better? I hope you used the long break to your advantage.

Many of you will be heading back to school and will have less time to play your instruments, but it is important to make some time each day so you don't slip backwards. Remember, it's better to play 10 minutes a day than it is to play 40 minutes one day and nothing for 4 days.

Schoolwork is very important, so don't let that slip, but plan your time so you can play your instrument some each day. Reward yourself with 15 minutes of playing after you finish 20 vocabulary problems. Or, play your guitar right after you get done with your homework...that will give you something to look forward to when you're done with math or geography.

Or, how about playing yourself a bed-time song right before hitting the sack? Music can help you relax and, who knows (?) you might even sleep better too.

Hot Fun In The Summertime....

There are tons of songs about Summer (the season, not the girl). Set a goal for yourself to learn at least one song about summer over the summer.


Here are some suggestions for songs about summer and fun in the sun:


In The Summertime - Mungo Jerry (3-chord blues rock - easy to play)
Dancing In The Street - Martha & The Vandellas
Hot Fun In The Summertime - Sly & The Family Stone
Sunny Afternoon - The Kinks
Summer Girls - LFO
Here Comes The Sun - The Beatles
Summertime Blues - Eddie Cochran and Blue Cheer
Summertime - many different bands covered this one
Summer Breeze - Seals & Crofts

School's Out For Summer.....

So what do all you guitar players do now?

Play your guitar of course!

Instead of watching more TV or playing a bunch of video games, take some time to play your instrument and make a lot of progress over the summer. Jazz musicians call it "going to the woodshed" which means focusing on your instrument and getting better at it.

Use the summer to devote more time to your guitar studies, if only to double your normal practice time from 30 minutes to 60 minutes a day. Or from 15 minutes to 30 minutes a day. Include a bunch of finger exercises for strength and dexterity. Any free moment you have, pluck away!

Play outdoors, too! Take your guitar out on the porch, patio or lawn and play a song for the birds - after all, they sing to you every day! Take your guitar to the park or on a picnic, as you would a good friend.

By the time autumn rolls around, you'll have accomplished something that you can always look back on and be proud of. Are you really going to care if you score ten million points in a video game if you still can't play 'Smoke on the Water' or 'Stairway to Heaven' the way you want to?

Use the extra time this summer to build on your guitar technique and knowledge and make some real progress towards your goal of becoming a better guitar player. You'll be glad you did.

What is the best medicine?

Repetition!
After you are done learning a piece of music, or even a small section from a piece of music - a series of notes, or one measure or one line - repeat it.
Then, repeat it agin. And again. And again.

You get the picture, right?

Don't move on to the next section, measure or line until you have learned how to play that one perfectly. Once you can play it perfectly, repeat it! Play it perfectly many more times to make sure you will never ever have to "learn" it again.

Challenge yourself during a practice session to play something (whatever you are working on) perfectly 10 times before you stop for the day.

Exercises are for life

Do you have some good finger exercises you can use to keep them in shape? If not, you can find great guitar and bass exercises on the internet by doing a simple search on Google or Yahoo!


Keep in mind there are different types of exercises - some are for building speed, some for strength, some for dexterity, some for conditioning, some for left hand and some for right hand mechanics, and so on. Make sure you know what you are supposed to get out of each of the exercises you use. Ask your instructor or an experienced player for help if you're not sure.


Finger exercises are for life - you should not approach exercises as something to practice once or to play just until you learn it. Exercises should be used frequently to keep your fingers in shape, just like physical exercises are used to keep the rest of your body in shape.


Get in the habit of exercising your fingers and you'll see the benefits of keeping them in shape while your playing improves. Stronger hands make clearer sounding notes and chords, and faster fingers make your playing smoother.

What is your practice schedule?

If you are learning an instrument, it is important to have a practice schedule. Your teacher probably gives you new material to learn and expects you to be able to play it at your next lesson. But how do you go about it?

Here is one example of a practice schedule (assume your lesson is on a Monday....)

Monday (after your lesson) - warm up - 10 minutes; practice lesson - 10 minutes; play anything - 10 minutes

Tuesday - warm up - 5 minutes; play anything - 10 minutes; work on finger exercises - 10 minutes

Wednesday - warm up - 5 minutes; practice lesson - 15 minutes; experiment - 10 minutes

Thursday - play anything - 30 minutes

Friday - warm up - 5 minutes; finger exercises - 5 minutes; practice lesson - 20 minutes

Saturday and Sunday - warm up 5 minutes each day; practice lesson 15 minutes each day; play anything 20 minutes each day

There you have it! You've managed to practice your new lesson material for 1 hour, worked on finger exercises for 15 minutes and had a lot of fun warming up and just playing your instrument the rest of the time. The above plan is for 30 minutes a day - you may want to practice and play more, so just add minutes to each of the various activities. Or, practice twice a day!

What should you play when you "play anything"? How about music from previous lessons which you really liked? A song or some chords you haven't played in a while...a new finger exercise...a new picking method...experiment with different sounds...try out a slide...explore a different tuning...in short, ANYTHING!

Not only will you see better and faster results, but you'll have a lot more fun than just practicing your lesson.

How is playing music like riding a bicycle?

A wise man once said learning to play a new piece of music is akin to riding a bicycle.

When you ride a bicycle, you don't look at the tire where it meets the pavement, do you? Of course not! You look to see where you are going. When reading music, you need to apply the same principle - don't look at the note you are playing, rather look at the notes coming up.

If you are looking at the note you are playing, it's probably too late to prepare yourself for the next note or series of notes. You should always be looking ahead to what you are going to play.

Some things that will help:

1. Look at the first measure and know exactly what you are going to play before you even start the song. Get your fingers in position so there is no guesswork. Once you start playing, begin looking at the second measure and preparing yourself for those notes

2. Rests and whole notes are your friends. It is hard to keep an even tempo when you are playing by yourself, but you should strive to do so. Let every whole note get 4 complete beats....let every half note get 2 beats, and let every rest get it's full time value. Use those pauses in the music to look ahead at the next note or series of notes.

3. Play at a slow tempo while learning the music. Slowing things down will give you even more time to look ahead at what's coming up. After you have mastered the piece of music (or whatever you are working on) then you can speed it up.

4. Every once in a while, take out a new piece of music and try sight reading it. Force yourself to try something new - play it slowly and concentrate on not making any mistakes. This type of practice is all about looking ahead and if you do this frequently, you'll find it easier to do each time.

You are your toughest critic...

Or, are you? Well, you should be.

When learning an instrument, a new piece of music or a new musical concept you need to judge your performance most critically. Don't accept "good enough" from yourself. Expect perfection and you will never disappoint your audience. If you play just well enough to get by, your audience will know it and they'll quickly seek out other entertainment. If you play as well as you possibly can at any given moment, your audience will appreciate your effort if nothing else.

If you are taking lessons from someone or playing in a band, your teacher or band mates may not be as hard on you as they need to be for fear of insulting you or pushing you away from lessons or out of the band.

Be your own toughest critic and push yourself to be the best musician you possibly can be.

Start Slow....Build Speed

Always, always, always start slow and build speed gradually.
Remember that playing slower allows you to look ahead in the music and prepare for the next note or chord change. If you play too fast, you may miss notes or your chords might sound sloppy.
'Tis better to play slowly error-free than it is to play fast with a lot of mistakes.

Once you have mastered the music at a slow pace, you can speed it up gradually until you reach the tempo you are aiming for.

Use a metronome to control the tempo.

Pandora Internet Radio

Check out Pandora Internet Radio - it is very cool!
www.pandora.com

Scales - think of them as tools

Remember that scales are just tools to use when soloing or creating melodies.


It is good to learn and practice scales, but you must also learn how to use those same notes to create an interesting melody that you can use in a solo or when composing a song.


So, after practicing your scales, don't be afraid to experiment with them.

Also, listen to how other guitarists create solos in the songs you like. Visit my YouTube page www.youtube.com/elfcorps for some interesting solos that I like.

Introduction to Elf Corps Studios