Have you ever started learning a lick or exercise and stopped practicing it before you had mastered it? Now I don’t know you, but my guess the answer to the question is
yes! Why is that? Why did you stop, when it was something that you REALLY wanted to learn?
There are quite a few reasons for it, but the one I would like to mention now is what I call the “point of discipline”.This is the point when the initial enthusiasm of learning that new lick/exercise wears off. It is no longer so new and exciting. This is the time when you will have to use your self-discipline to complete the task at hand.
A lot of guitar players will tell you at this point?”Hey man, guitar’s supposed to be all about fun! If I have to use my self-discipline, I’ll no longer enjoy it.” If anyone says that to you, have a look at their playing. Most of the time they are not very good :)They have not reached a virtuoso level of playing, so why listen to them!
The point of discipline is when most guitar players quit. Rather than using their self-discipline to TRULY master the lick/exercise, they stop practicing it and move onto something new. It’s tempting isn’t it? We’ve ALL done this at some point in our development as a guitarist. But what’s the cost of doing this?
Some of the negative consequences of quitting at the point of discipline include:
1.You’ll never reach the virtuoso levels of guitar playing. Can you imagine virtuosos like Yngwie Malmsteen, Rusty Cooley, Michael Angelo etc, quitting before they have mastered what they are working on? I don’t think so! They didn’t become so incredible by being quitters. They have learned to tap into their self-discipline.
2. You’ll never have that feeling of pride that comes with truly mastering something.
3. You won’t learn to confront your present technical limitations and overcome them. This will mean that you’ll learn a lot of new things but your overall level of playing won’t become elevated.
4. You’ll know about 1007 bits of songs, but if someone asks you to play a song from start to finish, you can’t.
Not a pretty picture is it? So what are some things that you can do about it? Here are a few ideas?
1.When learning a new lick or exercise, set a speed goal. Keep practicing the
lick/exercise until the speed goal has been reached. Realise that this can sometimes take weeks, months (or even years!).
2. Learn to enjoy using your self-discipline. Feel proud about yourself every time you follow through and master something.
3. Use visualization. See yourself in your mind’s eye becoming a guitar virtuoso. This will help keep you motivated and enthusiastic!
4. Make a commitment to completion. With everything you learn, refuse to quit. Keep
working on it until it has been mastered.
I guarantee that if you learn to tap into your self-discipline your guitar playing will improve at an accelerated rate! Of course, if you want to sit on the couch watching TV and eating bags of potato chips,dreaming about one day becoming an awesome guitarist, that’s cool also!
About the author:
Copyright 2005 by Craig Bassett. All Rights Reserved.
Craig Bassett (The Guitar Solutions Expert) is a professional guitarist, guitar tutor and author living in Auckland, New Zealand.
To master the notes on the guitar fretboard, go to…
http://www.pentatonic-guitar-lessons.com/note-mastery.html
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Artist: Various
Title: The Contemporary Records Story (4 CD Set) Genre: Jazz
Label: Contemporary Records-http://www.fantasyjazz.com
Lester Koenig’s independent (yes there was indie music back in the 50s) Contemporary Records label was home to some of the brightest stars in jazz from 1952-1977. The roster was immense and very impressive. Luminaries such as Shelly Manne, Hampton Hawes, Victor Feldman, Art Pepper, and Ray Brown called the label home for many productive and wonderful years. To be sure, this label helped to shape jazz into what it is today.
The Contemporary Records Story is a handsomely bound book and placeholder for four amazing and eclectic CDs, including pictures of the album covers from where the tracks originally came from. What I enjoyed the most about this comprehensive set, was the mixture of different styles and ranges each featured artist had at their disposal. Koenig was able to bring out the best in this adventurous group of individuals.
Any jazz lover would treasure this collection as I do. Nearly every style of jazz you can imagine gets coverage within the 57 tracks found on this set. I listened several times with great joy to this music. Some box sets can become predictable and mundane by the time you spin the third disc, this is not the case here at all. There is something new and interesting to discover on every CD. This boxed set would be a great starter for those that want to learn more about jazz and the different styles within the genus, and not a bad stocking stuffer either for you late Christmas shoppers.
© Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck-http://www.muzikreviews.com
December 19, 2004
Disc: 1
01. Big Girl - Howard Rumsey’s Lighthouse All-Stars 02. Viva Zapata! [Live] - Howard Rumsey’s Lighthouse All-Stars 03. You and the Night and the Music - Shelly Manne 04. Lullaby of Birdland - Barney Kessel 05. Bags’ Groove - Howard Rumsey’s Lighthouse All-Stars 06. Day by Day - Lennie Niehaus 07. Flip - Shelly Manne
08. Billie’s Bounce - Shelly Manne 09. Champ - Hampton Hawes Trio 10. Blues the Most - Hampton Hawes Trio 11. Blue Moon - Lyle Murphy 12. Easy Terms - Duane Tatro 13. Collard Greens and Black-Eyed Peas - Shelly Manne 14. Ruby - Buddy Collette
15. I Could Have Danced All Night - Shelly Manne 16. Fifth for Frank - Curtis Counce
Disc: 2
01. Serenade in Blue - Gerald Wiggins 02. All the Things You Are - Art Pepper 03. Star Eyes - Art Pepper
04. Paying the Dues Blues - Red Norvo 05. I’m an Old Cowhand - Sonny Rollins 06. Jordu - The Poll Winners 07. Scrapple From the Apple - Red Mitchell 08. Old Fashioned Love - Benny Carter 09. On the Sunny Side of the Street - Leroy Vinnegar 10. Whisper Not - Benny Golson 11. I Could Write a Book - André Previn & His Pals 12. Grooveyard - Harold Land 13. Serpent’s Tooth - Victor Feldman 14. Invisible - Ornette Coleman
Disc: 3
01. Hip - Hampton Hawes
02. Stablemates - Art Farmer 03. African Violets - Cecil Taylor Quartet 04. Autumn in New York - André Previn 05. I’ve Told Ev’ry Little Star - Sonny Rollins 06. Someone to Watch over Me - Benny Carter 07. Bill Bailey - Helen Humes 08. Peter Gunn - Shelly Manne 09. Barfly - Elmo Hope
10. Greensleeves - Bill Smith 11. Airegin - Art Pepper
12. Down Among the Sheltering Palms - Barney Kessel 13. Blue Daniel - Shelly Manne 14. Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise - Art Pepper 15. Sermon - Teddy Edwards Quartet
Disc: 4
01. Stardust - Ben Webster
02. Misty - Teddy Edwards
03. Summertime - Howard McGhee 04. Oleo - Phineas Newborn
05. Exodus - Shelly Manne
06. Deed for Dolphy - Woody Shaw 07. My Funny Valentine - Art Farmer 08. Morning - Hampton Hawes 09. Will You Still Be Mine? - Art Farmer 10. Beyond the Rain - Chico Free 12. Over the Rainbow - Art Pepper
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