Musicians' quotes on practice

Buco · January 2021

@dennis ah then you just said how about somebody from the audience. I mixed it up another situation where you guys were jamming outside and I heard you say you didn't know some tune and I'm not gonna make similar mistake and guess the title. OK thank you for correction and sorry, I edited that part.

Twang · January 2021

Just remembered another good one from Gonzalo. He was talking about learning licks etc from other players.

If you sound too much like Bireli, I don’t think that’s a problem.

Matteo · January 2021

"Lately my main goal as a guitarist is to enjoy myself."

I completely agree with Twang! Life is short. For myself, what I enjoy most at the moment is learning Django solos, either from transcriptions or recordings. When I work with a transcription I also use Amazing slowdowner and most of the times I don't fully agree with the transcription and end up with a slightly different interpretation. However, what brings the most satisfaction is probably when I start from scratch, without a transcription. It's like doing some sort of scientific investigation. I tend to get totally absorbed by it. And I feel that I learn so much from doing this.

Buco · January 2021

@Matteo do you try to retain what you transcribe and if you do then how do you go about it?

That's still one area where I'm completely undecided about how to go about it. On one hand you have Stephane Wrembel who says when you learn a phrase you don't even attempt to make it a part of your playing. He says, in his usual philosophically poetic style, something like "you just let it fly away like a little bird and one day eventually it'll just come back to you and land on your shoulder".

Then on the other side you have CvH who says he'll woodshed a lick or a phrase hundreds if not thousands of times before it's a part of his playing.

Former way is sure appealing but I'm not really sure how it would benefit my playing.

The latter makes sense as a way to go about to really assimilate something into your fingers. It doesn't even have to be, and it's preferred it wasn't, verbatim. More like get the phrasing, groove, juicy notes etc... It takes an aweful lot of time. I mean, I've heard Joscho Stephan say it can him 3 months of practicing something new for him before he'll play live.

Just like you, I really get a kick out of pretty much everything I've ever figured out from Django. Unlike anything else. There's always something completely unexpected in there that makes me laugh and be like "son of a gun this guy, sooo good!". It's not exactly rubbing off unfortunately.

Buco · January 2021

I just read something really cool that applies perfectly to music practice

"when nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split into two, and I know it was not that last blow that did it – but all that had gone before”

Jacob Riis

Matteo · January 2021

Hello Buco, the short answer is that I don't worry much about retaining what I transcribe (or learn from sheet music). It may happen, or not. There is enough of things to worry about in life. I want guitar playing to be a relaxing activity. Of course it helps that I don't have any pressure from being in a band och going to jam sessions. I can do whatever I please to. I have a duo project, but it's really low profile and on hold until, I guess, the vaccination program has been carried through and we are able to return to something that resembles a normal life. I can start worrying about that repertoire in a couple of months.

I often jump from one tune to another, before I have mastered playing the first one. Then I might go back to the first one a few weeks later, or a month or a couple of months later. It depends. By that time I may have forgotten a lot, but I don't see that as a big problem. It's so much easier to attack it the second time and I often find better solutions, better fingerings for example. At that point, continuing to practice that particular solo with the aim to play it correctly at the right tempo feels so much easier. At any point I may have a couple of Django solos on rotation for practicing, a few more one the shelf and a new one I'm in the process of transcribing. I guess it's not that unusual.

Stephane Wrembel must have experienced himself what he describes. I'm not sure what exactly he means by "when you learn a phrase" though. It must be something more than playing it through one or two times. Then perhaps the real difference is whether a new phrase finds its way into your own playing in an unconscious or a deliberate way.

delb0y · January 2021

Inspiring thread! Thanks to all :-) Not very good at stealing licks, but I might steal some of these quotes...

Buco · January 2021

@Matteo That's true, we don't know what exactly did he mean by "you learn a phrase". I'm going to try to get in touch with some people who might be able to get in touch with him and ask.

Matteo · January 2021

My guess: play a phrase (either one you have copied from a recording or composed yourself) any number of times you like, until your interest naturally moves you away from it, in favour of other things. Maybe the new phrase will return later the same practice session or the day after. Then you let it go and see if it turns up again some day. I mean anything opposed to a very strict method which could consist of playing the phase many times, slow and fast, change the rhythm a bit, play it over different chords, in every key, try it in different tunes, for a number of days, really make it stick in your muscle memory so you can bring it out anytime.