Howto make licks and phrases rock solid?

murillo · November 2011

Hello everybody, I would need some guides on how to make my phrases more solid.

When I play my licks at home they sound fluid and have a good tone, but live they are not so fluid and the tone isn’t really that good. The easiest way to describe it is that they doesn´t sound well-rehearsed. They sound sloppy. The problem is that my licks are rehearsed, but maybe I´m doing something wrong.

Is there a certain way to exercise to make the licks solid rock, like playing only one arpeggio a few hours every day for a week or something like that, before moving on to a different lick or arpeggio?Also when I´m in a situation where I want to alter a phrase or play something completely different, it’s very difficult, I always miss a note here and there and it doesn’t sound very well. The situation only occurs when I´m playing live.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Best regards

Jim Kaznosky · November 2011

That's the struggle. Everyone that I've talked to or everything I've heard from more experienced players (not just guitar players) is to work on phrases until you are absolutely sick of them. My personal problem is that I have a short attention span and will constantly lift more licks from records without having what I am currently working on down cold. The method I keep reading and hearing about for incorporating these into your regular playing is to try to insert them into as many situations as possible in as many keys. So I'd suggest spending more time on less licks.

So if I lift a two bar major lick in D that fits nice over the first few bars of Coquette, I should theoretically try to play it until I am sick of it by inserting into any song where I have two bars of a major chord. In my group, we play Hungaria a lot. I'd play that lick in G and in G#. In All of Me, I'd work it in over the first two bars of C. And it can go on and on and on. My understanding is that you want to get it to the point where it not only comes out effortlessly and fluid, but also it will become part of your regular playing vocabulary.

I have a good base of licks that are already incorporated that come out of my "improv" without even thinking about it, but my issue is primarily playing things at faster tempos. It is a long process, but the effort is showing itself.

adrian · December 2011

murillo wrote:

When I play my licks at home they sound fluid and have a good tone, but live they are not so fluid and the tone isn’t really that good.

I think the best way to tackle this is to examine methodically *why* it is happening. Then, when you figure out why, you tackle the problem rather than the symptom.

Three possible reasons come to mind (all are theories, and I'm using the word "you" in the generic sense):

1. VOLUME PRESSURE. When you practice, you're playing guitar against silence (or maybe with a rhythm track whose volume you control such that it's comfortable to play over). When you gig, that control and comfort flies out the window. You have a lot less control over the volume of the band, plus the "noise floor" (background noise). Chances are, you're playing in an environment that's a lot louder than what you're used to practicing in, so you get out of your comfort zone and end up overcompensating by playing loudly, and that disrupts your muscle memory.

One solution: play loudly when you practice. When you practice, use a rhythm track with the volume uncomfortably high, which will force you to play/practice louder.

2. TIME PRESSURE. When you practice, you don't play with a metronome or rhythm track, which means that you get lazy about playing things correctly -- "if I mess up, I'll just stop and play it again!" But when you're at a gig, there's no stopping; the rhythm section goes on relentlessly, whether you like it or not.

One solution: practice with relentless rhythm, i.e. a rhythm track. Another solution: get more comfortable with the licks so that you know them just as well when you're under time pressure. Being able to play a lick with no accompaniment is one thing, but being able to play it under time pressure is another.

3. NERVOUSNESS / STAGE FRIGHT. Common, well-understood problem. Solution: Just keep playing more and more gigs; play in front of people at any chance you get. Envision the audience in their underwear, etc.

It may be some combination of these three, of course, or there may be some other problem entirely. Either way, I think the most important first step you can take is determine which of these are the issue(s). Then, attack it methodically.

Adrian

Jazzaferri · December 2011

I use band in a box and play the piece at increasing speeds and practice til my lines are as clean as I can get them at speeds faster than usual at Jams.

I find for me that if I play a piece that I know with people I don't well musically more attention is taken up with getting into the groove and the first thing to go are the lines I use that are not so grooved that I can play them noticeably faster cleanly.

Another really useful exercise with BIAB is to have the piece going at a relatively slow pace and go up and down the chord arpeggios in all the different positions that I can get to .....think of or stumble across

and force myself to do lines with either 8ths or triplet 8ths taht go on for several choruses without stopping for a breath. I would never do that in public but it does seem to help me :shock: considerably with complete ad lib improv

Buco · December 2011

murillo wrote:

When I play my licks at home they sound fluid and have a good tone, but live they are not so fluid and the tone isn’t really that good. The easiest way to describe it is that they doesn´t sound well-rehearsed. They sound sloppy. The problem is that my licks are rehearsed, but maybe I´m doing something wrong.

Previous posts are all great advice and will help you get better but you gotta put this "problem" in perspective. When I went to a class with Kurt Rosenwinkel he said "at best I sound 70% as good live vs what I sound like at home in practice".
So don't feel bad about yourself.

murillo · December 2011

Thanks for your replies. I read all of them carefully. You all gave me really useful tips which I will follow.

After reading Adrian’s post I realize that my biggest problem definitely is number 1 and of course a little bit of number 3. I play a lot with metronome and BIAB, so number 2 is not a problem. The band that I play with consists of a clarinet, saxophone, guitar, washboard and double bass. The band leader wants us to play strictly acoustic (no amplification) and it is hard for me to get my solos heard, especially live.

I will set BIAB really loud in the future but how does one play really loud and at same time relaxed? What makes volume? Or will the volume come by itself if I start practicing in a loud environment?

Best regards

dennis · December 2011

Buco wrote:

Previous posts are all great advice and will help you get better but you gotta put this "problem" in perspective. When I went to a class with Kurt Rosenwinkel he said "at best I sound 70% as good live vs what I sound like at home in practice".

funny that you should mention that, because i've always told people that musicians genearally play at 60% of their potential ... at a gig or when they first pick up the instrument in the day...

i've had the opportunity to hang out with some of the world's amazing musicians off stage, and i find that statement to be very true.... the trick to sound good live is to get your 100% level to such an insanely high level that your 60% is still incredible hahahah