The following was contributed by our good friend Misa Micevski, Serbian Guitar Prodigy:
Let’s speak about technique.
There is a great deal of video lessons and books about guitar technique.
Also, there is a many guitar players who is faster than snakes. You can see very amazing jumps and stretches and who knows what else.
For me , its very interesting to notice that all great players, I had looked ( Scott Henderson, John McLaughlin, Pat Martino, Pat Metheny, Allan Holdsworth) has never spoken about technique , they talk only about their approach to music.
Guitar is an instrument which technique is not standardized in general as piano, violin, or others . So most of us have to find their own way using everything they can and everybody’s experience considering that we all are different .
I put some rules for myself:
- Never play even numbers of notes on the string downward or upward,
- Do not go in same direction too long
- Skip strings
- Never use only picking, hammer ons, pull offs or sweeping
- Follow each note consciously, not mechanically
- Don’t let your fingers dictate what to play
Combine all that but with only important thought. I don’t think you need to impress anybody. Obviously you will if you are snake on the guitar, but if that story is ending on that point, you will bore even yourself . I think technique follows the musical demands and have to be only the slave to the music, not the flag you will carry around.I don’t want to be misunderstood, without technique one can’t express at all, and technique is really in the basis of sound and musical language, but please don’t misuse that.
-Misa
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8 responses so far ↓
1 Carlito // Dec 17, 2007 at 6:28 pm
EXACTLY, i’ve been waiting for someone else to say exactly this… too true, too true
2 admin // Dec 18, 2007 at 3:26 pm
Yeah I love this article. It’s very interesting how these great players approach playing. They hear an idea in their head, and then strive to bring it out on the instrument, thus developing their unique techniques. Great way to think about the technical side of guitar Misa!
3 anekretia // Dec 24, 2007 at 12:40 am
Brilliant rules man, I agree 100%
4 WOLFMAN1990 // Dec 25, 2007 at 8:52 pm
we’ll it all depends on how you look at there influences as we’ll it all varies pending and if you want to be a good guitar you have to look at aspects of music. for example Classical,Celtic folk, Blues, Metal, Rock
I take skills and aspects of all these differen’t genre’s of music and i use them and combine them into my music and guitar playing also don’t take the lazy route and just want to study only one band artists song. practice and write your own
5 jacob // Dec 29, 2007 at 11:43 pm
There are some great points here. Technique is important in playing, as it opens doors for our creativity. Each player is physiologically different from the next, so not all players are even capable of performing the same technique as someone else. Hand size, for example, will (to an extent) dictate how wide you can stretch.
There are some technique exercises that can be beneficial to anyone’s playing, regardless of style or ability level. One of the most important exercises we can do as guitarists is to develop finger independence and dexterity. The good news is, we can develop these skills without an instrument in hand. I will describe quickly an exercise I like to do for just this purpose. If you are a fingerstyle player or you’d like to develop that option in your playing, just do the same thing for both hands. This is also a great exercise for early in your warm-up.
Begin with your hand(s) flat on a table in front of you, palm down. SLOWLY lift your index and ring fingers simultaneously and to an equal height, and then return to the starting position, always keeping the other fingers perfectly still. Then, lift your middle and pinky fingers in the same manner, and again return all fingers to the table. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Just keep the fingers relaxed and comfortable.
6 Jeff // Dec 30, 2007 at 12:54 am
Lovin’ that table exercise! Thanks for sharing.
7 Todd // Jun 4, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Yup.
Compliment the vocals or melody and complement the song with variation or counterpoint on the lines of the song, not a flury of technical crap that causes distraction. Good technique should only help to create excitement and a variation of complimentary ideas.
8 Alex Bengtsson // Aug 3, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Some players,due to an accident(e.g. Django)or to cardiac/neurologic diseases,lose the ability to use what they had,can’t use all their fingers or are limited in speed or strength.
Just shamelessly talking about me:I have neurologic issues.I can’t use my left hand properly.Sometimes it weakens or doesn’t do what I want to,because nothing or only part of the impulse reaches the muscles.
I gave up for a while.Mistake!
I’ve built a technique using 2-hand tap.
My playing is only percussive now,and I love it!
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