Problems That Plague Advanced Players

By Mike Philippov

In my past articles I have talked a great deal about things that a lot of players do wrong as they go about learning to play the guitar. Now I would like to say a few words to players who are more advanced.

The biggest problem that advanced players run into is thinking that we have “learned it all”. Whether we are talking about technique, music theory, composition or anything else, there will ALWAYS be something else that you can learn and there will ALWAYS be someone who is more knowledgeable, or more skilled than you are in a particular area that you can learn new information from.

When we stop learning because we think we “know it all” we limit our potential. Jamie Andreas, author of the “The Principles of Correct Practice for Guitar” refers to this as loosing one’s “Beginner’s Mind”. What that means is that if you want to keep growing, you must (when it is appropriate of course) learn to “forget everything you know” about music and guitar so that you can open your mind to further knowledge.

Bruce Lee, the supreme master of martial arts, was also a genius philosopher and he used to tell the following story to some of his advanced students who came to him for advice and instruction. This story is about a student of the Zen philosophy who came to a Zen master for further instruction. That student already thought that he knew quite a bit, so at the first lesson he was prepared to dazzle the master with his knowledge. The master invited the student to have some tea with him and proceeded to pour tea in the student’s cup. However, when the cup got full the teacher did not stop and continued to pour the tea letting it flow all over the table. The student exclaimed: “Enough! The cup can hold no more!” The master then responded: “So you see, you have to first empty the cup before you can taste my tea”

This story holds a lot of meaning to guitar players (or anybody working in any field or endeavor) who wants to continue to improve. The moral of the story is to LEAVE YOUR EGO BEHIND and stay humble.

Another example is Randy Rhoads, one of the most recognized and respected guitar players in the world. Even when he was on tour with Ozzy Osbourne, playing to sold out crowds and surrounded by fans, he did not let that success go to his head. Instead, in every city the band toured, Randy would seek out the best guitar instructor to go take lessons from because he was hungry for more knowledge. This was after he received the “Best New Talent” award from Guitar Player’s Magazine. He was an example of someone who was a true student of the guitar.

So in what ways can our perception of “having learned it all” manifest itself?

Technique
When we learn to play we tend to find a way that works for us and often decide to stick with it. However, a lot of players seem to think that if a certain way of playing works for them, they automatically discredit approaches that other players might be using. Sometimes even after playing for years it still never hurts to go back to the beginning and examine things such as the way you hold the pick or the way you apply pressure to the string with the left hand. After all, if your technique was “perfect” there would not be ANYTHING that you could not do, right? And EVERYONE (no matter how advanced or virtuoso they might be) has SOMETHING that could use more practice. And sometimes in order to advance to that next level, what you need to do is to really go back to step one and pretend like you are playing the guitar for the first time. Examine every subtle thing about your technique and you will amaze yourself with what you will see if you look hard enough.

Paul Gilbert a well-known guitar virtuoso of Mr. Big and Racer X, has said in multiple interviews when asked about his extreme virtuoso picking technique that he had to re-learn his technique several times when he was younger because he kept discovering things that needed improvement. So here is yet another example of someone who is not afraid to go back to examining the fundamentals when needed to keep improving.

Theory
Many musicians (myself included) have certain ways of applying theory to enhance songwriting. Sometimes it gets to the point that you get stuck using certain ideas and never think about what other possibilities are out there. What is a way to break out of this rut? Simple, pretend like you have never used theory before and are just starting for the first time. Back then, you did not have a “favorite” way of using a certain chord for instance. EVERY option was valid. So now pretend like you are a beginner and examine all the other options that you have neglected for whatever reason. Doing this will open up new possibilities for songwriting and composing. Perhaps you like playing in the harmonic minor key so much that you do so to the point that you completely neglect learning other scales and exploring other options. So take a break from your comfort zone for awhile and learn new things and even when you come back to the old way of doing things you will still be able to implement new ideas that you haven’t thought of before.

Another example is with my guitar teacher Tom Hess who studied with the virtuoso George Bellas for 5 years after having already established himself as a professional guitar teacher. He did that because he wanted to acquire new musical skills even though he was already very advanced as a musician.

Joel Wanasek, webmaster of www.insaneguitar.net wrote a cool column on the subject of “Guitar Player Etiquette” which I recommend you read.

Now, I am far from perfect myself, and I still struggle daily to follow what I am advising you to do in this article. I still constantly need to remind myself to stay humble and look for more knowledge. Music is infinite and there is never a point when you have learned it all. The point is to think outside of your ego and realize that sometimes the only way to advance is to “forget everything you know” and to open yourself up to new ideas.

Visit Mike’s sites:

www.mikephilippov.com
www.enigmatheband.com
www.myspace.com/grimthesweeper