Problems
That Plague Advanced Guitarists

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

©2006
Mike Philippov All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.