99 ways to be a better musician

7/27/2019 99 Ways to Be a Better Musician

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99 Ways To Play Better (And Sound Better) Right Now

If youre locked away in a basement for eight hours a day with a metronome and a

torturous practice book that is equal parts Mel Bay/GuantanAmo Bay, youre still

not assured of transcendent 6-string skills. Sure, you may get stenographer-like

dexterity and harmonic book-smarts up the f-hole, but playing soul-shaking music

often requires a more diverse skill set. But this doesnt mean that attainingthe level of expression produced by someone like Jeff Beck necessitates a life

of guitar monk-dom. First, dont worry about the transcendent and unattainable

talent of Jeff Beck. Thats just silly. What you need to do is ensure that

whatever you play makes the hair on your arms stand up and quiver with bliss and

excitement.

Here at GP , we figure that if youre going to expand and maximize your talents,

you may as well learn from the best. So we offer these 99 tips from cats who

know their stufffrom rock royalty to jazz patriarchs to any-and-all, top-of-

their-game bad asses. Hopefully, youll find something in these cosmic,

practical, and musical nuggets of wisdom that will kick that rut-raddled mind of

yours into higher gears of inspiration.

1. Renew!

Moving into uncharted territory is a key ingredient to making your practice

sessions a success. Playing the same stuff over and over will only take you so

far. Introduce a new set of chord voicings, tunings, or scale patterns to your

routine every week. Its not necessary to know how to implement the stuff right

away, just make your fingers go to new places, and let the musicality follow

naturally. Joe Satriani

2. Sing, Sing, Sing

Before you play a solo phrase, sing it first. Then youll know if its going to

be effective or not. And if you start to sing a line, and find you have to gasp

for breathwell, youve overextended yourself. Ronnie Montrose

3. Beat on the Brat

Heres an unconventional technique for building your rhythmic chops and

expanding your ideas about inventing phrases for solosand it involves zero

notes! Mute the strings with your fretting hand. Now, forget about that hand

completely, and start a groove with your right hand by scratching a beat on the

muted strings. The minute you start getting bored, challenge yourself to come up

with a variety of rhythmic phrasesboth busy and sparse. Think of the exercise

as a drum solo that maintains the groove, and try to keep going for five minutes

or more. Bob Brozman

4. Dynamics

To work on picking dynamics, plug into a practice amp and turn your guitar all

the way up. Then play arpeggiosvery quietly at the beginning, and then

gradually louder by adjusting your touch. The goal is to vary your dynamics, but

not change the position of your hands. Many guitarists change the way they hold

their hands when changing dynamics. As a result, they end up with a light-

touch group of licksthe very fast stuffbut they dont develop any power. What

you want to achieve is continually making those conversions back and forth from

quiet to loud picking. Jerry Garcia

5. Unmask

Try cutting back on the effects in your setup. It may help you to better

discover the music. Bill Kirchen


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6. Mess With Your Head

Try to keep your playing as fresh as possible, and not rely on set patterns.

When I practice, for example, I often tie off some strings with rubber bands to

force myself to look at the fretboard differently. I might practice on the G and

D strings only, or even the G and A strings. Jim Hall

7. Room Miking

Theres a very old recording maxim that goes, Distance makes depth. Ive used

that a hell of a lotwhether its tracking guitars or the whole band. People are

used to close-miking amps, but Id have a mic out around the back, as well, and

then balance the two. Also, you shouldnt have to use EQ in the studio if the

instruments sound right. You should be able to get the right tones simply with

the science of microphone placement. Jimmy Page

8. Relax

The most important thing to remember when youre attempting to increase your

speed is to relax. Dont push your muscles beyond what they can give. Practice

for about a half hour, and then take a break. You can always resume after a fewminutes. This is especially important when youre trying to get seriously

twisted patterns under your fingers. I used to sit in front of the TV when I was

a kid, and alternate-pick scales very lightly. I wasnt really

paying attention, and it actually helped that I wasnt concentrating so much,

because I stayed relaxed, and yet I was able to build up my technique and

stamina. But never keep playing if you start to feel pain. Ever. Tendonitis is

no joke. Steve Lukather

9. Get Sensitive

If youre in a rut with your electric playing, pick up an acoustic. Theressomething about playing the acoustic guitar that makes you think about songs.

And if you work up solo versions of your favorite pop tunes, youll become more

aware of how bass lines and harmony fit together. Then, when you go back to

electric, those discoveries will help you play more empathetic solos. Buck

Dharma

10. Get High

Wherever your guitar is when youre sitting and practicing is where it should

be when youre standing. I discovered this the hard way. Years ago, Id practice

my solos sitting downand Id nail themonly to go to rehearsal and blow it

because my right- and left-hand positioning was completely different when I

stood up. Now, most players think it looks uncool to wear your guitar up high,but I think its cooler to sound kick ass than it is to look cool and suck! Zakk

Wylde slings his Les Paul really low, but as soon as a solo comes up, hell put

his foot on a stage monitor to raise his guitar up. Hell, Tom Morello wears his

guitar so high that he says it sometimes hits him in the chin. So, for the sake

of killer guitar playing, raise em up! Rusty Cooley

11. Expand

Learn everything you know in all keys. Joe Pass

12. Move On

Dont be precious about anythingmuch less a certain guitar sound. There isalways another interesting sound or effect just waiting to be discovered.

Robin Guthrie


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13. Play Loud

Start playing loud when youre young, and youll be one step ahead of the game.

If you start off playing soft, it will get you into a lot of bad habits.

Terrible, terrible, habits. Look at these jazz people. Of course they play soft.

Its a trick so you cant hear them.Nigel Tufnel

14. Slide Right

Play slide to records to develop accurate intonation. I prefer early RickySkaggs albums, because they are full of simple progressions with different

grooves in different keys. You dont want to worry about exotic chords or tricky

changes. Stay focused on I-IV-V progressions, and learn how to play through the

changes without moving around the neck. You dont always want to start with the

I chord, move up five frets to the IV, and then two more frets for the V.Will

Ray

15. Be Challenged

Play with others who are more advanced musically. They will help you rise to

their level.Bill Kirchen

16. Cork Your Slide

If you find a slide that sounds great, but is too big for your finger, try

cutting a few strips from a wine bottle cork, and gluing them to the inside of

the slide. A snug-fitting slide will improve your playing immensely. Chris

Mule

17. Dig Deeper

Seek out talented, but lesser known artists from the past and present. Some of

the coolest jewels life can offer are found on dusty back roads, miles from the

main corporate boulevards of life. And when you find an artist you love, find

out who they love.Greg V.

18. Art Appreciation

In the long run, its more important to look at paintings than to listen to the

way somebody plays bebop lines.Jim Hall

19. Literary Soloing

Think of a guitar solo as a paragraph. You need a clear beginning, a middle,

and an end. Look at musical phrases like sentences, and make sure you break them

up using punctuationor space. You pause naturally when conversing, right? If

you dont, youll bore the listener. The same thing will happen with your

audience if your solo is one dimensional. Youll wear them out and lose their

attention. Tom Principato

20. The Bends

One of the most useful exercises Ive come across was on a Larry Carlton

instructional video. Larry would play a major scale in fifth position, going up

one octave, from the third string to the first string. He then proceeded to do

the same scale, but hed bend the majority of it. The best part of this exercise

is that you do it the same way in reverse. This way, you learn to bend up in

pitch, but also pre-bend and descend in pitch. The major scale is a wonderful

reference for articulating and intonating your bends, because pretty much

everyone can hear its intervals clearly, and will know if theyre sharp or flat.

Its a demanding exercise, and yet its kind of pretty.

Then, practice Beatles songs, standards, and folk songs by using bends to play

the melody, rather than traditional fingering. This is a very demanding and


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rewarding musical exercise that will teach you more than, say, approximating the

solo of Little Wing. Jim Campilongo

21. Love You Less

Listen more to the other players on the bandstand than you do to yourself.

Bill Kirchen

22. Ear Training

For some basic ear training, play any note on your guitar. In this case, lets

say its an A. Then pick an interval out of the airsay a perfect fifth, E. Now,

try to sing the E note, and then play the same note on your instrument. See how

close you came. Dont play the interval before you try to sing it. Then youre

only imitating, not ear training. Force your brain to seek out and determine the

interval youve chosen. Start off easy with octaves, perfect fifths, major and

minor thirds, and then move on to more difficult major sixths, sevenths,

seconds, flat fifths, and so on. Rik Emmett

23. Screw Up

Dont worry about a bit of slop. Instead, put truth in every note. Music isnt

about playing with absolute perfectionits the intense and soulful commitment

to the note.Greg V.

24. Seek Truth

Dont listen to unimaginative naysayers when it comes to personal creative

expression. At some point, there will no doubt emerge a conflict between the

rules of instrumental mastery, and the need to follow ones own intuition. Be

strong! The only so-called advancements in artforget about commercehave come

about when someone has either boldly modified or completely disregarded the

norm. Those who deviate must stay true to themselves. Nels Cline

25. Get Evocative

What is it exactly that moves you when you hear a guitarist you love? I think

its the relation between the players emotional feeling and their muscle action

on the guitar. To connect with this idea, first experiment with the full range

of your muscle power, trying to play the same riff with an angry feel, a tender

feel, and everything in between. Then, take a song you know, and try to increase

the sonic contrast from verse to chorus, or section to section. Use this range

of sound to better sculpt the landscape of the song. Bob Brozman

26. Hello?

Experiment with not being the loudest thing on stage.Bill Kirchen

27. Thanks, Dude

Spend at least 15 minutes per Guitar Player magazine learning something from a

GP lesson. Some of the concepts Ive learned by doing this have stuck with me

for years! Dave Wronski

28. Get Bluesy

Study jazz soloing using the 12-bar blues form. Most players want to start

playing long bebop lines from the start, but the simpler the melodic material

is, the sooner you begin to develop a sense of phrasing. In turn, this will giveyou greater soloing freedom, because youll have a larger rhythmic vocabulary at

your disposal. Lenny Breau


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29. Wrap it Up

Remember that the reputations of some of the greatest jazzmen ever are built on

eight-bar solos. Too many guitarists play solos that are way too long. Jim

Hall

30. Do For Others

Recording your own music is one thing, but having to deliver something forsomebody else is entirely different. Session work makes you more critical about

your playing. You cant hit notes all over the place, youve got to make each

note count, and if you cant play really clean, it all sounds like a mess. You

may think you sound fabulous onstage, but when you hear yourself played back in

the studio, its just disastrous most of the time. But if you can play well in

the studio, you can play well onstage. Ritchie Blackmore

31. Find You

A good way to crave your individuality is to get a tape recorder and get into a

room thats kind of darkwhere you dont have interruptionsand then just play

with a rhythm machine. After a while, its like a deck of cards on the table,

and you can begin to see the riffs that came from this guy, the riffs that camefrom that guy, and then the two or three riffs that are yours. Then you start

concentrating on your riffs until you develop an individual sound. Carlos

Santana

32. Mix It Up

Treat each guitar trackand each songcompletely different. For example, if Im

using a certain amp and guitar on one track, Ill deliberately use something

else for the next tune or overdub. Keith Richards

33. Pickup Balance

To balance your pickups, plug your guitar into something with level meters,such as a 4-track recorder. Play each string individually, and adjust the pickup

height until the level of each string hits the same point on the meters.

Typically, youll have to lower the bass side of the pickup. If your guitars

overall output is quieter than what you had, simply turn up your amp to

compensate. The benefit here is string-to-string clarity. Dave Wronski

34. Cut Back

Sometimes that massive, high-gain, mid-cut, huge bass tone can sound about two

inches tall in a concert setting. The guitars voice is in the midrange, so try

adding some midrange and cutting the bass. For even more punch, attack, and

clarity, cut your gain and distortion levels. Too much gain can be

counterproductive, as it compresses your tone and kills dynamics. Greg V.

35. Shift Priorities

Play what you would like to hear, rather than what you would like to play.

Bill Kirchen

36. Rhythmic Solos

If the band is playing in 7/4 time, try to play in 4/4. When you do that sort

of thing, you begin to notice certain ways in which the two rhythms synchronize

over a long period of time. Thinking in these long lengths, you automatically

start to develop rhythmic ideas that have a way of interconnecting. Jerry

Garcia


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37. Grease Up

Want to make a solo greasy? Start on the and of one.Dave Wronski

38. Get Funky

Forget about the fancy chords, and just concentrate on a funky beat. John Lee

Hooker

39. Lite FX

Its best if people dont notice effects that much. If you overdo it, and

everybody realizes youre using a phaser, then youre on the wrong track

already. Youve got to use those things with a certain degree of subtlety.

Keith Richards

40. Rhythm Chops

To become a better rhythm player, you must listen to the drummer. Id also

advise that you listen to the masters of rhythm guitar. The work that Steve

Cropper did on the Stax records is the definitive document of how to play songs

and accompaniment parts. Also listen to Chuck Berry. His rhythm playing is sointense that he can go out and perform with bands he has never seen or heard

before and hold them together like glue.Danny Kortchmar

41. Go Big

Use big strings. I like a set with a .013 E string, but Ive gone as high as

a .018-.074 set. Theyll eat your hands, your tuning pegs, and your amp, but

they sound great. Stevie Ray Vaughan

42. Moderation

Over-indulgence in anything is wrongwhether its practicing 50 hours a day, or

eating too much food. Theres a balance with me, as there should be with

everything and everybody. Ive tried to keep it so that Im able to execute the

ideas that come out, but practicing too much depresses me. I get good speed, but

then I start playing nonsense because Im not thinking. A good layoff makes me

think a lot. It helps me get both things togetherthe creativity and the speed.

Jeff Beck

43. Play, Dont Worry

Dont spend more time worrying about what it is youre supposed to be doing,

rather than just doing the work. Once I was stuck while trying to write some new

music, and I asked my friend Wayne Horvitz how he did it. He gave me a pencil

sharpener. The moral? There are no short cuts, so stop whining and get on with

it! Bill Frisell

44. Moving In Stereo

Try using two amps and some stereo effects to get a bigger sound onstage. A

ping-pong delay sounds huge when you stand between both amps, and any type of

stereo chorus, flanger, phaser, or, in my case, a Leslie simulator, creates the

illusion of an even wider sound. Panning your signal from side-to-side is a cool

effect. I do it using a stereo Ernie Ball volume pedal. I like the amps to be

almost identical, while othersincluding Stevie Ray Vaughanprefer two amps that

have different sounds that compensate for each other. Finally, its important to

understand that unless both of your amps are miked, and panned left and right in

the house, nobody except you will hear the stereo effect. Oz Noy


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45. Be A Sponge

Listening is just as important as practicing. Your ears are your greatest

assets, and they work on a subconscious level. You should steal from as many

different guitarists as possible, as opposed to picking one and trying to

emulate that persons style. Once you have assimilated a number of different

approaches, try to blend them into one vision, instead of jumping from one style

to another. Will Bernard

46. Vibrato

Strengthen your vibrato technique by using each finger to play a note and

bending it up and down continuously, in half steps. As you move to fingers two,

three, and four, remember that all available fingers can help you attain this

half-step movement. Jim Campilongo

47. Alternate Picking

A good way to work on alternate picking is to choose three or four notes, and

work on those. Too often, players who are trying to improve their right hand

dexterity get hung up by trying to play too many notes with the left hand. I

hear a lot of players running whole scales from the sixth string to the first,and playing them really sloppy. Keeping it very basicusing only a few notesand

playing slowly with perfect rhythm is a task in itself. Al DiMeola

48. Ignore The Obvious

When youre comping behind a vocalist or soloist, dont always play the root of

the chord on the low stringsespecially if theres a bassist on the gig.

Sometimes the third and the seventh of the chord is all you need if the bass

player is playing the root. It will still sound full, and the sound wont be

muddy.Tal Farlow

49 Stage SmartsA good band is not all about playing your instruments. You have to work on your

stage sound, too, so that you sound good out front. For the guitarist, that

means not being so loud. Now, I love loud, but I soon realized that if I turned

down, there would be more separation between the instruments, and people would

actually hear me better.Peter Frampton

50. Get Down

For heavy rhythm, it has to be downpicking. Its absolutely key. Its tighter

sounding, and a lot chunkier. James Hetfield

51. Stay Hot

Keep your guitar out of the case and handy. Practice short periodsanywhere

from five to 45 minutesmany times throughout the day, rather than for one

prolonged period. Often times, five minutes is enough time to work on a

technique or musical passage. The whole idea of practice is to get your reflexes

working like a gunfighters, so you can pull out that gun and be instantly

hot.Barney Kessel

52. Classical Gas

When playing while sitting, rest the guitar on your left legjust like

classical-guitar legend Andrs Segovia. This way, the guitar will be in the same

position as when you stand. You can even get yourself one of those little foot

stands to really anchor the guitar to your body when playing aggressive music.

Dave Wronski


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53. Cruise Control

Fast playing begins with careful and sharply targeted slow playing. You must

develop the ability to hear and think every note. A fast passage is a rapid

succession of musical notesnot the product of a frantic, panic-stricken

flapping of the fingers. Begin practicing with scales or patterns, which allow

you to concentrate on getting your actions and timing in good shape. Always

start slowly and deliberately. Increase speed gradually. Use some form of

metronome or drum machine to monitor your work. When you reach a speed at whichyou can no longer get things right, stop. Any further attempted acceleration

will do damage, not good. John Duarte

54. Dont Peek

Adjust your amps volume and EQ settings by listening, rather than looking at

the settings. Simply shut your eyes, and turn the knobs to where the amp sounds

best. Im consistently surprised when I open my eyes to discover things such as

the Bass being nearly full up in one situation, or the Treble on 10 in another.

Cameron Williams

55. Teamwork

When you sit in with musicians youve never played with before, do your thing

in a way that compliments their sound. Listen attentively, and make sure that

what youre doing isnt stepping on anyones toes. Play as if you were a member

of the unit, and keep your eyes open to allow for good communication. Dan

Lebowitz

56. Touch

Tone has more to do with touch than gear, and the most important thing is

dampening anywhere youre not playing. Dampening can be done underneath your

fretting fingers or thumb, or with the outside of your strumming-hand palm or

thumb. Also, the way your finger makes contact with the frets makes a big

difference. You need to learn the sweet spots on your guitar like a violinplayer would. Eric Johnson

57. Improvisation

During improvisation, a soloist should be influenced by the other musicians,

and vice versa. The Miles Davis Quintet was a great example. As soon as the

soloist paused, a band member would play something that would influence the

solos direction from that point forward. This happened at every turn, so by the

time the solo had finished, it would be completely different than if the soloist

had played with nothing to respond to. The best improvisations come about this

way. Equally important is how you respond to your tone. For example, if you are

playing with a sound that doesnt sustain much, then its futile to play long

notes. The low strings tend to sound better with a thinner tone, and highstrings with a thicker tonewhich is why good guitarists continually change

their settings on their toggle switch, volume, and tone controls throughout

their solos. Warren Haynes

58. The Pinky

Use your pinky! When I first started playing, an older country musician told me

to keep practicing with my left-hand pinkyeven though it felt awkwarduntil it

was second nature. That was the best advice I ever got. You were born with five

fingersdont forget to use em all! Deke Dickerson

59. Think DifferentThe ability to differentiate your playing while maintaining a support role in

your band is crucial. Louder doesnt necessarily mean better. I try to find a


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strong niche in each parteither by technique, or by finding an uninhabited

frequency range. I sometimes distill ideas into a lean riff, rhythm, or melodic

phrase that sits right in with the drums. Conversely, agile flourishes can make

a skull-crushing riff seem nastier if you break from the pack. A fat, signature

guitar tone is something we all chase after, but whether playing ensemble or

stepping out front, choosing a complimentary or contrasting sound can get your

point across, add structure, and make the song richer. Chuck Garvey

60. Damp

Learn to damp notes to control feedback and noise when playing slide at high

volumes. Many people play slide with a pick, and then use the heel of the hand

or something to control the sound. The style I got from Duane Allman is to use

the thumb and the first two fingers without a pick. If you have glass or steel

on your left hand, and a plastic pick in your right, you are completely isolated

from your instrument. What you have to learn to do is to strike a note, then

stop the note with the fingers before you strike another one, so only one note

sounds at a time. It works kind of like a damper pedal on a piano. Dickey

Betts

61. Embrace History

The greatest musicians are knowledgeable about musics roots. Experience

provides authenticity for the music we create. Eric Clapton and Keith Richards

can teach you a mess of blues, but its good to find out about the original

artists whose tunes they covered, such as Robert Johnson. Its like the old

saying: How can you know where you are going, if you dont understand where

youve been? Marty Stuart

62. Circle Picking

Use circle picking to play faster. Its an old jazz technique. Start by playing

with your pick at an angle. Hit the string with one edge of the pick, and youll

find that youre in position to come back on the upstroke with the opposite

edge. Then, alternate pick with a rotating motion in either a clockwise or

counterclockwise circle. The pick, while not changing its angle in relation to

the string, is circling that area of the string. Its not done with the wrist,

but with the fingers holding the pick. When first learning, start with a large

circle, just to get the feeling. After a while, you should be able to get two or

three notes going so fast that its like a quiver. The reason its faster is

because your picking motion is not interrupted for a change in direction. The

circle also gives the notes a flowing quality.Roy Buchanan

63. Compression

Using compression is one of the best ways to get a consistently good tone. It

makes the guitar feel electric and alive in your hands, because the notes

sustain, rather than die on the vine as soon as you play them. Any stompbox

compressor will do. I always place the compressor at the beginning of the signal

chain, before going into the amp. Setting all the dials at 12 oclock is a good

starting point because it should give you a lot of extra sustain and a little

bit of breathiness without affecting your basic tone much.Adrian Belew

64. Hang In

It takes time to develop every aspect of your technique. A lot of people dont

realize the crises youve got to go through. I used to get headaches when I

started doing the octave thing, but, over time, I was fine. All it takes is to

hear a little improvement in your playing, and that little bit of inspiration is

often enough to push you even further. Wes Montgomery


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65. Delay Levels

When youre mixing a tune and adding delay to a solo, adjust the effect level

to match what you played. The right amount of delay for a slow passage or a high

note is going to be different than the amount of delay you want for a fast

passage or a low note. For example, a fast passage with a ton of delay sounds

like garbage. Steve Morse

66. Picking

To develop picking technique, start by playing a series of downstrokes on any

open string. At the beginning of the attack, stay close to the string, following

through just enough to sound the note. Immediately return to the starting point.

Now, try the same sequence with upstrokes. Finally, combine movements so that

youre strictly alternating strokes. Still on one string, meticulously practice

the following: repeated down-strokes, repeated upstrokes, alternate downstroke

and upstrokes, alternate upstrokes and downstrokes. Start slowly and gradually

build up speed. Next, try moving to adjacent strings, and then to melodic skips

on non-adjacent strings. Finally, apply the technique to alternate chordal

picking, or crosspicking. Be sure to use alternate picking, playing downstrokes

for notes that are on the beat, and upstrokes for ones that are off the beat.

Focus on economizing the hand and finger movement of your picking hand, so thatyou dont use excessive motion between up- and downstrokes. Al DiMeola

67. Hello, Its Me

Get in touch with your uniquenesseven if you dont like it. Once the crushing

realization that I wasnt going to be Brian May or Steve Morse hit me, I had to

start embracing the things I hated about my style. Ty Tabor

68. Be Aware

Remind yourself that youre free to feel great instead of reserved or insecure.

When youre feeling good, youre more apt to take chances onstage, and if youmake a bunch of mistakes, it wont matter. Its almost like youre the

instrument, and the music is flowing through you like electricity. Like John

Coltrane saidthe paramount aspect of being a musician is to try to get more in

touch and in tune with yourself. When you do that, its like returning to the

center and everything emanates from there. You automatically become a better

musician in becoming a more aware individual. Eric Johnson

69. Un-Straight Eights

Practicing eighth-note lines with a triplet feel is very helpful for improving

ones rhythmic feel for jazz. Of course, the best way to get a jazz feel is to

play with records or with a group. Its something youve got to inherently feel.

A lot of rock players have such a straight-eight feel that they cant play jazz.Theyre too stiff. Joe Pass

70. Get Out

You must perform for an audience, because the real crunch happens when you get

in front of people. You may discover that some things you played in rehearsal

dont make any sense, because you fooled around too much with the frilly stuff

and forgot the basic drive of the song. Playing live also teaches you deal with

situations like dropping your pick or breaking a string, as well as forcing you

to project. You have to direct your playing somewhereunless you want to sit in

a room like a painter who wont show his paintings to anybody. Rory Gallagher


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71. Noise

Once you get off the beaten path of chords and notes, any noise can be its own

microcosm of songwriting. There is a deep library of songs that go from G to C.

There is not a deep library of songs that use a toggle switch and a wah pedal.

Its a wide-open road. Tom Morello

72. Fiddlin Around

Learn to play fiddle tunes note-for-note. Dont cheat, or play little slurs and

things that you have a tendency to do when youre playing fast. Play the songs

slowly at first, until you get the notes even, and keep increasing the speed

until you can play them as fast as you want. There are so many notes in fiddle

music that youll really get your technique and coordination down. And the

exercises arent boring, because you are actually playing something. Roy Clark

73. Wacky Time

If youre going to go out of the norm, go all the way. Dont just go out a

little bit. If youre scared to go out there, then stay in the normjust learn

to play really well in 4/4. But if you want to go beyond that, you must in atotally different direction. If you want to count odd meters, theyre all broken

down into groups of twos and threes. And Im not just talking about tinier

subdivisions. What it amounts to is ritardos [slowing down] and accelerandos

[speeding up] inside of a bar, mathematically worked out so that instead of

bomp, bomp, bomp, bompfour beats in a baryou get other kinds of action, where

the time inside of the bar goes faster, goes slower, and goes faster again. But

it all comes out on the downbeat of the next bar so you can still tap your foot

to it. Frank Zappa

74. Groove

Slowing down our tempos really opened things up for me. Suddenly, the songs had

a real groove, instead of always being driving, relentless, and in your face. Asa guitarist, that openness allowed more to explore parts that had more funk and

feeling. Allison Robertson

75. Renew

Play a new thing every day. Learning one new passing chord or a note

combination will get you moving towards something that will serve you later on.

Someday, a song will come along that all of those things will relate to. Ry

Cooder

76.Patience...

Take things real slow so that youre not making a lot of mistakes right off thebat. Youll learn faster if you dont have to spend time un-learning the things

you screwed up at the beginning. Bill Frisell

77. Be Strong

The enemy of inspiration is self-doubt. Nels Cline

78. Get Healthy

Music is life force expressed in notes and phrases, so the more life force the

player has, the more energized the music will sound. Concentrate on your health.

Seek a nutritious diet, and drink lots of water every day. The better the

quality and balance of food you eat, the less energy your body uses for

digestion, and the more energy you have in reserve for your music. For your

mental self, clear your mind of unnecessary chatter and negative messages that


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distract your focus when youre performing or composing. For your emotional

self, address nagging problems. Its hard to be honest and deal with things, but

youll feel so much better afterwards, and the less internal stress sapping your

energy, the more you can put into music.John Jorgenson

79. Separation

Try to separate yourself from what your fingers are doing and listen to the

amp. Steve Vai

80. Legato Levels

When playing legato, try to make all of the notes come out at a consistent

volume. To achieve even more control, practice accenting the notes that arent

picked. Allan Holdsworth

81. Commit

Dont be lazy. You have to want to play, and, most importantly, you have to

love the guitar. Randy Rhoads

82. Open Up

Self analysis can turn you into a selfish player, because its like saying,

Look at what I can do. In popular music, people want to hear the song and the

singer, and it should be your job to make sure the song feels great. To do that,

you need to feel the song, not intellectualize it. After all, the tone is in

your hands, and the attitude is in your heart, and thinking things to death

wont change any of that. Neil Giraldo

83. Build Up

Never forget that dynamics are a big part of the heavy factor in music. The

quiet parts that build tension are what trigger a huge release that makes100,000 kids jump up and down. Tom Morello

84. Adapt

Take a note from me, put it with your own notes, and make it you. Hubert

Sumlin

85. Avoid The Obvious

Try to avoid ordinary licks. If Im watching somebody for the chords, I think

about the relative minor and the relative minor 7th, and Ill do away with the

root note. I find it interesting changing from minor to major, and, anyway, I

always like to steer away from the obvious. Steve Howe

86. Absorb

Incorporate the feel of what someone plays into your style, rather than the

actual notes. Then, youre not judging whether you can play a song as well as

the recording, because youre not trying to duplicate it. You just want to nail

the emotion of how an artists singing and playing is making you feel, and how

those feelings transform your own playing. Bonnie Raitt

87. Craft

In commerce, the musician makes music. In craft, the music makes the musician.

The musician of craft acts on principle and moves from intention. In this way,


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nothing is wasted, and our playing is not accidental. There are ten important

principles for the practice of craft: (1) Act from principle; (2) Begin where

you are; (3) Define your aim simply, clearly, and briefly; (4) Establish the

possible, and move gradually towards the impossible; (5) Honor necessity; (6)

Honor sufficiency; (7) Offer no violence; (8) Suffer cheerfully; (9) Work, but

not solemnly; (10) Without commitment, all the rules change. Robert Fripp

88. Set Limits

If you want to keep things raw, try limiting yourself to only two guitars on a

track. Once you get into three guitarsor three of any instrumentyou might as

well put 60 on there. Jack White

89. Set Solos Free

I enjoy solo lines that reflect the melody, but subtlely change it in a way

that opens up another little window in the song. And these lines should have

some freedomsome spontaneity. They shouldnt be totally planned out. Brian

May

90. Restraint

Dont play every lick you know before the end of the set, because then youre

screwed. Youll just end up repeating yourself. But its a very youthful thing

to jamits like sowing wild oats. But as grow older, you become interested in

doing something more lasting. You have to settle down and make everything count

make sure what you do is worthy of being heard again. Ive become more devoted

to the song, and I feel that jamming, unless it has a goal at the end of it, is

pretty much a waste of time. Eric Clapton

91. Mess Up

Play sloppy, make mistakes, and let those mistakes lead you to differentterritories and ideas. Its important to take advantage of both the rational

control and the irrational uncontrolled. Henry Kaiser

92. Acoustic Solos

For an electric guitarist to solo effectively on an acoustic guitar you need to

develop tricks to avoid the expectation of sustain that comes from playing

electrics. Try cascades, for example. Drop arpeggios over open strings, and let

the open strings sing as you pick with your fingers. Its kind of a country

style of playing, but it works very well in-between heavily strummed parts and

fingered lead lines. Pete Townshend

93. Surrender

The best performances are completely unselfconsciouswhere youre inside the

music, and its leading you, and you just follow where it goes. The minute you

start to think about how the audience is going to reactwhether what youre

doing is right, or wrong, or entertaining peopleyoure in trouble. All kinds of

doubts and insecurities creep in, and you lose the music. Suddenly, the music is

no longer this organic, living, breathing thing. It becomes something you try to

knock into shape with a set of rules youve picked up throughout the years.

Thinking should be done at an early stage in a musicians career. After that,

you just let go. And it becomes a blissful experience to play. Bill Nelson


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94. Move On

When youre recording, if you havent got the take in three or four tries, then

theres something wrong with the arrangement. Its madness to worry yourself to

death listening to 15 takes of the same song. Dave Davies

95. Tonal Colors

Paint pictures with sound. First, find your whitethe deepest, roundest soundyou can play on the guitar. Then, find your blackwhich is the most extreme

tonal difference from white you can play. Now, just pick the note where youve

got white, pick it where youve got black, and then find all those colors in

between. Get those colors down, and youll be able to express almost any emotion

on the guitar. Les Paul

96. Distortion

Tailor your distortion tones to the material youre playing. If youre doing a

slower, droning song, try a fuzz-style tonea sound with some low end that kind

of hums. If youre doing something faster and more crazy, go for a sharp,

midrange-heavy tone with a lot of harmonic content. For songs that are in-

between those two extreme, any vintage distortion tones usually sound great. Mick Murphy

97. Melodic Delays

A bit of delay can smooth out the unpleasant, raw frequencies you get from a

fuzz box. I have two units, and I have different echo settings on both. There

are times when I have both running at the same time for certain effects. During

solos, I usually try to set the delays to have some rhythmic time signature in

common with the tune. I usually set them to a tripletthe notes all intertwine,

so it doesnt really matter anyway, but I find that a triplet delay is very

melodic. David Gilmour

98. The Show

All music is theatre. All music is expression. So never let the music get in

the way of your stage act. Pete Townshend

99. Trust Your Hands

Your sound is in your hands as much as anything. Its the way you pick, and the

way you hold the guitar, more than it is the amp or the guitar you use. Stevie

Ray Vaughan

99 ways to be a better musician

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