GUITAR IMPROVISATION (Guitar News Weekly #96, June 26, 2000

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Guitar News Weekly
Edition #96, June 26, 2000

GUITAR IMPROVISATION
The Path Towards Balanced Guitar Improvisation
by Charles Rathmann

So you're at that point where you can improvise a guitar solo, stay in the right mode and keep time. As your technique grows, there are other facets of music to concentrate on. Like what, you say?

ENTHEOS

Is your playing consistent, or does your mood affect the way you play? In my own development, I have noticed two causes for inconsistent performance. In some cases, the material or physical skills are not completely mastered. The other pitfall is spiritual. Yes, you can also use the word psychological here, or maybe use some other nomenclature with regard to the central nervous system. But if in your heart you are feeling nervous and uncertain of your playing - if you lack faith - you will not perform with the velocity and power of someone who has enthusiasm.

Enthusiasm. Let's look at that word. The root is ENTHEOS, or God-filled. If you look at some of your favorite guitarists, I think you.ll see that they are full of some type of supreme confidence in their playing. There is a central belief that each note they choose is not only correct, but that it is RIGHT. Other guys might be able to play the same notes, but it's like watching Al Gore try to recite a speech that was originally delivered by Jesse Jackson. Something is missing.

This confidence thing is something that many guitarists wrestle with. You have on-nights and off-nights. Maybe you play better when you're alone or under little pressure. Maybe you need to alter your central nervous system with chemicals to feel "lubricated," loose, ready to play.

PHYSICAL MASTERY

That confidence comes from two places. It comes from the deep well that any artist needs to tap into. And the discipline of digging that well and keeping it vital will be dealt with extensively in ROCKIN. JIMMY.S TAO OF GUITAR IMPROVISATION. Great players also, however, tend to play in a pretty well-defined style. B.B. King does something very specific night after night. His playing is very different from an Allen Holdsworth or a Paco de Lucia. But each of these artists has mastered their own skill set so completely that they no longer have to think . THINK . about their playing. Just as we memorize a vocabulary and can speak effortlessly, they have mastered a musical vocabulary. When you think of that blistering broken chord passage that Yngwie plays, remember that to him, that run takes the same level of effort as the kid at Burger Town asking if you want fries with that. All he has to do is grimace and move his wrist. So master your physical skills.

The best way to master the physical skills is through a thorough daily workout of scales, arpeggios and exercises. That.s where our first book, ROCKIN. JIMMY.S DAILY GUITAR WORKOUT comes in. While we slave away on the next manuscript, you can get a jumpstart by incorporating the regimen in this slim volume into your practice. MAKE it your daily practice session and watch things happen.

IGNORING NATURE

"A hard rain does not last all day," according to Lao Tsu. What does he mean? He means just what he says. When it rains very hard, sheets and literal blocks of water driving into the earth, that level of rainfall will likely not last long. But those rainstorms that come with the gentle patter of individual drops on the screen porch roof, break into a downpour and alternate between heavy and light, those storms can linger on and on. How can you learn from this? There are concepts in Lao Tzu's tome The TAO TE CHING that stress the importance of working with nature. Emulate nature, and your playing will take on a life of its own. Open yourself to the full spectrum of high and low, light and dark, loud and soft, fast and slow, and allow the natural patterns of nature to weave them together like a tapestry.

THIS IS THE FIRST OF A SERIES OF ADVANCE RESEARCH NOTES ON THE NEXT ROCKIN. JIMMY INSTRUCTIONAL TOOL, THE TAO OF GUITAR IMPROVISATION. SENDING THESE ADVANCE NOTES WILL PUT PRESSURE ON US TO FINISH THE MANUSCRIPT. THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT IN THIS.