Unanswered Questions 7
It has been quite a while since I wrote a blog post discussing some of the questions I get asked by students regularly, but they can never seem to find an answer for. All of these are genuine questions that I have received from students of all ages and abilities.
Please do read through my answers, as there may be some information in there that unlocks something that you did not know you needed help with.
How do I get better at improvising and making up ideas?
Many years ago, when I was very young, I went for a meal with a long-lost family relative. I had such a big plate of food and I exclaimed “Where do I even start?”. The relative’s response was simply “The best place to start is at the beginning”.
This answer struck me, and to this day I still think about those words. You can apply the sentiment to playing the guitar, and improvising specifically in the following way. There are countless methods you can employ to adjust, improve and critique your improvisation, but first you need something to actually work with. You cannot fix something that is not there!
“The best place to start is at the beginning”.
Do something, anything will suffice though aim to play in the correct key at least! Then you have something to work with. You have to actually put the acorn in the ground before you can grow the oak tree!
After this, you can then think about your phrasing, breathing, motifs and rhythmic development. My number one tip when it comes to creating lines, is to make sure that everything fits together; like phrases in a conversation, everything has to work together like it is joined by an invisible thread.
Why does it sound weird when I strum?
That all depends on what you are identifying as ‘weird’ with your strumming. There are many reasons for this, and I’ll break down a few of them first before tackling the most important one.
Pick – some people love to play with a really thin pick, and this is perfectly fine. However, one issue that arises in this instance is the slapping, plastic sound as the pick moves around the string. Some people like this whereas other people do not. I also once had a student that was strumming with a felt pick common amongst ukulele players – the ‘weird’ sound they were thinking of was the dullness of the note due to the pick material.
Chord – this sounds obvious, but sometimes a student will jump the gun and start strumming away at a chord without actually checking if they are playing it right at first,
Timing – If you are strumming a particular pattern and within said pattern there are some faster notes like 16ths, it is not uncommon for beginners to slow down in anticipation.
With all that being said, the most common reason for strumming sounding weird is the flow. That is the simple answer and why, when I teach strumming to someone for the first time, I am so insistent on keeping the flow going by ensuring the arm never stops moving. Even if you are not making contact with the strings your arm should still be moving.
I am not getting better at guitar. Why?
Everything we apply ourselves to in life, including how we experience life itself, has peaks and troughs. High moments and low moments, but also many plateaus that make us feel like we are not really going anywhere. Once you come to terms with that, you will have a significantly more fulfilling experience playing the guitar; once you realise you are on your own journey and no-one else’s, you will be so much happier.
On the other hand, sometimes the issue is staring you straight in the face. Although it might take a teacher to point it out to you, the answer is… did you practice? I recently had a student that was working on a few different pieces. One of them in particular is not too tricky, but very quick. Over the course of the week between lessons they were concerned that they had made no progress, but they had only practiced one specific part of one of the other songs – even that they only did once. I do not think it takes a genius to figure out the issue here!
Make sure you practice not only regularly, but effectively.
Can you teach me the guitar part for this song?
Sometimes the answer is a resounding yes – absolutely I can! As long as the student engages with the right attitude anything is possible. That being said, sometimes the part is too tricky or I have to write a simplified part for them to work with. This is all just a normal part of being a guitar teacher as far as I am concerned!
The real challenge begins when the student requests that we learn a song that does not have any guitar in it at all. In this case, it becomes a chance to encourage more creativity in the student, make them think about what could work and what would not. Sometimes the song really resists a guitar part at all, but that is very rare; there is always something we can add into a song!
Final Thoughts
Sometimes the answers to the most burning questions we have are all too obvious, but it takes another person to say it to make us realise that fact. Even if you know the answer and you are seeking confirmation, make sure to reach out to your teacher and not secretly hope that your query will be answered on the off chance.
Here is a great song to listen to!
Steven Wilson - Home Invasion/Regret #9
