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Vol. 13, No. 6: Dec.-Jan. 2008
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Review is Required!
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by Jamie Andreas
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Page added in
February, 2002
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About the Author
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Jamie Andreas is a virtuoso classical guitarist from New York.
Free! 10 Things You Can Do Right Now to Become a Better Guitarist! "The Principles of Correct Practice for Guitar," the Perfect Start for Beginners, the Answer to the Problems of Players. Start to play the guitar without getting bad habits, or get rid of the bad habits you already have, by knowing how to do "perfect practice" with "The Principles of Correct Practice for Guitar".
Visit www.guitarprinciples.com.
© Jamie Andreas
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One of the aspects of a properly balanced practice approach that is very
often
overlooked is review. The common tendency of most students is to focus on
"new"
things to play, even if last month's or last year's "new" thing was never
properly learned.
There are a few reasons for this:
Reasons We Don't Review
- New is always exciting. There is a certain rush of exhilaration as we
begin a new
song or piece, especially if we really like it. Some of us are just
addicted to that
buzz!
- Taking on something new gives us the feeling that we are "moving along".
Well, I
guess we are, but where we are going is not going to be any better than
the place
we just left!
- Our teacher may want us to "move along" to the next page in the book, or
a new
song. This is because he/she is afraid we will think we are not learning
if we stay to
long on one thing, or go back to something we had previously worked on.
- Going back and reviewing something makes us feel bad about ourselves as
guitar
players, since we know what is going to happen if we go back and try to
get that
solo, or that piece, to sound better than it did last time we played it.
We won't be
able to! We will hit all the same problem spots, and they will still be
problems, and
the music will sound the same as it did the last time we battled with
it. We will fight
the same battles, and we will lose again. That is because we are
fighting them the
same way! Because we never learned how to practice, we don't know how to improve things! (As I began to learn how to practice, how to take
something and make it better, reviewing took on a very enjoyable, even
exciting
aspect. Since I was getting better all the time, I couldn't wait to see
how much
improvement I could create on a piece I really loved, and had some
little, maybe
big problems, with.)
You must examine yourself, and see where you stand with all of this. Ask
yourself these questions:
- Do I regularly review songs, pieces, solos, and exercises?
- Do I see the results of regular review bearing fruit for me in the form
of an ever
growing repertoire (group of pieces we have mastered and can play)?
- Is this repertoire getting "better" all the time, or is it plagued with
weak spots?
We are, of course, looking for yes answers here. If you come up with "No's",
"Maybe's", or "Um, could you re-phrase the question", then you need to take
serious heed of what I am saying.
Now of course, we must, on a regular basis, take on new material. But we
must also, on a regular basis, review old material. Let's look at some of the reasons why
this is so.
Reasons We Should Review: Long Range/Short Range Building of Skills
Often, as I give a student something new, I will tell them "it is not
possible for you at the
present level of your development, to learn this piece (or song) well enough
to be able to
play it the way it is supposed to be played. Consider this piece like a tree
you are
planting. It will take a while, maybe a year or two, to grow fully. Each
time you come back
to work on this again, each time you review it, it will grow taller and
stronger. Right now,
we are just going to "plant the seed".
We then work on the piece or song or even exercise, until a "first goal" is
reached. A
"first goal" is the level of proficiency that I feel the student is capable
of achieving at their
present level of development. Of course, this means the level they can bring
the music to
IF they do their absolute best in terms of practicing it. This may take two
weeks, it may
take two months, it may even take 4 to 6 months before I feel the student
has taken it as
far as they can.
At this point, they can stop "working on" the music, and just "play it". It
can become part
of their repertoire even if it hasn't been brought up to performance level.
Playing it will
keep it in their fingers, and in a general way, it may even improve just by
playing it, but
usually whatever technical problems still remain will remain.
Whether the music is still played, or put aside, the point is that at some
later time that
music must be re-visited. Those technical problems that were beyond reach
must be
gone back to later on, maybe six months later, maybe a year. If the student has been developing properly they will be able to take that music further, beyond their first goal.
It is this process, repeated over and over, that builds a solid repertoire,
and a solid
player.
A good example is a student of mine who was new to fingerpicking. We worked
on "Dust
in the Wind" for about 6 months, and I mean the whole song as a guitar solo,
chord
melody arrangement, including transcribing the violin solo for guitar. He
learned it pretty
well, but it broke down in a few places due to left hand problems and the
fact that he
wasn't properly trained in classical right hand technique ( we had been
doing mostly
electric and jazz up till then).
We then spent about a year doing classical studies, and recently, I told him
to review
"Dust in the Wind". What a difference! He now can play it very fluently, and
it is extremely
satisfying for both of us to see the progress that was made. This is the way
it should be
for all of us.
Review with a "New You"
Robert Louis Stevenson said "A man who holds the same views at forty that he
did at
twenty, is a man who has been stupefied for twenty years!" I say, a person
who plays a
piece of music at the same level now as he did a year ago, does not know how
to
practice and does not know how to create vertical growth in their playing
ability.
At any given point, there should be a "new you", when it comes to life, or
guitar. When
this "new, improved you" reviews an "old piece of music", it should become a
"new,
improved, piece of music" once again.
Copyright 2000 by Jamie Andreas (www.guitarprinciples.com)
Fans of Jamie Andreas, make sure you check out Jamie's exclusive article,
"Left Hand Form & Development For Guitarists," classic Questions & Answers
from the famous "GuitarPrinciples" Newsletter. Jamie answers questions
related to left hand form and development which applies to all styles of
electric and acoustic guitar. The topics covered include: Thumb Position &
Movement, Training of the Little Finger, Difference Between Classical &
Electric Position, Making Bar Chords Easy, Developing "Finger Lowness," and
Strengthening Weak Joints. The knowledge and insight contained in this
collection is essential for any player, of any level or style, who wants a
deep understanding of how to develop a left hand on guitar that functions at
full capacity.
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Additional Columns by Jamie Andreas
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- And 22 more in the Guest Columnists series, view the index
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