Dear Guitarists,

Isn't it time we stopped having a bad conscience when we use tabulature? During the golden age of lute music nearly everything was written down in tabulature. Why feel like a busker just because you're using the same notation system as John Dowland?

Standard musical notation has its advantages, with extensive practice you can hear a piece of music in your mind just by looking at the music so standard notation is better for people who need to sight read. However, if you want to memorise a repertoire of solo guitar pieces I would recommend Guitar Pro files combined with a video seminar.

And another thing, when we play with Celtic tuning or Hawaian slack tuning then standard notation isn't going to do you any good at all, there's only tabulature for it.

Here's my recipe for learning one of your favourite guitar pieces:

Firstly: Chose a piece that you really want to play. It's like embarking on a strenuous adventure with a new friend, it would be a shame to invest all that work in a piece that you don't really like. I must admit that I've started pieces in the past just because they were in a book that I'd bought, only to find that I didn't really want to play them. It's good for your character to learn pieces that you don't like just for the sake of the practice, but if you're happy with your character as it is, then take more time choosing your new pieces. If you don't know weather or not your technique is advanced enough for the new piece, make a video of your playing and send it either to me or to another guitarist whom you can trust.

Secondly: Write down your reasons for wanting to play it. There will be stages in your practising when your fingers hurt, when your friends phone to entice you out of the practise room, when the TV programme looks great etc. It's good to have a reminder why you got the guitar out of the case in the first place.

Thirdly: Before you start to work on a piece- let the piece work on you. Play it as back-ground music while you're doing other things. Listen to different versions of it. You'll be surprised how many good ideas you develop subconsciously.

Fourthly: Don't bite off more than you can chew. The seminars are planned for you to learn a bit at a time, don't be in a hurry. I know that this is cliché, but it's a good cliché. When you feel that a new section is nearly in your grasp, the trick is to attain the right level of concentration. I call it “The John Williams” zone, or “being pleasantly obsessive”. The fabulous thing is this; you can leave a new section alone for a while, subconsciously get your brain round it, even sleep on it, rest the muscles in your hands and “nail it” next time. There's no way that a section can get more difficult while you're not looking, even though you get better all the time so you're bound to win in the end. Pepé Romero says: “There are no difficult passages, there are only passages that need more time”.

Fifthly: Be nice to yourself while you're practising. There's a famous guitarist whose father used to shut him in a chicken coup on a hot day and only let him him out when he'd learned his daily quota. He's a fabulous guitarist but I can help thinking that his music reminds me of chicken coups on a hot day.

I like to polish the table, make myself a pot of tea and lay out a plate of biscuits. When you reach the point when you're sick of it ( and believe me, it will come) do something else for a while. Don't tell yourself that you've no business playing the guitar just because there are moments when it wears you down. (Imagine how full the divorce courts would be if we used the same criteria on our marriages.) Being worn down just means that you need a rest, nothing more.



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