Herb Smith, Guitar Performance & Instruction

Simpleology

2008-07-07T22:19:00.001-04:00

I'm evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they're letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.

It covers:

The best blogging techniques.
How to get traffic to your blog.
How to turn your blog into money.

I'll let you know what I think once I've had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it's still free.

Motor Memory Musings

2008-07-02T08:10:00.016-04:00

My last few blogs have been kind of generic guitar-related ramblings, so I thought I'd write a learning-specific blog today on how I use the idea of motor memory in learning guitar. To paraphrase late Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, sometimes I don't know how to define something, but I know what it is when I see it. So allow me to rely on Wikipedia for a definition of motor memory: "(Motor) memory is fashioned over time through repetition of a given suite of motor skills and the ability through brain activity to inculcate and instill it such that they become automatic." (Click the link if you're interested in further reading.) That's not really a strict definition, but you get the idea. Think of walking — the movements are solidified in the brain and you do it without thinking. When I walk I'm not thinking "step, step, step, step". I just do it. To take this thought just a tad deeper, I could say that when I walk, rather then think "step, step, etc." I'm actually thinking of the place that I'm walking to, and with that goal in mind the motor memory kicks in and off a-rambling I go. Now let me attempt to bring these thoughts around to how I see using them in learning to play the guitar.

One Note at a Time
When I'm practicing something I've never played on the guitar, whether it be a new song or classical or chord melody jazz piece I try to remember that what I'm really doing is learning motor memory. I've read that we have two sides to our brains, one for learning and doing some things and the other for learning and doing other things. Now I can't remember which side is which and I'm not sure I care, but the fact remains. Observance and intuition tell me that when learning guitar, I have a logical part of my brain, and a musical part of my brain that play equal roles in the process; neither being more important than the other. I'm not qualified to get into a spiel on the psychology behind this, but I think there are processes where we use the two together too, and for our purposes here I'll call this aspect of thought the arbiter. (I started to say "judge", but decided that sounded so judgmental, and I try to avoid making students feel like they are being JUDGED[!]. . . picture me in black robe and long white wig and you'll understand).

The musical side of my brain is very strong willed and tries to get me to play even difficult passages "musically" right from the start. Many guitar players, myself included many times in the past, want to listen only to this side of the brain and start a process of learning that is not conducive to the kind of accuracy involved in learning motor memory. Call it The Whittle Approach. Practicing this way goes something like this: play something a 100 times and make a 100 mistakes. Practice it another 100 times and make 99 mistakes. Keep this process up and whittle the mistakes down to say, a handful. This actually can work to a degree, but experience and observation tells me that this process never really gets to the point where you acquire the confidence of playing mistake-free every time you do it (allowing for true human error of course). I may do it right when I'm feeling "hot", but not when I'm not.

Experience and observation also gave me the desire to look into the process a little deeper. Here's where the arbiter comes into play. Arbiter-Herby tells me to abandon the whittling-down method of Musical-Herby and allow Logical-Herby to demonstrate how it's really done. Forget the music for a minute. Logical-Herby knows that I can't play the second note (or chord) until the motor memory is locked in and truly knows how to play the first note. And he knows he'll never learn the motor memory required until he repeats it over and over slowly. Let me emphasize: S-L-O-W-L-Y(!). . . repeat this as a mantra for the rest of your guitar-playing-life. First note, second note. . . first note, second note. . . first note, second note, etc.

Here a beautiful thing happens: Musical-Herby (who is closely related to Show-Off-Herby) pipes in and says "Hey! I see what you're doing now! And I can do it better! (And he's right, Logical-Herby is a very uninspired guitar player.) Musical-Herby jumps all over the motion that he has just learned from Logical-Herby and plays it. . . musically! He says to himself "I see what you're trying to do here" and he does it with confidence and perfect intention. But beware, Musical-Herby also sets a trap here: he's not really lying, but he is mistaken. Musical-Herby now thinks, "okay, I can take over from here" and he starts back into The Whittle Approach. It's very important for me to allow Arbitor-Herby to jump back in and play his part, by passing the ball back to Logical-Herby and letting him do his thing. Second note to third note, second note to third note, over and over (again — S-L-O-W-L-Y) to build the motor memory that connects the passage. Then add the first back into the process: first, second, third (need I say slowly again?). When and only when, logic has taught Musical-Herby his lesson, Arbiter-Herby allows him to take back over and play it. This may seem like a bit much, but here's an important point. You are learning motor memory even when you don't practice this way. Motor memory has no opinions. If you continue to glide over the mistakes, it will learn your mistakes, and play them if you don't train it with great care.

I could go on here but again, you get the idea. Repeat this process and be stirred. Think now of what I said earlier about walking. Don't think "step-step-step". Think of where you want to go. Your goal. Where you want to go is to be able to play the piece in its entirety with motor memory firmly locked and loaded. Once you can do this, you can allow your own musical self to take over, play with confidence, and enjoy.

TommyFest in Virginia

2008-06-09T09:45:00.016-04:00

Thursday night I met friends, Ted, Don, Mike and Linda for refreshments in Hampton and from there we headed to the Tommy Emmanual concert at the Ferguson Center for the Arts at Christopher Newport University. (Quick aside, the Ferguson Center is a great place for a concert — very intimate, approximately 450 seats with not a bad one in the house).

For those of you not familiar, Tommy Emmanuel is a native of Australia, with a small but strong army of fans world-wide. When I say small, I mean relatively small... say, compared to Britanny Spears. Tommyfest, as it is appropriately called, is a yearly three-day event but this was the first time I had made it. I knew of Tommy Emmanuel's music and had watched his live performances on youtube, and I knew he was going to be good, but I had no idea what I was really in for. I find myself wanting to write to y'all about this experience, but the fact is I don't really know where to begin. TE does so many different things on the guitar so well that it leaves me kind of speechless.

I don't want to get into the list of exhausted adjectives used already to describe his performances, so let me just say this: TE played that poor guitar within an inch of its life (and that poor guitar looked like it too); at times sounding like Earl Klugh, at times Chet Atkins, then Stevie Ray Vaughn, even Django Reinhardt. That said, don't let me make you think that TE is anything approaching a copycat artist; there was never any question who was playing the guitar here. It was all-Tommy-all-the-time. But he had incorporated the styles of many other great guitar players and blended them into a style that is all his own. Call it alchemy. At one point he started playing percussion on the guitar, with a snare brush in one hand. With eyes shut you would have thought an aboriginal marching band was strutting proudly through the hall.

A great part of my enjoyment too, came from TE's totally self-deprecating persona. even acting as stagehand for the other players in the show. Anthony Snape, another Australian, evidently hand-picked by Tommy opened the show, followed by Stephen Bennett of Gloucester, Virginia who later joined TE for a few duets. Both very good performers.

I remember afterwards saying to my friend Ted Pollard, who is a seriously good guitar player that I think I'm becoming a "total Tommy Emmanuel sell-out". I guess I could say that he's a pillar of modern guitar technique. That sounds lofty, doesn't it? In a very strange way, I felt like I had never heard anyone play the guitar before (and I've heard some of the best).

As I said before, the videos don't do him justice but I want to include one here for your enjoyment anyway. This is TE playing his original song "Angelina". The tune was in my mind for the next several days. In a couple of shots you can see the scratches on the finish of that poor guitar. Note too, the hybrid technique he's using with his right hand — playing with pick and fingers. I suggest you look at all of his stuff on youtube. Click: Tommy Emmanuel's Angelina.

Oh what the heck, here's another fun one of TE playing (click:) "Mombassa", another original with percussion solo. Listen carefully at the beginning and hear him affecting the sonorous sound of the didgeridoo.

Guitar Stories

2008-06-03T10:35:00.021-04:00

One of the great things about the life I lead is the opportunity to go out and play guitar at ever-changing scenarios, and for ever-changing faces. Playing the kind of music I play often gives me the opportunity to perform at wedding receptions for instance, or to play in someone's home. Part of the fun of this is that I'm playing for people when they're most relaxed, surrounded by family, friends, friends-of, and business acquaintances. I've done my share of playing in restaurants, bars and pubs, which can be a lot of fun, but this is different.

Now one of the amazing things about playing the guitar is that everyone seems to have an interest in it on some level, be they guitar players or not. It's an instrument, that's so versatile that it fits naturally into any kind of music, has universal appeal, and it just seems to react at the gut-level. When I'm playing in this kind of setting, it gives people an opportunity to get physically close to the guitar (and guitar player) in a way that they might not always get a chance. It also gives them a chance to perhaps hear styles of music played on the guitar that they don't normally listen to. Also, given that outside of the people who hired me, there's a better then good chance that no one else there has ever heard of me.

Usually on this kind of gig, my job is to play ambient music. The hosts want the atmosphere of live music, but still want people to be able to converse at normal levels, so my volume is adjusted accordingly. (I think this is a great idea by the way, and strongly urge you to do it for your own parties.)

Here's the real fun part. While I'm sitting there doing my ambiance thing, it's not unusual for someone, or even a few people to pull up a chair and sit right next to me, within a couple of feet. On occasion these people are not the designated driver for the evening. This is when this gut-level reaction to the guitar becomes most obvious. Naturally conversations start, and I find people want to share their guitar experiences with me as players, students (and we're all students) or great experiences they've had in the audience. Sometimes I meet new students this way, or get new gigs.

But mostly I get to hear all kinds of stories; lots of times about people's favorite guitar players. Chet Atkins is still very popular, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page of course; George Benson, Django, I even hear Segovia, Bream and Williams stories. I could go on. Oh, and Roy Clark is still much more popular then he probably realizes. Anyway I love these conversations — I have a few guitar stories myself.

It can be really funny, it's an education for me, and it gives me insight on people's reactions to this instrument. Maybe the most fun part of all is ebb and flow of music and conversation. Plus it gives me a chance to play a gig within the gig so to speak. While being my ambient self, I'm doing a personal mini-concert for the people sitting around me who've taken an interest.

This past weekend I was asked by Roland and Pam M. of Virginia Beach, who had heard me play at another event, to play for a private party in their beautiful home. My thanks to Roland, Pam and beautiful daughter Sarah who were just the kind of people that make my job so great — gracious and generous hosts, who right from the start provided just the kind of atmosphere that makes any musician comfortable.

So picture this. I'm at a party where everyone around me is there just to have a good time, people tell me amazing funny stories, great jokes more suitable to someone else's blog, and I'm playing guitar. Life is beautiful. Once again, my kinda livin'.

A Weekend in the Life of Your Humble Guitar Player

2008-05-16T09:23:00.009-04:00

I Am Not a Guitar Hero
Ever since I started taking on students last year, I've been hearing a lot about something called "Guitar Hero". I had no idea what it was but soon had heard enough to know that it was: (1) some kind of video game; (2) loved and adored by teenagers near and far, and; (3) something that if my students practiced the real guitar as much as they played it, they would by now all be shredding through real guitar leads at the speed of... well, sound.

Last Friday night I had the opportunity to set aside all presumptions and see, once and for all, Guitar Hero for myself. My friends Bruce and Cara (who is a really, really good cook, and who may very well be terribly embarrassed that I've mentioned their names) invited us over for dinner and GH introduction. After a relaxing dinner, overlooking the Nansemond River, it was time to take on the Guitar Hero pros. I felt like an idiot... although (as often happens) I have to admit there was a lot of fun in my idiocy. Bruce and Cara, neither of whom have ever played the guitar, are established guitar heroes and proved early on they were quite capable of kicking my... uh... backside with riffs and licks that would make Clapton, Santana, et. al., proud.

After zinging along at an uncanny efficiency of near-100%, they turned the instruments over to Dawn and me, who zinged through ZZ Top's "La Grange" (a rock'n roll classic, and probably the easiest song in the game) on what is deceivingly called the "easy level". Dawn, who has never played the guitar either, as you can guess, zinged much better then I did, causing her, in her excitement, to do a Guitar Hero-inspired twirl at the end of the song and smash our hero guitars together, and causing me to start bug-eyed calculations in my head about how much it would cost to replace two Guitar Hero guitars. Fortunately, the guitars remained intact and my calculations were for naught (what's a rock'n roll guitar without a few good dings in it, right?).

Okay, I hereby admit: Guitar Hero is a lot of fun, and I can see why so many people enjoy it. (And NO SCALES REQUIRED!) I'll be ready next time!

A Chance at Guitar Redemption
Saturday was a busy day for me as I had the opportunity to perform two gigs in Olde Towne Portsmouth (the best kept secret in Hampton Roads). The first was an afternoon playing the guitar outdoors for the Olde Towne Business Association's Mid-May Open House. This year's Open House ran simultaneously with the annual Gosport Arts Festival, and later I played for the art show's awards banquet in the Children's Museum (which has a really terrific model train display) and had the opportunity to mingle with some of the best artists around. I met one artist from Brooklyn and another who had traveled here all the way from Washington (state) for the show. A lot of fun and once again, my kinda livin'.

Mother's Day at Westminster Canterbury
On Sunday I played and accompanied the lovely Dawn for the Mother's Day Luncheon at Westminster Canterbury, overlooking the bay in Virginia Beach. The staff couldn't have been more accommodating, and the clientele couldn't have been nicer. It was a real treat to play Gershwin for an audience, some of whom remember when the timeless music of George Gershwin was the popular music of the day.

And now, back to the scales...

Thanks to The Farley Center

2008-04-29T09:11:00.012-04:00

This past Friday was a busy one for me, as I had to play at two different places in Williamsburg for Williamsburg Place/The Farley Center. The first was a dedication for The Farley Center, followed by a dinner at the Woodlands Conference Center, a few miles away. The Farley Center, according to their web site is dedicated to helping people "overcome substance use disorder".

The settings at both places couldn't have been nicer. I played outside in front of The Farley Center for the dedication, set in their enclave of impressively designed buildings amid a beautiful forested area, and the day was just perfect — sunny and seventies. Later, at the dinner in the Woodlands Conference Center, I got to sit next to a huge window overlooking a wooded hillside, complete with waterfall and play the guitar. My kind of living.

My thanks to Gina Thorne and the Staff, and especially the patients and alumni at The Farley Center, all of whom had very kind words.

Lessons at a New Location

2008-04-14T12:18:00.003-04:00

If you haven't heard, AL&M is moving to a new location, where they won't have space available for guitar lessons. I have nothing but nice things to say about my association with AL&M, but life goes on. I wish Tommy Parker and the staff of friends I made there all the best.

I have moved all of my AL&M students to Morningstar Music Learning Center (mmlconline.com) in the Pembroke area of Virginia Beach. Morningstar is owned and operated by Wesley and Marianne Stevenson, who are also musicians themselves and very nice people with sincere, lofty goals. My studio there is easily four times the size of my old one, informative posters relating to the guitar cover the walls and once again, I feel at home. If you live in the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area and would like to take lessons there, please call me (757 377 9498). I'll also continue to give lessons at my home in Olde Towne Portsmouth. Morningstar also offers lessons in piano, bass, violin and fiddle.

The Scales of Progress

2008-04-01T09:03:00.015-04:00

One of the most important technical aspects of learning to play the guitar is practicing scales. Having said that, I can envision many of the readers of this blog forming that "I smell excrement" look on their faces, wondering if they want to read on at all. (I DON'T LIKE that teacher! He makes me plays scales!.... harumph!)

We guitarists see other people playing grand things, or hear grand music in our heads and want to cut right to the chase, and practice those grand things directly. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line after all, right? This can seem to make scales look trivial, even a waste of time. Over and over I've heard from students (and thought myself on many occasions) that playing scales is boring... like, uh... TOTALLY.

But the reality is that practicing scales will enable you to really be able to play those grand pieces that you want to play. They lay the groundwork that give you the chops. Moreover, practicing the tricky passages that arise in any piece of music without laying this groundwork inevitably leads to the frustration that comes from playing something over and over maybe hundreds of times, and never being able to consistently pull it off.

So here is a problem I face as a guitar teacher: I have to ask myself what is it about playing scales that turns students off, and what can I do about it. It's my job after all to help students learn, help them keep the interest they brought to the lessons in the first place, and hold their attention all the while.

So where do I start? First of all, I have to grant that practicing scales can very frustrating. Many students tend to take a haphazard approach to scales, feeling almost as if it's something that they have to do because they've been told how necessary it is; otherwise they'll feel guilty. So they spend a few minutes running through them mindlessly, with or without the metronome, hear some good passages, some mistakes, wrap it up and tell themselves they'll come back tomorrow and it'll be better. On to that piece I really want to learn! But when tomorrow comes they do the same thing, never really grasping what it is they can accomplish with scales.

The Exciting Truth About Scales: Empowerment!
That's right, playing scales empowers you! Plain and simple. A huge cause of the frustration of scale playing is that they expose every
flaw in your technique. Who wants their flaws exposed? How do you deal with the frustration of exposed flaws? There's only one way — with honestly. If playing scales exposes flaws, let's face those flaws honestly and dissect them. 100% of the flaws that are exposed here have one root: somewhere there is tension. Tension in the fingers, the hands, the wrist, the elbow, even shoulders or back.

Monitor Thyself
So what can you do to ease this tension? Make an honest assessment of yourself by monitoring every aspect of your technique. There is no reason fingers, hands, or wrists should feel any differently when they are positioned on the guitar, then they did when they were hanging loosely at your sides. Let them hang, and feel it. THEN, bring them up to the guitar again and allow that same feeling of ease.

When playing your scales, honestly and with constancy, monitor yourself for tension. You'll find it somewhere. Deal with it and relax it. Are your fingers really as relaxed as they can be? Is there tension in the back of your hand? Your wrist? Your Elbow? Only you can find it and relax it. Find that part of your brain that will let it go and feel the effortlessness. If I ask you to freely wiggle your fingers away from the guitar, you can do it easily. That is how it should feel when you're fingering the fretboard. Think of the great players you've watched play the guitar. You see a sense of ease even in the most difficult of passages. That's what makes them great players. How do they do it? It sounds like an oxymoron, but it's because they have worked to honestly assess the tension, let it go, and felt the ease. And they did this work S-L-O-W-L-Y. So slowly that they can't possibly make a mistake.

Try it. (Again) S-L-O-W-L-Y. Suddenly, you're overcome with a true lightness of touch that you'd never had before, and feel the real ease that truly empowers you with confidence, ability and certainty. Playing scales in this way enables you to learn what it really feels like to play the guitar well (and easily!).

NOW, armed with that feeling, that sense of tension-free ease, go off and enjoy playing grand pieces! Learn those pieces equipped with the ability and experience that make it easy to play the guitar well, difficult to play it poorly!

(As always, I invite you to write me with any questions or comments concerning this blog. Click here.)

A Great Night for a Great Cause

2008-03-13T09:06:00.006-04:00

I got a letter today in response to a guitar gig I did a few weeks ago along with my sometime partner (and terrific vocalist), Dawn Newsome, written on behalf of the staff and Trustees of the Virginia Living Museum (VLM). The event, the Bacchus Wine and Food Festival, is an annual fundraiser for the VLM. Just approaching their beautiful building in Newport News, widened my eyes, but then walking through the front door gives one that sense of entering into an extraordinary environment. According to VLM Executive Director, Page Hayhurst, "The Museum serves more than 250,000 tourists, family members and school children each year," with "a contribution to the local economy [of] approximately $9 million annually." I can believe it. It truly is a beautiful place, with a fascinating website (linked above). I didn't get to see nearly as much as I plan to on my return trip.

The festival was sold out to 700 attendees this year, the wine was flowing along side a toothsome spread, and smiles were everywhere. On top of all this there was live music(!) played throughout the museum's various rooms. I always enjoy playing in this kind of setting with people simultaneously enjoying the music and all the milieu has to offer. We gave out a ton of business cards, and of course I always like that.

In her letter, Ms. Hayhurst was kind enough to say that our performance "added another delight for our supporters" and that the VLM's development department has "added [our] name to the Museum's recommended entertainment listing." My thanks Ms. Hayhurst, and the staff and Trustees of the VLM. We loved it as much as you did.

"Make Haste Slowly"

2007-12-07T11:20:00.013-05:00

I got an email from a prospective student today with a common problem that many of you may recognize. Here is the original letter (with name changed) and part of my response:

Hi Herb,

Thanks for the reply. I am self taught and been playing for 12 years with all the books and a few lessons. I have been tinkering with Leyenda and Bourre in e minor for years and can do bits and pieces but would love to master them someday.

Ron

Ron,

I know just where you're coming from when you say you know bits and pieces of certain pieces, without learning them in their entirety. I'm just guessing that you've kind of "plateau-ed" in your learning and playing. This happens with a lot of people who study classical guitar and is perfectly normal. I think I can be a lot of help with that. I've been doing straight guitar gigs -- all guitar solos, no singing -- of three to four hours for many years. I did a three hour gig last night with no music in front of me. I don't tell you this to toot my own horn, but only to convey that i know how to learn an entire piece, without the understandable frustration that can build up with practicing a piece over and over without seeing any real progress in learning the entire piece. Honestly, you're just the kind of student I'm looking for.

Sincerely, Herb.

Whether you're playing the classical guitar, or your favorite songs, knowing bits and pieces of music without being able to play them all the way through is a common problem. With all the new instructions, ideas and thoughts that go into programming the brain to learn the motor-memory that it takes to learn an entire piece — oh, and with good hand positioning and technique, keeping it in time and trying to be musical — it's easy to be overwhelmed. When I learn a new piece, I go about it the same way I would if I were a beginner — I play it so slowly that I can't possibly make a mistake. It works every time and has the great added benefit of helping one towards the ideal of total concentration. Once you can do this it's only a matter of speeding up incrementally — but again at a very slow rate. You've probably heard the phrase "Make haste slowly". It certainly applies here. I've tried to learn pieces too quickly before and have always been dogged afterwards with spotty performances of the particular piece. Sometimes when I feel "hot" I may get through it okay, but at other times being sloppy and unsure. Whenever I take the trouble of "making haste slowly", as partially defined above (and as I always do now), I learn much more quickly(!) in the long run, and am much more prepared to pull it off when I have to on a gig. It's a tortoise and hare story. The tortoise wins every time.

Guitar Instruction

2007-11-19T11:35:00.004-05:00

Recently I've had a few people contact me about guitar lessons. I had given guitar lessons in the past but hadn't taught in a number of years, concentrating mainly on practice and performance. I was once a guitar instructor at Tidewater Community College for music majors. A couple of months ago I decided to start taking on students and I've had a great time teaching. So far I've been blessed with students who actually practice and listen to instruction well and I'm seeing great improvement. It has had unforeseen benefits for me as well. My own focus in my playing has improved sharply. It has gotten me to "practice what I preach" and has helped me become a better "practicer" and ergo, a better player.

I think of my style of teaching as intuitive and it is based on teaching students to learn to really focus on what they are doing. It sounds simple, and it is, but how often do we really focus in our day to day lives? It takes practice, but it is applicable to any aspect of life. I recently read an article by web guitar guru Jamie Andreas on what she calls "perfect intention". Perfect Intention, as she describes it is hearing music "being played by someone who is investing every particle of themselves into every note, the totality of their physical, mental, and emotional selves". That's a pretty heady statement and it describes well the kind of focus I'm taking about. If you'd like to read Jamie's full article, click here.

I truly believe that anyone can learn to play guitar and I base my teaching on aiming for this kind of perfect focus and applying it to the guitar. If it has a spillover effect on other aspects of your life, so much the better. Learning the guitar is a lifelong experience. A very fun and rewarding lifelong experience. If you really want to learn to play the guitar and this brief description of my approach appeals to you, I hope you'll contact me.

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