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Even though you are against it, I suggest you learn every song you
can. Emulation is really the best way to learn anything. You should
learn and absorb every lick you can, no matter how cliched, and then
forget them! You'll find that after awhile you subconciously filter
these cliches through your own experience, it's kind of like making a
stew, mixing the ingredients and comming up with your own flavors.
Just don't copy exclusively from one source, copy everyone! sooner or
later it'll sound like you. This might sound like B.S. , But it's
absolutely true. You also gain a wealth of information by just
analyzing the playing of others. After all this is how we all learn
to talk, and music is a very similar process. If you ask me,
learning a bunch of theory doesn't really help much because music is
spiritual in nature, not just 'nuts and bolts'. I learned my theory
much after I was accomplished on the guitar and I'm glad of it
because I wasn't limited by a bunch of esoteric rules that were only
really meant for analytical purposes, and my playing took on it's own
voice regardless. Unless you're orchestrating a score for an
orchestra most music theory can be pretty useless, I mean, I know
all about the 'cycle of fiths', but never in my entire music carrer
(over 20 years ) have I ever had to use it. So unless you are a
virtuoso ( how many of us are?!!) just copy anything and everything;
I gaurantee you'll be glad you did.
--- In SurfGuitar101@y..., "ultra_blue" <ultra_blue@y...> wrote:
> Hey, everybody:
>
> I've had some recent experiences with guitar instructors and I
> thought y'all might be able to provide me with some advice.
>
> First off, let me say that I've noodling for about 20 years; I've
had
> some theory at the college level, and some band/gig experience, a
few
> years ago.
>
> Ever since I first picked up the guitar, I've never really played
> covers. Sure, I learned some standard guitar store licks (Smoke on
> the Water, Stairway to Heaven, etc), but the vast majority of my
work
> has been original. I would much rather play my own stuff than other
> people's, and frankly, I'm pretty good at it. This has left some
> pretty big gaps in my edumacation (especially with leads) and I've
> sought to fill those holes with formal training.
>
> However, I'm a little soured by the experiences that I've had. Of
the
> last three instructors that I've tried (who have also gotten the
> above introduction), not a single one has asked me to play for them
> or requested a recording before beginning instruction. This seems
to
> be an utter waste of my time. In addition, they all told me that if
I
> want to improve, I have to start learning covers. I have to say
that
> I think this is total BS. I'm pretty well set in my ways, and I
know
> I hold the pick funny, and that I should probably change my right
> hand position, but the days when that kind of stuff mattered to me
> are long gone.
>
> So, my questions to y'all are:
>
> Do I really need instruction or should I consider collaboration
> instead?
> Should I seek out mentors instead of instructors?
> Am I an unusual student and therefore need an unusual instructor?
>
> What's your feeling on learning covers as opposed to working on
> original material?
>
> Are there any instructors (or students) out there that could
provide
> some guidance as to what to look for (and look out for) when
choosing
> teachers?
>
> Is there a point in the learning process where "traditional"
> instruction is no longer going to provide good results?
>
> Would I be better off getting instruction with song-writing as
> opposed to technique? Do people teach that kind of thing?
>
> I would appreciate any responses... feel free to respond directly
to
> me, but I would prefer if the group had a chance to participate.
>
> Thanks!
> Blue
>
> Albuquerque, New Mexico
