If you discovered a musical "secret" would you share it?

[Li Shenron]

Hi. I feel that playing the guitar is an esoteric art. There are legends about going down to the crossroads in exchange for secret musical knowledge. If you have studied and searched for many years to discover the secrets of guitar, secrets not found in the books, would you share them? If you shared them, they would not be secret anymore; you'd lose your signature sound. It's a lot like finding magical spells and formulas. You don't give them away.

There is no secret

[Knottyhed]

Hi. I feel that playing the guitar is an esoteric art. There are legends about going down to the crossroads in exchange for secret musical knowledge. If you have studied and searched for many years to discover the secrets of guitar, secrets not found in the books, would you share them? If you shared them, they would not be secret anymore; you'd lose your signature sound. It's a lot like finding magical spells and formulas. You don't give them away.

I think the only secret to the guitar is the one that most people don't want to hear - that getting good at it is just a matter of a putting the effort in

Talking on a theoretical basis though, I'd like to think that if I knew something nobody else did about guitar I'd tell people about it.

[Knottyhed]

I honestly feel that it is a process of endlessly studying, thinking, and experimenting that allows one to arrive at a series of musical shortcuts that others don't know. I compare it to a mathematician who discovers an equation that solves a problem.

I think the endless studying, thinking, experimenting *is* the secret... I've not come accross any shortcuts - I've improved because of the time I've spent playing. Can you give an example of a 'secret' you suddenly discovered that suddenly revolutionised your playing?

All I could point to is break-throughs I've made - but I can't explain to someone else how to make a break-though other than to tell them to spend plenty of time practicing until it falls into place.

The EVH tapping example is a good one I guess, but then he wasn't yet famous, was trying to get noticed at a time when there were alot of hot-shot guitarists going around and having "discovered" a different (but rather easy) technique I guess he didn't want everyone to do it. Having said that EVH didn't invent tapping anyway, he's just often credited with it

[1001gear]

Remember Sorceror's Apprentice?
How about that guy who "don't practice Santeria" ? Can you imagine clamming that stuff?
Even for those who have gone that route the road is long and costly.
There are secrets - that's no secret... but there are no shortcuts.
Stay true to your studies. You wont regret it.

[WhiskeyClone]

That's a good question... I would share it in the form of music. If someone out there deciphers what it is I'm doing, then they can play it too. They'll never sound exactly like me though

[Knottyhed]

Here's the secret to playing guitar really well:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Vai
"An interesting point to note is Vai's commitment to practice. In several guitar magazines and texts, he is reported to practice upwards of eight hours per day, a habit he began as early as his high school days."

http://www.yngwie.org/JL-Other.htm
"I used to practice eight hours a day, seven days a week,"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Van_Halen
"Practice. I used to sit on the edge of my bed with a six-pack of Schlitz Malt talls. My brother would go out at 7pm to party and get laid, and when he'd come back at 3am, I would still be sitting in the same place, playing guitar. I did that for years

[WhiskeyClone]

 

Here's the secret to playing guitar really well:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Vai "An interesting point to note is Vai's commitment to practice. In several guitar magazines and texts, he is reported to practice upwards of eight hours per day, a habit he began as early as his high school days."   http://www.yngwie.org/JL-Other.htm "I used to practice eight hours a day, seven days a week,"   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Van_Halen "Practice. I used to sit on the edge of my bed with a six-pack of Schlitz Malt talls. My brother would go out at 7pm to party and get laid, and when he'd come back at 3am, I would still be sitting in the same place, playing guitar. I did that for years

[black cobra]

I am ready to give away what I feel is an ancient musical secret. Like the best secret information, it is much simpler than you ever dreamed. This secret is about how to write melodies. Is anyone interested?

[Dubb]

That's the secret to great technique, not the secret to playing good music. I might actually like what those guys play if they practiced LESS.

That makes no sense. The style of music that they choose to make has nothing to do with how many hours they practice. You want to know another musician who practiced upwards of 8 hours a day? Jimi Hendrix. Also many jazz musicians. The fact is that there are guitarists of all styles who practice obsessively, and you're deluding yourself if you think that practicing LESS will make you BETTER at playing certain kinds of music. Yngwie and Vai may have chosen to spend a great deal of their practice time on technique, but there are a hundred other things you can practice instead, and the more you practice them, the better you get at them, period.

[black cobra]

The fact is, it doesn't require an obsessive amount of time to write a great melody. Consider the first phrase to the song, Moon River: 3 syllables. How much practice does it take to come up with something like that?

[Dubb]

The fact is, it doesn't require an obsessive amount of time to write a great melody.

Who said it did? Congratulations on missing the point completely.

 

And please, I'm sure we're all dying to hear your "ancient musical secret."

[black cobra]

 

Who said it did? Congratulations on missing the point completely. And please, I'm sure we're all dying to hear your "ancient musical secret."

 

 

Who said it did? Well the above few posts that said to create great music, you should practice 8 hours a day.

[piesore]

That makes no sense. The style of music that they choose to make has nothing to do with how many hours they practice. You want to know another musician who practiced upwards of 8 hours a day? Jimi Hendrix. Also many jazz musicians. The fact is that there are guitarists of all styles who practice obsessively, and you're deluding yourself if you think that practicing LESS will make you BETTER at playing certain kinds of music. Yngwie and Vai may have chosen to spend a great deal of their practice time on technique, but there are a hundred other things you can practice instead, and the more you practice them, the better you get at them, period.

 

 

That's true, Hendrix I think practiced more than that actually, since he never had a non-musical day job so he'd wake up and practice, practice before he'd go to sleep, fall sleep with his guitar and wake up and do it all over again. Even once he got famous, he'd put in 12 hour or more recording sessions. He'd even go to movies with a guitar strapped to his back, and practice before and after gigs.

 

If you become constrained to a certain sound through practicing, that just means your a bad musician, proper practice will open up your creativity and sound. You have to learn the fundamentals of music to do this, and then apply those fundamentals to whatever you do.

 

I think the mistake is made that you can only sound like a souless 80s butt rocker if you learn theory and practice relentlessly, because those guys HAD to go that route, there's no alternative to learning that kind of music.0

 

But while it's true you need very little technical expertise to create your own unique sound with guitar, to maintain your relevance as a musican and both explore the depths of this sound and successfully move beyond it, you have to seriously study your instrument and practice tons, applying the knowledge you do have to hundreds, if not thousands of songs. Eventually, once you actually understand these songs you'll be able to write ones like them. At the end of the day, that's really all there is to it, it's simple, but not easy.

[1001gear]

Who said it did? Well the above few posts that said to create great music, you should practice 8 hours a day.

 

 

The 8hrs a day is in aspiration to the ability to operate ones instrument - hopefully to the highest musical specifications.

The three magic notes, well they need a magic reason too. And it's still a ton of work putting a piece together.

[telesan]

Yes, I'd share "the secret" by recording it on DVD, then I'd create a cheesy infomercial website about the "secret", spam the H-C lessons loft and charge the sheeple $200 to "learn" the secret:idea:

[Dubb]

Yes, I'd share "the secret" by recording it on DVD, then I'd create a cheesy infomercial website about the "secret", spam the H-C lessons loft and charge the sheeple $200 to "learn" the secret:idea:

:lol:

[WhiskeyClone]

That makes no sense. The style of music that they choose to make has nothing to do with how many hours they practice.

 

 

Haha, that was meant as a bit of a joke... obviously more practicing can't hurt.

 

But in my experience, guys that are known for spending ridiculous numbers of hours building monstrous chops tend to overplay. I can't stand Vai and Malmsteen because all I hear is showing off. Everything has to be so {censored}ing perfect and intentional; as silly as it sounds, I would expect to hear more interesting musical ideas if their technical abilities were less refined.

 

I do not lump Hendrix in with the virtuoso crowd; he never played with impeccable technique, he played out of tune a lot, he hit unintentional notes fairly often. And he was fantastic.

 

And from what I've read about Hendrix, he didn't practice 8 hours a day; he played all day. AFAIK he didn't run through 40 scales and 84 arpeggios every day. And thank god for that.

 

I guess it just comes down to preference, really, but for some reason I don't like the playing of those guys who have made a point of developing perfect technique and vast theoretical knowledge.

[Knottyhed]

The fact is, it doesn't require an obsessive amount of time to write a great melody. Consider the first phrase to the song, Moon River: 3 syllables. How much practice does it take to come up with something like that?

In isolation there's nothing great about that one line. The whole song is a classic (well I don't like it much, but i can appreciate it without liking it) and there's quite alot to it.

More to the point you should go read about the guy who wrote the melody: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Mancini

Started playing flute at 8, piano lessons at 12, attended Julliard school of music in New Youk, touring with bands, studying under 2 reknowned composers, wrote over 100 film scores and won a record number of Grammy awards...

Sure sounds like to me like writing a song like Moon River takes rather alot of practice

I'm sorry to say it - but I come accross people all the time that say things like "oh i don't practice too much because I want to write great melodies and play with feeling". So far ,without exception, not only do these people have decidedly underwealming technique, they can't play with feel or write great music either. It is BECAUSE THEY DON'T PRACTICE IT and making a virtue out of not trying to improve is nothing more than self-deluded excuse making. If you want to excel at something, you have to make sacrificies and dedicate yourself to it. Period.

I'd like to make clear, before anyone accuses me of it that I'm not just talking about guitar technique, it goes for any aspect of music, or, in fact, pretty much anything in life. If you put in an average amount of time and effort, you will have average skills.

[Knottyhed]

Haha, that was meant as a bit of a joke... obviously more practicing can't hurt. But in my experience, guys that are known for spending ridiculous numbers of hours building monstrous chops tend to overplay. I can't stand Vai and Malmsteen because all I hear is showing off. Everything has to be so {censored}ing perfect and intentional; as silly as it sounds, I would expect to hear more interesting musical ideas if their technical abilities were less refined.

 

 

I can see that with Malmsteen; I find his music a bit pompous - from what I gather that's kinda a reflection of the man himself. Still nobody can deny that his ability to play, and just because I don't like his music, it doesn't make it bad. Lets face it, unlike anyone posting here YM is a world famous musician/guitarist and song writer, so I think it is fair to say he deserves respect for his achievements in the field of music.

 

Vai on the other hand, I never get why people dismiss him as a 'shredder' as if all his songs were nothing more than a sweep argeggio exercise... his compositional skills are superb in my opinion, and on top of that he actually plays slow most of the time and only lets rip when it's appropriate.

[Knottyhed]

Actually they don't say that at all. They say practicing 8 hours a day will make you a great guitarist. But we all know that being a great guitarist and creating great music are not mutually inclusive... especially now that you've "cracked the code" to writing melodies! Please enlighten us with your forbidden knowledge

Don't upset him - he might not tell us... and then we'll just have to carry on wasting all that time practicing when we could be playing nintendo instead.

[Terje]

Hi. I feel that playing the guitar is an esoteric art. There are legends about going down to the crossroads in exchange for secret musical knowledge. If you have studied and searched for many years to discover the secrets of guitar, secrets not found in the books, would you share them? If you shared them, they would not be secret anymore; you'd lose your signature sound. It's a lot like finding magical spells and formulas. You don't give them away.

 

 

For over two decades T-Bone Walker was by far the hippest electric blues guitarist on the planet. He shared everything with any musician he met. Nuff said.

[Knottyhed]

For over two decades T-Bone Walker was by far the hippest electric blues guitarist on the planet. He shared everything with any musician he met. Nuff said.

 

 

Nuff said indeed. Music would be in a sorry state if musicians didn't share what they know.

[WhiskeyClone]

Lets face it, unlike anyone posting here YM is a world famous musician/guitarist and song writer, so I think it is fair to say he deserves respect for his achievements in the field of music. Vai on the other hand, I never get why people dismiss him as a 'shredder' as if all his songs were nothing more than a sweep argeggio exercise...

 

 

I know, I know... I was a bit harsh. I respect them both as musicians; I just don't share the same taste in music. I find Vai's playing over-the-top most of the time too, even the slow stuff; I can't help it.

 

It is incredible what they are capable of playing on the guitar; but for some reason I have never discovered a player with that level of chops that sounds good to me. I was trying to put my finger on why that is.

[Dimebag666]

Only secret is practice

strange i've always loved malmsteen. Yeh he's a pompous ass and his music reflects that but he is rock n roll. Don't know how to explain it but its one of those bands/players that just make me feel real upbeat, plus i generally like technical guitar driven music.

Vai on the other hand to me just sounds like masturbation most of the time. Ridiculous amounts of effects and he wont take his hand of his whammy bar.
plenty of respect for him as a player, damn good, just bores me.

[Knottyhed]

Only secret is practice

 

 

My point exactly - if you want to write great music, you have to write alot of music, if you want to play really technical guitar you have to play alot of guitar, if you want to be a proffessional basket ball player you have to spend alot of time playing basket ball, if you want to be a nuclear physicist you have to spend alot of time studying nuclear physics... even if you are lucky enough to have natural talent at something you still have to work you a$$ off to make the most out of it.