I had my lesson with Justin yesterday. It was delayed because the time difference, my work hours and Justin's own work load made it difficult to arrange a time. Anyway as with others he asked me to send him a note on things I would like to cover, which i did (they were posture, flat picking, and song writing). The areas I chose deal with specific problems I have with my playing - so I am not sure how much use this will be to other members of the forum - hopefully some of it will be - anyway here goes.
First of all he asked me to play him something to give him an idea of where I am in my journey. So I played the 1st verse and chorus of a song I have been learning to play recently, Crowded House's "Distant Sun", with thankfully no singing, just guitar. He complimented me on my rhythm but said he saw certain parts of the song where I added extra concentration and could be smoother. One particular section was a chord change from a D minor to an F Barre chord. He advised that I should pick out the weak areas and just play those portions rather that playing the whole sequence. I should video myself performing, figure out the areas that weren't up to scratch, figure out why (a difficult chord, a difficult change, picking out a note etc..) and just work on those specific parts until they were right. He mentioned this is something he does himself and is something I should continue doing for as long as I play guitar.
1. Basic Posture
Then we moved onto the items I asked to cover. First was posture. I have never had a lesson with anyone before, so I just wanted to confirm that my basic posture was correct. The wrist of my fretting hand becomes painful when I play barre chords or scales and recently the pain remains with me even after I stop playing - so I asked if he saw anything that I was doing wrong. He gave me a very detailed discussion about carpal tunnel syndrome - about how ligaments and nerves controlling your fingers run the length of your arm and through a tunnel in your wrist and if you put a strain on this area it can cause pain and numbness in your wrist. So he advised me to try stretching exercises for my wrists before playing. He also advised me to drop my shoulder (as shoulder pain is also a common complaint of guitarists) and try to bring my wrist up so it is in line with the rest of my arm (i.e. the wrist doesn't bend). After straightening my wrist, it felt strange as I wasn't used to this pose, but with much less tension than my normal position. This is something I am going to have to work on - but I feel this will probably resolve the pain issue.
I also mentioned a problem I had with anchor fingers, specifically my ring finger on the B string. I find after playing songs that require constant anchor fingers while changing chords (like 'Wonderwall') my finger can move ever so slightly causing a slight buzz to occur on the B string. He thought this could be related to the previous position of my wrist and tiredness. He advised also to video myself and see where and when the movement occurs. He also mentioned that using certain areas in the song to reset the fretting of the fingers - lift the anchor fingers up and reposition them - not to rest them but just to prevent them moving too far away from the fret.
2. Flat Picking
The second item I asked to cover was flat picking. I cannot play riffs correctly. A few years ago I entered the Kinks 'Lola' in the song competition which had a simple riff (for most people) that I couldn't master then and still haven't mastered now. I played it for him and he played it back the way it should sound. He explained unlike my strumming, when picking I wasn't concentrating on the rhythm of the riff. Which was a big aha moment for me. So he didn't mean that I had to keep my hand moving like I was strumming, but in my head it should be moving, keeping the beat, if that makes sense. He suggested slowing down the riff in Transcribe or Audacity, writing it out on tab - working out which are up picks and which are down picks and practise from there - without worrying too much about hitting incorrect strings at the beginning. The important part was to get the rhythm of the riff correct first. He also mentioned a few other song lessons I could use to practise riffs such as Lenny Kravitz "Always on the Run" and "Le Freak" by Nile Rodgers.
3. Song Writing
The final item I asked to discuss was song writing. Initially when I learned that songs could be written using the chords from a key, it was a revelation for me and allowed to write my first songs. Lately I feel the songs I write can sound very basic and have an almost nursery rhyme feel to them. He talked to me about moving outside the chords in the key and changing keys within a song. I hope I have this part right. He gave an example of starting a song in the key of G, and after for example playing a D chord, make the next change to the 5 chord of the key of D which would be an A major chord. This can be tried in any key and it generally sounds good. We talked again about the song Lola and I couldn't work out its key because it had an E major, A Major, D Major and C Major in its verse. He said it was in the key of E because E felt like home, this was why the riff was played on the relative minor pentatonic of C#m.
He told me it was important to know the craft, as he called it, but there were no rules and it was ok to explore chords outside the key. He mentioned that a lot of songs are written just by experimentation. He told me to try figure out why I like the songs that I like and maybe take bits from some of them to combine into my own composition. He played me an example of a Gomez song ('Make No Sound' I think) where the chords in a signature riff sounded off when strummed by themselves but the way Gomez combined them, and by picking only certain strings, it sounded great. So I need to try stuff out and see if it sounds good.
And then all too soon it was over. He was really easy to talk to throughout the lesson - exactly like he is in his lessons. I feel very fortunate to have got a lesson from him, what I learned from him in such a short space of time was very insightful and a really enjoyable hour. I feel extra motivated now to go work on my guitar.
Topic: The 1-to-1 Sessions ... (Read 45811 times)
