9
Ran into a guy at the cafe who fixed my whole approach to guitar practice
I was noodling at a little open mic night in Austin last month and this older guy just sat down at my table. He said my playing was good but I was rushing all the tricky parts like I was trying to get through them. He told me to slow down by 20 percent and focus on the space between notes. I tried it the next day and honestly my timing has been way better since then. Anyone else had a random stranger point out something simple that totally changed how you practice?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
hayden_nelson857d ago
Grant actually I think that vibrato analogy is pretty spot on but you might be selling yourself short. That kid at Guitar Center probably meant well but telling someone their vibrato sounds like a dying cat is harsh, not zen. The old guy at my cafe was way more chill about it, very different energy. But hey whatever works right? I told @the_stella about this whole thread and she said her grandpa used to say the same thing about rushing through parts, back when he played in church bands. The point is slowing down is hard because our brains want to get to the finish line but the music lives in the middle.
7
grantmartinez10d ago
So wait, did you ask this guy if he was secretly a zen master or something? Because that's some next level advice right there. I had a similar thing happen at a guitar center once, some kid told me my vibrato sounded like a dying cat. He was right too, I was just wiggling my finger like a maniac. Took me like a week to unlearn my bad habits but it was worth it. Now my cat doesn't run away when I practice.
0