21st Century Guitar - Mind Over Matter

Andy Colliar writes...

First in a set of articles covering the more holistic aspects of playing guitar. These articles are for all levels of ability, from beginner to advanced and look to provide broad principles that can be used to expand playing techniques, creativity and expression for guitar and other instruments.

Article 1. Mind over matter

Imagine you are a pro guitar player that's been playing guitar for years. What would it be like for your fingers to simply fall into place for whichever chord, scale or arpeggio you happen to choose without thinking?

By the end of this article you will understand principles that will help you to accelerate this ability.

Muscle Memory
As a guitar player, a great deal of the process of playing guitar is focused on your fingers following instructions your brain instructing how to do it and so on. The more experienced we get, the more these instructions become automatic and buried in the subconscious.

Longer term, a phenomenon called "muscle memory" comes into play. This term effectively means that your muscles, in your fingers, wrists, forearms and arms become, over time, coordinated in such a way that they can act to perform tasks without detailed instruction from the brain.

Regular practice with a focus on accuracy first, and increased speed second, is the most reliable route for acquiring muscle memory.

So what can we do to accelerate the process of acquiring muscle memory?
The same principles (regular practice with a focus on accuracy first and increased speed second) need to be adopted. There is no escaping that fact, but what we can do is take a holistic approach to developing our technique.

The principles in this article do not replace proper, structured practice, but can be used as an enhancement if you want to accelerate the acquisition of muscle memory.

This approach starts with the end in mind: making the process subconscious.

Ok then, so how can we make the process subconscious?
Let's take the example of fretting a chord.

There are options:

1. Traditional practice routines: fretting the same chord again and again, adjusting your fingers and strumming to check the chord plays cleanly every time, adjusting your fingers if there are any issues
2. The same, but taking time out to remove the brain from the equation and avoid thinking about where your fingers need to go, but letting them get on with it...therefore breaking the link between your brain and your fingers and focusing on your muscles and acquiring this memory.

So let’s imagine that what you want to do is break the link between the brain and the fingers. Imagine your fingers (all of them) have a mind of their own. Imagine that you (as the boss) just give them all a general order ("play a D Major chord") and they all go and work together to carry out that order.

Example

In the context of the guitar, let's imagine you want to play a clean, clear, resonant D Major chord.

1. Pick up the guitar. Look at the shape for a chord, let's say D Major, in your guitar book.
2. Finger the chord as you normally would. Take all the time you need to consciously make adjustments, focusing on where your fingers need to go.
3. Check that you are able to strum this chord cleanly. Make any adjustments until you are able to strum the chord cleanly.
4. Now, without removing your fingers from the fretboard, think: how does this chord feel? Where are my fingers in relation to each other? What pressure am I applying? Where are my fingertips? What angle is my wrist at? What would I need to do to get my fingers to do this again? Fingers, what do you need to do next time to make this shape? What shape is my hand in, overall?
5. Now, remove your fingers from the fretboard, keeping them in the shape of the D Major chord. How does this feel? Are you able to keep your fingers grouped together? Hover in the air above the fretboard for a minute
6. Now, place your fingers back on the fretboard, still in the shape of the D Major chord.
7. Check that you are able to strum this chord cleanly. Make any adjustments until you are.

Ask the same questions as before.

The test
Now, here is the test. Remove all your fingers, stretch them and give them a good wiggle. Now, look away from the guitar and fret the D Major chord shape again. Just get your fingers as close to the shape as possible, but without thinking about it!

What would it feel like of your fingers simply knew where to go? You'll feel pretty good if this works out?

Now, before you look back, strum to check the chord. Don't worry if it's not clean or there is fret-buzz.

Now look at your fingers - I'll bet they are not as far off as you would have imagined. Make the minor adjustments, and make a mental note about what adjustments you needed to make and ask yourself, "what will I need to do to improve this next time?"

Repeat this exercise five times. Each time aim to fret all fingers at the same time, without looking at the fretboard, or thinking about your fingers. Each time check how accurate you were after you strummed the chord and make the adjustments.

So, how far off are you? Are you surprised about the results?

Homework
What would it be like to use this approach with every chord in your vocabulary? What about every arpeggio? Every scale?

Phooey
This approach is not a replacement for the traditional approach of developing muscle memory, and this approach does not work for everyone (There are lots of people who dismiss this approach as phooey! Not everyone gets it, or agrees with it. But give it a go; if it agrees with you please continue.)

If you invest time and energy, these principles can help you enhance your growing skills and push your playing confidence and abilities forward.

Remember the key is to switch off your brain and stop controlling your fingers - trust your fingers and subconscious to do the work!

Thanks

Thanks for reading this article. I'd welcome your feedback on these articles. All the best!
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