Guitar Players are often responsible for adding harmony and structure to a piece of music. Harmony, in essence as we perceive it in music, is a balance of one or more notes within the given musical environment. As we think of this balance in terms of musicality, we often overlook the need for balance in the physicality of playing. Without this awareness we open ourselves up for the dissonance to overthrow the balance of harmony and cause physical discomforts.

“The best prevention is to stretch the hands and fingers before and after practicing or performing”

The most common physical threat to guitarists is RSI or Repetitive Strain Injury. There are many types of RSI (many commonly referred to as Carpel Tunnel, Tennis Elbow, or even Tendinitis) and the name says it all. Repeating particular scales or chords, especially ones that require some fancy finger-work, cause the muscles to overwork in one direction leaving the opposite muscles weak which in turn creates the imbalance which eventually leads to swelling, achiness, and arthritic pain. RSI is much like spraining a wrist or ankle, but in the case of guitarists the discomfort is usually experienced in either one of the first 3 fingers and or the palm near the thumb. Ignoring the early onset of RSI can cause some long-term difficulties, so it’s best to “nip that sucka in the bud” as soon as you feel it, or better yet start implementing some preventative measures now.

The best prevention is to stretch the hands and fingers before and after practicing or performing. There are several great resources for guitarists in regards to hand stretches but I will suggest one that is crucial. As I mention RSI is caused by over-straining the muscles in one direction, so by adding resistance and working the muscles the other way, we can correct this. So we fret pushing our fingers inward towards the neck so to work the opposite muscle group, place a rubber band over your fingertips and thumb (holding them all straight and touching the fingertips together) simply open and close the hand. The resistance of the rubber-band will help build the muscles that will balance out your fret hand (do this for your picking hand as well).

If you’re already feeling the pain of RSI then take a few days off from practicing, try to keep the fingers out straight and maybe even use an icepack (or a bag of frozen french fries from your freezer). There are many healthy ways to approach the healing process as well. Keep the joints hydrated by drinking lots of water. Supply the muscles, bones, and joints with all the nutrients they need to be strong. As a longtime student of the healing arts and dabbling herbalist I would recommend taking a multi-vitamin and mineral supplement and Glucosamine which will greatly help you heal fast and stay healthy. There are also many holistic herbs (ie: Devil’s Claw, Black Cohosh, Valerian Root, etc.) that can aide with the swelling and pain. But again, and most importantly be sure to practice proper stretching and exercise.

So practice with care and always play it safe. After all, your music is in your hands!

* * * * *

Scott “SVH” Von Heldt is a staff writer for SMG. Scott is currently the lead guitarist for Brian “Head” Welch (ex-Korn) and has worked with members of White Zombie, Cirque Du Soliel and many others. In late 2008 he released the first book of his Mystic Art of Self-Discovery series entitled Mind Over Metal: The Musician’s Guide to Mental Mastery.

Email: SVH@sharemyguitar.com

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Whether you’re getting ready for your first gig at the local coffee house jam session or preparing for a huge tour, one thing is for certain, it takes a lot of preparatory work to make sure the gig goes off without a hitch. There are several things that factor in to each and every gig and by taking the time to prepare for the desired outcome you will build insight, or “MILEAGE” as we musicians often call it, that will help you in every aspect of your journey as a player or performer.

Photo by deep schismic

1. Perfect the tunes

It’s probably the most obvious place to start, but perfecting your songs and any “Flash” or “Swagger” you wanna add in the live performance needs to be clearly mapped out well in advance. Often groups or players change the songs arrangement a bit to keep it interesting so all these types of things should be practiced regularly.

One thing that I have found to be hugely valuable is having a recorded version of the set with all the songs recorded as they will be played live. This can be a boom box recording of a jam session or anything else that will give you a solid reference to practice with. This will help ingrain the tempos and parts in your mind as you practice. It’s a great idea to play the set along with your recording then go back and work on any weak spots in the set. It’s also of extreme importance to practice using whatever gear you plan to use live. For example, if you have a solo and you’re gonna be borrowing your homies wah pedal for the gig, invite him over for a beer a week prior to the gig and ask him to bring his pedal so you can work on the solo. You want to always make sure to take into account the effects you’ll be using and practice switching smoothly from one sound to another.

2. Get Your Head on Straight

It’s important to be mentally prepared and this is also something that you should practice leading up to your gig. I have seen a poor attitude ruin many potential amazing shows and it can start long before you ever get to a venue. As you practice, get in the mindset that you’re at the gig onstage in front of your crowd. Build in your mind how the show will flow, what you’ll say in between songs etc. These little subtle preparations will help ensure a smooth flowing set at your gig!

3. Get Yourself in Shape

Physical preparation is most often overlooked by musicians. The truth is that performing is taxing on the body, especially if you are touring and playing multiple shows in a row. It’s important to stretch and loosen all the muscle groups that you use to perform (ie: your wrists and forearms, shoulders, chest and lungs if you sing, etc). Being loose and relaxed will always ensure a smooth performance. Also staying hydrated is essential. The heat of the stage lights compounded with nerves and adrenaline can drain your energy really fast.

4. Get in The Spirit of Performing

What you want to do here is prepare yourself to have a good time and make some people smile and feel good with your music. It’s an easy concept but getting in the spirit of the music can really make a seemingly dull gig the best one yet. I’ve looked out at a few almost empty clubs and looked at the band and said “Fellas, we may not be playing to 15,000 people tonight but DAMN IT – we’re gonna ACT like it!” If it’s one person or 100,000 people, ALWAYS show up with the music in your heart and give 110%. You NEVER know who might be listening.

So go on and get busy gettin’ ready to ROCK and remember the it ain’t the ingredients that make a tasty cake, it’s the preparation!

* * * * *

Scott “SVH” Von Heldt is a staff writer for SMG. Scott is currently the lead guitarist for Brian “Head” Welch (ex-Korn) and has worked with members of White Zombie, Cirque Du Soliel and many others. In late 2008 he released the first book of his Mystic Art of Self-Discovery series entitled Mind Over Metal: The Musician’s Guide to Mental Mastery.

Email: SVH@sharemyguitar.com

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Playing guitar presents so many wonders and many challenges. The deeper one dives into this art of expression that we call music, the more challenges cross your path.

Rise up and fight your way through the barricades and continue on your mission towards greatness!

Float Like a Butterfly, Strum Like a G

As you begin to feel the excitement and joy of making music, many roadblocks will appear in your way, hoping that you will just simply stop dead in your tracks. But if you stay true to your desire to better yourself as a guitarist, then there will be no limitation.

I started playing guitar around age 12 and by 13 I was certain I had found my calling. I practiced night and day and by 17 was ready to be the next Satriani. I released 2 six song (Cassette) EP’s by the age of 19 and was playing all over Northern Ohio and felt I was well on my way to rock stardom!

By age 20 I decided it was time to form the ultimate metal band that would take me to the top! We started opening for some big acts like Quiet Riot, Slaughter, and Overkill, then started creating a local metal scene of which we were crowned the kings. It was all coming together nicely.

Well then comes real life! With age comes more responsibilities, more bills, less time to devote to your art, and man equipment is so expensive and I really need the best and…. AHHHHH!!! How do I juggle all this? But none-the-less we were still out there shedding it up for about 8 years or so. I think 6 or 7 singers, and 3 bass players later we were still kickin’ ass, aside from all the drama before it came time to pack it up and move on.

Brian Welch better known as Head and former lead guitarist of the multiplatinum rock band Korn!

Into The Great Wide Open

They were done chasing the dream, but I wasn’t. I packed up all my stuff and headed for LA where I was SURE to FINALLY make it big! So I landed here now 29 years old (10 years after I had done those solo tapes and was on my way to “rock stardumb”) I was here to show the world what’s up with SVH!

Well I won’t bore you with all the drama but between then and now I have done countless auditions, had 2 killer original bands going that both fell apart for ridiculous reasons, and found myself one year ago playing to four people at a Chinese restaurant (1 of which was my wife and two former band mates). Okay, at this point I was about ready to hang up my gloves and give up the fight, but two weeks later I got a call from HEAD’s (ex- KoRn guitarist) manager about auditioning for his band. I went out a week later to audition and landed the gig! You gotta know I was damn glad I kept the gloves on and kept up the fight!

Now it’s been no easy ride this past year either. We had a lot of issues and played very few shows and didn’t make much, but we kept fighting through every challenge and this year all the pieces of the puzzle are coming together and next month I get to play to 10,000 people at an outdoor musicfest!

So the point is… NEVER give up, NEVER lose hope, and NEVER stop fighting for what you want in life. You NEVER know when you’re about to throw that knockout punch.

There are many ways that a guitarist can progress and improve upon their skill level no matter what style of music they play or skill level they are currently at. One thing that has proven to be a valuable asset to any musician is the perfection of technique.

Technically Speaking

No matter how much raw talent or ability one innately possesses the one thing that always makes particular artists stand out is their individual technique. This is what set Bruce Lee apart from all other martial artists was his explosive and precise technique. Men like Kobe Bryant & Michael Phelps are great athletic examples of technical perfectionism and stand among the elite due to their personal dedication to the mastery of winning technique.

So what exactly is technique? Webster’s dictionary defines it as the manner in which technical details are treated (as by a writer) or basic physical movements are used (as by a dancer); also: ability to treat such details or use such movements (good piano technique). A body of technical methods (as in a craft or in scientific research) or a method of accomplishing a desired aim. In a nutshell, it is the ability to use all of the subtleties within your art to transform your music from being impressive to becoming explosive!

Break it Down

So what does it take to really become a master of technique? Well it takes a keen attention to detail, a clear acknowledgment of your strengths and weaknesses, and a willing attitude to practice till it’s perfect! Once we can visualize all the little details of our music, recognize our strong points and weak points in performing them, and then dedicate the time and patience to strengthen the weaknesses and perfect the strengths, we can build an explosive technique that will become an inspiration to anyone who sees or hears us perform our music.

By dissecting each little nuance of a song, riff or scale pattern, we can tap into it’s essence and make a deeper connection to our own creativity. This deeper connectivity will help us hone in on weaknesses and strengths and we will be better suited to build harmony and balance between the two. The outcome will be a flawless performance with unrivaled intensity.

Know Thyself

A great way to start is to take inventory of your skills. Are you a good riffer, is two-handed tapping a strength you have, are you a sweep-picking GOD (if so hit me up we need to talk), and so forth. Once you can identify every technique in your arsenal you can then start to dissect each one, finding ways to improve each nuance and create an explosive technique! Then you can put them all together and intertwine them in your music! This will undoubtedly start unraveling your own personal style and develop a sound that is all YOU!

So what makes a good musician stand out in a crowd? Technically it’s TECHNIQUE!

Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood

The law of the five elements has long been a huge part of martial arts, philosophy, mystical and alchemical practices and many areas of the healing arts and Eastern medicine. By understanding the properties of each element we can unlock the nature of its power. We can then explore the idea of this power and use it as a strategy or we can conceptualize an expression of its energy.

There are many different interpretations of the five elements and their meanings and they vary from culture to culture and by the applications that they are used in. In my studies I have found the Japanese names of the five elements and the path of their natural and destructive cycles to be the most in tune with how they apply to music. These elements are Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood. Many times you will see Ether or Air as one of the five elements usually in place of Wood, but I like to think of Air as the invisible sixth element that binds the main 5 together.

Understanding the Cycle

Each element has its place in a natural and destructive cycle of life. In a natural cycle for instance, Fire burns Wood and creates ash that becomes part of the Earth the ash gives nutrients to the Earth which produces Metal in the form of minerals and ore. The Water that is present in the Earth and that is acquired from rainfall mixes with these minerals giving nutrients to plants and the cycle begins anew. In a destructive cycle you see how one element overpowers another for instance, Fire can melt Metal and Metal can pierce through Wood and Wood can grow up from and break through the Earth and the Earth can absorb Water and Water can put out Fire. So we see the nature of these elements and we can see how understanding their nature can give us insight in other areas of life.

Aside from the cycles of these elements as they intertwine, each individual element has it’s own unique energy characteristic. In the Ninja arts there are evasive and attack maneuvers all based on the elements. For example an Earth evasion technique would be something like hiding in a tree trunk or a ditch, using the Earth as a means of hiding or a Water technique like remaining underwater in a river using a small shoot of bamboo as an air source. By understanding the nature of the elements the Ninja is able to apply the concepts of each to blend in to his surroundings and use their energy for his next attack.

Ninja Magic for Guitarists

In this same manner, the five elements can play a huge role in the Alchemy of music. Understanding the ideas behind the energies and how they work can open our minds to see new ways of writing and expressing ourselves through music. Let’s take a look at a song structure and see how it may relate to the elements. We start with the Wood energy, which is a growing energy (very much like an intro or beginning of a song grows). Then we move into Earth energy, which is a stable energy (or the main verse or body of your song). From there we ad some Fire which is our expanding and explosive energy (your hook or theme). After repeating this cycle we fade into Water energy, which is a dissolving or sinking energy (much like an outro or fade out).

This is a very basic song format that I translated into elemental energies, but look at the possibilities that await us if we can use the energies to create a unique song structure or to highlight particular moods. Outlining techniques based on the energy they portray can open our minds and ad a magical presence to our expression of life through music.

There is so much that can be written about the Alchemy of music as it has been a part of Shamanism, Healing, Spirituality, Eastern Philosophies and much more. There are so many studies about the charkas, elements, Solfeggio frequencies, music and sound therapy etc. that the resources are limitless. My attempt here is to give you a slight glimpse as to how sound; vibrations and energy all carry a power within them. When amplified by our musical expression, this power can transform our lives and have a deep and meaningful impact on all who listen.

Identify Your Weaknesses

It is very true that sometimes our greatest strengths rise out of our biggest weaknesses. When we can identify anything that is holding us back in any way from achieving success, be it a small thing or our life’s purpose, we have already begun the process of becoming stronger. As musicians it is quite often that we are faced with the challenge of overcoming a weakness and persistence is the key to making it happen.

Don’t Give Up When Things Get Tough

How many times have you been given the task of learning a particularly difficult piece of music or wanted to learn a particular song and upon seeing the challenge in front of you decided to pass on it? Or how often have you seen a friend or neighbor who is ecstatic about taking up guitar or piano lessons, only to see them a month later and find out that they quit their lessons?! This is a common occurrence in the world of fine arts as people are often not willing to overcome the challenges to fulfill their hearts desires.

If everyone who has come before us were to have bowed down before a challenge, our world would have not developed and we would all still be living out our short existence in caves and hunting for food with our bare hands. But there have been those who have stared into the face of adversity and viewed each challenge as a stepping-stone leading to a future of greatness.

Put Your Energy Into Improving Your Weak Areas

And so it is with music. The way to excel is to pinpoint the areas of our talents that are the weakest and with a strong will and perseverance, work to overcome them and transform them into strengths. A singer expands their range by building strength in the lungs and by slowly but surely breaking through the boundaries that limit their expansion. No one is just born with the power of Pavarotti or the beauty of Beethoven. But with a meticulous attention to the weak spots in our abilities, we can consciously overcome the fear of being trapped behind their limitations. Likewise, as we overcome even the smallest limitation, we add an extreme sense of empowerment to our whole being. This empowerment ignites the strengths we do possess and makes them explosive!

A great fighter works on the weakest side of his or her body twice as much as their strong side. In this, they create a balance of total strength. This harmonious balance is the very thing every musician seeks to achieve and by seeing through a weakness to recognize the strength within it is the first step!

Applying scientific laws to the art of shredding involves some physiological factors. Although a higher tension with regards to tonality raises a frequency, tension inside the physical body while attempting to play with speed and accuracy has an opposing effect and slows down the muscles. To perform with speed and agility one must be calm and relaxed so that the muscles and tendons used to physically play out the music are not held back from achieving their peak level of performance.

Another important physiological factor of shredding is the creation of muscle memory. We have all learned from the beginning of our musical training that practice makes perfect and this is especially true when it comes to any type of performance that is physically challenging. Practicing scale patterns or cadences at a slow steady pace and then slowly increasing the speed after several repetitions of correct execution not only helps to build your strength to play faster, but also it creates a memory of the physical motion in your muscles.

Much in the way a martial artist would do a kata or particular attack or defense pattern repeatedly until perfection is achieved before trying to do it with great speed, a musician can perfect their performance in the same manner. When I first started learning to wield the nunchaka not only did I have to start slow as to not knock myself out with each swing, but also I learned the importance of getting it right before speeding it up. Starting with basic hand over hand movements I would do 100 or so repetitions and regardless if I was at 9 or 95 reps if I made a mistake I would start from the beginning. By taking the time to correct a false move or wrong notes in a pattern of music we further ingrain in our minds and our bodies the right way to perform with intensity. Speed then becomes the next natural progression and is much easier to achieve.

It is also important to always practice with intensity. Although intensity and attitude usually are associated with the mind, by adding that conscious intent into your repetitive action your practice is just as powerful as your performance and this needs to be instilled in that muscle memory as well.

There are a lot of great materials out there that will offer great tips on shredding techniques, scale patterns and much more but the first part of really understanding the power of speed and how to achieve it comes with understanding how it works and why. Now that you have gained an insight into the science of shredding you can apply it to your music. So put the pedal to the metal and rip it up!

Steven Seagal – Aikido Master and Blues Guitarist

Realization is the awakening of a certain level of understanding, in which something that appeared unclear has revealed its secret and the mystery behind it has been exposed. It is the act of knowing what is real and aligning ones vision with each new truth as it is unveiled. So in essence one could say SELF-realization is looking at life through the REAL EYES of the self! By finding that deeper connectivity to the creative essence that makes YOU a unique individual, you will give your life and your art a new purpose and a desire to express it by simply living up to the highest conception you have of yourself.

So how does one go about realizing the self through music? It begins by studying your own nature, such as your habits, your ideas, your dreams and desires. By understanding clearly what it is that you wish to achieve and by identifying the habits you have adopted that keep you from reaching that goal. With this understanding we can re-sculpt our lives to express whom we really are.

“Don’t compromise yourself. You are all you’ve got.”
– Janis Joplin

To fully express your self, you have to know yourself and unfortunately most people identify themselves with how they are perceived by others. We have become so consumed with our appearance to others that we take drastic measures to appear, as we would assume others would wish us to appear. By viewing yourself through the eyes of others you become detached from your intuitive voice that is calling out for you to fully express the depths of your being.

Music is an art form by which we cultivate our individuality, so to punish yourself for not living up to someone else’s expectations or raising your own expectations to please someone else is completely counter productive. You may as well put down the guitar and walk in the other direction, because that’s literally what you would be doing to yourself, walking in a completely different direction than the direction that the “real you” wants to go in. By learning to control your thoughts and only focus on that which will aide in the fulfillment of your purpose, you will be able to tune your mind, body and spirit with the frequency of your true self.

Self-discovery is also a process of cultivation, which is the same thing we are doing as musicians every time we practice. We are cultivating our creative expression and perfecting the techniques to perform them in a way that will project that creative expression through our art. This is the ultimate aim of a martial artist as well, so let’s take a moment to compare these two forms of artistry. In martial arts there is a warrior mentality present, that mentality is to be aware of your opponent and be prepared to intercept the energy that of their attack and counteract it in a way that you use its force against them. It is the same with music; you can learn to gracefully use the energy of each musical technique to create your perfect masterpiece.

Through your experience as an artist expressing yourself begins with knowing yourself. Through this process of self-discovery you will unlock hidden potential within you that will be transmitted through your art infusing it with a great power and presence.

No matter how much raw talent or ability one innately possesses the one thing that always makes particular artists stand out is their individual technique.  So what does it take to really become a master of technique? Well it takes a keen attention to detail. By dissecting each little nuance of playing we can tap into it’s essence and make a deeper connection to our own creativity. This deeper connectivity will help us hone in on weaknesses and strengths and we will be better suited to build harmony and balance between the two. The outcome will be a flawless performance with unrivaled intensity.

I’ll share with you some age old wisdom that was passed on to me at a young age.

My grandfather was a great man and probably the most influential teacher in my life. He was a kind and patient man that taught me many valuable life lessons that to this day still mold me into a better man. One of the things I learned from him at a very young age was if you’re gonna do something, do it right the first time. His life long passion was to restore old classic cars. As one of the founders of the Car Coddlers of Ohio auto club, he had plenty of opportunities to work on some amazing cars. Many of these cars ages ranged from the 20’s through the 40’s.

One day I went into his garage and watched him work, as I often did, but this time I was quickly confused by what he was doing. He was working with the door on an old Model T Ford and it seemed like he was just taking the door off and then putting it back on over and over again. Being about 10 or 11 years old,  I had no clue why he would keep moving that door on and off again. Finally my curiosity got the best of me and I asked him why he kept doing this. He walked me over to the car and reattached the door and as he closed it he said “look here son, you see this pinstripe here on the door is a little lower than the one on the body where the two meet. If I hold this dime up to the two you can see that this door is about a half of a dimes thickness lower where they meet and if I’m gonna do this, I’m gonna do it right the first time”.

It seemed a little petty to me and I would have never in a million years seen the difference with my own eye had he not pointed it out to me, but later in life I would come to realize that it was his meticulous attention to detail that made him the best damn car restoration expert in the mid-west! It was his understanding of the subtleties that could take a car from just being restored to being a true “classic” that kept the cars rolling in and out of his garage until long after he retired. To this day this lesson continues to make me a better musician as I look at each subtle detail of my art to make sure that if I’m gonna do it, I’m going to do it right!

So we can see how paying very close attention to the simplest of details can have a huge impact on the final outcome of our time and efforts. The difference between being good at something and being great at something begins with this. Another great element of embracing minute details it that we discover our unique approach to performing any particular technique.

You can give a group of musicians the same piece of music and each will play it in a way that is unique to their own style. They may all try to copy one another, yet they are still gifted with their own individual voice. The intensity or lack thereof with which they perform it is all in the details!

Allen Iverson above – “We’re Talkin’ About Practice!”

There are many great quotes and mantras dedicated to the topic of practice and for good reason. It is the process of practicing ones craft that creates personal growth and builds in one the strength to overcome all of life’s limitations. Although all of us are born with innate abilities, it is through the disciplined action of practice that these abilities are refined and empowered.

There are many ways to approach practice and many different theories as to what practice regimens are most effective in ones quest to become a highly skilled musician. Whether you work in a mechanized fashion by working on individual scales and chord progressions repeatedly, a physiological manner by focusing your attention on physical factors such as breath and muscle control, or a systematic approach that intertwines many different aspects of training, the one thing that will bring it all together is practice!

Start with a clear mental image of your goal. If your practicing a scale or a chord pattern you know in your mind how you want it to sound so embrace that image and see yourself performing it with that level of perfection no matter how far away you really are from perfecting it. Keeping a clear mental picture in your mind of success will lead you to that success.

Persistence is also a key factor in building your skill level through practice. Once you have looked at all the little details in your music, identified your weaknesses and strengths and then fashioned a clear mental image of your desired outcome, it’s time to work through the weak areas with persistence.

There is a well-known quote from Bruce Lee in which he states, “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times”. The man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times has retained that clarity of his vision to persistently overcome weakness and bring perfection to that technique. The repetitive action, fueled by an intense mental focus, carves the perfection of that technique into the mind, the muscles, the heart and the soul and can never be taken away once it is there.

The other important factor is to practice with intensity. It is one thing to practice for the sake of memory, accuracy and precision, but it is also important to keep in mind the end result of performing with the intensity behind that precision. A fighter doesn’t go to the gym and punch the bag lightly everyday and then expect intensity to just be there when they need it in the ring. On the contrary, a great fighter knows to practice with all the intensity of the real thing, EVERY time they practice.

This type of practice as a musician will give you an extremely rewarding sense of accomplishment. With mental focus that contains a clear image of your goal, a persistent desire to perfecting each technique and the attitude of intensity behind the delivery of each technique, you will begin to see tremendous improvements in your art and your self in a very short time.