Multi-tasking
Learning guitar can be a struggle at times for many aspiring pickers. The process of playing guitar involves a kind of multi-tasking. For the more advanced player this may not be evident, because so many of the tasks have become automatic. However, in order to produce a good sound, the beginner needs to be aware of many things. For instance, fretting and picking involves many considerations. Also, which string and what fret am I playing on? What fingering am I using? What is the strum and what beat am I on? If we add to that reading music or keeping one’s place in a chord progression the amount of tasks can be daunting!
In a way, the professional player has a simpler job. Much of the hard work has been done, and all that is left is making good music. In order to get to this point the aspiring guitarist has to work hard to coordinate these tasks. At times, things fall into place. At times, one can feel like Sisyphus pushing the boulder up the mountain. As one of my students succinctly put it, “There are so many things to think about!”
Focus is the key!
How do we keep all these things straight and still make music? Let’s take, for example, the process of reading music on the guitar. There is a tendency for the beginning player to make this a three-part process. First, look at the music, then look at the left hand to find the note. Finally, look at the right hand to pick the correct string. This leads to a very stilted interpretation because of the constant change of focus. Indeed, the shifting focus further complicates what is already a complex task.
The solution to this is to simplify the focus. Keep the eye on the music. At first, the player will make some fret or string mistakes, but eventually muscle memory will kick in. As long as there are no position shifts, the left hand will make its choice based on the note on the page. The right hand will eventually start to learn where the arm or wrist needs to be to pick the correct string. As long as the player uses his/her eyes these skills will not become learned and automatic. Just as the beginning bicyclist needs to get rid of the training wheels to learn to balance, the beginning guitarist needs to trust “feel” to develop muscle memory.
A Case In Point
For those skeptics out there that don’t believe this is possible I can offer a case in point. At one point I had a student who had a keen love for music. He knew more classic rock songs than I did, and was often introducing me to songs I wasn’t familiar with. However, he was often struggling to form the chords in time to make the changes. At first I thought that it was a problem with fine motor skills. His fingers seemed clumsy and slow-moving, unsure of themselves, and often going to the wrong strings.
When this student started studying with me, he described himself as being AD-HD. I thought that the intense concentration on his left hand was his way of dealing with that. Indeed, he seemed focused, but his playing belied that. He was getting frustrated, and I was puzzled.
Suddenly, I had a hunch. I said, “Let’s try something different. Try to focus on the chord chart instead of on your left hand.” He told me he would never be able to play the chords correctly if he didn’t look at his hand. I said, “Just try it. Let’s see what happens.” He tried it. He focused on the page and suddenly was able to play the chords accurately and in time!
What happened?
So what happened there? I think that while he was looking at his hands his mind was engaged in placing the fingers on the right strings and the correct frets. For someone with attention deficit this can be confusing, as probably in his case the mind wasn’t working in an orderly fashion. He was thinking too much, and the thoughts were getting in the way. When he allowed his intuition and muscle memory to kick in, the confusion was gone (or, at least, was diminished). His hands were allowed to find there way on their own, without the obstacle of the brain.
I have tried this with many of my students, with similar results. Narrowing the focus can be an effective way of learning those automatic skills that playing an instrument requires. For those that are having problems playing in time or making the chord changes, try simplifying your focus. It might just work.