How Slow Do You Go?

Since my earliest years playing the guitar, I have followed certain intuitions about what learning to play the guitar was really about. It seemed to me that whatever it was really about was not something most players knew about, and not something most players talk about. It just seemed that some people were awfully good at playing the guitar, some people were just awful, and everybody else was somewhere in between!

Of course, I was very interested in exactly how one moved in the direction of the really, really good players, and yes, it sure seemed like it was a matter of something some people just “have”, and everybody else just wants. My question was “can I get it!”.

Now, I am talking about real virtuoso ability, the ability to play like the best players of various styles play. Basically, how does somebody play that fast, and sound that good?

My intuitions always told me that it must involve something very fundamental about the physical part of playing, about what the body actually does. And since the mind controls the body, and since how the body learns things is going to depend on how the mind directs the learning process, I knew it had to do with not only what great players are doing with their body, but also with their mind.

Following all these intuitions led me, after 30 years of playing, practicing, and teaching, to formulate all of my conclusions and discoveries into “The Principles Of Correct Practice For Guitar”, and subsequent works.

"Not THAT Slow!"

Long before I had formulated the Principles, I was training my students according to my intuitions, and in accordance with my own practice approaches. Years ago I had a very talented student who became completely enamored with the classical guitar, and decided to become professional. After a few years study with me, he went on to college, and along the way, took a master class with Christopher Parkening. He later told me that Parkening had talked about the need for slow practice, at which point my student demonstrated for him how slowly I had him practice. He said that Parkenings' response was, “oh, not that slow!”.

Well, of course, Parkening is a great player, but he is just plain wrong about this. That student, and plenty of other people, really do need to practice that slow. In fact, sometimes they need to practice so slowly that they are not even moving! (something we call “posing”).

It may sound rather bold of me to say that such a great player is wrong, but I am just stating an obvious truth. I know it is true for a very simple reason: I have gotten many, many players (including me) past deeply embedded problems and limitations by having them do what Parkening said is not necessary. For them, and for me, it is certainly necessary. What Parkening is really saying is that for him, it is not necessary.

This speaks to a very important, in fact, vital understanding that students must have, and it is this: a great many of the teachers of guitar, and a great number of all instructional materials out there, are only useful if you already know certain things, or already have overcome or bypassed certain obstacles. Otherwise, these teachers and instructional materials are actually harmful, they will increase your problems, and, if followed over time, will engrain those problems more completely into your technique.

Great players (and most teachers are first and foremost good or great players) simply do not know all the intermediate steps that lead from no ability to ability. Most good players have never experienced, in their own body and mind, the obstacles that exist in the great majority of students, and if they have, they did not consciously observe the process of their resolution. After all, they are the “talented” ones, and talent is the tendency to do the right thing. They are the ones who “just picked up a guitar and started to play” Well, guess what-the great majority of students are not like that. They don’t have the tendency to do the right thing, they can’t just pick up the guitar and play it. Most people are worlds away from a great player like Parkening, who started very young, had tremendous natural talent, and had world class teachers from the beginning-a situation you might call the “Holy Grail” of artistic development.

The inescapable reality is that for most students the only way to develop beyond their present limitations is to include a great amount of the super slow practice we at GuitarPrinciples call “no-tempo” practice, coupled with the technique of motionless awareness called “Posing”.

You Must Practice Slow AND Fast

I recently came across an interesting article in a magazine for guitar teachers in which a teacher was making a point concerning learning to play fast. He said that in order to play fast, a student must practice fast. He said that slow practice alone will never enable you to play fast. This is very true, but, as usual, it is only part of the truth, and half truths are dangerous.

The whole truth is this: slow practice, properly done, prepares the foundation which will be strong enough, and secure enough, to withstand the stresses generated in fast playing (even though skilled players learn to minimize those stresses, they are there). Without that foundation, fast playing will always be weak, and will at some point collapse.

However, without fast playing built on top of slow playing, the body and reflexes never learn to reconcile and balance the stresses of fast playing during the playing process, because they never experience it! We must play fast as well as slow in order to give the body the chance to adapt. The big caveat here is that if we play fast without the proper foundation being built through correct slow practice, the body will not learn to handle the stress of fast playing, the body will simply be traumatized by it, locking in chronic tension. We must have both slow and fast practice, and they must be done in a certain way, with a certain gradual progression (the most fundamental form is the Basic Practice Approach from “The Principles”).

The logic of this teacher's advice is basically this: if you force yourself to handle fast playing, your body will "catch up" with the demand, it will be shaky at first, and gradually clear up and become solid. This is similar to the Parkening advice: it is true some of the time for some people, it is deadly for others. This process of forcing the body to experience the increased demand of fast playing, and hoping it acclimates itself to that demand is something I call "auto-correct". Yes, it often works, but only if enough of a good foundation already exists to support the increased load, otherwise, you will only collapse. I often recommend students to try this when they encounter a difficulty, but usually a minor difficulty. There are certain passages that present a difficulty that is not easily handled by a student’s present level of ability, and must be grown into by hard work, not a quick grab at it.

The aforementioned article does state that both kinds of practice must be done, but it needs to be understood that unless proper slow practice is done, with whole body awareness, and proper form and relaxation between efforts, fast practice is useless, and dangerous. In other words, there is simply no point in practicing fast until you have learned how to practice slowly. You will only create the illusion of ability, an illusion which you will be disabused of the first time you attempt to play in public!

Awareness

Every time we sit down to practice, there is one thing, above all else, that our success in that practice session depends on, and that one thing is awareness. If there is one thing you should wish for, and pray to have with you at all times, it is the quality of true awareness. True awareness has the ability to penetrate the moment, to advance understanding if only by a small degree (and that small degree is enough to build on). It is able to see not only what has been seen before, but also things that have never been seen before. It is like a pair of magic glasses that just need someone to look through them.

There is a completely different quality and quantity of experience if we travel down a road in a car, a bike, or on foot. If we walk down a road that we normally only drive down, it will be a completely different experience. It will have a depth and stillness to it that is not normally available. As we walk, the road and our experience of it will be populated by a range of objects, events, and possibilities not usually encountered on our travel down that road, even though they are always there. Of course, the objects, events and possibilities still await our call, we must be willing to give our journey all of our attention. But it is all there with the possibility of being seen, taken in, and invested in with our minds and hearts.

Likewise, when we practice with slow motion and inner stillness, we can suddenly see what we could not see before.

Awareness is the ultimate foundation of ability on the guitar, and awareness is expanded by the cessation of the motion of the mind and body. Awareness is the achievement of inner stillness in the midst of outer motion, and that is the true goal and function of our deepest levels of practice. Control, and eventual mastery of the outer stresses generated by the motions of fast playing are only attained and maintained from its opposite, from this position of inner stillness called awareness. Paradoxically, this inner stillness is equal to the speed of any moving phenomenon, because it is the ground of all motion, it contains all motion. Consciousness itself is the context in which awareness takes place, and consciousness is also the context in which all motion takes place.

If we match the speed of a moving train, riding alongside it at the same speed, we experience only stillness. The awareness generated by perfect inner stillness, induced by the outward practice of no-tempo practice and posing, enables our consciousness to match the speed of any moving phenomenon, meeting it at the point of stillness.

Motion is the minds experience of energy in space and time. Motion joins space and time, and when motion is decreased, space and time separate, and we can experience energy before it assumes the cloak of space and time. True awareness is prior to the mind and its working, energy unjoined from space and time; it is the domain of limitless space, and infinite time. In this limitless space, and infinite time, awareness is free to roam. Perfect inner stillness un-joins space and time, and what was before invisible and impenetrable becomes open, free, and accessible to our inner vision, our awareness.

How slow do we go? As slow as we must until inner stillness transforms outer motion, and what was invisible can be seen with the gaze of true awareness.

Copyright 2006 Jamie Andreas. All rights reserved. Used by permission. guitarprinciples.com

Comments

[Scourge441]

Very good article.

[Millenium]

Wonderful

[SheKILaDZE]

good article, but this to me was actually obvious, cuz its what naturally happens to me when i practise, i learn the tab and play it pretty slow untill i have memorised it and can remember every note, then another practice session takes place which is trying to play the thing i learnt slow with the actual fast music.

ok what ive said is confusing but ime saying its what normally happens if you ever get the hang of a solo for example

[spittle8]

"Sexy time!" Articles such as this one make me feel better about myself XD

[Travv0]

Slightly confusing at times, but otherwise very good.

[axe_grinder247]

very good article, as usual...the guitar principles have helped me a great deal throughout my study of the guitar, including the use of the mind, and i would recommend it to anyone

[jcwear]

Sounds more religious and epic than a lesson.

But I think the point was made, practise slowly.

I really think alot was waffle however.

[richwatkinson]

spittle8 wrote:

"Sexy time!"

In the face. Twice :P

yeah, good article, keep them coming.

[eells]

dam... that was really good. i really liked that walk/drive road analogy. definately think it should help.

[Saitoh]

Good article, but deep.

[Jolly_Roger]

glad i read it. thank you.

[NIN&J5]

i think it was a load of crap personally but it was at least well thought out.

[Pure_Morning]

Essentially: If you're learning something new, start slowly and get it right...
Better to get something perfect slow, then with mistakes when a tempo.

[JamesForks]

The end was a little confusing lol but it was a great article.

[Atreideslegend]

errrrm personally i think alot of what you said is bullshit. Not the fact that people should practice slow, just the way you put it accross, made me disagree strongly with you in some areas. Also on a few occasions you kinda contradicted your own arguement.

[STriNG-RaY]

how so?

[Truth?]

Thinking this article was just "a crock of shit," as some of you have previously mentioned, is an indication that you didn't really understand what the author was trying to convey. Apart from the normal guitar lessons where everything discussed solely relates to the guitar: alternate picking, various technique, modes, tone, etc., this article takes a different approach, describing practice through a more contemplated method. In my opinion, it was refreshing to read something that a worker at guitar center couldn't of just told you...

[Smokey Amp]

You're right, all of what you said is fairly obvious.

Nice article anyway.

[ohmerrymayhem]

Not a bad article, but it's all pretty common sense stuff. Nobody's gonna sit down with a guitar and rip like Mustaine in a month. You don't have a choice but to start slowly and develope speed. However, I DO agree with his sentiment in practicing slower for LONGER. Most people, myself included, have fallen into a speed trap; that is, despite advice to hold off on 32nd notes at high bpm for a bit longer, did it anyway. Now, I find that I'm having to slow ack down, seeing that I can trem pic at 210 bpm doing insane riffs there, but sounding sloppy when I slow it down to 160. On the other hand, I know guitarists who rip and practicedy slowly for only a brief period of time. I guess in the end, advice is advice that worked for some people, and it never hurts to hear it. However, no one thing or regimen works for everyone.

[Kylster]

It was better than your "The True Teacher" article, this one actually somewhat gives good advice. The problem is, you start rambling near the end.

True awareness is prior to the mind and its working, energy unjoined from space and time; it is the domain of limitless space, and infinite time. In this limitless space, and infinite time, awareness is free to roam.

I mean, I'm pretty sure that I understand what you're getting at here, but I'm certain that there are a lot of people who are either completely confused, or who just completely skipped over those sections.

Pure_Morning basically condensed everything you said into an easy to understand phrase. Just add to that "Practicing slowly builds the foundation for practicing quickly", and your article is done in three lines, minus the Pandora's Box bullshit.

[kerryking112]

Yeah Tom Hess and Jamie Andreas should be motivational speakers...not guitar instructors. They tell you obvious shit with alot of six-dollar words.

[astrocreep71]

Nice to see a new artilcle in this section to say the least.

[Gitter_Wizard]

OK OK OK I GET IT!!! Play SLOW not fast. Alright you could have just said that and thad sum your whole article right up! Good points, however.

[liledman_76]

never seen someone get so deep about learning guitar...well written though, even if it goes on a bit too much...

[pos69sum]

is guiar principles worth buying? or is it just 'practice slowly'

[Gyser]

i really liked this article to be honest. i like your closing paragraph a lot, it really tied and up and showed the importance of the whole article, i shall take this to mind and remember it when i practice

[Johnljones7443]

Gitter_Wizard wrote:OK OK OK I GET IT!!! Play SLOW not fast.

Clearly you didn't read the whole article, in particular the section entitled 'Play slow AND fast'... and it isn't just about playing slowly and hoping for the best

Practicing slowly without awareness of what you're doing is as futile as practicing everything as fast as possible - which is where most people go wrong, even after reading an article like this, most people will go and practice what they've been practicing fast, slowly - but sitting in front of the TV or something.

Lovely article.

[mikb]

Mostly this article was BS.
Have a few quotes:
"If we match the speed of a moving train, riding alongside it at the same speed, we experience only stillness" That's because you only experience movement if you're changing speed (this is called acceleration) and it has nothing to do with guitar in any way.
"consciousness is also the context in which all motion takes place" tis means that you never do something without thinking about it, which is something people do often.

[TheUnholy]

*sigh* another common sense article dressed up as some kind of mystic wisdom. Completely unnecessary.

[powerhalf]

The language used was pretty fluffy and, as someone said before, "six-dollar word". That being said, it was still a good article.

Some people will learn guitar quickly, and some will learn it at a slower pace. If you learn at a slower pace, get over it, and work that much harder for whatever your goals are.

[cryingblood]

I find it funny that the people saying this is BS, are actually justifying some of the points he made in the article. This article will help green players, and will remind intermediate, and even advanced players about something thats pretty easy to forget about

[bobthemonkey14]

SheKILaDZE wrote:

good article, but this to me was actually obvious, cuz its what naturally happens to me when i practise, i learn the tab and play it pretty slow untill i have memorised it and can remember every note, then another practice session takes place which is trying to play the thing i learnt slow with the actual fast music.

ok what ive said is confusing but ime saying its what normally happens if you ever get the hang of a solo for example

I get what you're saying. It's exactly what I do...so I suppose this article is useless to me. I'm not much of a fast player, anyway...I'm focusing more on playing with feeling than playing with speed, so maybe one day I can play with both.

[santhony1987]

It's always good to hear equally passionate people speak about music. It makes the information seem more important and therefore, stays more solid in my mind. Nice work.

[schecter1971]

you could have just said "practice slow".

[dann_blood]

Great article, didnt help me at all, but it really brings back memories.
Example, first two years of guitar playing, i got to bar chords, didnt get further than that. I got an electric, 2 months later i was past bar chords completely. Now i can pick up my guitar, look at the majority of tabs and play. For some faster things, slow is the way to go at first to get the muscle rhythm right - thats how you recall most of your songs and can play them freely after enough practice.
Skipped most of the last section, but great article, cheers.

[Bob_Doles_Pants]

schecter1971 :
you could have just said "practice slow".

Yeah maybe a bit too epic. Cut the fat a bit

[sp0ckr0cks]

i liked the article...was this the guy who wrote the true teacher? but anyway, i don't really practice slow anymore. i've been playing for 7 years and to me, tabs and techniques come very easy. although that doesn't mean this won't work for you.

[mbbosox]

I like this guy point because everyone likes fast but slow can kick almost more ass if the notes are right listen to some of the best solos and there is always a slow part before the fast part

[Gman400]

Got a bit psychadelic at the end there, but the principle is correct. Although he didn't actually say anything about ACTUAL technique, just what you needed to do to get it. Maybe his book elaborates further.

[The_Man_IV]

Great article Will help many
i had this same type of problume when i started i now have a very good teacher who not only tells me how i should practise this part but he gives me options to it and shows me how Slow and Fast.
And There is no Exuse for hard Work...It Will pay off.

Start Walking Then Run.
Steve.

[rifftnstrings]

Got all philosophical and shit at the end. I had trouble concentrating. But good advice, essentially.

[musicmydrug16]

if you guys can even understand what hes saying at the end it wont be a load of shit

[LeveLHeaD69]

meh. i already practice slow.

[ericgentz]

Wow this was good. It sounds like your a philosipher.

[jcs5234]

this sounds kind of obvious...anyone else think so?

[Johnljones7443]

musicmydrug16 wrote:

if you guys can even understand what hes saying at the end it wont be a load of shit

Her. Jamie Andreas is a female - and just because you don't understand what she's saying, doesn't make this article shit.

[savier]

great article thanks!!! i finally relize why all the pratice i put in doesnt pay off like it does...i simply try to rush things!!

Chacked

[mfurseman]

nice article

[mp3stalin]

great article... this site has alot of good ones and this was definately one of the best.

[Daveskater]

it is quite good and i see what he means but to me it sounds a bit weird when he goes on about inner stillness, but i know exactly what it's on about at the same time.
nicely written.

[Guitargod12345]

This was good maybe for people who can't play that good.

[juanpabigo]

it's great when somebody turns into real, tangible words those invisible ideas & intuitions lurking deep inside our conscience. this whole concept brings yet another angle to look a the way we practice. Excelente!

[thehardwayout]

In the part slow and fast( the beginign) i can infer that if a student practiced slow songs and worked an soloing at the same time would that almost balance it out? Great article, keep up the good work.

[~worthless~]

This is a really good article for people who are stuck and dont know what to do, good job.

[gnrpoison]

NIN&J5 wrote:

i think it was a load of crap personally but it was at least well thought out.

me too its pretty obvious that you should practice slow to learn something

[dragonswings]

It made a lot of sense, and used some good analogies, but by the end, it just seemed a little over the top with the analogies in its attempt to wax eloquent. The end reminded me of what I write at the end of papers for my English Composition class when I have more space to fill to meet the number of pages required.

[EV0L]

didnt need yr lifes story

[ghostofhendrix]

Any1 who didn't already kno that you have to practice fast things slowly to begin with and then speed it up has never thought logically about lead guitar. That just seems like the natural thing to me. The bit about how diffrent ppl will need 2 play @ diffrent varieties of slow was also fairly obvious- i personally slow down anything complicated to around half time and work from there. Nice article but imo the fast and slow thing was blindingly obvious.

[guitarpolizei]

Motion is the minds experience of energy in space and time. Motion joins space and time, and when motion is decreased, space and time separate, and we can experience energy before it assumes the cloak of space and time. True awareness is prior to the mind and its working, energy unjoined from space and time; it is the domain of limitless space, and infinite time. In this limitless space, and infinite time, awareness is free to roam. Perfect inner stillness un-joins space and time, and what was before invisible and impenetrable becomes open, free, and accessible to our inner vision, our awareness. Whut????

[frayedinsanity]

anyone who plays guitar well, knows that there is far more to playing guitar than the speed you practice at. it is about simple, repetitive exersizes that build up speed and stamina in the hands and wrist. your mind has almost nothing to do with it. it dosent take a rocket scientist to play guitar, and certainly not an inner awarness. it sounds like this dude was stoned as hell when he wrote this. hey kids, if u want to learn to play guitar well, stop listening to blink 182 and throw in an SRV album, maybe a little steve vai. start listening to jazz and stuff like that. learn your scales and chord progressions, practice every day and in time you will gain speed, accuracy, and develop and style of your own. inner awarness??? i play guitar, i dont need to worship buhdha to do it.

[frayedinsanity]

and i totally agree with NIN&J5 and gnrpoison.

[WiKiD]

I think what this guy was trying to say without the fluff and crap was this:

GRADUALLY PRACTICE SLOW AND THAN GET FASTER WITH A METRONOME.

i just said in one sentence what this guy was trying to say in an article. it makes sense, minus the holistic approach and preaching

[jimjam3]

I think it was long winded...

But the awareness part... that sounded much like a drama class...

I agree with everything he says, tough...
1. Practice slow
2. Practice fast
3. Be aware of the moment- prefixed solos don't work... play with feeling to the moment... be in tune.

[_Tenacious_]

Way too long, its was all waffle. Not alot of good suggestions or a great deal of help to anyone except fake circus crystal ball-people looking to sound impressive. Preaching is what it basically was.

[darkspider 0]

You're a pretty deep fella aren't ya? Nice article.

[Tool_fan]

Well I read the first few sentences and you overthink why people are so great with guitar...no ones truley born with it, you have to practice like heck or youll never get anything..sucks but thats the olny way to obtain perfection with any instrument....practice....all the time good luck!

[PhantomHero]

Im not saying much.... But i think there is such thing as talant that we are all born with... But our great great ancestors didnt have instruments... So the only real reason any of us can be gud is to practice yes, but you must have a drive to learn... You have to wat to be good, I learned to play the guitar in just over two weeks... The key was to jus keep going back to it every second i had!

And if you think you cant do it... Just try!

[iml84myd8]

yeah, I agree with alot of people here. this article's like the equivelant of a 3 hour cooking class on how to make toast.

^Hey, there are many ways to make toast, and techniques to make the perfect piece, one that is a perfect balance of crusty crunch and softness in the middle. Then there's the debate on whether to use a grill or a electric toaster... :p

Checked.

[klaustrophobia]

brilliant!

[rykoff sexton]

Really smart advice, and that is coming from a skeptic. I should try more slower warmups, because it gives you fingers mroe confidencs on where they are hitting the frets, but honestly.. How slow should I go??

[PellucidPenguin]

Nobody's really understandingwhat the writer of the article is trying to say. It's not just about practicing slow. It's about honing your awareness and discovering evrything about the piece as possible to where you own the piece. It's also almost about developing a stillness and calm inside that allows you to be playing with the moment.

[Gorilla Fingers]

frayedinsanity wrote:

anyone who plays guitar well, knows that there is far more to playing guitar than the speed you practice at. it is about simple, repetitive exersizes that build up speed and stamina in the hands and wrist. your mind has almost nothing to do with it. it dosent take a rocket scientist to play guitar, and certainly not an inner awarness. it sounds like this dude was stoned as hell when he wrote this. hey kids, if u want to learn to play guitar well, stop listening to blink 182 and throw in an SRV album, maybe a little steve vai. start listening to jazz and stuff like that. learn your scales and chord progressions, practice every day and in time you will gain speed, accuracy, and develop and style of your own. inner awarness??? i play guitar, i dont need to worship buhdha to do it.

Agreed.

[SprdJlyNotHate]

Very good article, made me realize the obvious things I had overlooked before. (I actually felt kind of stupid while reading this article. It was filled with a bunch of "duh!" moments for me.)

[fretboarddragon]

Great article. Well thought out and insightful. Maybe she oughta write one called "Think AND Play Slow." All these people bitching about fluff and too long and worshipping Buddah...a prime example of today's society where everything has to be NOW and as quickly as possible. These people miss the subtleties of things 'cause they want instant gratification and miss the important nuances. Of course these days reading is a lost art anyway...it actually takes time to look at words and make the brain understand them...who wants to waste time doing that when you can rush around to something else? Oh, I have to read more than two sentences...WAAAA!! Sometimes it's not about getting right to the point, people.
The woman has insight that it seems some of you may never gain. Go play your 32nd notes. Don't expect to set the world on fire...people have been doing it long before you. Nothing new here *yawn*. I'm gonna go do the same thing...but I think I'll get a little more out of it.

[Phillitalian]

gnrpoison wrote:

NIN&J5 wrote:

i think it was a load of crap personally but it was at least well thought out.


me too its pretty obvious that you should practice slow to learn something

Agreed

[Tsage]

Thank You. Very Zen. And highly understandable. Thank you.

[albooga]

I have to agree. For tough sections with me, I have to play slow,sometimes crawl. Then I can up to the speed that I really want to play at. It seems to work a lot better than continually screwing up fast because the foundation just isn't there.