Editor’s note: Plenty of excellent musicians have worked at the Scene through the years, but few have studied guitar as closely as Jack Silverman. Though he still serves as a contributing editor, he ended a 17-year tenure as a staffer in 2014 to play full time in The Stolen Faces, a Grateful Dead tribute band we’d call pretty damn great whether he was in it or not. When he offered to share some tips on practicing, we jumped at the opportunity.
For all the guitarists in the audience who suddenly have a lot more time on your hands during the pandemic, here are some suggestions for improving your musical skills. I’m not a seasoned guitar teacher, but over the past 40 years of playing professionally, I’ve discovered a few things that hone my chops and musical instincts — but more importantly, keep it interesting. And if you play an instrument other than guitar, most of these concepts can still apply.
Practice with a metronome or drum loops.
If you don’t already do this, your sense of time probably isn’t as good as you think. And while playing with a drum loop is great, here’s a reason to use a metronome at least part of the time: While a drum loop is typically full of eighth-note and 16th-note hits, a metronome playing quarter notes has a lot more space between the clicks. That space will reveal your vulnerabilities for speeding up or slowing down. If you simply search “metronome” in your web browser, you’ll find tons of free options — there’s even one built into most browsers that just appears when you search.
Get out of your comfort zone.
I have some appreciation for bluegrass, but I wouldn’t call myself a serious fan. However, as someone who is primarily a flatpicker, I envy bluegrass technique, so I downloaded some instructional materials (some audio, some video, all with downloadable written notation and explanations) from homespun.com. I made it a part of my practice routine for several years and it really upped my picking skills. Homespun is a great resource for a lot of instruments and styles, and there are many other great sites (and countless free YouTube lessons) if you start snooping around. If you’re mainly a flatpicker, start experimenting with fingerpicking and vice versa. You get the idea.
Slow and steady wins the race.
If there’s some passage or lick you wish you could learn but you find yourself thinking, “I’m just not good enough,” you’re probably wrong. Challenging songs, chord shapes and solo passages are much easier if you practice them very slowly at first, repeat them many times, and then gradually speed up. That’s another reason to use a metronome — otherwise, most people tend to play whatever they’re working on as fast as they can. Also, try to digest new material in small bites, working on just a measure or two at a time until your fingers are familiar with it. I’ll often repeat a short passage 50 or more times, and gradually increase the tempo along the way. Which brings me to my next point.
Jack Silverman with William Tyler Band and Friends at The Stone Fox, 8/21/2015
Get some sort of tempo-changing app.
For many years, I’ve been using an app called Amazing Slow Downer (sold by Roni Music), which allows me to slow down any passage of music and loop it. It changes the tempo without changing the pitch, but if it makes sense to change the key, you can do that with this program too. I’ve learned many difficult passages by looping just a one- or two-measure segment, slowing it down (sometimes by as much as 50 percent) and playing it over and over and over, very gradually increasing the tempo. There are a slew of options out there if you just Google “slow down apps,” and most are available for both laptops and smartphones.
Learn melodies up and down the neck.
One practice that’s been hugely beneficial to my sense of musicality uses two steps: First, I find a popular melody and figure out how to play it somewhere on the neck of my guitar. Then, I try to learn it in one or two other areas on the fretboard — maybe in another octave, but also perhaps with fewer strings, so the notes make a different shape. One melody I used was “If I Only Had a Brain” from The Wizard of Oz (my theme song!). Learning catchy melodies will improve your ability to think melodically, which will make your solos a lot more interesting than just a collection of scales and licks.
Stay relaxed.
One of the Homespun lessons I have enjoyed is by Nashville treasure Bryan Sutton, one of the giants of bluegrass. In it, he talks at length about the importance of staying relaxed when trying to play technically challenging material. While you are practicing, pay attention to your wrists, forearms and, particularly, your shoulders. When flatpicking, for instance, try to keep your picking hand loose, almost like you are shaking water off it. If you feel the shoulder on your picking-hand side starting to tense up, slow down and work on playing whatever passage you are working on as fast as you can comfortably, without tension developing in that shoulder.
Forget all this stuff and have fun!
If you have two hours on a particular day to practice, for example, maybe spend an hour on some of this stuff. But then, just play! Write! Improvise! Ride the wave!
