GuitarBandDVD

Posts Tagged ‘guitar tuorial’

Do you hear voices when no one is speaking? Do you hear music when none is playing? That’s actually a good thing as long as you are hearing musical accompaniment to your practice. You are channeling what I like to call your “inner band”.

Possibly the most important instruments in your inner band is the drummer. Without a solid groove your music will suck. Every time I walk into a guitar store and hear players playing lightning-fast licks that don’t groove I just cringe. What’s the point of all that speed without a groove? Lack of groove makes the song pointless.

So you need to hear the drums, the bass the singer etc. when you are practicing. The whole point of playing is to play with other players and make music together. Think of the players you admire most. I will bet you they played in a band at least most of the time. I guarantee you they heard the other parts in their head every time they practiced alone.

So what do you do when other players are not around? Channel your inner band that’s what. Imagine the drummer’s groove locking to the bass player and play a solid rhythm part. See if you can lay down a solo and seamlessly jump back into the rhythm part without missing a beat. If you can’t do that, then keep practicing until you can.

You have to hear the other players to do that even if they are not physically present.

I don’t care how many chords, scales, picking techniques you know or how fast you can play them. If you want to attract an audience you need to groove. So start hearing the band playing in your head and figure out parts the fit into the framework of the song. Listen to what you imagine are the other players and strive to play WITH them by not stepping on them and playing with the beat. You can train yourself by playing to drum loops or a metronome.

If you can hear your inner band, your actual band practice will go much better because you will already have some idea how you fit in. You will have to adjust your playing around the actual players but you will relate to the song differently. And if you record your playing alone and when playing with others you will find out if you are grooving. Then you can fix what does not work.

So you aren’t crazy. Hearing imaginary musicians is actually a good thing.