Now you can see

I had a very interesting experience recently in my guitar journey that I thought I'd share here.

Last September my duo made its official debut and it was frankly a pretty shaky affair, but there were a few gems. One of them was our performance of "Can't You See". You can find that here in this thread:
https://www.guitartricks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44499
Here's the video from last September:
https://youtu.be/NjsdJw5IaxU

It was one of those magical moments that I wish every musician could experience at least once...I felt as though I was channeling something because I was playing things I had never played before and it all worked and fit together so nicely. It was such a magical moment that I spent my time since then trying to recreate it in some fashion...the bar had been set. I've carried many of the licks forward, but I could never recapture that special something, the way it all flowed together nicely.

Well a couple of weeks ago that magic came back. Yet some more "invention on the fly" happened with some more things I'm carrying forward. Perhaps it was the fact that the place was empty and we were playing only to the bar and wait staff. Perhaps it was the fact that I just "let go" and just played rather than "tried to play". Perhaps if I could explain the whys and hows of this type of thing, I'd be a millionaire! LOL.


As learning guitarists, I think we get very hung up sometimes on technique and theory and sometimes forget to just "play". Christopher Schlegel often closes his detailed advice and lessons with "...and play more guitar". Technique and theory are certainly important, but we need to never lose sight of the simple joy of just playing the guitar.

So here's a more recent version of "Can't You See"...and this time you CAN see thanks to better lighting :). Forgive the ending that kind of fell apart LOL.

https://youtu.be/mp7xzKH9Zg8

Amazing! This is just the kind of thing we look forward to. With progress, comes that confidence. And it sounds like you've reached a point where your skills are marrying well with a comfort and ease on stage - and that is phenomenal. Thank you for sharing your story, it's inspiring.

Y'all still rocking in my book .. I'm still watching all the Utube vids from the June 24 show

Thanks you guys! There's lots of ups and downs learning guitar and I hope stuff like this can help inspire others to keep going. Just a few years ago I was happy to keep the notes I played in key and in decent timing..forget about phrasing and putting together something relatively cohesive. Never did I dream I'd be doing this now.

I should have mentioned in my original post that going into this gig, I was pretty down on my playing and felt like I had backslid. Throughout all of my years playing, it's always been a forward and upward progression and it was pretty disheartening to think my playing had slid backwards, especially since I was playing out 2 or 3 times a month. I should have been climinging even higher in my abilities. I rode things out, kept going, and found myself with a new peak straight out of the valley I was in.

Thanks for the listens and comments...I do appreciate it.

Sounded great

Originally Posted by: flstn1
Sounded great

Thanks!!

Originally Posted by: maggior
So here's a more recent version of "Can't You See"...and this time you CAN see thanks to better lighting ZZSmilieZZ. Forgive the ending that kind of fell apart LOL.
https://youtu.be/mp7xzKH9Zg8

Very smooth. You were feeling the beat during your solo which is a great sign. And then you didn't flub any notes nor did you have to start from scratch in the middle of the song so I'd say job well done

Originally Posted by: razzlemacherVery smooth. You were feeling the beat during your solo which is a great sign. And then you didn't flub any notes nor did you have to start from scratch in the middle of the song so I'd say job well done

Thanks!!

I actually had a few "misses" in my solo...notes I meant to hit or phrases I wanted to start. Over time I've learned to not rush those things...just leave them out and go for something else. That's part of the beauty of an improvised solo :).

simple..amazing!

Originally Posted by: maggiorWell a couple of weeks ago that magic came back. Yet some more "invention on the fly" happened with some more things I'm carrying forward....
Perhaps if I could explain the whys and hows of this type of thing, I'd be a millionaire!
[/quote]
Glad you had that experience. They are few & far between. But at least you know the only way to get them to happen occasionally, right? Keep playing!

When we practice & learn to do improv the goal is to move some task from conscious awareness to your subconscious. We accomplish this by repeating that task so much that it becomes part of your subconcious & you can do it seemingly "automatically". The trick is to get the little details so automated that you don't have to consciously think abot them. Your conscious mind is free to think in larger units.

When you start learning & playing you have to focus on every little detail. It is hard because it is unfamiliar.

Gradually, as you repeat these things, they become automated (shifted over to your subconscious), and you are able to think in larger units. Instead of having to consciously think of every motion, "Put this finger here, is this a chord tone? Which note is the next chord tone? Which chord is next? Put this finger here, etc.", you are able to think, "One chord ... Four chord ...". And your fingers will take care of the details. They will play the licks & notes you've already worked on that you know will be the sound you are after.

Eventually you can get to the stage of playing whole sequences of chords or notes or even songs on "auto-pilot". This is because it's been practiced enough to be automated.

This is what jazz players mean when they say, "Learn all the notes & scales & chords ... then forget them." What this means is, "Do it so much that you don't have to think in small details, you can think in larger units & make it effortless."
[QUOTE=maggior]
As learning guitarists, I think we get very hung up sometimes on technique and theory and sometimes forget to just "play". Christopher Schlegel often closes his detailed advice and lessons with "...and play more guitar". Technique and theory are certainly important, but we need to never lose sight of the simple joy of just playing the guitar.

Thanks for mentioning that. That's the end goal: have fun playing music on the guitar!

Thanks for sharing the vid, congrats again & here's to many more of those magical moments!

Originally Posted by: simplymark8
simple..amazing!

Thanks for that...apprecaite the comment and listen!!!

Originally Posted by: ChristopherSchlegel
Thanks for sharing the vid, congrats again & here's to many more of those magical moments!

More than happy to share.

This song has unexpectedly turned into a showcase for me. Last time out people were yelling out my name as I got really going and cheered loudly after the song was done. First time that ever happened...never ever expected that! More magic ZZSmilieZZ.