Fred Hand's improvisation techniques
This week I would like to share a technique of the legendary Frederic Hand. A longtime performer wizened by years touring and performing, Fred manages to play from the heart every time he picks up the instrument. Not an easy task!
For most of us, inspiration is a feeling that is hard to nail down and maintain. The ability to make heart-felt music every time we pick up the guitar is a rare trait.
Think about when you are most at ease. Think about singing in the shower. Nobody can hear you... (at least that's what you think!) For most of us, our voice is the first means of self-expression and we hum and sing all day long. Some people are whistlers. Others grunt, with varying degrees of success. We are singing and whistling on auto pilot all the time, without regard to how we hit the notes that we want or why we know the next part of our current song.
Jumping to the obvious question...
Why can't we play the guitar the way we sing and hum??
Take it from a professional; take it from Fred Hand: "You absolutely can!"
For starters:
Nobody questions the existence of their hands. They are here and have always been. However our guitar has not always been here. The default way of thinking is: The guitar is an outside-of-body object that we "use" our body to play music "on".
The truth is, the guitar is not something to be mastered but rather something to be incorporated into our body in order to make it easier to use. Continually fighting your hands will not make them work better for the tasks that we do every day. Similarly, fighting the guitar in order to "control" it will not produce good results. We must learn to think of the guitar as something we are playing music THROUGH.
This lesson is about getting your head out of the way, in order to get your musical ideas from your brain to the listener's ear without the guitar being a barrier. The guitar becomes an extension of your body.
Starting Now...
1) Sing a note, any note
2) Find that note on the guitar and play it once
3) Sing a new note
4) Find that note on the guitar and play it once
continue on, toward infinity!
Next,
1) Sing a note and while holding it with your voice, find that note on the guitar neck
2) Sing a new note and move your fingers to the new note on the neck while holding that note with your voice
Finally
Sing a new note and as you attack it with your voice, simultaneously play it on the guitar.
You will notice 2 things right away:
1)You are not as good at predicting the intervals on the guitar as you are in your throat
2)You are better than you thought at predicting the intervals on the guitar
Thus the learning curve begins and you begin to internalize the notes of the neck. They become syllables and root sounds for you to express yourself with. You can have a conversation with your instrument!
This learning process is one that cannot be duplicated by any other method. You must learn to judge the distances of the neck just as you learn to control your voice. Imagine talking through the guitar, without the apprehension and hesitation that lies between you and your accurately expressed creativity. You will be doing just this after practicing singing what you are playing.
Getting your head out of the way:
The revolution you will experience after doing these excercised cannot be stressed enough. The pieces you play are will be easier. You will anticipate better and get lost less often. You can work your way out of memory slips, even by playing the notes in different positions to get through the piece because you know where the "sounds" lie on the neck.
These exercises can and should be practiced in all positions, because the same note lies in multiple places on the neck.
DO IT.
Thank you Mr. Hand!
Visit Frederic Hand on the web, where you can see an example of his revolutionary new device, the Spider Capo.
http://www.frederichand.com
Daniel Hallford is a classical guitarist in New York City. Visit him at www.DanielHallfordGuitar.com
DHGuitarist@gmail.com
Thanks for reading!
No comments:
Post a Comment