"My teacher was impressed upon me that i might wanna develop my own opinion on each one of these modes(scales in layman terms) of music. So how do you do that - you write the notes down, memorize them and go on to recognize them when they are coming at you from some other source. And then you go past the memorization and visualization stage and all the concepts of music then blur out to only remain as emotional themes and the goal then is to bring in a certain feel and expression to these themes and see if one can switch from one to the other , which requires good amount of concentration ! " I quote the legendary guitarist and musician Mr. Joe Satriani .
The great man says it and it is so true - "There are thousands of them out there, they know their chords, all notes of all scales and the can play fast but they lack expression." He also points out how important it is to have a message in songs. It is quite incredible how this creative aspect of a musician dies when one is trying to emulate their super guitar heroes. Guitar playing can be mechanical most times also suggesting that the creative thought process that we talk of here switches off and its just the fingers and sometimes your teeth calculating and dialing bizarre notes. This justifies the statement Joe makes, when he says playing from the heart with feel requires far more concentration.
Maybe that is the reason why you as a guitar player might think you were playing well one day and that you felt it was there and that the notes just blended well to make a soaring melody . The next day you wake up to find you have lost the magical touch and then the consequential disappointment and the questions lingering in your head makes the experience even worse. Its so easy to give up and therefore you look at guys like Satch and Petrucci and you can tell they are the most down to earth people because they know its not about selling your soul to Satan one fine day and BAM ! a Guitar GOD ladies and gentlemen !
Its probably a realization where you know that Music or call it the The Art of Expression' is not a mountain to conquer but a state where you are in tune with the cosmos or call it this extraordinary energy that fills you with a certain rushed feeling, a feeling of hope and excitement which cannot truly be expressed in words but something that can only be shared . No wonder it hits you hard when you watch Joe play his guitar. It suggests that Music requires you to tune yourself first before you even tune your instruments . Now one might wonder how you do that - maybe listening to your favorite musician or a favorite song , in my case listening to Joe should be a good start !
The great man says it and it is so true - "There are thousands of them out there, they know their chords, all notes of all scales and the can play fast but they lack expression." He also points out how important it is to have a message in songs. It is quite incredible how this creative aspect of a musician dies when one is trying to emulate their super guitar heroes. Guitar playing can be mechanical most times also suggesting that the creative thought process that we talk of here switches off and its just the fingers and sometimes your teeth calculating and dialing bizarre notes. This justifies the statement Joe makes, when he says playing from the heart with feel requires far more concentration.
Maybe that is the reason why you as a guitar player might think you were playing well one day and that you felt it was there and that the notes just blended well to make a soaring melody . The next day you wake up to find you have lost the magical touch and then the consequential disappointment and the questions lingering in your head makes the experience even worse. Its so easy to give up and therefore you look at guys like Satch and Petrucci and you can tell they are the most down to earth people because they know its not about selling your soul to Satan one fine day and BAM ! a Guitar GOD ladies and gentlemen !
Its probably a realization where you know that Music or call it the The Art of Expression' is not a mountain to conquer but a state where you are in tune with the cosmos or call it this extraordinary energy that fills you with a certain rushed feeling, a feeling of hope and excitement which cannot truly be expressed in words but something that can only be shared . No wonder it hits you hard when you watch Joe play his guitar. It suggests that Music requires you to tune yourself first before you even tune your instruments . Now one might wonder how you do that - maybe listening to your favorite musician or a favorite song , in my case listening to Joe should be a good start !
