Midlife re-evaluation and gear simplification

When people get to be my age, they go through what most people call a midlife crisis. I don't like to think of it that way. I view it more as a midlife re-evaluation. It's the stage of life where you finally realize that you no longer have all the time in the world to do everything you want to do, so you re-evaluate those goals and figure out which ones are viable and which ones have to be abandoned. It's a bittersweet time as it's sad to see some of your old goals and aspirations die, but it's good to be refocused on the things you really want to do. It doesn't happen at once and the plans often change until you finally figure out what you want.

This re-evaluation happened to me recently. I'm fortunate in that I have a logical, analytical mind, and that I can do a lot of internal analysis without doing anything rash. Many people end up doing crazy stuff like quitting their jobs, divorcing their husbands/wives, and buying outrageous sports cars, boats, motorcycles, etc., only to realize they love their spouse, they liked their job, and the new bike hurts their back. I'm also fortunate because the only part of my life being re-evaluated is music - I enjoy my career, I love my wife, and although I'd love to learn to ride a motorcycle, it's not as important to me as it used to be, so I could take it or leave it.

Bad timing

One main reason, I think, that some guitar players become great and some (like me) struggle has a lot to do with timing and motivation, specifically the timing of motivation.

I was reading up on my new god (praise JP) and his practice routine. He said that when he was younger, he practiced six hours a day, but now that he's a professional musician and has a different schedule he practices about an hour or two a day.

Six hours a day?

Really?

Shit.

I can handle an hour or two, but six?

I have a new guitar god

Praise be to John Petrucci! Honor his name and keep it holy!

OK, so I took that analogy a bit too far. But it shows how much I'm completely blown away by this guy's playing. This isn't new news for anyone who already knew of him (like 99% of the guitar playing population), but I'm a little late to the game. I was familiar with his band, Dream Theater, through their drummer Mike Portnoy who is part of the Transatlantic supergroup, and I remember hearing "Pull Me Under" on MTV - you know, back when they used to actually play videos - but I never had a chance to really get into their music. I acquired some of their stuff when I first discovered modern progressive rock but I was more interested in Spock's Beard, the Flower Kings and the aforementioned Transatlantic. I knew I'd get to them eventually, and eventually turned out to be this week.

DeQuervain's Revisited, or Why the Hell Isn't it Happening Anymore?

I made a big deal on this blog about my DeQuervain's tenosynovitis and how it has always affected my playing, even when I was a kid. I even set up an experiment to see if scale length had any affect on the symptoms (it didn't, at least at the time). But something odd has happened lately.

It stopped.

Yup, it just stopped. Just like that (imagine me snapping my fingers when you read the word "that"). And I've been playing my guitar a lot lately. A whole lot. I just got a DigiTech RP90 and I've been spending hours playing with all the settings. I've also had some really good practice sessions over the past few weeks.

So why has my DeQuervain's suddenly gone away?

The great DeQuervain's scale length experiment, conclusion: When pain is a good thing.

When I first announced my DeQuervain's scale length experiment, I thought I'd be conducting a series of experiments over a few weeks. But, as usually happens with me, things didn't turn out exactly as I had planned.

I did what I said I was going to do and put down the Fenders and picked up the Les Paul for a few days. Late last week, I was sitting on the floor in my computer/guitar room strumming chords while my wife was going through her online school orientation when I thought, "I'm already strumming chords, I may as well strum barre chords." So I started abusing barre chords and, sure enough, my DeQuervain's pain came back.

So what does this prove? Well, it proves that scale length don't mean shit. This is good and bad. It's good because it means I can keep playing my beloved Fenders without wondering if I'm causing major damage. It's bad because it means I have to really work at my wrists to try to mitigate my condition as best as I can.

I try to look at the positives, though, and in celebration of the results of this experiment, I picked up my Strat - still my favorite guitar despite the sheer awesomeness of my Telecaster - and had one of the best BS sessions I've had in a while. Sure, it was only 20 minutes worth of improvisation while my wife ran on the treadmill, but it felt good. I missed my Strat and I don't know what I would've done if I couldn't play it anymore.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some wrist stretches to do.

The great DeQuervain's scale length experiment, part one

I have DeQuervain's tenosynovitis. I've had it most of my life. You can read the details here if you like. It sucks. It really gets in the way of my guitar playing. So you could understand how not noticing it would be something I notice.

For the last week or so I've been playing my Les Paul Special (I tend to rotate my guitars based on nothing in particular). One day, I made a casual observation - I haven't experienced any DeQuervain's symptoms. This intrigued me, so I did some research on DeQuervain's and scale length and found that some people have decreased their symptoms by playing guitars with a shorter scale. This concerned me, as only one of my four guitars has a shorter scale.

After reading this, I decided to conduct an experiment. I would play guitars with different scale lengths for a few days and then deliberately try to induce a DeQuervain's reaction.

For those who may not know, scale length is the length of the string from the nut to the bridge (or more accurately, the length from the nut to the 12th fret doubled, because strings intonate at slightly different lengths). Also, Fender and Fender-derived guitars use a 25.5" scale length, while Gibson and Gibson-derived guitars use a 24.75" scale length. Of course, there are exceptions, but I'm talking about the standard Strat/Tele/Les Paul guitars that dominate the guitar landscape.

For part one of my experiment, I chose my new, amazing Fender Telecaster HH. For two days, I played and practiced as I normally would in order to get my hands used to the guitar. Then, on day three (which happened to be yesterday) I induced the DeQuervain's. Since it happens mostly when I play a lot of barre chords, I did just that, including playing the evil chord progression from "Distant Early Warning" that gave me so many problems when I was in high school. Sure enough, after only about 10 minutes of this, the pain came on strong. It was really bad this time. I spent the rest of the evening massaging and stretching my wrist and hand and it still hurt a little in the morning.

Part two starts today. I put away my Tele and took out the Les Paul again. I'll play as usual for the next two days and then try to induce a reaction on the third day. I actually hope it hurts just as bad. That would mean that the problem is my wrist and it doesn't matter what guitar I play. Otherwise, I don't know what to do. Like I said, I have four guitars and only one with a 24.75" scale. I'd have to make some tough decisions if it turns out that I can't play them anymore.

For sake of argument, I'm going to have a part three, where I conduct the same experiment using my Strat. It still has the same 25.5" scale as the Tele, but it has lighter strings on it, so maybe that will make a difference. I sincerely hope so.

Planting a marker

I've been thinking about my guitar playing and how far I've come since I decided to get back into playing last March. That was when I traded in my old Charvel (which I still miss from time to time) for my new Strat and decided to take my playing more seriously. I wanted to see how far I've come when I realized something:

I had no idea.

I know I've gotten better at playing, and I know I know more stuff now than I did before. But I never quantified it. I never made a note as to where I was a year ago, so I don't know how far I've come. That's why, today, May 1, 2010, I'm planting a marker. On May 1, 2011, I'm going to compare where I am now to where I will be and see how far I've come.

To accomplish this, I'm going to write down where I am. It's going to be a tedious pain in the butt, but I'm going to write down my perceived skill level. I'm going to list the number of songs I know (complete songs, solo and all), the scales I know, the chord types I know, the speed in beats per minute that I can run through my exercises cleanly, and I'm going to rate what I think my skill level is (excellent, good, fair, or poor) in theory, improvisation, and technique and specific places where I need improvement.

If, after a year, I don't see any real progress, I'll probably cry a little, but I will take more drastic steps to improve my playing. This is the year where I will prove whether or not I can do this on my own or if I need help from a teacher or some other method of learning. Maybe with a real goal, I can actually get over this hump I've been on for the last 20 years or so and become the guitarist I want to be.

Decreased guitar time = fewer blog posts

This blog will probably be a little thin for the next few weeks. The content of this blog rests largely on my guitar playing, at least at this point in my musical journey, and I'm just not going to have a lot of time in the coming weeks to play.

My wife and I are embarking on a house face lift project as we prepare to sell our old house in preparation for the move to our new house. My guitar time will be seriously compromised. Take this weekend, for instance. All the time I would've spent practicing was used to paint the master bedroom and bathroom. Next weekend, it'll be the upstairs hallway and second bathroom. Then the two back bedrooms the following weekend. And so on until the whole house goes from rental white (the original paint color) to realtor beige (as our agent calls it). Even during the week I won't have much guitar time. After work today, I have to get the master bedroom and bath back to some kind of normal state, which means I'll be spending my time pulling off masking tape, touching up the trim and moving the furniture back to where it belongs.

Am I upset? Not really. Sure I love playing and I'll miss my guitar time, but sometimes life throws you something more important (or at least more timely) and priorities shift. After these next few hectic weeks, I'll have plenty of time to practice again, and I'll be able to do it from my nice new home. Sacrificing some guitar time is a small price to pay for being able to say that.

So for my three or four loyal readers, there may be a noticeable lack of posts for the next few weeks. Don't worry, though. Once I'm back to my regular playing time I'll be boring the Internet with all sorts of blog posts again.

Life with Hal - Book One

It's officially been two weeks since I started going through the Hal Leonard guitar books and I've finished book one, so I think it's time for an update. These are the same books that I used when I started my guitar lessons 25 years ago. I bought them again because the books and I had some unfinished business. Also, I'm weak on the fundamentals.

How's it been?

Surprisingly fun. I wish I would've had this mindset back when I was 11. I would be a much better guitar player now, and who knows? Maybe I'd be making some kind of living playing music. But, my life worked out very well anyway, time only moves forward, and all I can do is start from right now and become the best guitarist I can until old age takes it away. These books will help.

DeQuervain's Syndrome - A real pain in the thumb

Atari killed my thumbs.

I came to this realization yesterday afternoon when I was on a walk with a coworker. I was explaining to him the problem I have with my thumbs - DeQuervain's Syndrome - and I started thinking back to when I first noticed it. My thoughts took me back to my childhood, when I would play Atari (and later Commodore 64, which used Atari joysticks) games for hours on end.

It made more sense when I thought about the ergonomics of the old Atari joysticks - one stick, one thumb button on the upper left corner.

Why?

You see, I have it worse in my left hand. The trigger hand. Pressing that trigger thousands of times a day did more damage than I thought.

Back to basics

While reminiscing about my first foray into guitar lessons I mistakenly thought the book I used was a Mel Bay guitar book. I recently figured out that it was, in fact, a Hal Leonard book. How do I know that?

I just bought it again this weekend.

To be more accurate, I bought the fully bound, three-books-in-one version with a CD for each book. Back then I just had book one with no CD. In fact, I don't even think CDs were widely available back when I first started taking lessons. Yes, I'm old.

So why would I go and buy the same book that I used as an 11-year-old when I'm obviously advanced beyond it? Well, I'm not as advanced as some may think. Sure, the book is very rudimentary, but it's those rudiments that I'm missing. On the plus side it means that I don't have to struggle with the mechanics - I already have the ability to stretch my fingers to form a G chord - and I can focus on what's missing, which is theory and sight reading.

What I like about this book - and why I bought it over other books that teach the same things but in a "modern" way - is that there's no tablature to cheat with. If I want to play along, I have to read music. The only way I'll read music is if I'm forced to read it. My other book, Scales over Chords, is an excellent book and I've learned a lot from it, but it's noted in standard notation and tablature and I always find myself reading the tab and not the notes. If I want to learn to read music, and I do, I need to be forced into it. There's no other way.

As for the book itself, it's not much different than what I remember from 25 years ago, except it's been updated a bit. For example, the picture used to demonstrate how to hold an electric guitar shows a fairly modern looking guy holding a Stratocaster, while the old book had a picture of a guy who looked like he stepped right out of Bill Haley and His Comets, complete with suit and tie, holding a Gibson ES-355. There's also a section on "Alternative Rock" which I'm sure wasn't included in my older version. Other than that, it's pretty much the same, with the same organization and musical pieces (I can't wait to learn "Greensleeves").

I'm having fun with it so far. The aforementioned rudimentariness of the exercises means I can get through them quickly - I got through the open notes of the high E, B and G strings in one day, as opposed to the month it took me as an 11-year-old. I'm jazzed that I'm actually reading music, as simple as it is. I also feel like I have unfinished business with this book. I stopped my lessons without even getting through book one, so this time I want to finish what I started all those years ago. Then I'll move back to Scales over Chords knowing I have the rudiments covered and by then I should be a much better player. I hope.

I'll let you know if it works.

It's hard to get good

Since embarking on this trek back into the world of music and guitar playing specifically, I've come to a realization:

There's just too damn much crap to learn.

It's overwhelming, really. Not only am I trying to learn guitar techniques - alternate picking, sweep picking, left-hand dexterity, legato, etc. - but I'm also trying to learn music theory. Stuff like scales, chords, modes, and how they all fit together. Some days I don't know where to start, so I just end up noodling around for whatever time I have to practice that day (it varies from 20 minutes to a few hours), which is pretty much what I've done for years and what I'm specifically trying to avoid doing here in my latest attempt at being a guitarist.

I heard a great quote on "House" the other day. Either you are good, you get good, or you give up. I'm not that good yet, and I don't want to give up, so I really have to work at the middle one - getting good. I tried the lesson route and that didn't quite work the way I thought it would. I've been trying to learn on my own, either through YouTube videos from guys like Rob "Chappers" Chapman or through Scales over Chords by Wilbur Savidge, a great book by the way. I'm still running into the same problem, though - where to start? Do I focus on technique, or do I learn scales and chords? Or should I just learn some new songs? (I'm getting really tired of playing Rush all the time.)

I'm at a loss. If anyone out there is reading this, I'd appreciate some suggestions. Before I go insane playing "Red Barchetta" every freakin' day!

The virtues of playing along, even if you don't know what you're doing

When I went to my guitar lesson a few weekends ago, something I said to my instructor caught him off guard. I could tell he was surprised by it as he really didn't know what to say. Thinking about it later, I realized he was right and that I should start doing the thing I said I don't do.

What's this thing that I should do that I wasn't doing?

Playing along to songs.

I know what you're thinking - "What a dumbass." Or maybe that's just me. Either way, I was being a dumbass for not doing something so obvious.

My lesson was...interesting

I went to my much anticipated guitar lesson yesterday and the outcome wasn't what I expected.

Let me explain.

First of all, the instructor was a great guy. Friendly, knowledgeable, and honest. He's a multi-instrumentalist and teaches other stringed instruments including banjo, mandolin and steel guitar. Plus he had an enviable collection of equipment (more on that later).

The lesson started out much as I thought it would. He told me to play the most complicated thing I know, and of course I froze up. Didn't know what to play. I'm not good at being put on the spot like that. So I started noodling around with some scales I've been learning and then broke out a little Rush. I'm so used to playing in front of the two people I trust the most - my wife and myself - that I didn't realize how self conscious I was playing in front of other people. I felt like I was giving a speech in public. Thankfully it didn't last too long and we then started talking about what I was hoping to get out of the lessons and what he could do for me.

Giddy with anticipation

Yes, I'm giddy.

Most guys aren't man enough to admit that.

Then again, I'm not most guys.

My first guitar lesson in 20 years happens tomorrow. 1 p.m. Mountain Time. I feel like someone about to go on a first date, although instead of "what do I wear," the question is, "what guitar do I bring?"

Do I bring my Strat? Or do I try to impress with my Gibson, which is worth more than all my other guitars combined? I could also bring my Hondo and show off how I refurbished it from a piece of crap to a pretty good guitar. Or, I could bring my Tele and show how I'm a down-to-earth guitarist.

Taking guitar lessons again

After months of consideration, I finally took the plunge and called about guitar lessons. These will be the first lessons I've taken since high school. I really don't know what to expect. I talked to the guy on the phone for a little while and he sounded very knowledgeable and personable.

I want to take lessons because I want more structure to my playing and practicing. Over the years, my practice sessions consisted of me banging around on my guitar for an hour or so. Maybe I'd play a song or two, maybe I'd go through some finger exercises, but it was never organized. Lately, I've been trying to force myself to have some discipline. I try to do finger exercises every day and I go over my CAGED patterns for a while, but it's still not as structured as I'd like. I'm hoping that taking lessons will force me to concentrate on specific aspects of my playing so I can become the guitarist I want to be.

Getting cagey

I'm taking a break from recording to work on my playing. Despite making some good recording progress, I really need to keep up on my practice. Plus, I miss my Line 6 (I need my Insane setting!) and I need to write more things to record.

I've been playing guitar on and off since I was 11 - that's 25 years of my life. Unfortunately, the off years outnumber the on years at least 2 to 1, so that number is a little misleading. I'm also predominately self-taught, having only about four years of lessons to my name. My playing consists mostly of getting tablature for songs and learning them note for note or figuring them out half-assedly by ear. This has worked somewhat - my high school band had about four hours' worth of material to play - but has more disadvantages than advantages. First off, I don't really know what I'm playing. I know basic chords - open position and barre chords - but for some of the weirder ones I just memorize fingering. I also run into problems when I lose my place. Since I don't know what I'm playing, if I miss a note or lose my place I don't have the fundamental knowledge to get me back to where I need to be. This has happened many times with my band and is usually accompanied by a sense of extreme panic before I get back on track.