A natural way of guitar playing
Learning
to sing, play the guitar or any instrument is as natural as learning your
mother tongue. First, we listen carefully, and then repeat by imitating. This
way we become better and better in speaking/playing an instrument. Then, we
learn to write and read letters and notes, grammar and music theory. After that
we begin reading and playing more complicated compositions, and finally we
create new compositions. We become musicians the moment we feel that way, before
we even take an instrument into our hands.
The process of playing an instrument also follows this course. Reading from the notes first, is not justifiable when you can listen fist – live music or recording, especially if the composition is simple or has specific details that cannot be written by the notes, but can only approximately be described. For example, the exact colour of a tone, the character of the composition, small interpretation details, sound, and the energy of the composition, or even something more important – pure and direct melody. Live performance (because music is always in the present) is always interactive, and there is no way of making up for that by writing symbols on the paper or the screen.
Playing
by ear gives one a sense of enthusiasm and immediacy, and enables faster,
better and deeper memorising of a composition, regardless whether you hear it
from the outside or from the inside. The direct approach is also more accurate
because in the translation of auditive medium of music into the notes,
essential and live information, and nuances are lost, and sometimes are
irretrievable, when played from the score, which is a visual medium.
By
all means, notes are very valuable when we do not know, or are not sure about
all the details of a composition, when it is complex, long or demanding, when
we communicate with other players or composers from the past, and when we want
to note down our own composition (audio recording of a composition is even more
direct way to record and save a piece of music, and it is also very helpful in
the process of finalizing a composition, or practicing).
It
is the same with learning the theory of music – it is easiest to learn it
through quality, interesting and popular compositions. When we practice the technique
of playing, the approach based on boring but useful exercises should be
supplemented, or even better, replaced by melodies, compositions or etudes with
musical values – both appeal and practical or functional value. Moreover, a
technical exercise can be represented by a part of a composition. When we find
a particular technical detail in a composition, or when we enrich an exercise
in a musical way, our feeling and thus our learning is deeper. This approach of
using emotional memory is useful for warm-up or technical exercises. When we
carefully select a composition that is appealing, it will be faster and easier
to learn it. When we discover in this composition a particular technical
detail, we link the theory and practice, and learn not only the theory, but
also the example based on it. For example, when learning the intervals, it is
easier to memorise major sixth in Traviata or perfect octave in Over the Rainbow then just read the
notes/tablatures that give the detailed explanation.
The
approach of listening and playing an instrument before reading is also the
reason why we began to like music. Music is sweet when experienced directly,
from within, and the notes are often an obstacle or a mere reminder. If we do
not internalize the composition, the notes will not help us much in playing it
right. Listening opens the space for auditive “reading between the lines” and
reaching beyond music to the place where it comes from.
Miroslav Dominic (Miroslav Dominić)
