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Guitar Playing Tips From Soccer Observations

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soccerSeveral of my friends are glued to the TV watching the World Cup Soccer Games. Have you seen any of the games? They certainly run a lot! Was thinking about it this morning and came up with 7 tips guitar players can learn from Soccer.

1. Practice

You know these players have practiced all of their lives. When you spent time with a sport, or playing and instrument, you become a better player/musician. Like these Soccer players, guitarists can practice.

2. Love Playing

They got great by loving the sport. Like them, we can love playing the guitar. We can have a joy and passion learning to play this wonderful instrument. When you love something, it’s fun to spend time doing it. When you are playing worship songs, don’t you just LOVE expressing how much you appreciate our God?

3. Study To Improve Your Skills

To reach the level of playing they have, you know they have studied the best players and learned new tricks of the trade. Learning from guitar teachers will help you avoid some bad technique that can slow you up or injure your hands. Yeah, it’s not uncommon to hear people having pain playing their guitar.

4. Play Their Best On Stage

During the game, they are giving their all. When performing, we can play our best. When they fall, they just get up. If we mess up, don’t stop. Keep playing. People don’t notice any mistakes unless you make a big deal about it.

5. Keep Your Eyes On The Ball

Everyone playing on the field is focusing on where the ball is on the field. As a Christian, in whatever we do, we are to focus our attention on Christ, the Author and Finisher of our faith. We can have our eyes fixed on Christ even while playing the guitar. For years I used to play background music at parties, and spent the entire time worshiping our Awesome God.

 

Guitar Walking Basses

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Guitar Walking BassesGuitar Walking Basses

Using walking basses is a common technique used to write worship songs. You see this in songs like ‘As A Deer’.  You can also use this technique to make a song arrangement. I show some examples in our Music Theory Course of how to take a song and make many different arrangements of it. In the video below is a video showing how to find the walking basses in three different keys.

There are examples in the key of ‘C’, ‘D’, and ‘G’. In the key of ‘C’ there are no sharps or flats, so the notes of the descending scale are C, B, A, G, F, E D and the back to C. In the video below you learn that the descending scale often moves to the ‘V’ or ‘V7’ chord between the last two notes, or last two chords.

In the picture you can see one example using the chords ‘C’, ‘C/B’, ‘Am7′, Am7/G’, ‘F’, ‘F/E’, ‘G7’, then ‘C’. The note underneath a slash ‘/’ is always the bass note. In the video the chord should have been called ‘Am7/G’ instead of ‘Am/G’. It’s actually the chord in the picture.

In the key of ‘D’ the bass notes are ‘D’, ‘C#’, ‘B’, ‘A’, ‘G’, ‘F#’, ‘E’, ‘A’ (which is the V), and ‘D’. In the key of ‘G’ the descending bass notes are ‘G’, ‘F#’, ‘E’, ‘D’, ‘C’, ‘B’, ‘A’, ‘D’ (the V), and ‘D’.

Guitar Practicing Tips

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How To Practice the GuitarStart with Prayer

As a Christian, I have always recommended starting any practice session with prayer. Paul says to do everything to God’s glory. I remember reading Brother Lawrence’s book years ago. He was a monk from the 1600’s who’s letters have become the book ‘Practicing The Presence of God.’ He talked about peeling potatoes to God’s glory.

The first tip in practicing your guitar is to start with a prayer. The Scriptures also say that you have not because you ask not. You can actually make your practice a time of worship. Thank God for His many wonderful attributes and ask Him for help with keeping focused on Him and with learning the guitar.

You can worship with instrumental music, too. I remember hearing Christopher Parkening, a classical guitarist, say that his motivation for playing the guitar had changed from playing to make money to playing for God’s glory, after he became a Christian. [Read more…]

Guitar Supports

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Guitar Support Comparisons

This video compares three guitar supports. When sitting, guitar supports can be extremely helpful for playing with good posture. Foot stools work, but can put too much stress on your lower back. I used to experience both lower back pain and neck pain when playing the guitar for extended times.

The A-frame was my favorite guitar support for many years, but just a week ago or so, I was introduced to the ErgoPlay Guitar Support. It’s currently my favorite support. There is even a model for left-handed guitar players.