Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2004 12:07 pm Post subject: guthrie in the early years
hey,
this is more a question for guthrie, or for anyone who has any information. I'm basically a guitarist from australia, and have never even heard any songs of Guthries, i just seen random video clips of jams, stuff like the tone merchants series with the fellowship, and the bbf jam at namm...etc
I'm also familiar with guthrie's work from Guitar Techniques magazine.
Basically i find his work to be so diverse and 'collective' of many genres that i'm naturally drawn to his style of guitar playing. His attitude seems very chilled out and 'guitarist' like.. so i really admire that.
I'm just curious with regard to his attitude when he was practicing in his teen years. I'm 19 now and a very serious guitarist, i practice extensively on a regular basis and primarily jazz music.
It seems like every time i see guthrie do something its totally different from the last. I just want to know what his story is - was he a 14 hour a day player who did everything under the sun, or was he just relaxed about everything and took it one day at a time...etc
I'm asking because i find myself a lot of the time practicing and attacking my problem zones, but at the end of the day i don't feel like i can actually sit down with a friend and 'play' them a song or anything. So rather than this being a lament or a 'how did you practice' thread... i just want to know more about Guthrie's attitude when he was really 'woodshedding'... was guitar his existence? was there a social life? ... i know for me i have a social life , but it means i have to wake up very early in the morning to accomodate extra practice time...etc
anyway.. i'm just curious about his attitude mainly
I found a lot of recollections in the 2 Creative Guitar books, instances of Guthrie mentioning practicing at the bus-stop using his wrist as a fretboard.. or applying touch-typing skills to playing guitar. Well worth a read. As is the 1993 Guitarist where Guthrie is interviewed post winning the Guitarist of the year award, I think I recall Guthrie mentioning appearing on a British Kid's show called Magpie..
I did have a copy, but my guitar teacher at the time (and uni pal) declared he'd bought it and I was being out of order trying to steal it... he made me date and analyse the erosion on my picks too _________________ Fabulous powers were revealed to me the day I held my magic Suhr(d) aloft and said "by the power of great scale!"
Hi there. Knowing Guthrie pretty well, i can say that from speaking to him he never took his playing 'too seriously'. He definitely wanted to be a really well-rounded musician, but enjoyed what he was doing rather than force himself to do things he got bored with.
His advice to me was always learn something new all the time and forget about it, then go back to, and forget about it etc etc. So this way your learning loadsa things but not worrying about them. If you like what you've learned, you WILL remember it subconciously and it should come out in your playing when you least expect it.
He also said to get into a band and get playing live straight away man. You will never be the best you can be unless you do that. I know loadsa bedroom players that cannot and wont play live, and they practise all hours!! Put a backing track on to jam with and thier stuck.
Just gotta chill, enjoy and listen to music all to absorb it before even attempting to play it!! Guthrie likes a good beer, so i dont think he stayed in the house to drink it!! ha ha
PS get a girlfriend if you haven't, they can be a great de-stresser!! ha ha
Joined: 13 Sep 2004 Posts: 101 Location: Chula Vista, CA
Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2004 3:59 pm Post subject:
I also remember Ed stating somewhere that Guthrie was surrounded by music from a very young age in that most of his family played some sort of instrument. So playing / practicing all the time was normal for him. Ed also said something about that when Guthrie was old enough to go to school he was amazed to find out that the majority of people DON'T play an instrument.
So in essence, its seems he was born into a very firm foundation that paved the way for him. _________________ What would we all do without guitars............. take up knitting?
Joined: 10 Sep 2004 Posts: 2783 Location: Chino, CA
Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2004 8:51 pm Post subject:
All of the above responses from what I understand! And I think that's why Guthrie sounds so refreshing! He didn't spend 10 hours a day practicing exercises, scales and arpeggios to the clicks of a metronome. It's exactly why he sounds so different from all these other shredders out there. Guthrie is having fun, but at the same time, he made the effort to always seek out something new and keep having more FUN! And that fun is about playing well and doing whatever it takes to keep it fun. I'm sure it's not fun for him all the time if he has problems executing certain things or he's not playing to the level he thinks he can get to. It's obvious he has very high standards. _________________ Ed Yoon
Certified Guthrie Fan-atic
BOING Music LLC - Managing Partner
.strandberg* Guitars USA
Ed Yoon Consulting & Management
Guitar Center Inc.
ahhh don't get me wrong guys - im sure you are all on the ball with this discussion. But its strikes me as odd that for someone with such perfect playing [g.govan]... the saying 'practice makes perfect' may not have needed to apply to him.
When i meant practice, i didn't mean scales and runs with a metronome... but the guy must have had a guitar in his hand for most of his days - or at least his mind must have been on music anyway.
hehe, you all make being a 'guthrie' sound so easy...
pick up the guitar , strum a few chords, have a beer, relax with friends, let 10 years slip by.. get up on a stage, jam on a tune you've never heard - get off the stage and get swamped with a million different 'wow' and 'awesome' type remarks....
Joined: 10 Sep 2004 Posts: 2783 Location: Chino, CA
Posted: Fri Oct 15, 2004 4:13 am Post subject:
Well, I've been lucky enough to watch him play for hours just a few feet away from me whenever he visits the shop, and indeed, he makes it look so easy and effortless that it must have been like that to a degree for as long as he can remember. I'd imagine that he may indeed have spent 10+ hours a day during his teens to achieve such a level of proficiency, but he clearly states in some of his answers that he could never get himself to sit down and practice in a regimented manner.
Observing Guthrie is akin to observing a great classical pianist or violinist or some other musician of that sort - he has such an imposing command over the instrument. The way he just fuses with the guitar and plays, it makes it seem like playing the guitar to him is as natural as breathing. But I know it can't be all that easy for him. I know for sure that he's very, very self-critical. It seems that he spent a lot of time transcribing solos on paper, so it's as much as in the ears and in the mind as it's in his hands and fingers. Music, after all, is a listening form of art. _________________ Ed Yoon
Certified Guthrie Fan-atic
BOING Music LLC - Managing Partner
.strandberg* Guitars USA
Ed Yoon Consulting & Management
Guitar Center Inc.
Well said Ed! I like going deep into the mind and emotions its cool, ha ha. Your right in saying Guthrie must have practised for hours in order to get proficient but when he got there i think he just played, if you know what i mean?
As a full-time musician myself, i dont think of it as practise or hard work, (although it can be hard going) just simply playing the guitar for a living! Its the most enjoyable job i can think of, and believe me i've done some bad ones! Theres always gonna be ups and downs in any career, or passion for something, women are a prime example!!! hahaha
If your focussed on what you want i dont see why its not possible to get it. Whether its a certain speed in playing, or a life long career in music. I didnt want to make it sound easy to get to Guthries level because im nowhere near it for a start! But everyone has different boundaries, some are born with real musical ability and some have to just work alot harder to get there. I know for a fact Guthrie dont think 'he's' the best in the world or a genius, just enjoys what he does.
as ed said and as guthrie answered in some questions threads here, you can tell it all came quite naturally to guthrie. he worked hard, but it was all fun work for him. he just went out and played. i really think that's why guthrie's works all have such an unrushed and un-stiff feel and flow to 'em.
He also said to get into a band and get playing live straight away man. You will never be the best you can be unless you do that. I know loadsa bedroom players that cannot and wont play live, and they practise all hours!! Put a backing track on to jam with and thier stuck.
\[/quote]
Guilty as charged haha i play for about 4 hrs a day, sometimes i go over but i gotta budget my time between everything.
ive played live once or twice and they were both disasters...so i think i caught a bit of stage fright...
Me too, completely detuned the guitar live on stage.
Utter fiasco. For me it's all the more reason to get up and do it again.. I've seen the worst .. (well bad enough to dispell most 'what-if' concerns from my mind)
4 hours, you lucky dog, these days I'm lucky if I get 20 minutes _________________ Fabulous powers were revealed to me the day I held my magic Suhr(d) aloft and said "by the power of great scale!"
Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 1:27 am Post subject: Guthrie's practice routine
Hello all dedicated followers of guitar wisdom
I feel i need to interrupt this lively debate to stress that i can confirm that Guthrie hasn't just been practising in the last five years.
He does have music on his mind 99% of the time but he functions like a fairly normal human being until you get him drunk and he starts fretting chords,licks and what else in his sleep.
He still agreed when i asked him what was most important about progressing that it was a good ear.
I'd bought a book called the ''ultimate ear training" for guitar and bass by Gary Willis -thank u Gary- and he agreed.
Hello Ed and Noel and Co
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haha i play for about 4 hrs a day, sometimes i go over but i gotta budget my time between everything.
