Scott Henderson Discussion

[remigiozampa]

Hello again Scott

I preferred to separate that question from my other gear-related post. I hope you don't mind.

This question is more a request for advice from your teacher side, but as a live musician too...

I make a good living recording, mixing and producing records. I love my job and things are going really good to me in that field but i always considered myself first and foremost a musician. Become a good professional took me several years and during those years i played guitar less than i used to do when i was younger. I've noticed that my technical abilities are not the same as some years ago. I think i kept my tone, vibrato etc... still in a good shape but i realized that my precision, speed, even the strength of my left hand fingers is not the same.
i received some interesting offers to make tours and i would like to take the chance and combine being an studio rat with come back to the road again.

Any advice about how should i prepare myself in order to recover a decent technical abilities? The answer is obviously play everyday many hours as possible, but i would like to have some guidance about the best way to organize and focus my study time, to maximize the results and being ready to back to the touring musician life.
I'm not pretending to became a technical virtuoso, i just want to have a competent set of skills as a live guitar player.

Many thanks Scott! You're a truly great inspiration.

[Scott Henderson]

That's a hard question to answer because there are so many areas of playing that we all want to improve, like technique, vocabulary, smooth voice leading when playing through changes, telling a good story with our solos by using motific development, chord vocabulary, phrasing... the list goes on.

I always end up practicing things which are the most important for upcoming gigs - the solo changes I'll be playing on the tour, the heads to the tunes, especially if they're difficult, and there are always technique issues if I haven't been practicing daily, so I always have to work on that. I'm always trying to come up with new ideas to add to the songs, which in a way is a mix between practicing and composing. It's all good - just spending time with your instrument always helps.

[remigiozampa]

Yeah, you're right and i probably didn't explain my question very well. I was referring specifically to just the technical side of things, besides the more "musical" side like get better improvising, expand your vocabulary etc...
those things are what define a great player, but apart from that i think i need a little plan to make my hands more competent with the instrument... anyway, probably if i spend many hours just playing and developing ideas that technique will come alone without spending many hours just trying technical training right?

[Scott Henderson]

Actually when I said I work on technique, I was just referring to practicing at fast tempos. If you're talking about technical exercises, I've never done one in my life. I think "chops" is probably the thing I care about the least - especially now with all the shredders around. Makes me want to play whole notes.