How to practice

You know how if you ever let anyone see how you do sit-ups or push-ups or planks or whatever, the first thing they say, invariably, is "you're doing that all wrong!"? And then you change your technique but still the next person says "no, that's not how you do it." So you should never let anyone other than your coach, if you have one, see you exercise.

Similarly, it is probably a bad idea to let anyone other than your teacher see how you practice guitar. And now I'm going to demonstrate why. Here is a clip of Alexandra Whittingham practicing:

 And I'm going to say "Alexandra, you're doing it all wrong!" Now Ms Whittingham is undoubtedly a more accomplished guitarist than I am--after all I retired from the concert stage a long time ago, and she is a fine musician and technician who has won major international competitions. But still, this is a very bad way to approach a new piece. As Itzhak Perlman said in a video once, if you practice the wrong way, it takes twice as many hours to undo it. This is true. Exactly how you approach a new piece is really important. Hacking away at it like this is obviously not a good approach. There is no point in doing this arpeggio before you even learn the notes of the chords.

I am reminded of that axiom from Biology 11: "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny." In this context, it is the idea that in some ways for some pieces, they are built up a bit like how music developed historically. Without wandering off into the weeds, what I mean is that for a lot of pieces, like this one, instead of just hacking away at it, trying to sight-read it as it lies on the paper, a better approach is to reduce the texture to just the harmonies--play it as simple chords. Then you can more easily play just the right notes and connect them to what comes before and after. I learned this from Oscar Ghiglia.

Once you have all the harmonies clear, you can add in rhythm and then melody. She feels like she doesn't have time to do this, but honestly, you don't have the time to screw it up! What she is learning here is all the wrong stuff: how to misread the notes, go back and forth, and constantly interrupt the flow.

I don't mean to pick on Ms Whittingham, as I said she is an excellent guitarist and we have all been in situations where we are pressed for time and hack away at a new piece. But still... If I were a pianist I would probably have picked one of the clips of Tiffany Poon:

(But she is better at it. Guitarists are notoriously bad sight-readers.)

For different pieces there are different approaches. For a fugue or anything contrapuntal, obviously you want to read the voices individually. For many pieces you want to learn the melody first. Learn what to leave out: ornaments, fioratura, tricky rhythms. Learn the bones first, then put on the flesh and last of all the clothes and makeup.

Tiffany Poon, by the way, is no great shakes as a sight-reader. Experienced pianists (and violinists, etc.) can play pretty much anything at sight. First time. That is how all movie soundtracks are recorded. They are done in one two and half hour session. What you hear was most likely played once! That's what those guys get paid for. And yes that includes guitarists who do studio work. I once worked with a very gifted singer who could sight-read early music from the original notation. I kid you not.