Comments on: Think (and Look) Ahead of Your Hands

By: rob watson

rob watson — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 23:15:26 +0000

This is a very interesting topic.

I have a lot of experience working with children . The stakes are very different with them, they will completely tank their posture in gnarly ways if I allow them to look at their hands much. Their movements and thought process are simplistic, so teaching direction must sometimes be simplistic (don’t look at your hands!)

Adults have more analytical ability, so you can tell them that’s its okay to look for certain reasons, or actually look but maintain a tall back and balanced neck (by use of peripheral vision).

I think (with adults) its really where the mind is, not whether one looks or not. Marc Teicholz plays crazy hard rep with his eyes closed; John Williams plays looking at his hands constantly. Both are very high level players.

By: Christopher Davis

Christopher Davis — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 22:38:54 +0000

Andreas, I agree: watching the fretboard isn’t necessary for performance. However, I find focusing on something (my hands) helps me stay in the music and keeps my mind from wandering. Watching the left hand lets me focus more on the music, in other words.

By: andreas backlund

andreas backlund — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 19:30:54 +0000

interesting thaught!

but I must give my highest skepticism against watching the hands when playing.The reason is simple.You cannot focus enough on the music.Of course it is of good use when analyzing the movements of your hand but in my my experience it is much more beneficial to rely on the tactile muscle memory then the eyes.It is just to difficul for the brain to both focus on the watching the hands going around on the fretboard and at the same time listen to what you do.

But ok,I know that many professionals do watch the fingerboard when playing.I just want to mention that it is not necessary for performance and it`s annoying for the audience.

best regards Andreas

By: gamelan

gamelan — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 23:45:34 +0000

A piece where one really needs to think ahead is Tarrega’s Alborada.

Here is a superb interpretation of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-StCRIocDnU

By: toy guitars

toy guitars — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:06:34 +0000

i have just been trying this and although hard to start with i have noticed that it has definately made me more aware of what i am actually doing rather than just letting by muscle memory do the work and letting instinct take over

By: Jerry Swain

Jerry Swain — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:06:43 +0000

I liked this article and took it to heart last night as I was practicing. I found, as you said, that when I paid attention and actually looked ahead to the upcoming notes the piece became much smoother.

By: Cary Terry

Cary Terry — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 21:22:26 +0000

The previous comment is excellent, as is the post. There is a lot to process all at once in order to make things as good as they are by memory. One of my teachers said when asked how he makes it look so easy, “I make it easy. That way I can do what I’m thinking instead of thinking about what I’m doing.”

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 23:26:55 +0000

I think with classical guitar music you should aim to memorize a piece as soon as you can play through it from the sheet music reasonably well, note not perfectly.
My teacher pointed this out to me when I was struggling with a chord progression in a piece of medieval lute music. I could play the chords fine out of context, but was grasping at the notes on the page rather than on the guitar! He asked me to play the chord progression from memory, first with my eyes closed, then watching the left then the right hand. Voila! I had no problems, the difficulty was in me using the read > decode > play process instead of recall > muscle memory > play.

By: Simeon

Simeon — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:08:00 +0000

Going along with this is the question of memorization. I came to guitar from other instruments and have always been proud of my ability to sight read (relative to most guitarists). Frequently, however, I fail to memorize music unless I intend to perform it for a recital or something. Recently I played something for Church that I had to memorize and was amazed at how quickly I improved my tempo when I could practice while looking at my hands instead of at my music…

I think I’m reversing my opionion a bit – reading is important but memorization should come early enough to help you practice and bring a piece up to tempo…