Star Letter
Practice or taLent?
In the early 90s, there was a much-touted theory going about that, to become really expert at anything, you had to put in around 10,000 hours of practice. The reaction to this theory at the time was the question of where innate talent might fit in. It may be, of course, that talented people practise more and try harder because they are good at it, but the question remains: can expert levels be achieved by dedicated practice alone?
As someone who has a very moderate level of natural talent, and being of a certain age, I have certainly gone well over the 10,000 hours of guitar playing now, but how long have I spent actually practising? I suppose the answer is, not enough! When I watch a master perform, I realised that I could practise until the end of time without reaching that level, so my conclusion is, that if you have both a natural gift and a dedicated amount of application, you will end up a better player in the long run. What do you all think? Graham Osborne, via email This is an interesting one, Graham. Nuno Bettencourt once told us how, as a young guitar star, an older guy approached him after a gig and asked how he’d got so good in such a short time, adding that he’d been playing his whole life and wasn’t even close to Nuno’s standard. Nuno asked how much of that time the man had actually devoted to practising the guitar. At the time, Nuno was practising 11 hours a day. So, time spent actively advancing your skills certainly counts.
By the way, if you just play the licks you already know and call it ‘practice’, you aren’t truly advancing. Senior music editor Jason Sidwell recommends dividing practice time into four quarters: warm-up, consolidation (reinforcing what skills you already have), development (pushing yourself with brand-new skills), and repertoire (learning full pieces of music). That will certainly help you move forward. Yes, natural talent is a great help – but intelligent practice can even the odds in your favour. Head over to p74 to read our Master It Faster! feature where we engage four guitar tutors and a neuroscientist on the very subject of learning and developing on guitar.
the hand-made taLe
Earlier in the year, I had the pleasure of spending a few hours at Vanquish Guitars, playing a couple of their beauties and chewing the fat with Adrian Hardman, and your recent feature of one of his guitars (review, issue 412) got me thinking. While £3k or so is an awful lot of money, it’s not a great deal more than what an off-the-peg USA single-cut costs, but the difference in quality and the purchasing experience is palpable. Indeed, the more I think about it, the less attractive the premium but ‘standard’ offerings are compared with a bespoke guitar, custombuilt and tailored exactly to my preferences.
Similarly, I was fortunate enough recently to play through an acquaintance’s recently purchased 633 Engineering amp and, again, I was blown away not only by the quality of the product but also by the purchasing experience and process its owner enjoyed along the way. So much so, that the thought of me spending serious money on anything mass-made now seems slightly bizarre. So, I’d urge anyone with a hankering for a mid-tohigh-end gear purchase to check out the guys based on the industrial estate down the road and enjoy an afternoon sampling their very fine wares before heading to your nearest boxshifter. The experience alone is worth it. Phil, Cardiff, via email Your resounding praise for small but expert makers is well deserved, certainly in the case of both Vanquish and 633. But it’s also worth pointing out that even within the product lines of major makers, you can get hand-built guitars made to your chosen spec: Fender’s Custom Shop
Master Built guitars are a classic example, while even the better reissues made by Gibson Memphis, for example, are superb, largely hand-built instruments. Such guitars may well hold their resale value better, too. But the chance to actually meet a local maker and follow the progress of a once-in-a-lifetime guitar built just for you is uniquely special. If these guys aren’t supported, they won’t be there to offer you an alternative to the mainstream, so we applaud your choice.
FLAT-PACK Find
Recently, my wife and I were in a well-known Swedish store, famed for its self-assembly furniture, to purchase two new sofas. After delivery, we went through the assembly process using the supplied box spanner and when finished I placed the spanner in the toolbox. A few hours later, after some unknown inspiration, I retrieved the spanner and used it to try and tighten the nut around the input jack on one of my guitars – and to my utter disbelief it fitted perfectly.
Now, I am not advocating spending hundreds of pounds on a new sofa just to get some guitar tools, but it is certainly worth a bit of lateral thinking when the things that you build have tools that come with them and not simply discarding them. They can potentially be repurposed… Paul Williams, via email Bravo, Paul – you’ve finally given us all a silver lining to look forward to after traipsing round one of those giant, apparently inescapable stores. Your discovery is up there with using the rubber washer from Grolsch beer bottles to stop your strap coming off the guitar. But, like other Ikea products, we think the tool in question should have an enigmatic Nordic name. How about the Jackspänna? Also, have readers found any other wizard ideas for solving guitar problems using common domestic objects?
TEST Your METAL
Dear Guitarist, now don’t pick on me ’cos I’m a bit of a noob, okay, but my burning question is this: I’ve heard what metal plectrums sound like live – but what real difference do they make if played in the studio? Are they often used by artists when recording proper takes? Will there be more of a difference heard on acoustic guitar than electric? Thank you for any assistance, as I shall continue to drool at that Parker Fly guitar on p111 (issue 412, Radical Axes), which may find its way into my home sooner than later. I just have to come up with a story now to cover all bases with the wife. It has to be convincing – any help would be most welcome. Robert Roemer, via email Hi Robert, guitarists who like metal picks, such as Brian May, will typically use them both on stage and in the studio if their distinctive sound and feel has become part of their style. Generally, a rigid metal pick will offer great articulation but have a rather bright, abrupt attack and be unforgiving to sloppy picking. So, for soft strumming or sleepy jazz, for example, an aluminium pick wouldn’t necessarily be our first choice: there’s a certain hard ‘clickiness’ to them that favours speed and precision rather than subtlety, and might contribute handling noise to a recording. That would likely be more detrimental to acoustic parts than electric, we’d say, but if you’re playing loud and fast it might just help with clarity. The key is to try a few and see how you get on. As for fibs to explain away new guitars – you’re on your own with that one!