Time, Please...

Putting together this month’s cover feature on the spellbinding guitar-playing of the late, much-missed Rory Gallagher (see page 58) got me thinking about what it takes to be really great on the instrument. One of the most striking things about Rory’s playing was how many styles he was a master of: slide, folk, acoustic blues, rootsy rock… and so on. That kind of fluency comes, in large part, from abundant natural talent – but also from immersing yourself in guitar. Rory was not only a student of the guitar from boyhood, but he was also one of the hardest-gigging musicians around. When you play guitar with that passion, intensity and frequency it almost becomes your first language. And therein lies a problem for those of us – perhaps the majority of guitar players who aren’t professionals – who have to balance their passion for the instrument against the demands of the day job, family and so on. It can be hard to find the time to improve on guitar rather than simply tread water. Thankfully, there are some techniques that can help. If you have an hour spare for practice, try spending 15 minutes on warm-up, the next 15 minutes on maintenance of techniques you know and/or development of techniques you want to master, a further 15 on repertoire – that is, learning songs or solos you want to have under your fingers – and then the last 15 minutes on improvisation, jamming freely over whatever backing suits your learning goals. You can of course tailor those proportions to suit your needs. But starting with that balanced diet means you can advance your skills across the board without eating up hours noodling in your comfort zone, which is all too easy to do.

Anyway, give it a try and tell us your tips for learning guitar when time is tight – we’ll publish the best. Lastly, a big thank you to London’s 100 Club for kindly letting us shoot Rory’s gear in that historic venue, where so many legendary guitarists have played. Enjoy the issue and see you next month.