Mark van Allen
Member From: loganville, Ga. USA
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posted 04 November 2003 01:03 PM
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I think a whole lot of this "lick" thing comes down to how we're wired mentally. A fledgling player needs input to start to learn where the pockets, melody, and harmony can be found. Copying myriad licks, solos, and instrumental melodies can really help with making that internal map. (I think Jeff Newman's teaching materials, for example, do a great job of building on that process.) Eventually a player has loaded in sufficent input to start to create spontaneously, or perhaps more accurately to translate mental phrases into physical patterns on the fretboard. There are practice methods that both help and hinder this process, and we all travel at different speeds. My own "wiring" presents me with some interesting conundrums- I'm very comfortable in a studio session or live band setting where I'm expected to come up with my own fills, melodies, etc. I have a few "licks" that sneak in from time to time, but mostly I'm playing from um, ear and intuition- I know what sound or direction I want to move to next, and I know more or less where to go to find that sound. If I'm on a less familiar tuning, I don't know my way around as well. Where I fall on my @ss is playing with a band that expects note-for-note renditions of classic steel intros, turns etc. I can't play that stuff- I can make up stuff all day long, but I don't have the patience or basic memory wiring to retain every intro from every classic tune in history. When I've learned 'em, they just go right on out of my head. I admire the guys who can remember all that stuff, but it's just not in my make up. It's interesting to me how much cache is attached to the ability to do the "classic steel" thing by listening peer players. I guess I feel that if it's already been done so tastefully and well by another player, I'd rather take my own stab at the melody rather than "mimic the master". That being said, there's a tremendous amount to be learned about phrasing, taste, tone, etc. from listening to someone else's "licks". |
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