I think it’s very important to recognize that playing the guitar is a physical activity, and therefore that developing an efficient, practical and healthy “operating system” is key to not only freedom and enjoyment in playing, but also health and longevity.

The first place where this occurs is in our core studies, by which I mean shifting, finger studies,  picking studies, including string crossings and accents,  and of course scales and arpeggios and so on.  By memorizing and practice the core studies on a daily basis, with keen attention to not only to output in terms of sound quality, but also the “feel” one has, you are building for the future, quite literally for your whole career.

Of course you know I am firstly a jazz bassist, but I think the comments I recently shared with my bass readers are equally applicable to the guitar:

Quote: I speak from experience- many know that I started playing the bass at 20-of course I was a very competent guitarist before that, but needless to say, a lot of work was done in my 20s. The operating system I developed, under the guidance of my main mentor, cellist Karl Fruh (yes cellist, and I mean on the bass, though I later went back to school to earn two degrees as a cellist, but that’s another story), who was very scientific in his teaching, and really broke things down into nuts and bolts. I was certainly nimble and had natural facility, but it was Karl who really enabled me to really get it together.

I just finished 11 straight days of playing at the Jazz Showcase, first with Gary Bartz for four and then with Ira Sullivan for seven. Most nights were 2 sets, but one night with Ira, the infamous Chicago “Pub Crawl” is a six hour gig. I can tell that, at 63, I feel just wonderful playing, six hours being no problem (and Ira plays long, hard and, at times, very fast)  and this is not just a random occurrence but the benefit of years of practice. So my point is that core (I prefer this term to “technique” or “technic”) is the foundation of our playing. I frankly never get tired of scales and technical studies, because they define my OS, which is then put at the service of music.

In addition to your core work, I highly recommend pursuing other kinds of physical and mental activity. These might include, yoga, tai-chi, alexander technique, meditation, dance, running, cycling, weight training (I wouldn’t really recommend heavy lifting for musicians but light weights is certainly good).

This may seem obvious or pedantic, but diet and, especially hydration is very important. Most of the last week and half I was driving about 250 a day for the Showcase, and by avoiding the tendency to hit junk food at 1AM and instead drink a lot of water, my energy level was far better. In fact it got stronger as it went along. Part of it is, of course, the great blessing of playing music. I truly love what I do, and derive great joy and energy from playing with people. I used to go to Japan to play the Blue Note for 7-10 and come back and teach right away. The key to doing that was mega-hydration, I mean a ton of water. Your health is very important, so the more health conscious you can be the better. Try to find a system that works for you, we are not all the same.

In sum, I still believe the range, quality and force of our playing all comes out of the core and individual practice. With core, you really dial in to your major voice, the guitar, which is then balanced with listening, transcribing, work at the piano, solfeggio, whatever. For me, practicing is like meditation. Referring back to the previous article, when we are doing core, it’s good to introduce improv at times into the practice.