Hop, Skip, and a Jump

by:
Joel Wanasek

Well, this month I thought I would cover something a little different. Instead of increasing you're chops, I
thought I would actually teach you something important. WHOA! Imagine that? Well, since I know for a
fact that most of you never leave you're rooms and practice all day ( haha kidding), I'm going to help teach
you some key elements to being a performer, not just a bedroom bad ass. Yes... you heard me, I'm going to
tell you how to play in from of other people! Performing is an art and too few people know how to do it.
Especially technical players. I can't tell you how many times I've gone to concerts and the guitar player
who just rips it up is just sitting in one spot picking his nose looking like a loser. I feel like I should get on
stage and slap the guy in the face and show him how to perform. The idea to cover this topic came from
listening to a very talented friend of mine, talk about how he freezes up when he has to play in front of
people. Face it.. everyone gets nervous and unless you know how to control it, you are just going to be an
all talk hack that's got nothing to back that sharp tongue. There are several factors that must be over come
when playing live. A good combination of preparation in each area will make you one heck of a monster on
stage. So, here we go:

1) Gear
Having played out many many many times now, the first thing I can tell you is to MAKE SURE that you
have all you're gear! I can't tell you how many times the drummer forgets his sticks, or I forget to bring
enough cables, batteries, ect.... It happens! It sucks. Always make a check list for things that you need to
bring with you. What happens if you break a string on stage? Got you're back up guitar? You better! Do you
have a set of wrenches? Did you bring a string winder and extra strings? Got a screwdriver in case you
need to take apart that faulty speaker cabinet? There are so many things that get broken, damaged, lost,
stolen, ect... The best thing to do is have coverage for everything like that. You don't want to forget any of
you're important essential items.

2) Know you're role

I can't even begin to tell you how important it is to know your music hands down. Be able to play it
blindfolded. Closed eyes, what ever it takes. Practice the hardest spots in you're music on repeat until they
aren't hard anymore.

3) Converting Butterflies into Adrenaline

Here is a really key thing. So you have all you're gear, and you're prepped good on you're part.. You're all
set up, about to take the stage...then... all the sudden you feel sick to you're stomach. You start to shake.
Yes, EVERYONE gets a little jittery before they go out. How you handle it will mean the difference
between locking up and sucking or stealing the crowds heart with you're daring stage antics. The first thing
to always do is take a few really deep breaths and relax you're self. If possible, have you're girlfriend
massage you before you go on. BE RELAXED! No reason to get tense. Now what the hell do I do with
these butterflies you ask? It's actually really simple. Most people dwell on them. That's the biggest mistake
ever. The key is thrive off of them and let them give you adrenaline. Let them get you pumped up. Jump up
and down picture yourself mentally making everyone in the crowd's jaw's drop with you're insane guitar
playing. Let them little butterflies pump you up, not scare you. Tell you're self that you are going to kick
ass and you will. Go over and get you're band mates pumped up. The more psyched up you get, the more
you'll not be nervous. Once you do this, you are ready to perform. If you need to practice converting
butterflies to adrenaline, go to the local music store and turn up and play in front of people.

4) Accuracy vs. Presence

No matter how good you are, someone is going to say you suck. Don't be afraid that someone out in that
crowd is going to talk smack about you. I've seen people say that John Petrucci SUCKS because he can't hit
the end sweep in his "Fatal Tragedy" solo every time he plays it live. That is the lamest thing I've ever
heard (besides, I saw him nail it perfectly when I saw him live!!!)... so what, who cares! J.P. should be
called a GOD nothing less. ;0) So, in other words, what I'm saying is, get over the fact that someone is
going to criticize what you do on stage. Forget them. Are they on stage? Hell no. Nothing but hacks. Simple
as that. Now... both accuracy and stage presence are equally as important. A good rule of thumb is don't get
so wild that you're sacrificing accuracy, but don't get so technical that you're standing guitar masturbating
in one spot all night. Remember that adrenaline we built up? O yea. lets use it! That that enormous bust of
energy and channel it into you're playing. DON'T be afraid to make mistakes, just go for it! DON'T be
afraid to do something crazy on stage because you don't want to look stupid! Take chances, slide on you're
knees, stage dive, play behind the head, play with you're teeth, jump up and down.... JUST GET DOWN
AND ROCK! The harder get into you're playing and more energy you channel into you're presence, the
more the crowd will get into it. They will get louder and you'll play better. It's a positive correlation.

5) Hitting That Ungodly Hard Run

O yes.. It's coming, the lick you miss every time! Are you going to miss it or make everyone in the
audience go "WOW!" Well, you've practiced it a billion times. The key to nailing them hard spots is to go
for it all out. A soon as you think that you are going to make a mistake, you will already have. Say to you're
self, I AM GOING TO NAIL THIS and you most likely will. Never be afraid to make a mistake, it happens
to everyone. Just got for it! Don't look back even if you do mess up. Focus yourself, concentrate and keep
thinking that you're going to nail that run and you shall be victorious.

6) After Show
So you were great on stage. The fans went crazy. The shows over. Well, what the hell are you waiting for,
go shake everyone's hand and thank them for coming! Don't be a prick, show you're fans and friends that
you love them!

Well, I hope that you've picked up some pointers on live playing. Just remember to stay calm and focus
you're self. Don't you dare stand in one spot either! Be an animal! Good luck to you all, I'll check in with
you in august ;0)
Peace out,
Joel Wanasek

Breaking out of playing ruts

by : Joel Wanasek

Playing ruts really suck. You can go weeks and months with out feeling like you have progressed. That
can lead to frustration and discouragement. There are two kinds of playing ruts. The first is "I can play any
song that I choose, but I'm not getting any better." There are a lot of people who play guitar just to learn
songs for there own enjoyment. That's fine. Just because someone doesn't spend hours practicing
technique, doesn't mean that they are a not a good guitar player. A lot of people ran into this problem when
I used to teach. A student would learn a bunch of songs. Then come to me saying " I can play anything I
want pretty much, but I'm just not getting any better." The answer is simple. Its time to sit down and spend
the time to learn the scales, modes, and all that good stuff. Taking the time to practice difficult passages and
licks and learn some basic theory, will help you progress as a musician. Before you as a player can move on
to the next level of playing, you must first ask your self how serious you want to be. If you aren't willing to
spend the tedious time it takes to learn advanced techniques, you won't progress far past where you
currently are. I ran into this problem when I was a sophomore in high school. I could play a lot of songs,
but that's all I could do. So I went out and got some guitar lessons and started to work on technique. Over
the next few months, my playing exploded to levels I couldn't of ever imagined. This type of rut I like to
call the "Beginner's Rut." The only true way to break it is to get serious. Simple as that.

The second type of rut is the one that advanced players run into. This is usually a technical rut. "I'm not
getting any faster or cleaner." "I keep playing the same licks and its getting boring." "I can't write any good
songs anymore." Any of those sound familiar. It happens to all of us. You can practice your butt off all day
everyday and then one day you just stop progressing. IT SUCKS! Breaking out of this kind of rut is really
hard. There is one way to do it. TRY SOMETHING NEW. Stop doing the same exercises over and over
again. Start trying to play really awkward shapes. Try really unorthodox scales. Give your ear something
new and wild. If you keep playing the same stuff, you will get bored of it. That's not any fun. Isn't the
reason you started playing guitar? To have fun? Get chicks? Be a rock star? ect...whatever..... Yup, that's
right. What you need to do is is try a different approach. May be take the time to learn some different styles
of music. Learn a few walking bass lines. Learn some funk vamps. Be open to new ideas. Maybe you
should learn some popular music like Metallica and Dave Mathews Band. Yea, I know in shredder terms its
looked down on and considered "Newbie stuff." But hey, those guys are making a heck of a lot more money
than you probably are. They must be doing something right. Did you ever realize that you can learn
something from everyone? No matter how much more skilled you are than them. If you take the time to be
creative and try out different things, you will break the rut fast. Another great way to break a technical rut is
learn a new technique. Maybe your the fastest picker and your sweeping is flawless, but did you ever think
that maybe you legato and taping isn't that great? Or maybe you are the meanest legato player and your
sweeping is great, but you can't alternate pick to save your life. That's how I used to be. As soon as I finally
sat down for a month and tackled alternate picking, I finally got it. As soon as you take the time to
rigorously learn a technique that gives you a lot of problems, you will break you rut.

Well, I hope this helps you out with your problem. Good luck.