Jamey andreas biography

"The relative state of tension or relaxation in the muscles is one of the hardest things to be aware of.  I once saw a person play with so much tension in her right shoulder that it was up to her earlobe!  Always trying to be helpful, I pointed this out to her when she finished.  As she let her shoulder down a few inches to it’s normal position, she told me I was wrong, she wasn’t tense, but very relaxed!

The reason she felt this way is because we very quickly become used to whatever we experience, and consider it normal.  We never question whatever tensions we experience in learning new skills on the guitar, and in fact consider it part of the doing of it.  And it often is, but it doesn’t have to continue to be that strenuous.  We can learn to do the movements with less effort.

However, when we first try something, it is often not possible to do it without a lot of excess tension.  The mistake is, we assume that the tension is inevitable, and never realize we can get to a point where we can get the result we want without all the huffing, puffing and straining.  Often, more stretch or muscle development is required, which will come with a correct approach.

Of course, as we continue to try the new skill, and assume the effort we feel must be that way, it becomes ingrained into our approach, and gets worse.  So we have a vicious circle, that leads to frustration and bad playing.

So extra tension in the muscles, which every advanced player knows is the number one cause of playing difficulty, becomes a blind spot for us.  Usually we are only aware of the result of the tension, which is that mistake we just made.

Make sure you keep the inactive fingers as relaxed as possible while touching the string with the active finger.  This will get you used to the feeling, and over time, very sensitive to the feeling of complete relaxation.

This light feeling is how your fingers will be when they first touch the string to play a note, and it is the feeling they will return to when they release from a note.  It enables them to be prepared for their next job.  Many people never have this light feeling, and play with tense fingers all the time, and their playing suffers greatly because of it.

This exercise is what I call a Foundation Exercise, one that should be done regularly, no matter how long you have been playing.  It will continually act to increase your awareness of the correct and necessary sensations you must have in order to play well.  Learning how to bring this feeling in to all playing situations is often a tricky matter, and there is much else to know, but we have to start somewhere!

Now I know I haven’t mentioned speed yet, and here is why.  Speed, or the ability to execute movements rapidly and accurately, is simply the result of continuous correct practice that promotes "The Incredible Lightness".  If you are creating "The Incredible Tightness" when you practice, you will suffer because of it.

Just check out YouTube to see what I mean there – it is pretty much 99% “learn this or that song”.

Jamie is very technique-driven and not for the sake of it – she has taught many struggling beginners and knows what it takes to get them from fighting the guitar to working with the guitar with much more enjoyment.

So here we are – our fun and inspiring Q and A.

Enjoy!

Bands and inspiration

Your favourite guitarist?

Julian Bream

Who’s the best band/artist you have seen live?

Toss up between Tommy Emmanuel and Alice Cooper, with great female guitarist Orianthi!

What’s your favourite album?

I have a lot of favourites, one is Leonard Cohen “Songs From A Room”.

Favourite song to listen to on a depressing day?

Bach’s Chaconne in Dm.

Greatest guitar piece ever recorded?

Tombeua Sur la Mort De Comte De Logy – one of the most mystical pieces ever written.

The Light Finger is the completely relaxed finger, brought to the string, and touching the string, with only the weight of the finger.  It does not press the string down until told to do so.  To discover the sensation of the Light Finger, do this:

1. Raise your arms in front of you, without the guitar, and take hold of the index finger of your left hand with the thumb and index finger of your right hand.

   It is a real eye-opener for those who have only ever been bombarded with learning more materials rather than how to actually play the guitar better.

   An interesting little fact – In 2012 Jamie was profiled in the book “Guitar Zero” (great book by the way), a study of how adults learn to play guitar.