Texas Bandmasters Association
Bandmasters Review • December 2015
29
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et’s first look at what to practice. The 8 most important skills needed
to be a great musician are, in no particular order: Ear training, scale and
chord knowledge, composition, reading and writing chord charts and
notation, repertoire, technique, music theory and improvisation. In this
column let’s explore the first three!
1) Ear training – the skill of understanding what you’re hearing,
and how to play it on your instrument. This skill is probably the
most important skill you’ll need as you develop your abilities on your
instrument. Start very simply with easy songs you’ve heard many times.
Slowly build in complexity as you develop. A big hint: sing everything
you play. Making the connection between your speech center and your
instrument will help you immeasurably in this endeavor.
2) Learn new scales and chord forms – these are the fundamental
building blocks of your foundation as a player. Study chord forms by
grouping them into categories. For example, learn as many positions as
you can of the four triads, major, minor, diminished and augmented.
Then move onto the 7th chord family: maj7, minor7, dominant7 and
minor7b5, (sometimes called half diminished). Learn these forms with
roots on the 6th, 5th and 4th strings, as these are the most common
forms. There are a lot of scale forms to learn also: major and minor
pentatonic scales, modes of the major scale, as well as modes of the
melodic minor scale and altered scales.a well rounded musician has a
grasp of the forms and usage of these scales and various positions of
each. A good place to start is to root each scale again on the 6th, 5th
and 4th strings.
3) Composition - any artist is represented by his or her body
of work. Composing is a skill that musicians should place great
importance in. It’s what represents and immortalizes us. As a teacher,
I’ve always stressed the importance of using newly learned skills
as a springboard for writing. It gives focus to the practice routine,
and makes learning new ideas fun. Everything you’ve learned or are
learning should be brought into play when writing. Try and compose
at least a song a week. Before you know it, you’ll have enough songs
to record an album!
Matt Smith is a New York-raised, Austin-based musician who has over 30
years of experience performing, producing, instructing, writing, and leading
clinics. Matt is a lifelong musical performer. He’s performed with, opened for, or
recorded with B.B. King, Sheryl Crow, Trey Anastasio, Al DiMeola, Greg Allman,
Los Lobos, Johnny Winter, Buddy Guy, Adrian Legg, Ed Gerhard, Portishead and
many others. A born troubadour, Matt has performed at numerous international
guitar festivals including the Bath International Guitar Festival and the Montreal
Guitar Festival. His family history of bands includes The Matt Smith Band, The
Monstas, Matt Smith’s World, Chop Shop, and The Hot Nut Riveters. Matt is
excited to be working on a new album of his own.
F R E T T E D – M a t t S m i t h
The What and How of
Effective Practice for Guitar
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