Why IQ does not matter especially among successful guitarists?

I must say I have known this fact instinctively for a very long time. The reason I was aware as I am sure you are too was simply because of the huge number of examples of successful individuals with average or even seemingly low IQs. World famous psychologist and science journalist Daniel Goldman underwent a research project that estimated that IQ accounts for as little as 4% of success. IQ does play a large role in career choice but has little to do with success in that chosen career. E.g. If you wanted to pursue a career in nuclear physics you would need a high IQ to gain entry into the field.

This apparent fact dawned on me in my teens when I started reading up on many of my guitar heroes. These were guys (yes I had no female guitar heroes I am sorry to say) who mostly failed at school and in many respects failed all other areas of life yet they succeeded beyond any guitar picking teenager's wildest dreams. Jimi Hendrix, unquestionably the most successful guitarist in terms of career was poor and relatively uneducated and certainly did not show any signs of a gifted academic. Eric Clapton also left school at age 15 years and although he later went to art college he was soon dismissed.

'How could it be?' School and society has for a long time taught us that IQ is the measure for success. No doubt when Daniel Goldman decided to research the topic he had a pretty good idea what the result was going to look like. The answer has to do with what we know as left and right brain thinking. Left brain works like a computer and focuses on data, calculation and retrieval. Right brain is the creative side. Having a strong left brain will see you scoring well on an IQ test but having a strong right brain will see you coming up with creative solutions to problems. The ideal of course is to have a good mix of both. Guitarists who are left brain strong will often have superior technical and theoretical knowledge and may even have an impressive knowledge of guitar and guitarists in general. Guitarists who have strong right brain activity will be creative not just in music composition but in the way they dress and the way they forge out a career in music. Having a strong right and left brain is certainly ideal but the fact is if one had to choose its the guitarists with the strong right brain who are most likely to succeed. 20 times more likely.

This has become even more obvious since the rise of the computer. In the 1960's computers were as big as houses and there were certainly no PCs. By the 90's computers were in homes everywhere and music sequencing software was readily available although audio recording still required too much computing power. 20 years later the software and audio samples are so good that the average person cannot tell if what they are hearing is a real guitarist or a sampled sequenced guitarist or perhaps even a keyboardist. As an example the keyboardist Jordon Rudess (Dream Theater) harmonises guitar lines on his keyboard with John Petrucci the guitarist. I now have trouble working out which is the keyboard and which is the guitar. "Would the real guitar please stand out". The dexterity of a 10 fingered keyboardist obviously out ranks a 4 fingered (left hand only) guitarist. This means that the left brain guitarist is being replaced by the computer in the same way ATMs replaced the bank teller.

Conclusion: I am not suggesting you ignore the left brain (technical skills) as this is essential but if you want to succeed as a guitarist but your best investment is in the creative right brain. Grab a copy of Garage Band, Logic or something similar and start creating. Its actually a lot more fun.

David Hart - Program Director

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Why exercise improves your guitar playing

Improving your practice through physical exercise.

In the USA 65% of the population are now obese and the rest of the developed world have similar statistics. What is even more frightening is these numbers are rising even in children. Now if you spend your day sitting at work or school coming home to sit and practice guitar is not your best move. Any health professional would be recommending you get physical in your spare time rather than sitting. This can sound like depressing news for anyone who has a sit down job and wants to play guitar. Being a guitar teacher sitting is part of the job. Another part of the job involves sitting behind a computer doing admin and preparing for lessons and finally the remaining spare hours are sitting down doing my own practice. So what's the answer?

In John J. Ratey MD's book 'Spark' he raves about a school district in Naperville IL. USA. Naperville has some of the healthiest students in the USA. One class has only 3% of children overweight compared to the national average of 30%. But what was even more interesting was the fact that Naperville produced some of the country's highest academic achievers. In an international standards test called TIMS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science - A comparison test of students from around the world) Asian countries like China, Japan & Singapore typically top these tests with the USA lagging somewhat behind. Naperville students in contrast were the exception finishing first in the world in science and 6th in maths.

Ratey makes a very clear point backed up with extensive scientific research. 'Exercise improves brain performance'. He presents many case studies but one study in particular showed that students who exercise before an exam do better than those who do not. Although during exercise the brain's ability to learn is reduced immediately after the exercise the brain's ability to learn is at its best. The reasons are connected to our evolutionary ancestors. I know personally my best times in terms of improvement on guitar have been when I have been on a regular exercise program.

As a teacher I am always looking for the best and most efficient methods of learning and improvement. The scientific data therefore would suggest that best time to be practicing guitar is after exercise. So here is what I recommend;

Each day when you arrive home walk or jog 5km or more. If time is an issue for you then I suggest doing less guitar practice and more intense exercise. E.g. If you normally do 45 minutes of guitar practice a day begin doing 20 minutes of jogging followed by a quick shower and then 20 minutes of guitar practice. Quality more so than quantity. The reality is most of us only think we are time poor. What we actually are is energy poor. The irony of exercise is the time it takes out of your day comes back to you with interest in terms of energy and productivity not to mention the increase life expectancy.

Conclusion: Exercise before practice for better results.

David Hart - Program Director

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Great guitar players keep their guitars within easy reach.

Placement makes a difference

Eddie Van Halen is noted for having a guitar in every room in the house including the toilet so its no coincidence that he became a guitar hero. Jimi Hendrix use to sleep with his guitar. While this may seem a little obsessive having your guitar in a place where you can easily pick it up and practice will in fact increase the odds of you practicing. In one study they found that when food is placed on a table within arms reach (e.g. coffee table) compared with a place that requires standing up and walking over to it (e.g. the kitchen bench) it is far more likely to be eaten. Fast food restaurants profit not from our love of their quality food but from the ease and convenience of purchasing it. Quick service and drive throughs make it all too easy or at least it seems that way. When it comes to making decisions we will choose from the choices in front of us. We are simply creatures of convenience so if you want to succeed at anything make it convenient to do the work required. Putting your guitar on a stand next to your desk or bed opposed to leaving it in its case in your cupboard will almost always result in two or three times more practice.

Human brains are wired in such way that we form habits. This has obvious benefits. When we learned to tie our shoe laces or throw a ball or ride a bike we don't have to go through a series of steps to execute each time. Neural pathways have been created that automatically tell us what to do. We can focus on the tennis game we are about to play as we tie our shoe laces. The same is true of guitar practice. Do it at the same time, same place each day and I can assure you the habit will form soon enough. The secret to learning guitar is forming the habit and the secret to forming the habit is to keep your guitar front and center.

So go on. Give it a go. What do you have to lose? Buy a guitar stand and keep your guitar next to you favourite place. Lounge room, bedroom or wherever you hang out. Give it 6 weeks but force yourself to pick up the guitar each time you see it and watch what happens. Let me know how it goes...

David Hart - Program Director

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Learning guitar online. Does it work?

On one hand learning guitar online once seemed like a distance far off possibility whereas on the other given our current technology it should now be the norm. Everyone is very busy these days so traveling back and forth each week to see a guitar teacher takes time not only for the student but often a parent. When I was a kid (I was born in the 60's by the way) watching 'The Jetsons' it seem to me by 2010 we would all be driving space cars and living among robots. At the very least I expected the visual interaction via TV screens to be common place. The technology is now here of course but its still a little shaky mostly because of the bandwidth required to make it all run smoothly. In saying that it is advancing literally by the day. Internet speeds that were only affordable to the very wealthy a few years ago are now common place. In a year or two from now most people will have all the bandwidth they need for crystal clear visual communication.

Teaching guitar online up until recently has not really been a good option. Skype can still be unreliable at times and the varying quality of video cameras, lighting and computer speeds all play a part. There is still no real reliable standard. Given all that I do believe we are ready to teach guitar online. It will have its limitations of course but we have now reached a point where the benefits of learning online are now starting to out weight the face to face or at the very least have equal appeal. I now have regular meetings with people online and it works very well and the number of online lesson inquiries has increased dramatically this year. The fact that you can learn from your laptop means you don't have to travel. For parents it means they don't have to drive their children to and from lessons.

Teaching guitar online is not a new idea for us. Our team at G4 GUITAR has been pondering this question for some years now because we knew it was only a matter of time before students starting requesting to learn the G4 GUITAR METHOD online. The reality is millions of people are already learning guitar online via Youtube videos, blogs and the various online lesson options but it is mostly passive learning oppose to interactive. Much of it is unstructured much like the internet itself. Its one huge maze that usually only confuses students in the end. Some of the content is actually quite good in its own right and even helpful but information is best absorbed through a teacher and even better a teacher with a plan. The reason G4 GUITAR continues to enrolled thousands of new students every year is because we understand what you the student needs and in what order you need to learn it.

G4 GUITAR is now introducing lessons online so here is your chance to learn with a real live teacher but from the convenience of your PC. How it works is you book in to an available time with one of our qualified teachers who will teach you online and do a face to face lesson with you. You will need to have Skype or Google chat installed on your computer with a fast reliable internet connection. We will mail the lesson materials to you prior to your first lesson. We will also be able to recommend downloads and links to help you make the most of your online lessons.

To learn more and get started please visit G4 GUITAR ONLINE LESSONS.

If you have any questions please email david@g4guitar.com.au

Thank you

David Hart - Program Director

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Persistence is a big part of learning guitar

Humans have an amazing history of survival and persistence. Last night I watched the first part of a very interesting documentary called 'The Human Journey'. As the title suggests they tracked the journey of man from the southern region of Africa (where we all began) to our migration into Asia and Europe. The oldest remains they found were around 165,000 years ago. From all the evidence these humans were not much different to us as they were using quite sophisticated stone tools. It is also believed they were already communicating through speech. Anthropologists believe that the human species ability to not only survive but to prosper and eventually dominate the planet was due to the ability to pass on our experience through communication of which verbal would have been the primary medium.

What I personally found most fascinating was one of the ways in which humans manage to survive in Africa at a time when we could have easily became extinct. In the early years when humans were living on the plains of Africa the options for food were difficult. Our lack of size, strength and speed put us at a significant disadvantage. The mammoth was too large and dangerous to hunt so would have been out of the question. Very large cats (lions, tigers etc.) were also too dangerous. This only really left smaller herbivores like the impala (or the name given to its ancestor of that time) who was too quick to out run in a foot race. So how did we survive?

Humans did what is termed as 'Persistence hunting'. Humans having very little body hair have a unique cooling system. We actually cool our bodies through sweat glands which are the most efficient of all mammals. While the impala can run fast in bursts they have to stop frequently to cool. Our ancestors were able to chase the impalas until they literally dropped from exhaustion. It was our persistence that allowed us to survive.

I think this is a very powerful lesson for our species because if you look through history persistence (often stubborn of course) is probably the single biggest reason we humans have advanced so far so quickly. It is also what makes the difference between success and failure. When students ask me what makes a great guitar player my first answer is of course practice but I follow this by saying you must have a clear goal of what you want to be able to play and then like our African ancestor you must chase that goal until it literally drops at your feet. Persistence really is the deciding factor. It is why we are here today and is in our DNA. We humans are persistent by our very nature.

Great documentary by the way. If you have a chance check it out.

David Hart - Program Director

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The Placebo Effect for Guitarists

The placebo effect is most commonly applied in medical testing when for example pharmaceutical companies are trying prove their new drugs actually work. In a very simple experiment they will split patients of a particular condition into two groups. They will give one group the new drug and the other group a placebo (an inactive substance, perhaps a sugar pill). The placebo group believes they are getting the drug when in fact they are simply getting a placebo. Often the result is that placebo group experience similar positive results to the group taking the drug. Scientists soon came to realise that the very power of suggestion can change a person's health. Patients with everything from a minor skin rash to terminal cancer have responded positively to the power of suggestion. The placebo effect is not just some crazy witch doctor with a stick chanting in a strange language. It is real science with thousands of examples of its positive effects. Psychologists have known of the power of suggestion in relation to health for many years and along with scientists are beginning to find the answers as to why. The mind is still a very large mystery but the advancements in areas like neuroscience are moving in leaps and bounds.

So how does this apply to learning guitar?

When the doctor gives a patient a drug the patient believes the drug being prescribed will actually help to restore their health. In the patient's mind they are now on the road to recovery and the psychological changes begin to respond physically. When someone decides to learn guitar they often go looking for a guitar teacher with the belief that the teacher will prescribe the right course of action for achieving success on the guitar. On arrival at their first lesson even before meeting their teacher the student's mind is now focused on success. Sitting in the waiting room the student has spent both money and time to get to this point and they are feeling confident that the teacher they are about to see will prescribe the right course of action that will have them becoming a proficient guitarist in the coming months and years. This mindset puts the student on a path to success. As the saying goes 'If you think you can or you think you can't you are right'.

This is very much the placebo effect at work. The student believes that the very act of seeing a teacher will improve their chances of learning guitar and to some degree this explains why students who have a teacher greatly improve their chances of success. The human mind is incredibly powerful and having a belief in a certain outcome or expectation where reasonably possible can have a great effect on the actual outcome. But remember the human mind is very complex so don't put any expectations on yourself in this regard just do whatever you can to improve your chances and this includes taking advantage of the placebo effect.

Putting the placebo effect to work might include following the advice of your guitar heroes whether that advice is scientifically proven to be true or not. If you believe it will have an effect on your playing you are giving the placebo effect a chance to work. An example may be that dressing like one of your guitar heroes may improve your playing. We know logically the clothes we wear have no effect on our fingers right? But what if by changing our image people begin to treat us differently? What if their new expectation of who we are now causes a shift in our own self image? As a teen growing up in the 80's most serious guitar players had long hair, wore tight black jeans and a black t-shirt displaying their favourite band. Was it a coincidence that most of these guys were pretty good guitar players?

The placebo effect is very real and can have a profound effect on your ability not just to become a great guitar player but great at anything within reason.

David Hart - Program Director

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Perfect pitch

Did you know your ear (correct term is aural) is already trained?

Music is much like a language. In language our first and probably most important step is the listening. In the first 8 months of a child's life they hear all languages equally. By 8 months our ear/brain begins to filter focusing only on the sounds of the language/s we hear around us. Interestingly enough hearing a foreign language on a recording such as TV or audio will not help a baby to hear the sounds of that language. They will filter out those sounds as well. The child must hear the language from a real life person. Its almost as though the child must have an emotional connection and studies show that babies do not connect emotionally with two dimensional images or recorded sounds.

In music like language starting early will definitely give you an advantage but the fact is almost all of us listen to music from an early age so we therefore all have a musical ear. What is missing is the connection of what we hear to what our hands, feet and mouth produce. Training this connection is not as difficult as one may think. It is really just a matter of doing it. A good example of how we already have a train ear is as follows. If I were to ask you to sing what is called a tone above or from Doh to Reh (a major 2nd) your initial thought may be you need training. But if I ask you to sing 'Hap-py birth-day' you would be doing just that. Going from '-py' to 'birth' is a major 2nd.

Another interesting fact is what is known as perfect pitch. The ability to hear a note and be able to name it's pitch instantly. While you may not be able to say the note name instantly your brain is most likely already conditioned to recognise any note and its pitch instantly. When you hear a favourite or well known song in your head you will naturally hear that song in the correct key. Its when you try to sing it with an untrained voice that you lose the pitch or get lost so to speak. Practice hearing a song in your head and focus on just the first note then play it on your guitar and see if it matches. You will likely get it right every time. Try 'Stairway to Heaven' which starts on the A note (open 5th string) or Good Riddance which starts on a G (3rd fret 6th string).

You see your ear is already trained. You just need to connect it to your instrument and this is where a good teacher will help. A good teacher knows its all there and will help bring it into your awareness. If you want to practice and develop your ear right now there is a good free website called GOOD EAR to get you started.

David Hart - Program Director

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