| About four years ago, while I was living in Brooklyn, | | | | something that is absolutely guaranteed to get you |
| New York, I began taking guitar lessons with a teacher | | | | where you want to go on the guitar, then go pick up a |
| of Brazilian guitar named Billy Newman. | | | | copy of Brower's Etudes Simples, part II. The second |
| Billy had an absolutely crazy amount of amazing | | | | batch of studies contains number six. |
| repertoire in his arsenal, and our weekly lessons gave | | | | Then, do the following things: |
| him ample opportunity to bring out piece after piece of | | | | 1. Commit to this piece. Decide you are going to |
| incredible guitar music. | | | | diligently work with it over a long period of time to help |
| We worked on all kinds of pieces, many of which did | | | | you become smoother and faster with your finger |
| not qualify as Brazilian guitar music. However, there | | | | movements and your ability to emphasize different |
| was one piece that really helped me take a giant leap | | | | parts of an arpeggio across the full length of the guitar |
| forward in my playing. | | | | neck. |
| I remember that day in mid-December 2007 like it was | | | | 2. Next, tackle the arpeggio. Pay special attention to |
| yesterday: there we were in the music room in Billy's | | | | the moments when the ring finger pulls in and you |
| apartment, and out came a sheet of music. It was an | | | | have to kick back out simultaneously with your middle |
| arpeggio study of some kind, and Billy placed it on the | | | | finger. Also watch very closely to make sure your |
| music stand as he said, "You're going to like this one." | | | | thumb moves efficiently across its notes within the |
| He then proceeded to move through the piece to | | | | arpeggio. |
| show me the basics of how to approach it. | | | | 3. Work slowly at first. Take as much time as you |
| It was a one-page classical guitar study by Leo | | | | need to get all the pieces of the arpeggio working in |
| Brower. The sixth of his Etudes Simples. | | | | your picking hand. Do not rush. |
| The study immediately grabbed me with its haunting | | | | 4. Force yourself to decipher the identify of every |
| and unusual chord voicings. I didn't understand the | | | | single chord in the piece. Whenever you play through it, |
| intricacies of how the chords worked at the time, but | | | | make sure you know what chords you're playing and |
| the moody modal atmosphere of the piece | | | | how they relate to one another. |
| immediately pulled me in. | | | | 5. Use a metronome. This should be a no-brainer for |
| Learning one piece at the highest level possible will help | | | | you, but if it isn't, trust me: use a metronome. |
| you on the guitar more than learning fifty pieces | | | | 6. After you get the arpeggio relatively comfortable, |
| halfway. Up until the moment I first met Brower's Sixth | | | | mix things up by focusing on a single string's notes as |
| Etude, I had believed that mentally, but I hadn't actually | | | | you move through the chords. Try to keep one string's |
| followed through on it to verify the truth of it. | | | | notes louder than the others. This will train your fingers |
| And so, it was time to see just how far a single piece | | | | to be able to create dynamic emphasis independent of |
| of music could help me grow. | | | | one another. That is a very good thing. |
| Initially, I didn't know what I was doing. The initial phase | | | | 7. Finally, once you've got all the moving parts clearly |
| of fumbling forward wasn't exactly unpleasant | | | | mapped out and happening smoothly, strive for speed. |
| because the chords and the arpeggio were so | | | | Build the relaxation into your fingers as you turn up the |
| beautiful, but I knew I was far from where I wanted to | | | | beats per minute. Let the arpeggio melt your hand into |
| be with this piece. | | | | a single machine-gun blur of constant relaxed powerful |
| For the next two years, I practiced this piece virtually | | | | motion. |
| every day. That's no hyperbole-whenever I sat down | | | | There are many pieces of music that you could tackle |
| to practice, I made sure to spend at least some time | | | | that would warrant months and years of your |
| working on this study. | | | | attention in order to build you into the guitar player you |
| The thing is-any given piece of music, if it's worth | | | | dream of becoming. |
| learning, will have tons of things that you can spend | | | | I can vouch from personal experience: Leo Brower's |
| near-infinite periods of time on to continually get better. | | | | Sixth Etude is worth tackling with a total commitment |
| So here's my advice to you: if you don't currently have | | | | to mastery. |