Andreas' Principles question

[hellogoodbye]

I've read a lot of the stuff on Andrea's Principles site and all topics here about it. It seems to me all the info available on the net (also on his own forum) is quit enough: the point is you have to relax... Is there still a reason for me to buy the book? Being a electric guitar player whi just started to work on Stetina's Speed Mechanics...? I can think of some exercises myself to relax. And the book seems to be a simple copied word doc... Bit expensive (also because I have to import it to the Netherlands...)

Pity he doesn't have pdf version for sale... Well, logical of course, because they are hard to protect, but still a BIG pity... If he had a pdf version I would buy it today!

[Koala]

Hey there, the only thing i can say is i dont own the book, and people here at IBM either love or make jokes about Andreas`s work. So go with what your heart tells you to do and let me know how it goes if you buy it!

[Bongo Boy]

I have the book and can give an overview of what it contains and some tech specs. Some of this information should be available at his web site. I have NOT committed to using the material, so I can't say how effective it was for me.

Ch I: Desire, Attention & Awareness (5 p)
Ch II: Muscle Memory (10 p)
Ch III: Holding the Guitar; Using the Right Arm, Hand & Pick (34 p)
Ch IV: Basic Training for the Left Arm, Hand & Fingers (16 p)
Ch V: The Art & Science of Practicing (9 p)

The Preface includes the author's views on why guitar instruction oftens falls short, and his Main Point is that how to practice is not well understood by many students. His clain is that he does understand how to practice, conveys those principles to the student, and as a result the student can use practice far more effectively.

The Preface also includes a page on how to use the book--which important because the material is organized in three elements: Understandings, Tools and Exercises. So...you can say the book presents a method--for assimilating the material itself and for applying to improving your guitar.

Chapter I stresses learning to become self-aware, why this is not that easy and why you need to learn the skill. Chapter II talks about how muscle memory works, how it can work for you and against you with equal ease, and how self-awareness ("attention") will allow it to work for you. He repeats the them of self-awareness, and does so with examples related to the left hand fingers, for example. In this context, the author does a nice job of looking at "mistakes" as unwanted outcomes that have a perfectly explainable cause that you can correct with attention, etc.

I think his unique ideas here include 'no tempo practice' and 'posing'. This may be where some of the tedium folks have talked about comes into play. I liken the concept of 'posing' to the concept of 'address' when playing golf. Learning how to address the ball, for some instructors, may not involve a lot of club-swinging--but you are training your muscles. Likewise, Jamey's 'posing' may not involve a lot of action, but you are training muscles just the same.

Chapter III is more self-awareness, in the context of sitting with the guitar--including position of everything in excruciating detail. Again, this is where the author feels so many mistakes are made early on and where so much time must be spent in practice. It's also where, again, I think some readers get overwhelmed with tedious repetition. There are many diagrams and photos in this chapter that will be more helpful if you have a full-length mirror deployed in your practice area: a recommendation made by the author.

This chapter includes 15 exercises, none of which are going to excite anyone for their Fun Factor. My opinion is this: even if you don't like the way the author recommends you hold the guitar or your hand and arms, the way he has you learn how to do it IS worth your attention. He is basically telling you that you need to first be aware of how you're doing it--only then are you able to procede to the next step, which is to do it in a repeatable way. I believe his message is that, once you can do it in a repeatable way, your muscles can learn and memorize, then move on to learn cooler things. That's MY interpretation, anyway.

Chapter IV is similar, but with emphasis on a different part of the body. Similar themes throughout, and again with emphasis on self-awareness (particularly self-awareness of tension). Ten more lessons here--aimed at that left arm and fretting fingers.

Chapter V talks about the metronome, building speed, and three different kinds of practicing (levels): microscopic, assimilating and shaping practices. It does answer some of the question folks here have had about what to do with practice time, and it addresses stuff we've discussed here regarding practicing a scale versus practicing a bar or two of music versus practicing phrases and whole songs. He relates these levels to earlier material (such as 'no tempo' and 'posing').

With the Table of Contents, preface and introduction, 77 wire-bound pages in all, including 42 black & white diagrams & photographs, and 26 exercises. The image quality of the photos varies, but I think in all cases the reproduction is adequate to see what is being described. In a few cases, it's difficult to see all 6 guitar strings in the area of interest, but again, the images are good enough for me to see what's needed. I think it's put together very professionally--it isn't the quarterly report from General Motors, but it isn't thrown together half-assed, either.

There. There's your Executive Overview. :)

I can't say if the material "is worth" the price--that's a totally subjective opinion based on my personal view of the value of a dollar and the value of learning something new. I CAN tell you it's far more than 70 pages of "learn to relax" admonitions, and it's far more than a lot of Zen 'be the ball' edicts, too. There's a lot here; my opinion is you WILL learn valuable lessons, but only on the condition you have the patience, determination and will of a Buddhist monk.

I'd say you may NOT want to buy the book if your plan is to buy it and then decide if you want to apply it or not. I would say yes, buy the book if your plan is to do what it advises and extract every bit of value you can from it...period. What the author says makes sense to me, but you may need to take a little leap-of-faith because, thankfully, he NEVER even hints that this is an easy road.

Hope this helps a bit. Yes...a PDF would be a huge leap forward in distribution.

[hellogoodbye]

Wow, that is very good info! What can I say... apart from that I've just ordered the book this afternoon... before you posted this... ;)

But... I like your post and... now I'm even more glad I ordered the book! Buying the book was already a leap of faith itself, to tell you the truth. But from what you tell I'm getting even more enthousiastic! I can hardly wait until I get it (which might take some time because it has to go from the US to the Netherlands...)

Anway, thanks for your excellent view on the book: I'm sure it will help a lot of people whi have questions about the book in the future!

BTW I'll post my views on it all as soon as I got it (and used it for a while...).

[Bongo Boy]

Originally posted by hellogoodbye
BTW I'll post my views on it all as soon as I got it (and used it for a while...)Yeah...you may want to give it plenty of 'soak time' before developing an opinion. It's NOT your "learn 50 top rock chords in 15 minutes" book, thatsa fer shur.

[hellogoodbye]

Originally posted by Bongo Boy
Yeah...you may want to give it plenty of 'soak time' before developing an opinion. It's NOT your "learn 50 top rock chords in 15 minutes" book, thatsa fer shur.
Yes, it's not. And that's exactly why I bought it! ;)