direct mechanism 2

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Te Direct Mechanism

24

Te Direct Mechanism

or Guitar

presents................

Contents

We Don’t Play Te Guitar With Our Fingers!

Building Te Playing Machine

Te Whole System Viewpoint

Te Direct Playing Mechanism

What Do We Really Play With?

The Fingers

The Wrist

The Forearm

The Arm (Humerus)

The Scapula

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Te Direct Mechanism : Building Te Playing Machine

From “Te Yoga Of Guitar” by Jamie Andreas copyright © 2012 GuitarPrinciples Inc.

We Don’t Play Te Guitar With Our Fingers!

Not just with our ngers anyway! And i you think you do, you will not be able to solveall the problems coming your way as a guitar player.

Most people, when they begin guitar, intuitively and instinctively set about learningit with the assumption that the guitar is played with the ngers. It is not. Using this

assumption to guide your learning eorts will lead to limited, and oen disastrousresults.

It would be very much like doing one o the ollowing:

• Learning to dance and thinking we dance only with the eet

• Learning to shoot a gun and thinking we shoot only with the trigger nger

• Playing tennis and thinking you play with the racket

• Playing gol and thinking you play with the club

• Walking a tightrope and only paying attention to your eet

In each o these cases, starting rom these assumptions, consciously or unconsciouslywill limit your thinking and also your attention during practice. You will not noticethe thousands o sensations that are actually arising in the true playing mechanismand because you do not notice them, you will not consciously eel them - and so, youwill have no power to control and modiy them.

You are now going to learn o the whole playing system and its many parts. Becauseo this, you are going to begin to understand the real workings o the machinery thatmust be developed and used properly in order to play the guitar well. And when youunderstand these things, and practice rom the expanded viewpoint and awareness

they give you, you will be empowered to use the methods you nd here to engage inthe type o practice that can actually, undamentally and continuously improve your

playing abilities, the type o practice I call Transformative Practice.

Building Te Playing Machine

When you are learning to play the guitar, or are working to improve your playingabilities, you are not really “learning guitar”. What you are really doing is training (orattempting to train) your own body and mind to make the movements that are nec-essary to create music rom the box with strings we call the guitar. It is your body andyour mind, and how they work , and how they learn, that must be understood and dealtwith beore attempting to think much about the guitar and how it works.

Te best way to understand the act o building the playing machinery which we use toplay the guitar is to think o another complex machine that depends or its unction-ing on the vast mechanisms and systems that give it lie – think o a car.

Te “systems” that create the environment and the rules o unctioning or a car areits electrical system, its mechanical system o wheels and gears and pistons, and eventhings like the laws o chemistry and physics that govern uel conversion, and the vastsystem o pressure calibrations and balances constantly operating as the car itsel isin operation.




Te Direct Mechanism : Te Whole System Viewpoint

26 From “Te Yoga Of Guitar” by Jamie Andreas copyright © 2012 GuitarPrinciples Inc.

Problem: Inabil-ty to play smoothly, orearn ANYHING well

r completely

Cause: Lack o basicnderstanding o how toractice eectively. Lack a solid technical oun-ation.

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When there is a problem, when the car isn’t unctioning well so that it won’t start, orit vibrates at high speeds, or has no acceleration, the mechanic trying to x it has norecourse other than to consult his knowledge o the actual systems that operate a car,and the mechanical parts that run by virtue o those systems.

I the mechanic doesn’t possess that knowledge, skill and expertise, well, he’d betterbe very, very lucky!

And o course, when it comes to playing guitar, some people are lucky! Some luckyplayers start with or develop over a relatively shot time an understanding, consciouslyor unconsciously, o the systems and mechanisms o guitar playing. And so, they knowhow to get good. Tink o Clapton, DiMeola, Segovia, Bream, Stevie Ray, Jimi, andhundreds and thousands more over the years.

But a lot more people are not lucky at all, they never get o the ground and becomeany kind o guitar player. And a lot o people are lucky up to a point. Tey get to acertain level o playing ability and then stop getting better, or years and oen or lie.

Yes, there is such a thing as natural talent. Some cars are built with aster engines and

better handling, and some people possess certain natural advantages or being gui-tar players. But any car that comes o the assembly line can hit 60+ on the highewayunless there is something mechanically wrong with it, and any human being can be agood guitar player and create real music unless there is something mechanically wrongwith the system and mechanisms they are using to play the guitar.

Te main dierence between cars and guitar players is that the guitar player is theirown actory and assembly line. You, the guitar player, must build step by step themachinery that is used to play the guitar, the ngers, hands, and all the rest you willlearn about here. Unortunately, unlike the car actories that hire people who actuallyknow how to build cars, guitar students have no idea what they should be doing whenthey sit down to practice! Tey don’t know how to go about building the machinerythey need to play the guitar.

Tey put in their “practice time” but the machine they build just doesn’t seem to unc-tion very well. Very oen, it unctions up to a point, and then stops gettingany better. And so, in the guitar playing world, the streets are ull o “wrecks”Here is one limping down the road at 15 miles an hour, and another one stuck

in a ditch or the last 20 years!

Obviously, we must become master mechanics o the guitar playing machinery we arebuilding. We must understand its mechansims and systems, and know how to workwith them according to the laws that govern them. We must know how to take things

apart and put them back together in a new, improved way. Tis ability begins withunderstanding the raw machinery nature has given us to to develop into the power-ul tool a guitar player needs.

Te Whole System Viewpoint

Tere are two parts to the Whole Playing System: the Direct Playing Mechanism, andthe InDirect Playing Mechanism.

Te Direct Mechanism is all the parts o the body that are used to apply orce to thestring. Tey include the bones o the ngers, wrist, orearm, arm, and scapula. It also

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Te Direct Mechanism : What Do We Really Play With?


includes all the muscles used to move these bones at their joints.

Te InDirect Mechanism is all the parts o the body that do not directly apply orce tothe strings. Energy fows through both these mechanisms, but it is critical to under-stand that obstructions in the energy ow o the InDirect Mechanism will inhibithe unctioning o the Direct Mechanism. Te most important parts o the InDirectMechanism are the belly, top o the thighs, the jaw and tongue, and the neck.

Put simply, i you allow tension to appear and remain in the legs, belly, neck, jaw, ortongue, your ability to operate your ngers will be degraded. I that tension is mod-erate to severe, as it oen is with guitar students, you may nd yoursel getting stuckin your development at a rather early stage. You may be one o those olks who nevereven learns to change chords smoothly, or you may manage that up to a point, butnd you cannot play scales or hammers and pulls comortably.

When we practice we must always think and act rom the viewpoint o this WholePlaying System, with its two parts, the Direct Mechanism and InDirect MechanismOur attention, awareness and understanding must constantly be directed rom this viewpoint. Te Whole System, rather than merely the ngers, is what we truly oper-ate and attempt to control when we play the guitar.

Te Direct Playing Mechanism

As I said beore, most people tend to think o the ngers themselves as the mechanismto be concerned with when playing the guitar. In act, the ngers, as obviously essentiaas they are, are the last link in the long chain o parts that operate to play the guitarTey are essentially the agents that are used to apply and direct orce to the strings.Tis is why I dene “ngers” as “orce directors”.

We direct orce to the string or two reasons, to:

1. Set the strings into vibration to make a note (either ngers directly, or

ngers holding a pick) – Right Hand.

2. Adjust the length o the vibrating string (in order to control note choice)by holding it against a ret on the retboard – Le Hand.

Tese two unctions are vastly diferent, but we must appreciate their similarities beorewe can intelligently deal with their dierences. Tose similarities are:

1. Tey are both applying some degree o orce to the strings, and receiv-ing an equal and opposite orce directed back at them. Te orce thatthe strings directs back to the ngers goes into the rest o the body,where it must be skillully managed.

2. Teir ability to skillully apply orce to the strings is greatly dependenton the proper unctioning o the rest o the Direct and Indirect Mecha-nism o which they are a part.

What Do We Really Play With?

When we think about our ngers, most o us tend to think o those 5 digits stickingout rom our hands. So, when some one says “put your rst nger on the rst ret”, wethink o that nger, start to move that nger, and attempt to put it where it needs to go






Each “nger” is really a set of 4

bones (except the thumb, which

has only 3.

The round bones at the base of

the hand are the 8 bones of the

wrist.

There are delicate muscles in between the rst

bones of the ngers. These are the muscles thatpull the ngers apart sideways (vital to the left

hand on guitar.)

In guitar playing, these muscles must be used to a

much greater extent than is necessary in ordinary

life. Therefore, these muscles are very often weak

and undeveloped in a guitar players hand, causing

countless playing problems.

The “wrist” is actually a set of 8 bones, ar-

ranged in 2 rows. These small bones give great

exibility to the wrist.

But your nger is a part o your body. A great number o other body parts must sprininto action to accomplish the “simple” task o placing a nger down on a guitar stringYour mind may experience your nger as this separate little projection with a cutname like “index”, but the rest o your body does not experience your nger that wayo the rest o your body, your “nger” is experienced as just one part o a much largemechanism. Let’s look at this mechanism in detail.......

Te Fingers4 sets of 4 little bones each, strung end to end with lots of muscles attacheto them...the thumb has only 3 bones.

Te “rst” bone o each nger is actually not visible, is covered by skin and is part o what we call our “palm”. At the end nearest the bod

each o these bones t into one o our little nugget shaped bones that go across thwidth o your arm. Tese 4 bones have another row o 4 bones behind them. ogethe

these 8 bones are called “the wrist”.

Te Wrist

Two rows of 4 bones each, shaped liklittle rounded stones. Tey roll againsone another to allow circular motio

at the wrist joint.






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Humerus( forearm on bot-

tom)

The muscles that move the elbow, the

triceps and biceps, are attached to the

scapula, or shoulder blade on the top.

Your “forearm” is an amazing

mechanism with two bones that

can overlap each other. They do

this every time you turn your

hand from palm up to palm

down.

Te Forearm

Te row o 4 wrist bones closest to the body t into tworather long bones called the forearm. Tese two bones havthe incredible ability to cross over one another and turn thngers, along with the wrist, to approach any object theywish at any angle they wish.

Te other end o the two orearm bones t into one longbone called the “humerus” or upper arm.

Te Arm (Humerus)

Attached to the long bone o the upperarm called the humerus (which, ana-tomically, is properly called “the arm”,the 2 bones below being called the“ore-arm”) are the amiliar musclesthat move the elbow joint, the biceps and triceps.

Tese muscles are every bit as impor-tant to guitar players as the muscles that move the ngers, becausethese muscles, with guidance rom the orearm and wrist, bringthe ngers and pick to the various strings they need to play on.Tey work somewhat diferently or pick players than or nger-style players, but they need to be able to work in each case, andmust be ree o held tension, and able to respond to the eel o the strings with lightening speed and accuracy.

Very oen, guitar players keepthe biceps and triceps o theright arm locked up withtension so that they are notoperating the elbow joint. Tisis easy to tell with pick players,because they compensate by using too much movement at the wrist, but nd theycannot get to all the strings easily. raveling aroundthe six strings easily requires the use o elbow movement.

Te reason or this tension build up in the arm i

because o the act that every time a note is played, wmust place orce on the string, and every time we dothat, one o the most important interactions betweenguitar string and player takes place: the string placean equal amount o orce back to the hand, and romthere, into the arm and body.

Tis energy exchange is instantaneous with each notwe play, and equally instantaneous is the tighteningo the musculature o the arm and shoulder. Ti

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he Path Level One:Chords & Rhythm”

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The front, back, and side of the amazing scapula, or

“shoulder blade”. It essentially connects the arm, fore-

arm, hand and ngers to the body.

A number of important muscles (the “rotater cu”)hold the arm and scapula together at the shoulder

joint.

Many muscles in the chest and upper

back connect directly to the scapula,

and can seriously degrade our playing

when tense.

tightening is necessary and inevitable,at least some o it is, because withoutthe upper arm bracing to withstand theorce o the string, the right hand wouldbe knocked out o position with every note we play.

But the sad act is that the average gui-tar player is tightening the musclestoo much, and worst o all, they arenot releasing the tension from one notebefore beginning another , and so they bring the tension o one note into thenext. Tis makes ast playing, as well asany eeling o comort while playing justabout anything, impossible. One o theefects o this held tension which occursdue to the “shock” o each note is that

action at the elbow joint on the right armis made difcult or impossible, whichadversely aects all right hand action,pick style or ngerstyle.

Part o the reason or the close relation-ship between the muscles that operatethe elbow and the shoulder area isbecause the biceps and triceps musclesare not attached to the long bone o thehumerus. Instead, one end is attached to

one o the orearm bones, and the otherend is attached to one o the most impor-tant players on the whole team.......thescapula, or “shoulder blade”.

Let’s take a look at the “beginning” o the entire direct playing mechanism, thescapula.......

Te Scapula

Tis ascinating and complex bone is the

home o many muscles that are attacheddirectly to the arm itsel. Because o this,the scapula and all the muscles attachedto it are very important to guitar players.

In act, it is the beginning point o theentire Direct Mechanism we use to play the guitar!

Te scapula connects the arm to the rest of the body. And that means it also connects






Tis is the “rame” or bony structure o the Direct Playing Mechanism. Like therame o a car, it provides shape, structureand strength to the entire “machine”.

the hands and ngers I the many muscles o the scapula are holding tension (which almost always are, to some degree, or many players) your ability to control your nwill be limited, or destroyed.

Te upper arm bone (humerus) inserts directly into the scapula. ogether with the cicle, or “collar bone”, these 3 bones orm what we reer to as our “shoulder”.

•

Tis is your amazing mechanism, designed by a power ar greater than our own, to the guitar! Te more you study it, think about it, and understand its innite possibilithe more powerul your practice will be.

A mechanic needs to understand all the parts and systems o a car in order to x it wit is broken. Te guitarist who wants to x bad habits, and practice in a way that cre

continuous growth in abilities, needs to understand the Direct Playing Mechanismguitar,.

Most importantly, we need to think about and feel our own direct mechanism, ocuat various times on its individual parts as they operate, and always actoring these sations into our practicing.

So......where does all this lead to? Well, it should, by now, be leading you to the reation that “playing the guitar” involves a whole lot more than the ngers! And, that lus directly to see that we must concern ourselves with the many parts o the entire dplaying mechanism when we practice.

The Direct Playing Mechanism

Bones

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Tis is what causes movement or us as we play guitar (I know it may not be pretty, but it’s you!). All these muscles o the entire arm, plusthe chest and back, are what enable us to play the guitar, NO just thefngers!

As you learn the many practice methods I will teach you, you are going to ocus o various parts o this direct playing mechanism (as well as parts o the InDirect PlayinMechanism, as you will see). As you do this, you will see your practice become mopowerul, and your playing problems dissolve.

Your goal is to truly come into possession o the complete Direct Playing MechanismCorret Practice, in all its orms, continually brings you closer to that goal.

The Direct Playing Mechanism

Muscles

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