“Practising is boring”: Geese guitarist thinks the best way to learn guitar is by playing gigs, not woodshedding technique
Guitarists often have wildly differing approaches to practice. Virtuoso Steve Vai, for example, last year recounted the crazy schedule he developed as a “neurotic” teenager, which found him happy if he managed to get in nine hours of practice a day.
Others, like Geese guitarist Emily Green, find dedicated guitar practice to be tiresome – she even calls it “boring” in a new interview with Guitar World – and prefer to hone their chops on the road and on stage.
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It should be noted, in fairness, that Steve Vai also keeps his skills sharp on stage, and has performed hundreds – if not thousands – of shows over the course of his near-five-decade career. But Emily Green isn’t convinced by dedicated practice sessions.
“Practising is boring,” she says. “Getting better at guitar by playing in a band with people is much more interesting [and] the best way to learn how to play guitar. The scales and stuff just feel very dry to me.
“I don’t really know practical theory. It’s like I’m in a room with the lights off, and I know how to find my way around because I’ve been in that room my whole life. I know where everything is, but wouldn’t it be so much easier if the lights were turned on?”
The extent to which guitarists should know theory has long been a source of debate in the guitar community.
Last year, jazz-funk maestro Cory Wong made waves when he said guitarists should be able to point at every single note on the fretboard.
Unsurprisingly, virtuoso – and Steve Vai’s old teacher – Joe Satriani agreed with Wong, but other prominent guitarists expressed their opinion that a comprehensive grasp of the fretboard is not all that important.
Jack White responded hilariously, writing: “Ok it’s a deal; I’ll find the C, but I’m not learning all those other notes.”
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Guitarists all over weighed in on the debate at the time, with one writing in disagreement: “I’ve been playing guitar for 40 years and I couldn’t [name every note on the fretboard]. But I can write a good song. That’s all I care about.”
Another agreed with Wong, writing: “Only other guitarists would be so pressed over a professionally working guitarist saying you need to know the basics of your instrument. Sure, you technically don’t need to know squat for your original project but when you start working with true pros, you’ll be glad you worked out the basics of music theory.”
Check out all of Geese’s upcoming tour dates via their official website.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
