Music muscles don’t show until you play that guitar.
The only thing that shows until then are the fingertip callouses on your fret hand and maybe a callous on your thumb if you don’t use a pick.
Your head doesn’t get lumpy with muscle, but the muscle memory is in there if you practice.
But what is practice?
Guitar practice, music practice, is time under tension.
Sit down with your instrument, like a guitar, and listen to what comes through.
Your brain interprets so your fingers understand.
Slide up and down a string, bend a string sideways, or just push a string down on a fret.
Do it often enough and you learn how to do more. You’ll want to do more.
A kid picks up a guitar, isn’t a virtuoso by the end of the day, and decides it’s not for them.
They quit because their expectations are not met.
It’s not a fast thing to do, even when a prodigy says it is.
That’s what prodigies always say.
But who’s a prodigy?
You might be one and never know unless you take that time to find out.
Muscle Memory
Once you learn how to ride a bike you can put it away and still retain the skill.
I see that happening with electric bikes.
Baby Boomers, most of them, quit riding after their String Ray phase.
No ten speed for them, better to drive.
Then, in their sixties, they heard the news about electric bikes, a pedal bike you don’t have to pedal, and they changed their minds.
I heard about them and said ‘hell no’ to the idea of old people in high speed crashes.
My last bike was a silver Fuji in the early 80’s Portland, Oregon.
I rode it everywhere, but the biggest challenge was coasting down West Burnside from the top near the radio towers.
My bike had reflectors in the wheels, which didn’t seem like a problem.
I had a new riding buddy with a custom bike he built.
He went first, taking off at top speed in the low gears and shifting up until he was going too fast to pedal.
I did the same thing.
At high speed, maybe 40 mph, I got the shimmy from the reflectors in my tires.
My brakes didn’t seem to work, neither did my steering.
At high speed it more of a lean for steering.
I’ve never gone so fast and been so spooked before or since.
I whipped through the tunnel and decided I needed a good place to wipe out on that shaky ride.
There was a big mountain of gravel to crash into on the right side, which would bend my wheel and launch me facd first.
The last time I launched over a bike was sixth grade when I landed on my head and shoulder and broke my collar bone.
No thanks, so I held on.
At that time there were no traffic lights coming down Burnside.
The first light was for NW 23rd where it crossed to SW and turned into Vista.
One ride down that nightmare was enough.
I did a few upgrades on the bike after that, like take the reflectors off.
That was my last bike.
One More Guitar Ought To Improve Music Muscles
Bikes and guitars have more in common than most people know.
Bikes: Road bike, trail bike, dirt bike, race bike, town cruiser.
Guitars: Acoustic guitar, steel string guitar, nylon string; electric guitar with whammy bar, hollow body guitar, solid body.
Jazz guitar, folk guitar, rock guitar, classical guitar.
You can ride every bike the same way; you can play anything on all guitars.
The difference is in the rider and player who want more.
However, if a rider isn’t in shape it won’t matter what kind of bike. It’ll be a short ride.
If a player isn’t in shape, it’ll be a short song with sore fingers.
The key is keeping current.
That guitar isn’t going to play itself, so where’s the motivation?
For some it’s an internal drive to get better, a search for a signature sound.
For others it’s about paying top dollar for a guitar that just sits there. That’s when guilt kicks in.
You need to play it to justify the cost.
I mentioned the guilt to another player who said, “You can buy a world class guitar cheaper than any other instrument. A violin and a piano the same quality as a good guitar cost a lot more.”
My music muscles got a workout yesterday by playing my Fender Telecaster through my Fender chorus amp with two twelves.
I saw a new drill, worked on it, and as always, it led to more.
By the time I was done I’d sung four songs with lead breaks.
It felt like a good flex, like getting a pump from lifting.
All was good in the world right then.
About David Gillaspie
