Adam Rafferty

Hi Gang!

Wow, it’s been a helluva travel time here…I am now back in NYC after 9 weeks on the road in Germany, Austria Belgium and Holland – and Niagra Falls.

Many loyal fans took video at gigs.  When I saw this,  I thought I’d finally share this “secret” technique with you.

I call it the Tweezer Technique.

Normally I don’t show this kind of stuff casually, as it took years and years to develop.  But, I’ve decided it’s time to make this public – and spread the knowledge and joy to all players, and not keep this a secret any longer.

Enjoy!  The Tweezer Technique can be seen at about 3:04  – but it can only be appreciated if you watch from the beginning and see “musical context”  that it is in.

Feel free to use it in your own guitar playing.

Thanks again!  keep on picking….

Adam

P.S.  The Stevie Wonder Vol II Arrangements for Fingerstyle Guitar DVD will launch in about a month…so stay tuned!

The other night while sound checking for a gig at the Vienna Mozarthaus, I found soundcheck to be very easy.  Then I found the gig to be very relaxed and easy.

It’s not always been like this.  What did I do right?

I’ve had nights where I’ve fought the guitar, overpowered it, beat it into submission and make it do what I want it to do, even if I am drowned in sweat.

Why was it easy 2 nights ago?  Hey maybe after 5 years of heavy touring – I’m finally learning something!

This may sound trite – but it’s quite profound:  I offered no “resistance” to what I was hearing.  I didn’t allow a “mental concept”  to disagree with “what was happening in the moment.”

This meant not worrying about what anyone thought, not feeling that I was “required”  to do a tune I wasn’t in the mood for, and also meant not “planning the next tune”  during the current tune.

It meant “being present.”

My warm up was groovy and easy going.  I didn’t flex all my chops back stage but got playing in a groove so I could dance along, like a well greased machine. Almost as you’d expect a tennis player to warm up.

The “sound”  on the gig was perfect….I simply worked with what I had and listened closely, at each moment and accepted what I heard.  The more I listened and allowed, the better the sound got.

Maybe it’s no coincidence that I meditated 30 minutes in the afternoon.  My daily meditation sometimes gets thrown off when I travel a lot.  But, after seeing how it affected my last gig, I am determined to stay on it for the rest of the tour.

Tuning my mind to pay attention to “what’s in front of me” (i.e. the present moment), rather wanting “something else” gave me peace.  No energy was wasted in “pushing against” the present moment.  I could hear and feel the difference.

30 minutes of silence…try it, you’ll like it!

For centuries, guitarists have discussed whether to use fingernails or flesh on the right hand to pluck the strings.

I get asked about this often, so I figured a blog post was in order!

(Even though this is intended for guitarists – this may interest you even if you are a non musician.)

In this post, I’ll talk about sound basics, amplification, tone, volume,  the history of nails, and practical considerations like nail care.

There are pros and cons to each way of solving the right hand technique “problem”, and ultimately either approach can work, perfectly well.

But first…

What’s Important in Music?

Before we dive in we must ask “what’s important in music?”

The further you go in to making music, you’ll find that what really matters is your “musical flow”, your  groove, and your tone.

Nails or no nails, good groove, melody and sound are the final goal of making music.

Is Music Made of “Particles” or “Waves?”

In quantum physics we see that light and sound can behave as “particles” or “waves”.

The “particles” of technique (single notes) become a “wave” of sound when heard in succession (melody and groove).

Mature, seasoned musicians listen to music as “waves”,  whether it’s their own playing or someone else’s.  Regular non-musician listeners hear music as waves too!  They hear “the song” and groove.

It’s only us musicians who listen for particles, details, and licks – for the most part!

My teacher used to tell me “you can fool the musicians, but you can’t fool the people!”  This is why!

If we think of and hear music as a “wave”, music on guitar is totally possible with or without right hand fingernails;  the single notes are just “particles”.

It does not matter which “tool” sets the strings into motion (flesh or nail) once you hear music in “waves”.

Your musical flow and personal “sound” will ring through no matter what technique you use.

The Basics of Sound Travel

When we pluck a string there is a distance between the vibrating string and the listener’s ear.  The question is – how much distance?  A few feet?  10 Feet?  25 feet? 100 Feet? More?

• High frequencies and low frequencies travel differently through air.
• Treble or “highs” do not travel very far, they die out at a few feet’s distance.
• Bass or “low”  frequencies travel very far!  (I can hear hip hop bass from cars blocks away in my NYC apartment no problem).

In the traditional concert hall setting (a classical guitar with no amplification) the highs will usually start to die out and “round off” when they start reaching the audience.

That’s one of the reasons fingernails work well for classical guitar (not to mention nails work better on nylon strings as well.)

As we get closer to the guitar the sound of nails may seem harsher because we’d be hearing more highs.

Get it? The highs die out with distance.

What About Amplification?

Once amplification comes into the picture, everything changes.

There is less “distance” between the plucked string and the listeners ear, because the guitar “pickup”  captures the guitar sound ON the guitar.

This “close up” sound is then made louder.  It is “as if” the listeners ear is closer to the guitar.

How does this affect the “tone”?

There’s usually a “brighter” sound to deal with once we use amplification, (the highs get no chance to die off in the air) so we’ll need a new way to “round off” this sound so it is not harsh and too “trebly”.

We have 2 options for fixing the sound.

1. Do we adjust the sound at the origin (finger & string contact)?
2. Do we adjust the sound at the delivery point (electronic tone / eq adjustment )?

My experience over years and years has shown me over and over – if you start with a good “originating sound”  just with your fingers and strings, you’ll be in good shape tone wise no matter what.

Garbage in, Garbage Out!

My experience has also shown me that correcting a fundamentally bad sound with electronics is pretty much, IMPOSSIBLE!  Trust me on this!

Many guitarists  (particularly in jazz)  produce the small, brittle sound at the origin, and try to improve it by “rolling off treble” on the electronics.  This sounds like someone screaming into a pillow.   “Woofy” tone is not good tone.

So – producing a good solid tone is critical – then you don’t have to “hide the highs”.  I find using the flesh to be my solution for producing a good solid tone at the “front of the sound chain” or “origin” – a nice attack, and I can let the highs stay there for nuance.

It works well for amplified guitars to do it this way.

(Even if you use nails, just make sure you are making a nice sound at “front of the sound chain”, meaning your fingers and the guitar.)

How To Produce a Good Tone – In General

Of course words are merely a pointer – but I suggest this – with the flesh of your thumb, pop the string in towards your belly button and get the string to vibrate in & out 90 degrees to the top of the guitar (not up & down between the floor & ceiling!)

Go for “maximum”  comfort volume.

Now listen for the fullest sound you can get, and experiment purely with sound.  Try to set the string into motion this way, by pressing the string in towards your belly when you play.

Now make your fingers – with or without nails, sound like that!

What About Speed & Nails?

There are different kinds of speed.

1. velocity – lots of fast notes
2. tempo

Don’t confuse “velocity” with “tempo”.

Velocity:

It’s certainly easier to do fast arpeggios and tremolos with nails since they can get “in and out” of a note faster. Flesh requires you to “pop” the note with a deeper sound – tougher to play fast.

Nails win here.

Tempos:

Fast “tempos” come from within the musician, so that’s a rhythmic issue, and quite different from razzle dazzle techniques like tremolo.  A little razzle dazzle is good, but it’s not “fundamental” to making good music.

Tempo is flow and groove – and has nothing to do with nails or flesh.

A Brief History of Flesh vs Nails

Fernando Sor and Mauro Giuliani played with flesh.

Tarrega played with nails and toward the end of his life played with flesh.

Segovia – due to his greatness and popularity – became the “standard” for many players, and used nails and called anyone who didn’t do it his way “an idiot”.

In the fingerstyle world  Doyle Dykes, Pete Huttlinger, Clive Carroll – use nails.    They are all awesome!

Tommy Emmanuel, Joe Robinson, Michael Fix use flesh and they are awesome!

Interesting point – Virtuoso Pepe Romero advised classical guitarists to play with flesh for at least one year to understand the basics of producing a sound, even if they choose nails later.

Nail Care and Breakage, and Practical Considerations…

Nail care is a whole “way of life” and I remember when I was a classical player as a teen – all the nail care using super “Krazy” glue, cutting ping pong balls as fake nails and gluing them on, sandpaper – was for me, a total hassle.

I think caring for nails is a pain in the neck.  I play with flesh only, and sometimes a thumbpick.

I tour A LOT.  I’m in and out of airports, trains – with guitars & baggage – and it would be easy to break a nail.  I’d simply rather not stress and be gluing nails minutes before a gig!

I’ve heard of classical players having to cancel gigs due to nail breakage.  Of course they probably say they have the flu though.

Case closed, for me.  No nails.  It’s a hassle, and I intentionally built my solo technique style around the practical considerations of not wanting to deal with the nail care problem.

Final Words of Advice

No matter what you choose, just make sure that…

• You are producing a FAT sound that originates from a deeper place than just the surface of the string.
• The front of your note should be like a “plump grapefruit” – not a cat claw!
• You “pop” the string into motion and love the sound you make playing a single note on your high E string.  (treble strings tell the truth about your tone.)
• If you don’t like your sound, seek to fix it at the finger and string origin point – not the amplifier or eq knob.
• Don’t worry about speed.  That’s a lower priority than tone.
• Listen to all great musicians on other instruments and go for a strength and center in your tone like theirs.
• Commit to your choice whatever it is and practice.  It can take years to develop technique, so be patient.
• Listen attentively to the sound you are making, all the time.

P.S.  My all time favorite guitarist is Wes Montgomery, and he played jazz guitar with his thumb only, no pick!

In Conclusion

There’s more than one way to do it.

Pick one way and stick to it!

Play groovy and with a good sound originating on the instrument, and you’ll be in good shape – with or without nails!

Greets from the road!

I’d like to address an issue many guitarists and other musicians face, and that’s the issue of stage fright and nervousness.

This came up with friends last night as we were hanging after my gig. So, even though I am a touring pro, I still get nervous sometimes.

Here’s some advice based on my real life experience playing solo concerts.

Tip #1: Practice Enough

If you have driven your music deep down into your subconscious mind, your hands will know where to go – even when your brain doesn’t.

You’ll feel less scared.

A momentary slip up can usually be recovered quickly if you have practiced enough repetition of a piece of music.  Knowing this will ease your nerves.

You may feel distracted by the audiences eyes on you, lights in your face, or a new sound on stage than what you are used to.

By practicing enough, you’ll have a certain level of “auto pilot” that you can rely on.

Tip #2: Warm Up Before You Perform

Always warm up before going on stage!  For me, it’s all about the warm up – just like athletes do before a game.

Keep in mind, there is a fine line between “warming up”  and “burning out” your chops before stepping out on stage.

Go easy back stage…get your chops warm and ready – but don’t play the gig 5 times before you get in front of the audience.

Your last 15-20 minutes backstage should be “full on” stage playing.

Tip #3: Leave Enough Time Before the Gig

Plan soundcheck, arrival and eating around your warmup time, not the gig time!  I eat 3 hours before my gigs, to allow 1 hour soundcheck, then 1 hour warmup time.

Get there early enough so you are not scrambling!

And – step AWAY from your iPhones & computer crap at this time.

Tip #4: Staying Present & Your Self Talk

When we are scared of the stage we’re usually scared of

1) not being perfect
2) others judging us
3) screwing up a hard passage

When I slip up and make a mistake – I simply tell myself “come back”  and I also forgive myself, gently.

Know that “beating yourself up”  is TOTALLY unproductive – and it’s a habit formed offstage!

LET GO of the habit of “beating yourself up”.  Just drop it.

START being kind to yourself – NOW.

Onstage and off -  practice saying:

“I like myself!”
“I am the best!”
“I am freakin’ awesome!”
“I’m gonna kick butt today!”
“They love me!”

If saying this makes you uncomfortable, thats good!  That means you a driving new information into the subconscious.  Keep saying these.  It’s not inflating ego – it’s building self esteem!

(You should hear what I say in my hotel rooms to myself!)

This adds up over time, and in the moment on stage that you slip, you’ll then say out of habit – “It’s ok, I’m awesome!”  and get on with playing rather than digging yourself a hole of self loathing.

Good self esteem helps you perform better, and helps you realize your audience it there to appreciate you, not judge you.

The result?  Less nerves and fear, more joy and confidence.

Tip #5 – Dealing With Mistakes

Mistakes happen – but please understand their size in the total picture. They are often way smaller than you think.

Like a little hole in your tooth where food sticks, your tongue finds it yet it feels a HUGE as the Grand Canyon.

No one knows about it except you!

Roll past mistakes and your audience will too.

But…keep the GROOVE.  Don’t sweat the notes – but always keep your groove.  This goes for classical music too!

Keep your groove and the audience will not even know a mistake happened.

When you KNOW THIS – you’ll be less scared of being judged, and you’ll feel less scared.

Practice “flow”  and do “straight through” performances where you don’t go back and fix mistakes so you get used to the feeling of having to roll past them.

Tip #6 Start Strong & End Strong

It’s very stressful to get up and play just one song at a recital or jam session – much more so than doing an entire gig.  I recently did a 2 song “gig” and it was hard!

Advice for single song performances, like recitals:

Play something simple that you can play well, with elegance and ease, rather than pushing your technical limits.

Your audience will delight in your “elegant ease”  much more than watching you suffer and freak out!

Practice the end of your piece as a “chunk” -  so that even if you have trouble in the middle – you can “see the light” at the end of the tunnel, and feel confident about where it’s going.

Very often, not having rehearsed the end of the piece is a huge source of stress.   Chunk it down, and rehearse your endings.

Advice for playing several pieces:

Make sure your opening piece and your ending piece are strong – and comfortable for you.

Put trickier things in the middle of a performance, so you’ll be warmed up and more comfortable on stage.

Tip #7 Dive in, Do it and Keep at it!

“Do the thing you fear the most and the fear of death is certain.”

After many positive experiences onstage, you’ll get more confident.

Now I experience a “bleed over” from gig to gig. I can envision my delighted, smiling audience even before I play a note of a gig.

That’s why and how you’ll get more confident the more you do it.

Have fun.  Now practice!

I’m often asked the question “do you use a set list when you play concerts?” This brings up the question of how to put a set together for a good show. I use a loose set idea with a game plan which I will describe.

But first…has the following every happened to you.?

The Dilemma

• You go to see a band, their first tune sounds great, but as the set goes on it all the songs start sounding the same.
• You go to see a singer-songwriter who has written all originals.  She’s cute, her guitar skills are not quite up to par, and other than a smile, the music has nothing you can sing when you get home.
• You hear a rapper and the beat is loud, energy is good.  But, after 3 songs it all blurs together.
• You hear a jazz band, and they solo endlessly.
• You hear a solo guitarist, and after 10 minutes it all sounds the same.  (whether it’s percussive, new age, classical or whatever)

Get the idea?

It’s not the style that’s problematic – it’s that musicians can very easily fall into the trap of all material sounding the same – without realizing it.

The problem is twofold…

1. You need good material.
2. You need to use variety in, tone, tempo, dynamics and groove in your set.

The Solution – Melody and  Contrast

You’ll first need to choose the “what” (good songs), then you’ll need to present it all in the proper proportions, and sequence (making the set list).

Melody

First off, you need good melodies that are memorable whether they are your original songs or covers. The basic theme of whatever you play should be singable, like:

Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, “Billie Jean”, “Yesterday”, “Isn’t She Lovely”, Your Own Song(s) Here.

Cool percussive stuff is not melody.  The endless stream of consciousness lyrics from rappers and songwriters is not melody (no matter how heart wrenchingly profound it may seem).  Different guitar tunings and/or fret locations may be fun for the performer – but do not necessarily make melody for the listener.

Whatever you play should have “a theme” that your mother could sing back after hearing it once.

Contrast

I plan my sets knowing that I want contrasting “musical colors” to break things up and provide satisfaction for the listener.

These are personal to me…yours can and should be different.

I use the following – (take note of the variety):

• funk grooves
• jazz swing grooves
• Brazilian grooves
• a blistering boiling fast song – to raise excitement
• something bluesy with bending strings
• a few ballads for a dose of “pretty”
• a percussive / beatbox song - i.e. getting different sounds from the guitar & visual contrast
• some midrange easygoing material for middle of set

That covers the “what” I’ll play.

Now – set planning.  Don’t try to do it from first to last song…plan in order of “important moments” in the set, and let the order take shape from both ends to the middle!

1. First I plan the last song. I always end the set with a BANG !  (Which of your songs could do this for you?)
2. Next, I plan the first song. I start the set groovy get the peoples heads bobbing, it helps them (and me) relax.
3. For the first 3 or 4 songs, I entertain!
4. Set middle is the “journey” – ups & downs are OK.  Mid-intensity material OK.
5. Have at least one pretty ballad midway – to let the set breathe.

Any one “type”  of song for a whole set is way too much – whether it’s a ballad, funk, uptempo.  Too much is too much!

Maybe you are starting to think about your own set…thoughts like… “I need more ballads”  or “I need an uptempo” or “wow, all my stuff is similar”  – and that’s good, for you to start this process.

Now your practice sessions can be used to choose and “round out” your repertoire so you can provide more variety for a set.

Rock on, practice hard, and let me know how your journey goes!

One of the joys of my musical journey is to discover something musically and see that it also applies to all of life.

(Really guitar and “life”  are no different – since it’s our brains looking outward and seeing the contents of our own thought!)

I have been doing a lot of slow, deliberate practice on fingerstyle guitar pieces like “Thriller” and “Aqualeros do Brasil”  and “Fly Me To The Moon”  simply because I want the groove to be deeper and want the perfect sparkling and coordinated “mix” of melody, bass and accompaniment.

It never fails; once I put my mind on the role and job of my right hand thumb, I see that it has been pulled by the influence of the other right hand fingers, and is not as solid as I thought it was!

Once I slow my playing down (yes, my teachers were right about the benefits of slow practice)  and the thumb becomes the most important part of my focus, the whole piece of music falls right into line; perfect groove, perfect balance, and comfortable to play.

It made me ponder…when we set the basics in our life straight, and keep them on track, the small details always work out. On the contrary – if we seek to fix details without attention to the basics being right, we’re not really fixing anything…we’re just “busy”.

As above, so below.

Don’t believe me, check it for yourself!

A lot of people seem to think that since I am a touring “pro” guitarist with recordings and DVDs that I am “the expert” and that’s the end.  Not the case!  The truth is that I love studying, learning and practicing.

For example – over the last 2 weeks I’ve read  5 books on marketing, ad copyrighting and web technology  – and  I plan to re-read them because the info was so good.

Oh Goodness, Heavens Gracious!  Did Adam the guitar player just admit this?

Yes!  All this stuff other than playing guitar is also important for me to keep up on. They all serve my music, touring and career!

Discovering and realizing new things – musical and otherwise – is the fun part of the journey.  See what I am saying?

Here’s some great advice that I’d like to pass on from Brian Tracy – and this helps me keep my mind fresh in the way I have described…

Read 30 minutes in your field each morning.  This is called “The Golden Hour”  when the mind is clear, receptive and the day’s “tone” is set.   After a year – that’s a lot of reading.  Just think how much you’d learn.

The more you read and learn, the more you want to read and learn.  Like a muscle, the mind gets stronger when it’s used and weaker when it’s not.

Adam’s Advice:

Don’t check your email first thing in the morning.  That’s right! – wait.  That’s a “reactive”  activity as opposed to an active one.

If you are spending senseless time on video games, news sites, entertainment, and sites like Facebook,  fiddling with your “smart” phone – just say NO and set that time aside and read 30 minutes every morning.

Watch what happens to your life in a month.

Rock on!

Over the past several weeks I have read some great “social media” and “internet marketing” strategies from the leaders in the field.  While it’s been exhilarating, it’s left me with a hyped up “too much to do” feeling like I’ve had too much Starbucks Coffee.

The “gurus” teach how to sell and market, and try to sell me their stuff on how to sell. Huh?   Their circular logic works with me for a few rounds, but then I ask “has this person every actually done anything of value other than sell and market?”  I like the enthusiasm and techniques, but the over emphasis on hype and results, and under emphasis on “soul” conflicts with my values.

To my delight I just started book called “Mastery – The Keys to Success and Long Term Fulfillment” by George Leonard.  Mr. Leonard points out the American “war on mastery” – an epidemic of wanting things “quickly and easily”.  He then accurately describes the delicious, sweet, long term path to mastery through his story of Aikido.

The path to mastery is not a steady incline; there are growth spurts, and then long plateaus where on the surface “nothing” seems to be happening.  At first, the student feels that these plateaus are disheartening and frustrating and wants only the peaks.

It’s only when the student puts his (or her) head back in the work and “slugs it out” or “plods along” and forgets results, that they get back on track.  Along comes another “growth spurt”  and a plateau and that’s the rhythm of the path.  Sooner or later one learns to love the plateaus because one knows the growth is happening whether it’s apparent or not.

On TV and in movies, particularly in America, we are fed images of only the peak experiences, not the work surrounding them.  Imagine the ads you see – runners crossing the finish line in victory, a family sitting down at a cozy Holiday dinner, a couple on the beach sipping Pina Coladas, and let’s not forget the lottery and every lure of “making money – fast!”

These are all peaks, no “process”.  There is  no indication of riding through plateaus, slugging it out and allowing oneself to learn. Why is this?  Because it just “doesn’t sell”.

For someone aiming for quick and easy peaks, there will be a depressing “drop off” sooner or later, like a child who has opened the final Christmas present.  I can tell you first hand that the truly solid satisfaction comes not from these “peaks”,  but from plodding steadily along the path and developing something “real” and “solid” that can’t be taken away from you.

“Peaks” of mine (releasing CDs or DVDs, performing on a huge festival, doing a TV performance, getting a nice magazine spread, or racking up “Youtube Hits”)  simply pale in comparison to the joy of the real work.

When I practice, I do it for the love of doing it.  I play my scales every day with attention to “form”, relaxation, groove and tone.  I run my repertoire for the delicacy and delight of playing with a deep satisfying rhythmic pocket and fingers that perfectly “touch” the strings.

I plod along, day by day – and will do so for my whole life.  Day in, day out.  That’s what I do.  I practice for the love of practicing itself – with no result in mind.  This is how I practice guitar.

Great news!

JAZZIZ magazine has voted “I REMEMBER MICHAEL – A Michael Jackson Solo Guitar Tribute”  as a Critic’s Choice Top 10 CD of 2011.  Wow!!!

I am truly honored.  I worked very hard on this project by practicing guitar for hours and hours, funneling 15 MJ songs onto a little wooden box with strings, and using 10 just fingers and lots of imagination.

Thank you to JAZZIZ magazine – and extra special thank you to all of YOU who have watched my videos & commented (and egged me on for more).

Without your “audience participation” -  this CD project would never have happened.

Here you go…take a listen to “Human Nature”  from the CD….enjoy!