Ken Bonfield’s Artistry of the Guitar New Year’s Resolutions
Welcome back to Ken Bonfield’s Artistry of the Guitar. In the last issue I discussed “Maintaining a Beginner’s Mindset”; a tactic that experienced guitarists can use to break through technical plateaus and/or learn new techniques. This could have easily been subtitled “Becoming Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable” as that is ultimately the core of the Beginner’s Mindset. Much like those who adhere to a Zen lifestyle I try to live in this mindset- it keeps my relationship with the guitar fresh, and it’s an attitude that helps me stay positive and relaxed in all the different roles I find myself in as a solo performer, composer, playing in ensembles, as well as improvising in jams with guests at Artistry of the Guitar concerts. In this issue, the first of 2013, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss New Year’s resolutions for guitarists and how to select and meet those goals. First, let’s turn to Webster’s to get a definition of resolution: “resolution, n, a firm decision to do or not do something.” I believe a resolution is best stated in a positive form as opposed to a negative form. For example; “In 2012 I will play with commitment” is different than saying “In 2012 I won’t play tentatively”. Saying what you will do reinforces the positive while saying what you won’t do introduces both the old problem and the negative. Resolutions should be saved for big things like tempo, tone, phrasing; areas of playing that affect ALL the material you play. The first step is isolating what needs to be worked on. What’s the one area that if improved would have the biggest impact on your ability to make music with your guitar? I spend considerable time on this part of the process. I journal about it, listen to any recordings I made during the year, and reflect on what people said to me about my playing GUITARBENCH MAGAZINE ISSUE 5 PAGE 1
over the course of the year. I filter the criticism down to find some over-arching themes. I ask myself was my playing sloppy, rushed, were dynamics forced or under-utilized? Is there a consistent area that affects how I’m playing everything? That’s what resolutions are, that’s what we’re working on here. Big stuff. As I said before, last year my resolution was “Playing with Commitment”. I felt that in 2011 I had played tentatively, especially on Harp Guitar, but it carried over to the rest of the repertoire and I spent all of last year focused on this one area of my playing. It was a big deal. Playing with commitment changes EVERYTHING about how a song works, sounds, and is heard by an audience, or in the studio. It’s huge! As I reflected on 2012’s performances I was very happy with the results of my playing. CD sales were brisk, when I made mistakes they were big (I reached my 2012 goal of Playing with Commitment which yields big mistakes), and the response from audiences was fantastic; lots of enthusiastic standing room only audiences who asked for encores. These are all signs that the