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Vinnie Zummo is a long-time friend of the Eastcoast Music Mall, former lead guitarist with The Joe Jackson Band,
a NYC session guy, and a hip hop drum loop CD maker for Zero G.
(Check out Vinnie's new CD called "Swinging Guitar Sounds of Young America" at: http://cdbaby.com/cd/zummo2 )
We spoke to Vinnie recently and are delighted that he agreed to share a bit of his expertise as a performer,
session musician,
and producer with us. We are happy and proud to present the first group of, what we hope will be,
many insightful tips,
tricks and techniques from Vinnie!
Enjoy, and please let us know what you think.
 Check out Vinnie's new CD called
"Swinging Guitar Sounds of Young America" |
PRACTICE TIPS NOBODY TELLS YOU: |
| First, I'd like to mention that I started playing by ear and was a total rocker for a long time. At some point I got interested in jazz, so I learned to read music and to play more fluently. I think this gives me a unique take on things as I can relate to a starting player and the passion to play right away and not get bogged down with scales and theory.
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1. Anything you learn on your instrument can be applied to the style of music you want to play. Think of the brain as a gigantic hard drive. The more musical info you put into it, the more skills you will acquire for writing and playing. Keep an open mind for checking out music you never heard, and try to pick up things for your own playing. |
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| 2. Keep a music notebook exclusively for your practice lines and writing. We all like to think we can remember everything, but it's impossible. Keep everything organized in a book. |
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3. Do warm ups!! As I mentioned before, I learned by ear at first and developed all kinds of strange habits like playing all upstrokes with a pick, picking every note as hard as I could, slinging my thumb over the neck a la Jimi to grab chords, among others. Then I studied with a great jazz guitarist named Peter Prisco. He was into a very strict type of jazz played by people like Lenny Tristano and Sal Mosca. It was almost jazz as classical music, only improvised and swinging.
The discipline needed to play this kind of music was immense. He had me playing alternate picking, major scales really slowly with a metronome, and accenting certain notes of the scale. For a wild man, self-taught player, this was really difficult, but what I started to notice was if I practiced the warm ups he gave me, I could play my music, rock and roll, much more efficiently, and, eventually, it lead me to playing jazz. I owe Peter a great debt as he gave me the tools to teach myself and to keep improving for the rest of my life. |
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4. There is a myth that if you practice, you will lose your "natural feel.” That belief just makes me laugh. I practice jazz eighth notes for about four to five hours a day, but when I pick up a new axe, plug it into a stack and play an E power chord, I get the same thrill from it I did when I was 16!! The only difference is, it's much easier for me to play what I want to play because I do warm-ups before ever picking up an axe. It's also better for the physical health of your hands. Players who play without warm-ups are open to tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and other problems. You would not run 20 miles without stretching first, right? |
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5.Try playing a C major scale along with a metronome. Start off with quarter notes at say 60 bpm; play the whole scale up, then play it down, then go to a C# major scale, and continue similarly. Then do eighth notes, and next play triplets. What happens is that the scales are musically so boring, you start to listen to what you sound like playing them. You will probably find you are rushing as most beginners do. Try to nail each note right on the click of the metronome with a nice fat sound -- clean no distortion. Pay attention to connecting notes smoothly and articulating each with clarity. Bring the metronome up after you have mastered the exercises at 60 bpm. Add a few beats every time you master each tempo. Do these exercises everyday before you play anything. Make it part of your routine. |
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6. Muscle Memory: We practice to put the information into our muscles. You often hear dancers talk about how their bodies remember how to do things they are not conscious of. We can't all play inspired 100% of the time, and there will be times when inspiration fails you. That's when practicing works as your backup, and you’ll be glad to have the technique practicing gives you. |
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7. Practice when you practice. Play when you play. In addition to the exercises, you need to practice licks, improvising, connecting chords, and more. The fun part of playing happens when you are in the process of perfecting that Decemberists’ lick or retro Clash chord line, or whatever you are into or when you’re trying to come up with something similar that's new and original. This is all enjoyable and good for you, but when you play out with a band, leave the practicing at home. Play on the gig, play your set parts for the songs as cleanly as you can, but when it's time to solo, forget the licks you practiced at home. Just let your fingers go. If you have done your work well at home, you will feel the moment and music you never thought possible will start coming out of your fingers. That's the best part of playing!! There is no feeling in the world like the moment you come up with something totally unique. Musicians spend their lives chasing that feeling. |
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I hope these tips help you become the best you player you can be.
Vinnie Zummo |
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