By Rex Jones, Tokyo

ONE EXTREMELY IMPORTANT thing that tends to be overlooked by many people who just learn from tab and don't necessarily play with others (or at least not very often) is the chord changes of the song. I learned the hard way long ago that unless you know the chords (and chord progression) of the song you can get lost pretty easily. Paraphrasing a statement by the world famous Pat Cloud, "I found that I could 'rescue' myself when I departed a few bars from the rote record-learning and find the groove again at the other end. When I became more consciously aware of the chords and harmony of a song." Of course he was referring to going on into improvising but whether you want to improvise or just hang in there you need to know the chords to the songs. Many pickers will remark "Well it's only three chords," which is true in a lot of cases, but what order? how many measures? And note that not all songs have 16 measure breaks like most of us learn; many vocal numbers have an extra measure before the singer come in - but that's another matter.

It's also very important to understand the ending phrases of other players so you know where to come in at; a lot of pickers have trouble with this, too.

It's great to play with records if you can keep up. But let's face it, the vast majority of people who are learning can't. For this I highly recommend getting a Marantz or other variable-speed recorder so you can drop to half speed and learn to play the tune in time with the right rhythm. Of course, there is software you can get to do this with your computer via the sound card, etc., but the recorder seems to be more convenient.

One good thing that I believe a lot of pickers should do is to play backup (starting with vamping) to records. This is pretty easy to get started on and provides instant gratification (for a while, that is) and is also a good way to practice any licks you learned.

Listening is very important but not just for enjoyment. You really have to work at it. Take Sammy Shelor's books, or Emerson's book, or Munde's book or any of the other fine artists' materials and listen to where the chord changes are. Learn to count in two beats per measure and literally drill the timing into your body.

Use a metronome. I cannot emphasise this enough. Even some of the the greats use a click to record to.

Finally, you have to play every day with determination. You really have to want it. But remember: You get what you pay for. So the more you work at it the better you get - it sounds like I'm trying to convince myself too...

Anyway, I'll get off the soap box for now and let someone else take over. (Whew!)

Best regards,

Rex Jones, Tokyo. Write to Rex

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1st Feb2001