= TAPPINGWORKOUT
PHILOSOPHY
Ive always believed that
everyone has the ability 0 dis-
cover and cultivate his or her
‘own unique voice on an instr
‘ment; doing o requires thatone
listen to one's inner voice and then
find the courage to express it. To that end, the
Workout is not meant to ster students into
sounding like someone else but to equip them
‘with some ofthe tools that are essential to
Aiscovering their own voce, while simula
‘ously helping them become thoroughly bal-
‘anced musical beings.
{should note that this program is geared
for people that love the challenge ofa dsci-
plinedeurricukum and tuly want vo master
the instrument. The concept behind doing so
‘scary: start by playing something—a bend, «
rif, ascale, asong—very slowly, ifyou make
‘mistake, start over; do this over and over,
‘unt you can play iFawlesy—and 1do
mean flawiesly many times ina row. Nex
gradually inerease the tempo, Eventual
youll be filing about like a madman.
wan you will
‘become a reat musician or songwriter. Those
are talents tha can't be taught; you're either
born with them or need to discover them
within yourself
BEFORE
YOU BEGIN
Tune your guitar Never play outof
rune unless for a desired effect, such
fas working on a quartertoneseae...or
playing alternative rock muse for pop
radio consumption.
Focus. This isthe most important clement
inthis program. The way you mentally
approach this or any other exerise s more
{important than putting in the hours and going.
‘through the motions. Ie reemendousl impor
tant tha you gear up menrlly for practic, gig,
rehearsal, songwriting —whatever youre going
to do. Understand tha the attitude and frame
of mind you have when entering into afocased
endeavors one of the few things you do have
Within your power. Remember: i'll nthe
‘mind! You can basicaly convince yourself of
anything and make ithappen
CATEGORIES
Ive divided the 30-Hour Workout into
eight categories:
1
Ear taining
Sight-reading
Composing/songwriting
7. Music theories
8. Jamming
Inaddition, I've arranged these categories
int three 10-hour-per day sessions. Bea in
sind thatthe amount of time and focus you
‘pt into the program will be diecly reflected
inyour playing
feel these eategores provide a good mix
‘ofthe various elements tha go ino becoming
thoroughly rounded musician, Note, howe
er, that [will only be outlining concepts here;
ies up to you to research and discover more on
your own, There ae pleny of instructional
books, CDs and DVDs on the market, and
‘many schools offer home: study courses that
teach you all types of finger exercises, chords,
scales, theory and so on. In addition, guitar
related information is plentiful on the inter-
net. Ofcourse, lencourage you to explore oth-
cercategores, ideas and concepts not
‘mentioned here. That's one ofthe grea things
about playing the guitar—there are essentially
no rules, and a person's ably to be unique is
‘only limite by theic courage and imagination.
‘Although the Workout is geared toward a
rock syle of playing, you may want to subst
rue various elements that are more appropri
ate for the syle of music you're interested in.
Ifyou decide you don’t want learn conven:
‘ional things, you may choose wo replace one
‘or more of these categories with things that
youre more comfortable with. You have to
come up with them, though.
‘One last note: When I was a young practic:
{ng musician, I would keep a log ofall the time
{spenton the instrument, with aspecific
breakdown of everything di. Iguess 1 was
{jst anal that way. While this approach worked
for me, itmay not be for everybody. does,
however help you to chart your progress.
FINGER EXERCISES
Finger exercises are great for developing