References¶
As mentioned in the “About” section, I studied piano for a time, and was fortunate to find some super resources, which inspired this book. In no particular order, here are the main ones:
“Freeing the Caged Bird” by Barbara Lister-Sink¶
https://www.lister-sinkinstitute.org/freeing-the-caged-bird-dvd
Though aimed at pianists, the concepts in this video are directly applicable to guitar playing. It discusses relaxation and an efficient basic stroke, and shows the concept of “impulse groups” for playing complex repertoire. I found this video incredibly helpful and practical.
“The Art of Piano Playing, a Scientific Approach” by George Kochevitsky¶
https://www.amazon.com/Art-Piano-Playing-Scientific-Approach/dp/0874870682
Though less immediately practical than Lister-Sink’s video, this book made me think of guitar playing more as a process controlled by the subconscious and the central nervous system … in other words, not muscles, and not muscular tension. It describes motions as a combination of excitatory and inhibitory signals, that is, muscle contraction and relaxation.
“Fundamentals of Piano Practice” by Chuan C. Chang¶
Chang’s book book was one of the first sources I found that described the concepts of “speed walls” and fast practice. The idea of “Parallel Sets” described in Chang’s work is adapted in this book as “Hammer groups”, which was the closest I could come to that idea.
pianostreet.com¶
Many of the techniques in this book are adapted from posts by a prolific teacher in the pianostreet site, who goes by the handle of “bernhard.” When working on piano, I often found his suggestions to be immensely insightful and helpful, as did others, and they worked great on the guitar.
One user there had hoped that all of bernhard’s wisdom would be collected in a book … well, here it is, just for the wrong instrument.
Troy Grady and Cracking the Code¶
Troy and his “Cracking the Code” team have been putting superb content out for years about picking technique; see their YouTube channel.
The Cracking the Code site contains resources for guitarists working on their picking technique, and has a great forum as well.
That team produced by far the best video I’ve seen for guitarists on the topic of starting out with speed: “Don’t “Work Up” To Picking Speed — Start With It!” An absolute must-watch!