A Little Case Of The Hiccups

If you are experiencing hiccups in your chord changes, and wonder why it is you are dropping beats and rhythm and not executing ideas as efficiently as you would like, it’s not because you can’t play the changes or the ideas.

What you are experiencing is uncertainty in your decision making process.

Your decision making should happen in advance before execution of the idea, that way, there is no more question or uncertainty. You are committing to a direction for what you are about to play.

That decision making, more than the notes themselves, is a major component of the art of music.

When you make a decision, especially when based on the number system, your choices and options come into view much more clearly. High Definition, if you will. That is because your options are always limited and not infinite!!

Limitation is your friend!

Now those decisions can be made in levels, but a big picture decision is always a better starting point than a nuanced zoomed in decision. Those nuanced zoomed in decisions are always subject to the big picture decisions anyways so it’s best to just start at the top!

So what does this look like, even at a beginner level? 

 If you remember the chord sets that were in the book, that is a great starting place!  Take chord set 1 for example: E, A, and B7.  The limitation is there and the decisions on the chords are already made!

So try this first:  E for 4 beats, A for 4 beats, and B7 for 4 beats.  Then, set a metronome to 80 BPM (Beats Per Minute) and do it again.  If you can do that, you have successfully played music in the same format as basic songs!

But we don't want to stop there!  Let's push our abilities!

Remember we have multiple chord sets, and we can mix and match the chords in all of them!

Now try this:  E for 8 beats, A for 8 beats, E for another 8 beats, and B7 for 8 Beats.  That's just the first section.

Let's add a second:  E for 8 beats, A for 8 beats, E for another 8 beats, D for 4 beats, A for 4 beats, and finish with E for 8 beats.  Then, set a metronome to 80 BPM (Beats Per Minute) and do it again.  If you can do that, you have now played a song with multiple sections!  And remember, you can switch out those chords for any chords you want and continue with that same song structure.  The song structure is one of the forms of limitation in our example.  The chords themselves and the number of beats are two other forms of limitation.  The whole point to it is that you are never left in a state of uncertainty.  You always know in what direction you are moving!

Now what about an intermediate or advanced player?

That second level of challenge above is probably your starting spot, but you may have some knowledge of the number system, so instead of chord names, let's think in numbers instead!

That second level of challenge would look like this on a number chart:  We are in the Key of E.

1 1 4 4

1 1 5 5

1 1 4 4

1 1 7b 4

1 1

(That 7b that you see is called a "flat seven" or a "seven flat."  In this case we are in the key of E and that "seven flat" chord is D major).

Now remember this!  You can completely change the key of the song and that number chart will not change at all!  That's the cool thing about those charts.  If it were just chord names, I would have to completely change the chart!

Now remember what we said above, how those decisions can be made in levels?

This time, keep the same song structure, but use the notes in the chords individually.  Limit yourself to which notes you will use, but use them for the appropriate number of beats while moving through the chords in the song structure.  Remember, just because you have six strings doesn't mean you have to use them all!  This is more about rhythm than notes!  We will call this our third challenge level.  When you can do this, you have successfully added basic melody to the song!

That is exactly how songs are written and created!  Chords, Rhythm, Melody, all with limitation!  The successful execution of that music comes from pre-deciding what to play, NOT deciding once you get there!  NOT deciding until you get there is how hiccups happen.  You can pre-decide even if the decision happens right before the chord or idea is about to occur, but the whole idea is to ALWAYS know in what direction you are moving!

Understand this as well, even if you feel like you have pre-decided what you are going to do and you still make a mistake, your mind is probably still working on a high definition vision of what your decision is supposed to look and sound like, and that is perfectly fine and normal!  Even the best and most seasoned musicians make mistakes, they just understand that it's part of getting to the end result!  As your abilities develop, your hands will be more comfortable with different changes and movements and that will make your decision making process more creative and effective!  Don't shy away from that!  Lean into it!

Let's put it like this:  You will always be able to think faster than you can play, so use that to your advantage.  Now also be aware, that statement comes with caveats.  At some point, as you develop, your playing becomes pure instinct and reaction, so the pre-decision element is even more important and very compartmentalized.  That is what it needs to be in order to execute effectively and efficiently at a very high level, but that is a conversation for another day and a deeper level of what we are talking about today.