Chords for Once you know it, you can’t unsee it.

The reason I picked up guitar was for guys like Joe [F] Satriani, Steve Vai.
[Em] Super technical players.
Very [Fm] different from Hendrix and Santana.
See, their playing [D] is
very [D] precise, [E] highly technical playing that kind of [G#m] follows a set of rules.
And those rules are
kind of defined [N] with the mastery of the instrument.
Carlos and Jimmy were very different.
And out of
all the players I've ever heard, those are the two that really attracted me to that type of
unrefined playing.
So I always thought, well, it's just because these guys have soul.
But then, don't we all?
Plus, thinking that they have soul and that's the reason I like them so
much didn't really help me.
See, I wanted to play that way.
I wanted to understand how could I play
with that thing, call it soul, that these guys were using.
The answer to that question [F] came by
just [Fm] listening to a lot of their music.
And I mean listening with no guitar, with no other purpose,
than just really getting comfortable with what I was hearing and enjoying [G#m] those records.
And then
I perceived something that I had not recognized before.
There [D#] was an element of recklessness
in Jimmy's music [E] and in Carlos's music.
Not all the time, but every once in a while,
I kind of felt that they were chasing something that they were not fully capable of mastering.
Sounded kind of uncontrolled, yet very spontaneous and very [Cm] energy and emotion-driven.
Those guys
allow themselves to use techniques that they haven't fully mastered as long as those musical
[Bm] moments reflect what they're feeling inside.
I mean, [F] listen to this.
Jimmy is playing at the
edge of his ability here, but he's jumping in.
He's feeling the [G#m] notes.
He's going for it.
He
doesn't really care if this is something that can be quantized, measured, or even
_ replicated exactly.
You tell that the speed is a little bit too fast for him.
The notes are not [A#] super clean, but he's going there anyways.
And I love that.
Now, this is
important.
These guys are not always playing at a level they haven't fully mastered.
If they did,
it just wouldn't sound good and it wouldn't make those moments really special.
[C#] Realizing this
was one of those moments that really changed [D#] everything for me.
_ _ Because not only did it
explain why I love these guys so much, but it also gave me something very practical,
tangible to work on, to kind of get some of the essence that I was hearing in their music.
See,
up to that point in my playing, I was [D] very scholar, very mechanical.
[F#] I wanted to make progress,
which is a good thing, but I wanted to be [E] perfect.
I wanted my playing to be so perfect
[A] [N] that I kind of lost that edge that Jimmy and Carlos had.
All right, so let's be practical.
How do you do that?
First things first, you need to think of a technique that you haven't fully
mastered yet.
Now, it can be something brand [C#] new.
It needs to be something that you've tried to
develop, but you haven't yet put all the hours to make that technique fully part of you.
It has
to feel kind of like a struggle.
So for me, it's going to be alternate [A#] picking.
That's been
something that I never really developed.
It always felt a little bit uncomfortable, but I [E] know how it
works.
Just hold the pick properly, alternate pick every single note.
So that's the technique I'm
going to use and reserve for those special moments.
Next, I'm going to throw in a backing
track.
Something that is inspiring to me, something I want to play over, and something that will allow
me to kind of [F#m] get in the zone and freely play on the instrument.
And that's exactly what I'm going
to do.
Now, this phase can take a little while.
You need to get in the zone, feel that you're one
with the music.
[F#]
You don't want to feel like you're just playing over the backing track.
You want to
feel like you're playing with the backing track, and that could take a little time.
You want to get
to a point where you're not fully focused on what you're [F#m] playing, but on what you're feeling.
Once
you get there, your feelings are going to kind of guide you.
Your fingers are going to know what to
do.
You're going to be comfortable with a few things, probably the pentatonic scale, some licks,
and just let your fingers guide you.
_ [F#] _ _ _ _ [C#] _ _ _
_ _ [F#m] _ When your feelings and emotions tell you that [B] you need to
bump up the intensity of it, maybe play a little bit faster.
[F#] Don't let your fingers remind you
that you're not yet capable of using that technique.
Just go for it.
[C#] Don't overthink it.
_ _ [F#m] _ _
_ _ _ _ [F#] It's not going to be super [D] polished.
It's going to have this raw effect to it, but don't let that
bother you.
It's going to kind of feel like you're fighting the instrument, and that's good.
That's
the exact thing that Carlos and Hendrix do in their music, and that gives it that lively, exciting feel.
There are three techniques that work really well with this.
Alternate picking, economy picking,
and legato.
There's always going to be at least one of those three core techniques that you haven't
yet mastered.
That's the one you should use.
Just make sure that you know enough of the technique
to use it.
If you need help doing that, I wrote a technique book.
You can download your copy for free