Connect 3
Gravity
There is a very strong link between the pressure of left hand* notes on the guitar and gravity. The earth’s gravity is a natural phenomenon and gravity on the guitar a fabricated one – but necessary. If we mismanage natural gravity we stumble. If we mismanage gravity on the guitar, unwanted gaps appear between the notes. Such gaps are the equivalent of people breathing between the words (or even syllables) of a sentence. They induce a sense of panic and cause discomfort in the listener.
Most pupils think linearly. The notes appear form left to right and it is natural that they should be perceived and processed in this way. However, joining neighbouring notes does not come naturally to many.
A volunteer is invited to stand with his/her weight evenly distributed between the feet. We estimate the person to weigh 6 stone and reason that each leg is bearing 3 stone of the weight. They are then invited to take a step forward. We then consider what happened to that leg’s 3-stone responsibility while the step was being taken. It was naturally passed into the standing leg. We are innate walkers but not innate guitarists, and this passing of weight has to be learned. (see, lean, plant & transfer in a future post).
* for a right handed player
