INTRO SESSION SHENANIGANS
The studio guitarist’s guide to happiness and personal fulfilment, as related by our resident session ace. This month: Out of Sight -Out Of Mind
It’s a common assertion. Guitar players are poor sight readers. Okay, you'd be forgiven for developing a spontaneous inferiority complex upon first exposure to a studio orchestra. Marvel as the string section slaloms through an arrangement of demisemiquavers at the speed of fright. Respect the timpani player who counts interminable bars rest and then makes their entry bang on cue. Tip your hat to the piccolo player who skates through their part seemingly effortlessly with a sound that can cut through granite. “What’s my problem?” I hear you cry as you weep into your mid-session beverage. Which is the point at which a spot of self analysis is in order to avoid more expensive professional assistance later.
The parallel between reading music and, er… reading is blindingly obvious, if I may be permitted the contradiction in terms. It’s a skill best learned in early childhood, when the brain is at its most receptive. Sure, one learns words, phrases and sentences of increasing complexity in methodical fashion. But the neurological pathways that facilitate the act of reading lead to a point at which the process becomes unconscious. One doesn’t read individual words. The brain recognises patterns and interprets them, making assumptions as to what is on the page, leaving it free to work out more complex words and phrases. Mostly without being aware of it. So it’s about recognising words automatically and thus reading connected text fluently. Which is how a string section can hurtle through The Flight Of The Bumble Bee with little apparent effort.
However, all is far from lost for the aspiring studio plucker. First, don’t panic when confronted with your part. You’ll rarely need to play it perfectly the first time. The goal is to keep going, making a mental note of the tricky passages, ready to return to them in more detail afterwards. And there will be time. Because there will be other issues within the session. Copying mistakes, technical stuff, instructions as to how to interpret dynamics, even simple instrumental screw-ups. So, here are some handy tips involving no sight reading skill at all. And they can be performed without a guitar in your hand.
First, check the time signature. Glance for any time or tempo changes that might throw you later. Check the key signature. Much embarrassment can be avoided by this simple expedient. Work out the road map for the part. Where are the repeat markings? Is there a D.S. (Dal Signo, “From The Sign”)? A D.C. (Da Capo, “From The Beginning”)? If so, is there a Coda sign, or merely Dal Signo al Fine (“From the sign to the end”)?
