Matthew McConaughey on Keeping Common Sense

Tuesday Quotes are short explorations of music, life, and the daily endeavor of practicing classical guitar. Find more here. Enjoy!

“Common sense is like money and health. Once you’ve got it, you got to work to keep it.”
Matthew McConaughey

In almost every field there is a potential for what some have called “expert error.” This is where an expert gets lazy and begins to skip steps in the process. Then preventable mistakes happen.

By the time we become expert at something, we have mastered many of the basic elements. We have ingrained the movements through repetition and study.

The danger comes when we assume that we no longer need to consider the basics. We abandon the fundamentals and focus only on the mo re complex elements.

When we do, we degrade the foundation on which our playing is built. We cut corners. We take shortcuts.

To continue to improve, to always get better, we must mind the core ingredients of our craft. The more we revisit and refine the basics, the better we play. Without limit.

Many lifelong musicians realize this. In their older years many professional musicians enjoy practicing slow scales. They choose easier music. And not because they can’t play harder pieces, but because they wish to focus on the fine details of the basics. They can work on nuance without the fuss of excess complexity.

“Common sense” in music is a realization of the basics. It’s knowing the right process or formula for each task or dilemma. It’s knowing what works for us in reality (not just in theory).

And as we progress from beginner to intermediate and above we seek this knowledge. We gain this experience.

But at some point, we need to seek fewer new techniques and processes. We instead do best by practicing and refining the ones we already know work.

Someone said, “simplicity is the soul of elegance.” The basics, played well, will solve most of our problems. They will take us 99% of the way to an excellent performance. The remaining 1% we gain through inspiration, emotion, and perhaps a little magic.

Hi, I’m Allen Mathews.

I started as a folk guitarist, then fell in love with classical guitar in my 20’s. Despite a lot of practice and schooling, I still couldn’t get my music to flow well. I struggled with excess tension. My music sounded forced. And my hands and body were often sore. I got frustrated, and couldn’t see the way forward. Then, over the next decade, I studied with two other stellar teachers – one focused on the technical movements, and one on the musical (he was a concert pianist). In time, I came to discover a new set of formulas and movements. These brought new life and vitality to my practice. Now I help guitarists find more comfort and flow in their music, so they play more beautifully.
Click here for a sample formula.

Hi Allen, just wanted to provide some feedback. Since I've started doing the exercises [in The Woodshed program] my guitar is sounding a lot better, with fuller sound, less effort. Its as if I bought a new guitar or got a new pair of hands (or both). Amazing my friend. Thank you!

~ Nusret Aydemir

-Nusret Aydemir

I have to say, two practices later [after a video review] with the new position - the difference it's made in my playing is... unbelievable, really. It's like many months of improvement overnight.

Everything is so much more secure, left-hand stretches are easier, I feel like I'm getting way more volume for the same effort, the tone is noticeably better all along the neck, and the list goes on.

Thank you!

~ Alexander Mosolov

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