Thich Nhat Hanh on a Useful Guitar Practice Tool – Smile

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

“Because of your smile, you make life more beautiful.”

Thich Nhat Hanh

You and I may hear all the time about how important it is to smile.

But is this just positive thinking? Is it new-agey Pollyanna mumbo-jumbo?

Not necessarily. There are also pragmatic reasons to smile – health, mood, appearance.

One reason that matters in guitar practice is muscle tone. When we smile, we relax.

When we concentrate, we often create excess tension in our faces. This tension spreads throughout our bodies, and into our hands. The result is that everything we do is harder than it has to be.

When we smile, even a little, we release some of that tension. We allow practice to be less serious, and more easeful.

When we struggle through tricky spots, the struggle adds to the trickiness. When we take a deep breath and smile through the tricky spots, we add ease to them. We dispel fear and train ourselves to relax.

A smile can be a strategic tool. It can become a practice method to solve problems. It helps us develop useful muscle-memory. And it reduces our risk of pain or injury. All these are a part of playing beautifully.

Plus, it feels good!

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.

I just upgraded. I have been thinking about it since day one, but wanted to see how it works out for me. I have to say, even though I did not put as much effort in as I expected to, I already hear and feel Improvements when playing compositions I learned some time ago, before joining The Woodshed.

Thanks!

~ Alexey Neyman

-Alexey Neyman

Allen I have looked for the right online teacher for classical guitar for 8 months. Spent some money in the process. Never got anywhere. Then I found your site. Excellent! I now believe I will reach my goals in playing some beautiful music in the future.

Thank you,

Chuck

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