Dave Wirth
Playing guitar and learning it is often a process of finding tension and getting rid of it. I've seen people hold tension in their arms, shoulders, ankles, and even their toes believe it or not. The following is a quick recipe for how to become aware of a very unknown spot of tension while playing guitar: The Mouth.
When a person is often playing anything that stretches the limits of their technical ability, one of the first things to receive tension is most certainly the mouth. I have noticed in my own practice that as soon as I can play a musical passage without moving my lips, toungue, or mouth in general, I know I have it. I figured this out while observing people in grad school. The ones that played well made it look easy, meaning no tension in their face.
This works great for scales that I love to use when I am showing off in Guitar Center, too. Just kidding. I really don't dig that. Practicing with a mirror and focusing on my mouth movement makes it very easy to recognize when a passage or scale is completely mastered. The less tension I have, the more fludity I gain. Also, the sooner I can get my scales together, the sooner I can bask in the attention and limelight of everyone in Guitar Center while I play them at 10,000 notes per fraction of a second.
