Over the years you may have heard me talk about “Hows” and “Whats,” when referring to skills or ideas you will need to be proficient at…
Well I’ve also heard them referred to as “hard skills,” and “soft skills,” which might make a bit more sense… plus it also tells you a little bit about how well you need to know them.
For example, ‘how to play a G7 chord’ is, most definitely, a “how” in my book, and it would be a “hard skill” that you need to be able to do. You don’t just “sort of know it,” and you aren’t just aware of it – you simply have to be able to do it on command or you won’t be able to play an awful lot of music.
On the other hand, something like playing the minor blues scale is, to me, a softer skill.
How fast do you need to play it?
What positions do you need to play it in?
Simply having the scale memorized really isn’t going to do much for you if you can’t play it in a position that is useful to you when you are soloing.
And if you are working on ‘how to solo over a 12 bar blues,’ (which is even softer because there are SO many options when it comes to soloing) you need to define your goals within that goal or you’ll just flounder around.
But notice the most important thing – the softer skills rely and lean on the harder skills. For every soft skill you want to work on, you can always boil it down to a list of hard skills…
And what’s more, if you can’t boil it down to just one set of hard skills, then it’s a clear indication that your goal isn’t firm and your focus is not clear. You’ll need to isolate what you want to improve on more clearly if you want to make the most progress on it.
Take as an example a song like Sweet Home Chicago… let’s say you want to play it in the common shuffle style… what would you need to know?
- How to play a shuffle rhythm in the key of the song (let’s say we’re in E.)
- How to play all of the chords in a 12 bar blues in E.
- How the 12 bar blues in E works so that you play each chord for the right amount of time.
- How to take a 12 bar solo over a blues in E. And that means choosing one approach and learning one pattern of the scale(s) for that approach.
- How to end a blues shuffle in E.
Of course, all of those things are covered in Blues Guitar Unleashed in lessons 1,2,3,4,6, and 15… but notice that if you were to change any element, you’d have a different set of hard skills to rely on.
So obviously you don’t want to forget that going back to those hard skills and spending time revisiting them once in a while is a good habit to get into. It usually doesn’t need to be much, but if you abandon a skill because you think you’ve mastered it, that skill might not always be there for you later.
Specificity is they biggest key to advancing – it’s not good enough to pick a song to play or a key to solo over. Be specific about how you’re going to approach it and what new scales or patterns you are going to put into use.
And that, my friend, is the ticket.
19 replies to "Hard Skills Vs Soft Skills"
may i recommend, “the little book of talent” by daniel coyle, for further discussion of hard vs. soft skills, as well as the book in general for inspiration
I saved your explanation in a word Doco for later but having read it through, you hit the nail on the Head and I have noticed this by going through the BGU V 2 for the second time as I am now understanding it much better. A Couple of years ago I jammed with a friend who is also a Guitar teacher ( for other style of songs) and he played Lead for a 12 Bar Blues and simply called out the Chords as he progressed to me out loud in addition he then got me to play the Riff or Groove whilst he played Lead again and called out the Notes..So yes I understood back then how important it is to concentrate on the 12 Bar format in the Key you are playing..
All good and starting to build on the Blues Guitar musical structure more clearly now I hope.
Michael-Sydney-Australia Dec 2016.
Thanks Griff! for the on this musical railway track
Great Griff its good to have all these boxes in one place!. Keep up the good work, its much appreciated by many!
I can have my cake and eat it too Griff, It’s like you know what’s going on in my head, cause I was just thinking about what to work on. And you’re wisdom comes in and you tell me what to do . Best teach of all time……
you have mentioned that you actually started out as a bass player and switched to lead. i am a bass player who has grown up playing country bass, starting with the 50′, 60’s and 70’s bass patterns. my lead man suggested that i try to learn how to play in such a way to do more filling sounds in our 3-piece group. got any bass stuff hanging around that might help. thanks, karen
For blues guitar, I view the l-lV-V chord pattern and the the Pentatonic/Blues scales as the 2 WHATs.
Timing, Bends, “tweedlies,” hammer-ons/pull-offs, etc. as the HOWs.
And if you combine them just right you end up with a WOWWHATSTHAT!
Hey Griff, thanks again for all the tips and guidance, the learning curve is so much more difficult without your help…
The message in this lesson is well taken-it’s all very yin yang and lessons need to occur verbally/in print and on the instrument, just like you do it! For me this process is very enjoyable, doable and productive.
Thank you for this timely advice. Will be handy as I am still working on Blues Guitar Unleashed and am improving with a long way to go. Practice, practice, practice. Thanks again!!
Griff,Super info. so helpful,I don,t have time for anything else,wife not happy,ha. Len.
I mostly play in church and teach kids. Doesn’t matter what kind of music I’m involved in your tips and suggestions are always extremely helpful. Thanks Griff,and God bless you’re awesome and a real inspiration!
Talent is what you’re born with. Something you can play or listen effortlessly. Skill can be developed overtime with practice.
Right on! Very timely and applicable blog. Staying on task, knowing WHAT the task is and working on making it your own is key. Thanks for keeping the information and inspiration flowing Griff. Love the videos and the communication.
Great advice Griff, everything you have talked about has really opening up my eyes and ears I’m able to hear music in a different way. I can be home at work or just driving down the road and hear and see the notes being played and visually see the fret board and what notes to play. When I get to my guitar I practice for about and than try to play that certain solo I heard its not perfect every time but close. What is fun I can expand that solo my way, I really need to get a lopper to really hear and play along with myself. Keep going on the information you are giving us it really is working. Thanks a lot.
Greatest money I ever spent was bgu 2.0..these small( but big) emails are worth the money by themselves. Thanks for your drive to keep us growing in our playing!!
Very good advice Griff, very inspirational blog as always. Your daily emails are one thing I look forward to every morning especially when I’ve hit a musical road block, they keep me motivated to keep practicing and playing.
I learn something new every time I view these emails Griff, I appreciate each and every one of them. My enthusiasm to learn more and more continues to grow…..thanks
I should like to echo all the comments made by Danny and should also like to extend my gratitude to Griff for the thought and work involved in a daily lesson be it a tuitional video or a related guitar issue and the encouragement he has given us all over the years. Long may it continue.
Cheers Griff.
Hell I thought I knew it all. Lol . I’ve really improved over the last few months but I’m learning and just keep learning. Thanks for that message. One thing I do know for sure is the reason I play guitar is there’s always something to work on and learn no matter how good I get it’s never boring and as soon as I pick up my guitar I get lost for hours at a time it never gets old even though I’ve been playing for many years. When I got the BGU course it was like it opened up a whole new world for me ! Thanks Griff