I believe there are four rules to this art.

Rule #1 – Dig Deep and Far

The first rule in the art of listening is to be what I call a musical historian. Many times, a lot of beginners simply get stuck in listening to what’s currently popular, or the classic songs and bands that everyone knows – i.e. the cool stuff. They simply fail to go beyond the surface when it comes to listening.

What I’m about to say is going to be hugely unpopular amongst a lot of guitarists but I feel it’s the truth. It saddens me these days that people think that the guitar revolves around only Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen, Slash and so forth i.e. that the guitar community has come to a stand-still since the times of these guitarists. Whilst these guys have certainly contributed immensely to the guitar world, they are no means the only players.

The truth is, the guitar community has moved light years ahead since the days of Hendrix. What was considered breathtaking and revolutionary guitar playing then now seems rather plain. What saddens me is that we have more talented musicians and guitarists than ever before but these are failed to be acknowledged by the mass of audiences. By talented, I don’t just mean shredders and people with awe-inspiring chops – I mean people who also possess great musical writing abilities too.

Similarly, you can also make the mistake of listening to the new stuff and miss out on the old gems which are just waiting to be discovered. For the shredders, who says old guitarists played slow stuff? You think Yngwie Malmsteen is the god of shred? Jazzers such as John McLaughlin and Pat Martino have been ripping it up at break neck speeds on stage decades before Malmsteen – whilst playing over complicated chord changes that require a bit of thinking too. You think Stevie Ray Vaughan was the best blues player? Check out who influenced his blues playing. Players such as Buddy Guy and Albert King laid the foundations of modern blues phrasing and warrant some much deserved attention too.

In fact one of the things that I like to do is to find out who influenced some of these big name players and listen to their stuff. If such musicians were able to influence and shape the playing of the great players – surely, they must be worth checking out.