The Nervous System Protocol
Advanced Guitar Practicing Method
Written By Virtuwul
Kinesiologist, Bsc. Science of Physical Activity
Creator of Acoustic Mastery
A Quick Overview Of Your Nervous System Works
Most guitarists think that their chops improve because their
"fingers got better" or because their "muscles got stronger" or
because “they are practicing a lot”.
Sure, these things are true… however that’s just the tip of the
iceberg.
In fact, the ONLY reason your guitar playing is improving is
because of: YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM IS IMPROVING.
That's right -- your nervous system controls every tendon, every
muscle fiber, and every finger on your body.
Here's how your body works when you want to play a guitar part...
1.
Your brain makes a decision to play a certain lick.
Your brain sends an electrical signal, which travels
through your nervous system.
2.
The electrical signal reaches the muscle, which makes
make it flex.
3.
4.
The muscles move your fingers, which plays that lick.
This is simple physiology. I actually have a degree in the
science of physical activity and kinesiology. This is NOT new
information.
What is new and ground-breaking is: HOW to train your nervous
system to get faster results. I’ll also explain later what makes
guys like Steve Vai such guitar freaks.
The fact is: everyone is
“training” their nervous system.
From the day you were a young child,
you’ve been wiring your nervous system
day after day.
So for all these years, you've been
unconsciously improving your nervous
system. What I’m going to introduce you
is: how to CONSCIOUSLY improve your
nervous system and get triple the speed
of improvements.
I don't care if you're a raw beginner or Steve Vai... this is how
everyone nervous system works!
In fact, all of the top guitar gods like Vai and Satriani
UNCONSCIOUSLY use these secrets. It comes so naturally that they
never even realize they do it. That's why they never talk about
it.
It takes "analytical guys" like me to come along and "bridge the
gap" between the "Average Joe's" And the Guitar Heros...
Here’s How Your Nervous System Gets “Trained”
Let me share an analogy that will help you understand how your
nervous system works. Imagine that you’re in the pristine jungle
and that you’re on a quest to to find a huge treasure.
However, you’re waking in a “virgin” jungle. In other words,
you’re the first person to ever set foot there. You’ve got a
machete and your swinging through the vines as your fighting to
make your way to the golden jackpot.
It takes you 2 weeks of treacherous traveling to finally hit the
goldmine! So, then you start hauling it back by retracing your
steps and your trail. However, this time it’s 10X easier because
you’ve already forged the path.
Guitar playing is the same thing…
Do you remember the first time you picked up a guitar? Do you
remember how difficult it was to play even a simple riff? Or even
putting together a few easy chords and strum them smoothly?
That was you – fighting your way though the jungle. You body was
creating a NEW TRAIL inside of your nervous system. Then each
time you played that riff and walked inside the trail, it got
easier… and easier… and easier right?
Today, you can probably play those simple easy riffs and chords
blindfolded. That’s because you have created a clear: mind-tobody connection inside your nervous system. Here’s the Deeper
Science…
Here’s The ONLY Difference Between
The Average Guitar Player and Steve Vai…
The only difference between the average guy on the guitar and the
world’s greatest players is: the quality, capacacity and speed of
his nervous system.
Let’s start with the QUALITY. This is “THE WHAT”. What is he
sending through his nervous system? This is why you must learn
how to play things properly when you’re starting out. Otherwise,
your body will hard-wire “sloppiness” into your neural pathways.
Next is: The CAPACITY. What is the capacity of the nervous
system? Is it able to send various complex messages? Is it able
to go from doing a bend, to a pull-off, to a hammer on and back
to a chord in just a few seconds?
Finally, and perhaps most importantly: is the SPEED of the
messages. How fast can the message go from the brain to the
fingers? When your nervous system is untrained, things go SLOW.
It takes a while for your fingers to respond because you haven’t
“cut a pathway through the neural jungle yet”.
Before Guitar Scale System
“The average guitar player’s nervous
system can only send out a few
simple messages slowly though it’s
nervous system.”
After Guitar Scale System
“The guitar freaks and legends, like
Steve Vai and Satriani can rapid fire
messages like lightning through their
nervous system.”
When Joe Satriani or Steve Vai is shredding… They know: WHAT to
send to their fingers… Their nervous systems have the capacity to
send LOTS of various information: FAST.
Now, let’s give a brief overview of HOW you can start upgrading
your nervous system’s speed and capacity.
Let’s Dive Into Some Advanced Training Protocols
There are 3 elements you must develop to become a better
guitarist:
1. Creating new clean neural-pathways with new skills, chops
and licks that you want to learn.
2. Forging a deep “neural-groove” within that pathway. In other
words, you want a clear-cut trail through the jungle that lead
back to the goldmine of guitar skills.
3. Hitting the 90% excitation level within your nervous system
so that the new skill gets hard-wired into it. This is when
you’ll be able to play with absolute mastery… This is the
“Joe-Satriani-Steve-Vai” zone. The difference is, they did it
by practicing 12 hours a day. With the new Guitar Scale System
– you’ll be able to get to that level in a third of the time
they did.
Element #1: Creating Clean Neural Pathways
This is the first step and if you mess this one up – you won’t
improve.
Perhaps the biggest mistake guitarists (especially beginners and
intermediate guys) is: trying to play a new riff, solo, lick, or
technique TOO FAST, TOO EARLY.
Write this down on your hand: “First you play it perfectly… Then
you play it fast!”
Let me repeat it: First, play the guitar part or practice the
technique as slow as you need to go to play with 100% precision
and perfection.
Here’s what happens if you DON’T do this. You’ll actually hardwire your body to REPEAT THE MISTAKE and play sloppy. I don’t
think this is the result that you’re aiming for.
And the worst part is: it VERY, VERY hard to “undo” this neural
hard-wiring. So once, you’re nervous system has learned to play
something sloppily – the odds are you’ll never correct it.
Element #2: Creating a Deep “Neural Groove”
The 2nd step is easy… you just want to keep practicing what you
learned. It’s ok to speed up, but ONLY IF YOU CAN PLAY IT
PERFECTLY AT THE HIGHER SPEED!
Remember, your still in the early phase of creating a new neural
pathway. So, make sure that you stay focused and you keep playing
it perfectly.
This is how 99.9% of guitarists get better.
And the truth is: IT WORKS!
The problem is: IT’S TOO FREAKING SLOW!
If you want to become world-class using this method, you better
be ready to practice 2 to 8 hours a day. I’m serious because
that’s what the top guitarists do.
Now, if you’re looking for a REAL short-cut that will make your
guitar playing improve 3X faster: than here it is…
Element #3: The 90% Excitation Level Secret
For a new skill to be "burned" into your nervous system forever
(Like Neo in the Matrix). You need to activate your nervous
system up to the 90% mark.
And I'll be straight up with you: it's NOT easy. And almost no
one knows how to do it...
This is the secret that “The Gladiator” uses to teach people how
to become lethal fighting machines in a matter of HOURS instead
of years.
Now, I’m not going to insult your intelligence and tell you that
you’re going to become a Joe Satriani in a matter of hours.
However, I will guarantee you that if you use this system for
just 15 minutes a day for 60 days – you will be a totally new
guitarist! At the very least, you’ll be playing things you never
thought possible.
Here’s The Russian Nervous System Protocols For Serious Guitarist:
SKILL BUILDING PHASE
The goal of the skill building phase is to: properly hard-wire a
new skill, technique or drill into your neural net… and then:
hard-wire it to the highest degree possible at lightning speeds
inside your nervous system.
Here are 2 undeniable truths about every guitar player in the
world (and is the founding principles of the nervous system
training):
1. Every guitar player is able to play ANY guitar part if
it’s slow enough. Even something has challenging as sweeps
can be done by a beginner if he plays at 1 beat per minute.
2. Every guitar player will NOT be able to play that same
part once it surpasses his “maximum speed threshold”. For
the best guitar freaks, maybe that’s 300 beats per minute.
Your goal with this protocol is to first learn the part at an
ultra slow speed so that you can play it perfectly with ease.
And then, you speed up progressively until you reach your
“maximum speed threshold”.
Each time you do the protocol, your speed threshold will get
faster and faster… and next thing you know you’ll be shredding
like a Guitar God!
Warning! Don’t be fooled by the simple instructions. Pick some
TOUGH drills and do the protocol once a day (twice if you’re
really serious, but choose a different drill) – and I guarantee
you that you’ll be a totally new guitar player in 60 days!
Mindset: The most important part of getting results out of this
protocol is your MINDSET. You must perform the drills with 100%
focus. Nothing else exists except your guitar. Nothing else
matters except the drill. Turn off your phone, turn off your
email, shut down your instant message programs and GET SERIOUS.
Here’s how you’ll be feeling if you do it properly.
few levels will “feel” easy. And that’s great…
The first
Then, at the mid level speeds your nervous system will start to
feel TAXED. That’s great! That means you’re getting closer to
the 90% excitation mark.
Finally, at the highest speeds your nervous system is starting to
feel “frazzled”, Here’s how you’ll feel at the 90% mark: You’ll
BARELY be able to perform the drill. You feel the mental (and
physical) strain of performing the drill perfectly. You’re
almost making mistakes. You are teeter-totering on the edge of
your peak speed. And you KEEP GOING for until the time is up… or
until you make 3 strikes.
If you make 3 mistakes: STOP the drill. Then take 1 minute rest.
And move down by 1 speed. Or restart at the same speed.
Here’s the exact protocol:
1. Pick an exercise, drill or pattern for a technique or
new skill that you want to build.
2. Next pick the slowest speed setting inside the Guitar
Scale System and practice the drill perfectly. Repeat 2
times at the slowest speed. The goal here is to simply
build the neural patterns and start creating a neural
groove.
3. Take a 30 second rest.
4. Increase the speed by one level and repeat the drill.
Make sure to focus on playing it perfectly!
5. Take a 30 second rest.
6. Increase the speed again and repeat the drill.
on the technique with all of your attention.
Focus
7. Take a 30 second rest.
8. A) Increase the speed to the 4th level and repeat the
drill. At this speed you might start making mistakes.
STOP THE TIMER IF YOU MAKE MORE THAN 3 MISTAKES! If
you hit “3 strikes”, take a full 1 minute break.
If you can do the 4th speed flawlessly, then move on to
the highest speed.
9. Go to the highest speed and repeat the drill. At this
point you should feel fried. Especially
if you’ve
been giving your absolute laser beam focus.
10. REST! Take a minimum of a 5 minute rest.. even 15
minutes or longer is fine.
11. If you want to keep drilling, then DO ANOTHER
EXERCISE! Take a minimum of 4 hours rest in between
drilling the same exercise. You only need to do one
drill, once per day.
MAINTENANCE PROGRAM
In this phase, your goal is simply to maintain or slighly
improve a skill that you’ve already semi-mastered.
1. Increase the speed to the 4th level and repeat the drill.
Take a 30 second break. If you can do the 4th speed
flawlessly, then move on to the highest speed.
2. Go to the highest speed and repeat the drill.
3. Repeat the highest speed if you make any mistakes.
you’re flawless, then move on to the next drill.
If
As you can see inside the protocol we are taking “nano rest
cycles” of 30 seconds and 1 minute. Then, we are taking microrest cycles of 5 minutes. And in this section, you are learning
how to take macro rest cycles. And how you should incorporate
those inside of your guitar practice for even better results!
Recovery Secrets
Have you ever practiced a new technique, picking pattern, or a
chord progression and it was really challenging? Then, the next
day – you try it again and it feels easy? What happened? Well,
you can thank your nervous system for this “magical” improvement.
My self-defense teacher called it: “nervous system gelling”. This
is when the new neural pathway that you struggled to create
suddenly “gels”. And here’s the interesting phenomenon: it often
happens WHEN YOU’RE SLEEPING! So here’s the takeaways for you:
1.
Use the principles that bodybuilders and pro athletes
have known for years: First you stress the body through
training… but the RESULTS happen when you RECOVER.
2.
Try practicing something very challenging (such as the
nervous system drilling inside the Guitar Scale System)
before going to bed.
3.
Take a quick 20 minute nap in the afternoon, AFTER
practicing something really hard.
Get ready for some hardcore results,
Virtuwul
Creator of Acoustic Mastery
P.S. Please keep this protocol for yourself. This is high-level
secrets that almost no guitarist know except you and the other
members of the Guitar Scale System.
Here’s the link to the first batch of Nervous System Drills…
There will be more added every month:
http://www.guitarscalesystem.com/gss/silver/NSP-drills.pdf