Chris & Parker's Animation Art Collecting

Play Arts Action

Star Ocean: Edge Maverick Play Art Action Figure NEW! $26.95

Star Ocean: Reimi Saionji Play Art Action Figure NEW! $26.95

Square Enix Kingdom Hearts Play Arts Sora Action Figure $49.99

FINAL FANTASY X-2 PLAY ARTS RIKKU #2 ACTION FIGURE MIB+ $20.50

Kingdom Of Hearts 2 Play Arts King Mickey Action Figure $36.99

Final Fantasy X-2 Paine Action Figure In Box Play Arts $59.99

Kingdom Hearts II – King Mickey Play Arts Action Figure $29.95

SQEX Play Arts Kingdom Hearts Cloud Action Figure $33.99

SQEX Play Arts Biohazard 5 Chris Redfield action figure $40.79

SQEX Play Arts Biohazard 5 Sheva Alomer action figure $40.79

Square Enix Play Arts Kai BAYONETTA Action Figure $39.14

DISNEY KINGDOM HEARTS #3 KAIRI ACTION FIGURE PLAY ARTS $22.99

Kingdom Hearts II Play Arts King Mickey Action Figure $26.95

Bayonetta: Bayonetta Play Arts Kai Action Figure NEW $39.95

Bayonetta: Jeanne Play Arts Kai Action Figure NEW $39.95

Bayonetta & Jeanne Play Arts Kai Action Figure Set NEW $69.95

Play Arts Dragon Quest VIII Action Figure ( Set Of 4 ) $120.00

Devil May Cry 4 Dante Play Arts Kai Action Figure NEW $39.95

Devil May Cry 4 Nero Play Arts Kai Action Figure NEW $39.95

Metal Gear Solid Snake Play Arts Kai Action Figure NEW $42.95

Final Fantasy IX: Garnet Play Arts SQUARE Action Figure $26.95

KINGDOM HEARTS Play Arts 2 SORA Action Figure SQUARE $49.95

SQEX Kingdom Hearts II Play Arts Jack Action Figure $37.04

Final Fantasy Play Arts VINCENT VALENTINE Action Figure $19.95

KINGDOM HEARTS Play Arts No.1 SORA Action Figure NEW $24.99

FINAL FANTASY XIII 13 Action Figure Snow Play Arts NEW $36.99

KINGDOM HEARTS II 2 Sora 7″ Action Figure NEW Play Arts $22.00

Final Fantasy X Play Arts No.1 Tidus action figure MISB $29.99

Final Fantasy X Play Arts No.2 Yuna action figure MISB $54.99

Final Fantasy X Play Arts No.3 Auron action figure MISB $34.99

Bayonetta: Bayonetta Play Arts Kai Action Figure NEW $39.95

Bayonetta: Jeanne Play Arts Kai Action Figure NEW $39.95

Bayonetta & Jeanne Play Arts Kai Action Figure Set NEW $69.95

SQEX Play Arts 7″ Kingdom Hearts II Kairi action figure $14.95

SQEX Final Fantasy XIII Play arts Shiva action Figure $224.39

Kingdom Hearts 2 Play Arts Kairi Action Figure $23.95

Devil May Cry 4 Play Arts Action Figure KAI – Dante $64.99

Devil May Cry 4 Play Arts Action Figure KAI – Nero $64.99

Kingdom Hearts Sora KH1 Ver Play Art Action Figure NEW! $29.95

KINGDOM HEARTS II 2 Sora 7″ Action Figure NEW Play Arts $24.99

Final Fantasy XIII SNOW Play Arts Kai Action Figure $31.99

FINAL FANTASY IX PLAY ARTS GARNET AF ACTION FIGURE NIB $29.99

FINAL FANTASY IX PLAY ARTS ZIDANE AF ACTION FIGURE NIB $35.99

Final Fantasy XII Vaan Play Arts Action Figure $27.99

Final Fantasy Aerith (Aeris) Play Arts Action Figure $29.99

Final Fantasy IX Play Arts Zidane Tribal Action Figure $23.99

Final Fantasy 13 Kai Snow Play Arts Action Figure MINT $20.00

Kingdom Hearts Santa Sora (Xmas) Play Art Action Figure $26.95

Kingdom Hearts II King Micky Play Art Action Figure $26.95

FINAL FANTASY XIII SNOW PLAY ARTS KAI ACTION FIGURE $39.99

Step2 Creative Projects Table $99.98 This sturdy desk features lots of storage for creative play activities. The large table surface has a molded-in storage tray and accommodates large removable cups for art supplies. The colorful wooden shelf provides additional convenient storage and can be repositioned to turn a personal desk into a table for two or more children. Desk includes two 11″ high stools. Lower side supports offer storag…

Super Street Fighter IV (Group) Video Game Poster Print – 24×36 $6.80 Super Street Fighter IV (Group) Video Game Poster Print – 24×36…

Domo (Burst) Art Print Poster – 24×36 $6.80 Domo (Burst) Art Print Poster – 24×36…

Final Fantasy X-2 Play Arts No. 2 Rikku $99.98 …

Final Fantasy X-2 Paine Play Arts Action Figure $89.95 …

Final Fantasy X-2: Yuna Play Arts Action Figure $99.99 …

The Art of Buster Keaton, Boxed Set 1 (The Saphead / Three Ages / Our Hospitality & Sherlock Jr.) [VHS] $13.97 Before Buster Keaton made his name as one of the silent cinema’s most accomplished and creative comics, he starred in this conventional but cute comedy based on the Broadway play The New Henrietta (previously made into the Douglas Fairbanks vehicle The Lamb). Keaton plays the spoiled son of a millionaire unjustly accused of scandalous behavior and tossed into a bustling world that he’s completely …

The Real Ghostbusters, Vol. 2: Play Them Ragtime Boos [VHS] $12.98 …

The Matrix (10th Anniversary Edition) [Blu-ray] $13.78 A computer programmer is mankind’s last chance for survival against the machines that generated a computer based reality in which we all live. Neo (Keanu Reeves) tries to live up to his calling as the chosen one and lead mankind to freedom from their comatose slave….

Kill Bill – Volume One [Blu-ray] $11.12 Bluray Disc…

The Art of Practicing

I have always believed that success, in practically any subject you can think of, is a direct result of “clear thinking”. That is, the ability to understand very clearly what needs to be achieved and the action to set about surmounting very necessary hurdles in order to reach those goals. Less than successful people are either not clear in their goals or for one reason or another give up along the way. It’s leveling that rough terrain, along with a clearly defined end result in mind that will get you there in the end. The success roadmap might go something like this:

Visualize goal => Surmount problems => Score

Sounds simple doesn’t it? However, this clear thinking is all very well but it’s usually the thought required before step 1 (visualization) that causes problems. Very often the goal does not manifest in mind because the process is so overwhelming.

And so it is with practicing the guitar, or any instrument for that matter. In more laymen’s terms it’s more like “What the hell should I be practicing?”.

Practice is a constant struggle for many people. There is so much to learn and often so little time to allocate to it. For the jazz musician, clear thinking can be as simple as “I really like that Charlie Parker 2, 5 – how does he do that?”. Then transcribing the line, practicing it in all keys and working the phrase into your own vocabulary. The ’score’ as I like to call it is the ability to work it in to your own playing. I want to talk a little about that in a minute.

First, I think the most important thing to talk about is how to make best use of your practice time. There was a time when I started playing where I used to sit in my room and allocate 15 minutes to practicing scales and arpeggios, 10 minutes on technique exercises, 20 minutes on sight reading and 1/2 an hour on practicing my classical guitar repertoire. Why? because my teacher told me I had to. Years later once I started to study jazz guitar on my own I didn’t feel the need to be practicing this way. It wasn’t really benefiting me fully. I started to have my own goals in mind that I wanted to reach. I wanted to learn to play like one or two of my heroes, but more importantly because I liked what they played. Even more under the microscope were certain melodic lines and licks that tweaked my ear and fueled me to transcribe or simply copy the way they phrased or ‘felt’ a phrase. Once I clearly had in mind what I wanted to achieve I could go about achieving it – I knew what I had to do.

It’s important to sit down to practice and be really clear about what you are going to do during that practice time. Now, one thing that helped me tremendously was when I made a huge commitment to scheduled practicing. In other words, deciding that every single day, no matter what, I would sit down and dedicate exactly one hour to working at this instrument. The amazing thing I found is that my regularly scheduled practice literally fueled my regularly scheduled practice! Does this make sense? What this means is that, the more I practiced, the more I wanted to practice. What started out as a committed hour turned into committed six hour sessions. Once I got into music college in London I remember waking up in the morning and practicing until I went to bed at night, remembering to eat on occasion. I was so fueled by the commitment to practice that the drive to play took over completely.

Regular practice clearly keeps your guitar technique on tip top form. There’s nothing like picking up the guitar and playing a few short runs and being on top of your game, simply because you are playing regularly.

The other wonderful thing about committing to regular practice is that it actually helps you to think much more clearly, because you start to see results. Once you start to see results the concept of learning is much less overwhelming and you are able to make decisions about what you want to work on much more easily.

So do yourself a huge favor, first, make the decision to want to get much better at your guitar playing. Then once you have decided that, make a clear commitment right now and allocate a certain time of day to your guitar practice. If you only have limited time then give yourself what you know you can afford. Once you get your teeth into this system, if you don’t have more time, trust me you will want to find more time. You might just want to wake up earlier. The drive to learn will take over.

Quality practice is key. I find now I am older that, if I let myself, I can get more and more distracted because there are so many other facets to my life. When I make the decision to focus 100% on my guitar problems and how I can surmount them, I find I can get completely absorbed for hours once I get going. Sometimes it helps to avoid those distractions from the outset. Maybe turn the phone off!

There is a huge difference between playing the guitar and practicing the guitar. I can play for days quite happily but am I learning anything new? Not unless I stop myself and work on my weaknesses. And there are plenty of those trust me! Many years ago I wanted to learn licks from my favorite players. I would hear a line and transcribe it. Many times I found that those musical phrases would not come out in my playing and I asked myself why. It dawned on me that there were three possible reasons:

1) I found the phrase too technically difficult to pull off.

2) It just didn’t feel like it belonged in my vocabulary.

3) I hadn’t fully explored the idea enough – perhaps I didn’t fully understand how to use it in a practical sense.

Let’s talk about these briefly.

Sometimes a horn line does not necessarily fit under the fingers on the guitar. The line might sound just terrific on a sax but if I can’t play it on my guitar it’s not going to have the same effect. In fact quite the opposite! Everyone is somewhat limited technically (although there are a few players that keep my head scratching I must admit!), every player has a ceiling in their own mind and I think it’s perfectly OK to let some things go because they are just two gymnastic on the guitar. It’s of course relative to each player’s ability and comfort zone.

Occasionally I’ll try and work something into my music vocabulary and it just doesn’t feel like me. Some players sound great playing certain things and when I play them them they either sound too much like that other great player or I just don’t feel it. Music has to be personal, it’s OK to weed out stuff that you don’t want to use, even when those ‘weeds’ are a rose garden to others.

The last idea is something very important I think. That is the idea that when you work on some new vocabulary or a new harmonic idea, that you fully understand how to use it and just as importantly, how to work it into your playing so it comes out naturally. Let’s assume you are transcribing a lick on a CD you like. The first thing to do is to make sure you get the notes right. You might slow it down (there is plenty of software on the market that enables you to do this now). Whatever it takes, make sure the notes you are transcribing are correct. Then it is a matter of practicing that phrase so it feels good when you play it.

Now most folks stop right there and wonder why the phrase never shows up in their playing. The secret is to figure out exactly what chord (or group of chords) is being played underneath that line. After that, figure out what other chords could also be played underneath that phrase. Next, learn how to play that phrase everywhere on the fretboard, in different positions and keys. Finally and the most important, work the phrase into your own playing. To do this, start by improvising in any way that you normally might and focus on ways to connect that new phrase you want to play. The new phrase starts on a certain note and you will need to focus on that starting note in order to make a connection to it. Practice improvising freely and connecting to that new phrase, focusing on its starting note. Do this in all keys. Pretty soon you will know if the phrase is going to come out into your playing or not.

The art of practice is a huge subject and musicians have written complete books on it. But I do believe the real success starts with clear thinking. Make a decision to focus on something specific. Here is a more detailed roadmap to take on board:

1) Visualize. What do you want to work on – what do you want to achieve?

2) Plan. What exactly do you have to do in order to achieve that goal?

3) Action. Explore the subject in enough detail.

4) Surmount. Expect problems along the way – this is normal – don’t give up! Just level the terrain.

5) Score – making sure that the subject is fully absorbed and part of your new musical make up, unless you decide otherwise.

Great players really got to grips with practicing in the early stages. It became fascinating to them and the results they saw fueled more practice. It’s a self perpetuating phenomenon. By simply not practicing, the incentive to pick up your instrument diminishes over time. Then the excuses start to pour out in torrents. Then regrets. Then a very dusty guitar possibly in a dark attic somewhere.

Get practicing. Quality practice. Ask yourself questions. Look for the answers. Insist on results. This is the key to improving.

About the Author

Chris Standring is a recording artist and the owner of Guitar
Made Simple.com Visit this website for free guitar
lessons and a truly ground breaking home study guitar course.