Posted by laertes22 on Thursday, May 8, 2014
There has been a lot going on for me lately, in terms of family and health. I had to take a break from music for a while, and had not touched my banjo or fiddle for months. However, things seem to have settled down some and the music bug strikes again.
I recently pulled out my banjo, my fiddle, and my ukulele with the intention of setting down and seriously working on all three. The uke is kind of a no-brainer side project. I can do as much or as little with it as I like, as long as I do it consistently on a daily basis.
However, the banjo and the fiddle are not really instruments that you can just half way practice and expect to make a lot of progress. Also, having touched neither fiddle nor banjo for months, I have lost a lot of ground. My clawhammer and my bow arm are both rusty and inconsistent. My left hand is clumsy. My rhythm is off. Strangely, my intonation is not that bad on the fiddle (it wasn't stellar before, but I at least have not lost a lot there).
Trying to reclaim my lost skills got me thinking about my practice regimen. We are taught how to play, but we are not always taught how to practice effectively and efficiently. And my practice habits...pretty much stink. In retrospect, I think that I have not progressed as much or as quickly as I might have because I did not know what or how to practice.For me practice meant tuning up, maybe playing a scale, maybe practicing a new technique that had been introduced, then hurriedly and sloppily playing through every song that I knew or that had been covered. If a song sounded wrong or bad (and they always did), I would keep playing through it quickly over and over until it sounded correct, or at least better (it rarely did either). I wondered why the songs did sound progressively better and why I was not playing cleaner and more accurately.
Since I have started back, I have been researching practice techniques and regimens and trying to formulate a new practice plan. If anybody reads this and has suggestions, I WELCOME IT!
Here are some of the things I have come up with:
1) Always practice with a metronome (my rhythm is not great, and this helps me be more consistent)
2) Slow down...like, way down. I keep the metronome between 70 and 90 bpm. It is much slower than I ever played before, and it is painful. However, it is really effective. My playing is cleaner and more accurate. My rhythm is better.
3) Warm up. Scales, chords, review of fundamentals like the clawhammer stroke, basic bowing. Nothing fancy. All basics. All slowly. Amazing how much this helped.
4) Don't just play through songs, and don't play fast. I break the songs up into phrases. I keep playing the phrase until I can play it perfectly, and I memorize it. Then I move on to the next.
5) Ultimately, don't play from tabs/sheet music. I am not anti-tab. I am grateful for tab and find it extremely helpful and useful. However, it can be a crutch, and it can ultimately hinder playing. I use the tab to figure out how the basics of playing the song. I play the tab just until I can get the song memorized. The goal is to memorize the song, and ultimately "learn" it. Once it is memorize, I try to not use the tab and just play from memory. Practices are also from memory, only referring to the tab if I forget a section or can't play a section correctly. The goal is to get the song in my head and "make it mine." This leads to some "happy mistakes" where I realize, "What I played was not what was written on the tab, but it sounded good. I think I'll use that." Playing from memory also does wonders for learning to play by ear. Sometimes I forget how part of a song goes. Rather than refer back to the tab, I will hum the song to myself and muscle/ear memory will kick in and I'll just figure out how to play it.
6) Have at least one "fun" part of practice. I think practice and playing in general needs to be fun or you'll lose interest. Also, unless you are a professional musician, if you are not doing it for fun, why are you even bothering to to do it? For me, at the end of practice, I put away the metronome and put away whatever song I'm working on, and I pull out a different tune book (one I've not been specifically working on in the practice). I pick a random song that seems interesting, and I try to play through it. I usually try to pick a tune that is in a different key than what I have been practicing. No metronome, no serious breakdown. I just try to play it and see how recognizable I can get the tune. It's not clean, and the rhythm is not steady, but it is fun. It is also kind of a way to independently gauge my overall progress.
I am still tweaking my practice formula and constantly reviewing and revising it. If anyone has suggestions or recommendations, I would greatly appreciate it.
-Genford
1 comment on “A novice reborn.(1st blog entry!)”
Paul R Says:
Saturday, May 10, 2014 @9:31:49 PM
That's a good routine. I like your comments about tab. Tab is very useful for learning a tune, but, in the context of OT music, not that good for playing a tune. So, I'd add one more thing (although not in the home practice regimen): When you've learned some tunes, as soon as possible, get out and play with people! That will take you from playing the notes to expressing yourself musically within the context of the tune. As well, it's called "playing" the banjo. Have fun!
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