Strategies for practicing effectively

I think one of the most neglected aspects of music education deals with how and what you should practice. So often you'll hear, "...well it takes lots of practice." or "You should practice every day..." or some other such statement declaring the importance of practice. I don't disagree that practice is important. It certainly is. However, if you've got no idea how to practice your efforts won't be nearly as effective and your gains won't happen as quickly. Learning to be a better musician is learning to practice better. They're pretty much the same thing. So, what do you do? Try this.

• Goal Setting

If you're not setting a goal you're not really practicing. To me, practice is working to improve your playing. Just noodling with tunes you already know is fine but don't call it practice. This is the first step in any practice session.

I've already devoted an entire post to just goal setting. You can link to it here:

http://perfectnotes.blogspot.com/2008/12/goal-setting.html

• Learn where the fingers go

Perhaps this is stating the obvious but consider this, when you look at a page of sheet music you need to learn all the notes on that page not once, not twice, but three different ways. One for the left hand, one for the right, and one for both hands together. When you consider all those movements you'll soon realize that's a lot to memorize! If the hands don't work seamlessly in unison the music will fall apart. Don't underestimate how much time it takes to learn where your fingers go.

Go slow. Don't try to learn to much at one time. Take it in small chunks and learn them individually before you move on to the next section. Make sure you've mastered each section before moving on.

Do your homework. Make sure your finger positions are efficient and make the most sense. You need to think several "moves" ahead and choose movements that allow for the smoothest movement.

• Phrase by Phrase

Once you start to memorize your fingerings you should play short phrases over and over, SLOWLY, trying to develop good muscle memory. Try to make your movements flow and feel effortless. Repeat these phrases several times. Repetition is the key. I've written another blog just on this subject. Link to it here:

http://chummersmusic.blogspot.com/2009/01/power-of-repetition.html

Go slow! You can only develop muscle memory through slow patient movements. Speed is attained through control.

It's important to focus on individual phrases and not start at the beginning. Build the music up piece by piece. Once you can play phrases well try connecting them in longer sections.

• Ask why

If you make a mistake don't just plow ahead, ASK WHY. This is very important. Something went wrong. Perhaps it was a bad fingering. Maybe you lost concentration. Maybe you haven't played a section over enough times. It could be anything, but you won't know how to fix it if you don't ask why.

These are just a few tips to help you on your musical journey. Practicing is a very personal and subjective thing. Your personal goals will dictate the amount of time you practice and the quality spent during that time. I hope that you'll take a deeper look at your own practice time and find ways to improve it. When in doubt consider this old nugget of wisdom, "Amateurs practice till they get it right once. Professionals practice till they can't get it wrong."

Hope it helps.

Overcoming stage fright

I've come across several students who have an obvious ability and love of playing music.  Their technique and timing was good and they practiced often.  Like so many others they ran into trouble as soon as somebody else noticed their playing.  It mattered little who the person was.  A stranger or family member would trigger the same crippling respone.  Stage Fright.  Music that would flow freely would suddenly be hobbled by a hyper sensitive ego more worried about messing up than becoming musical.

I know this state well.  For years my playing would suffer from a nervous ego.  It would happen just as quickly picking with friends as it would in a live performance situation.  But why?  Where does this anxiety come from?  ("Tell me about your fahzer...") Clearly that answer is subjective and each person brings their own baggage, but if I might boil it down a bit I'd say that most folks want to feel special.  They want to feel like what they are doing is great and they don't want to mess up and that fear becomes the focus of the performance instead of the music.

An oversimplification?  Perhaps.  I'm sure there are several books on the subject but whatever the reasons stage fright can quickly wreck your playing.  Its not to hard to  overcome it if you're motivated enough.  If you find you're having trouble with stage fright/performance anxiety try this...

• Realize most people want you to do well.

Most folks are on your side.  They want to hear you play well.  They're probably not going to point and laugh (children are another story) and ridicule you if you mess up.  If somebody listening is secretly hoping you screw up congratulate yourself.  You've probably got to a really high level (or higher than them at least) and they're just jealous.

• Even more folks DON'T CARE either way

A real turning point for me occurred when I realized most people aren't listening anyway.  I mean really, how many shows have you been to where folks are not even paying attention.  Even a quiet sit down type show.  Look around at folks.  What must be going on in all those heads.  I bet at least 1/4 are thinking about going to the bathroom.  Another 1/4 is hungry, another 1/4 is worried about how they look or they're thinking about a boy or girl.  That leaves 1/4 who may actually be hanging on every note.  Doubt it though.  Most folks aren't paying that close of attention.  

• Perform more often

The best way to get over stage fright is to get on the stage.  You won't learn to swim if you don't get in the water.  Play for people and do it often.  Play for family or friends but do it every day.  Will you mess up?  Probably.  But remember that you are no different than anybody else.  Every performer is nervous at some point.  The pros get out there on stage and they're willing to mess up.  I've seen all of the best players mess up.  NOBODY'S perfect.  Don't let that stop you from playing your music as good as you can. 

• "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?  Practice."

Practice, Practice, Practice.  Then practice some more.  (See previous posts on how to practice or take a lesson and I'll show you how.)   If you hope to play well in front of other people your fingers must have the movements absolutely memorized.  By the time you've decided to play in front of people its a good idea to have the muscle memory stone cold solid.  There's another old saying that kind of sums it up.  "Amateurs practice till they get it right once.  Professionals practice till they can't get it wrong."  You probably don't want to be a pro but keep this bit of wisdom in mind the next time you get mad at yourself for making a mistake.  

• If all else fails slam a few shots of whiskey

This seems to work for my wife.

I hope it helps... 

Workshops at Dusty Strings this Weekend

Greetings, I wanted to let interested folks know about a couple of workshops I'm teaching at Dusty Strings this weekend.  The workshops will happen this Saturday the 16th at Dusty Strings in Fremont.

The first workshop at 10:30am is entitled  Playing Guitar With Ease: Troubleshooting Technique Issues.  You can link to Dusty String's description of the workshop here:

http://dustystrings.com/shop/workshops-spring09.shtml#50

The second workshop entitled How to Practice: Strategies for Constant Improvement is at 1:30pm the same day.  Here's a link to the class:

http://dustystrings.com/shop/workshops-spring09.shtml#7

Classes are  $35 or $60 if you decide you can't get enough and would like to take both classes.

Would love to see you there.

Playing well with others

One of the best ways to improve your musicianship is to get out there and play with other musicians.  Playing music with other people can do several things to help you improve.  Especially if said musicians are (hopefully) better you than are.

Here's how it can help:

• Learning new tunes, they'll open your ears to new stuff
• If they've got good time, they'll help yours.  But, you've got to pay attention.  Listen Well!
• New ideas.  Hearing how better musicians play, will give you new ideas to pull from.
• Motivation.  I get way more motivated to play music with others than solo.
  

So you're convinced.  What do you do?  Well, if you're a bluegrass or old time musician it couldn't be easier.  These musical styles thrive on getting folks together and jamming.  All you need to do is ask around.  Search the web for local jams.  Ask local music stores.  

Seattle has both Bluegrass and Old Time music classes designed for getting people together and playing music.  Shoreline Community College offers a Bluegrass Class during the evenings that's perfect for beginners.  The Canote Brothers offer an Old Time class that teaches folks how to play Old time music with a group.   Now if you're a rock musician it could be a little more difficult but searching the web I'm sure would yield lots musicians just like you.  

So you're ready to go out and jam here a few tips that will help you make friends:

• Play quitely, don't blast at full volume.   
• Listen well to the other musicians.  Try to make their playing stand out.
• If you come up against a tune you feel you can't manage, just lay out.  Don't muddy up the sound as you search for the right notes/chords.
• Remember to be nice.  Playing music is a perfect opportunity for people to throw their egos around.  Don't be that guy.  

I hope that helps.  See you out there.

The Ego always gets in the way...

The best music lesson I've had in my whole life was a 5 minute conversation with a Dutch Flamenco Guitarist I met in the Caribbean.  That's a long story there so I'll try to get to the point. During a 6 month stay on on St. Thomas I was lucky enough to play with and listen to some amazing musicians.  I was constantly checking out live music and was surprised by the levels of musicianship I heard down there.  One of the most incredible performances I caught was this Flamenco Guitar player.  

It was an engaging performance complete with a beautiful dark haired dancer.  I sat there awestruck listening to such a virtuoso performance at a cozy little oceanside bar.  This man was certainly the best, most accomplished guitarist I'd ever seen.  His fingers flew with incredible speed, accuracy, and passion.  

At the time I was just beginning my study of the guitar and banjo and I was practicing and playing obsessively.  Hours and hours a day with no guidance or real understanding of how to practice.  Better than nothing but far from effective.  In fact I was developing an intense pain in my left wrist.  The road to hell paved with good intentions.

I decided during the show to ask this guy for advice about the pain in my wrist.  I was thrilled/terrified to meet and talk to such a master.  After the show I approached him and sheepishly inquired, "Hi, I'm a guitarist too (yeah right) and I've got this pain in my left wrist.  I was wondering if you have any advice."

Without a word he immediately snapped up my wrist and grabbed my fingers with his other hand.  He shook my hand for a few seconds and then threw my arm back to me.  He then cooly and directly stated, "It will be very difficult for you.  The ego always gets in the way."

Huhhh.  Terror.  What did he mean?  I've been working so hard and wanted to play so bad.  He then proceeded to show me how lightly he pressed down the strings and how you could slip a piece of paper under the strings and between the fretboard as he played.  He reapeated it again.  "It will be very difficult for you.  The ego always gets in the way."  Crushed.

That was it.  That was the best music lesson I ever had.  Why?  Well, he was exactly right of course.  I was playing well beyond my means.  I wasn't ready to practice hours a day.  I wasn't practicing with the correct attention to muscle memory and muscle tension.  I was going about it all wrong.  In short, my ego was in the way.  He hit the nail on the head after one simple question.  In fact, it was years before I recovered from those practice habits I was developing some of which I'm still fighting against (like unwanted muscle tension.)  

I don't think I fully grasped the importance of his words until years later.  I had to undo all the bad habits I had developed and accept my level of playing and accept that it would take years to get to where I wanted to be.  Ego, I had to control my ego.  As a teacher I can immediately tell the students that have control over their ego when comes to practice and its no surprise that these students progress faster.  They are not any more physically gifted than any other student, but they've got a good handle on the more difficult piece to master.  The ego.  

The ego always gets in the way.  But we can work with it.

Remember:

• Go slow!  Muscle memory can only be learned slowly
• Practice things in small chunks, don't bite off to much to soon
• Be diligent, avoid obsession,  15 minutes of solid practice is better than hours of bad practice
• It take time, lots of time, be patient
• Master one thing at a time and don't get bogged down and end up playing several things poorly, Play one thing REALLY well.  

Hope it helps.

Chum

Rhythm Guitar Playing

"Get a rock n' roll feelin' in your bones

put taps on your tones and get gone

Get rhythm when you get the blues."  

Johnny Cash

Several of my current students are getting into playing rhythm guitar, mostly in a folkly, acoustic rock kind of style.  This is the classic strumming sing-a-long type stuff that uses a pick.  One of the biggest challenges of playing rhythm guitar is that whole rhythm thing.  In fact rhythm is very often overlooked in most music pedagogy.  This is unfortunate.  Rhythm is the foundation of all western music.  If a person hopes to play any instrument or sing, they've got to "get rhythm."  But how?

 

Well, I think anyone can get rhythm if they try to develop it.  I think listening often to music is pretty important.  I can't think of a time in my life when I didn't listen to all kinds of music.  Some of my oldest memories are of listening to records on my little kiddie record player.  Listen to all kinds of music and focus on the rhythm not the melody.  How do they do it?

 

Listen to Mozart, Chopin, Bach.  They get into all kinds of interesting rhythms.  Listen to Zepplin, The Who, The Beatles.  All these bands had the best rhythm sections in rock n' roll.  Listen to the drums and bass.  What are they on about?  Listen to the singer songwriter types.  Cat Stevens, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Elliot Smith.  All great guitar players.  Listen to Big Band jazz, Gypsy Jazz, Bebop.  Try tapping along to all that rhythm.  How could you not?  Of course I'm only scratching the surface.  Hopefully you get the idea.  Actively listen to this music and try to understand the rhythm and you'll find its much more complicated than you might have imagined.

What's next.  The METRONOME of course.  Have you ever been to a concert and the crowd started clapping along with the band but they were out of time?  Don't be that guy.  If you can't clap in time without fail you've got some work to do.  If you didn't realize the crowd was out of time at that show you've got work to do.  Practice clapping along with the metronome at all kinds of speeds.  Slow 50-70 beats per minute (bpm).  Fast 80-120 bpm.  Really fast 120-180 bpm.  Try it.  Its harder than you think.  Learn to stay right with the metronome.  Solid.  Unshakeable.  If you can do that you're on you're way to getting rhythm.  

Of course, this is just scratching the surface.  Its a big world of rhythm out there.  Start tapping along.

The Power of Repetition

I've recently been reading  (and rereading)  Shinichi Suzuki's (of the well know Suzuki Method) book Nurtured by Love.  The book describes Suzuki's path that led him to develop his method of music education.  Incidentally Suzuki never called this his "Method".  He always referred to his style as "Talent Education."  His goal was never to produce virtuoso's of the violin but virtuoso people.  Here's a quote of his from the book, "I want to make good citizens.  If a child hears fine music from the day of his birth and learns to play it himself, he develops sensitivity, discipline, and endurance.  He gets a beautiful heart."

I couldn't agree more.  I gain a great deal of fulfillment from the study of music.  In essence the study of playing a musical instrument is also the study of self-control.  It requires a massive amount of patience, hard work, and discipline to play a musical instrument well.  It's amazingly difficult to get your fingers to do what you want them to do.  You have to learn what your hands can and can't do well and learn to work with them.  Everyone is different.  It takes time.  It take REPETITION.

This is important.  Suzuki mentions it several times in his book.  The power of repetition can not be underestimated when it comes to playing a musical instrument.  Here's a personal example.  Whenever, I perform or go to jams where I improvise a lot I find myself falling back into these familiar patterns of playing.  I've practiced other licks, songs, and passages but I can't seem to play them out.  Why?  It's simple really.  I've haven't practiced them enough.  The songs and licks I play best are the ones I've played the longest.  The ones I've played the most times.  

Now that might seem like a no brainer but it's important to remember this when practicing.  If I hope to get these new musical ideas and songs into my fingers I have to play them that much more.  Repetition.  I  can't expect to practice a song once or twice a week and expect to play it up to speed.  It needs to be constantly nurtured and worked on.  Muscle memory take time to develop.

If you find yourself frustrated with your playing remember the power of repetition.  Focus yourself on one small problem and keep working on it till it improves.  How long will that take?  Hard to say.  But I can tell you with absolute certainty that you will see results if you start small.  If you're working on a song.  Play the first 1/2 of that song 100 times and see how much better you are at it afterward.  Play it 200 times.  Experiment and see how long it takes to see improvement.  

Devote yourself to one song for a month and see how well you play the song at the end of the month.  Let me know how it goes.  

Hope it helps.

Workshops and classes at Dusty Strings

I have several upcoming classes and workshops at Dusty Strings.  Starting Monday the 12th and meeting every two weeks are my Beginning and Intermediate Banjo classes.  The beginner class meets at 6:30pm and the intermediate at 7:45.  You can link to a description of the classes and get more info below:

http://dustystrings.com/shop/musicschoolclasses-winter.shtml#banjo

I am also teaching a couple of workshops in January and February.  The January workshop will focus on Bluegrass Rhythm Guitar.  The class will meet Sunday January 18th at 12:15pm.  There will be two seperate classes of 2 hours each.  The first class will focus on the basics and the second on the fancier stuff.  You can check the details at this link:

http:dustystrings.com/shop/workshops-winter08.shtml#27

The second set of workshops will take place February 28th.  The first class will look at Bluegrass banjo back up techniques:

http://dustystrings.com/shop/workshop-winter08.shtml#8

The second class will look at practice techniques.  This class is applicable to any instrument of any genre.  A great class if you feel like you can't improve.

http://dustystrings.com/shop/workshops-winter08.shtml#69

You can feel free to send me an email if you have any other questions.

Thanks!

Music as expression

What is music?  Try to answer that one.  Is it art?  At its best a high art for sure.  In our society its also product even from some of our most beloved artists.  In America virtually all music has some sort of cultural and societal stereotype attached to it.  We identify ourselves with certain types of music and this helps us define who we are as people.  Maybe its always been this way in all societies.  Is this a good thing?  Hard to say.

As a music teacher I often focus on the technical side of playing.  And this is important.  There is a right way to practice and a wrong way.  But why practice?  What are we getting at?  What is the need we have?  The challenge of just executing difficult maneuvers with our hands is not necessarily music.  I think aspiring musicians (myself) would do well to ask what they are really trying to achieve with practice.  What do the notes of the song say to you?  

As musicians we can improve our music by discovering more about the expression.  Can you say more with less?  Perhaps if we always consider what our music expresses we can improve our practice and interpretation of the music.  

Goal Setting

I think one of those most important things you can do during a practice session is to set a goal.  In my opinion if you're not setting a goal you're not really practicing.  But what does that mean?  We all want to play better and sure that's a goal, but when practicing we need to be very specific about our goals.  If your practice sessions consist of unfocused noodling or replaying of songs you've known for a long time, try something different.  Maybe this...

• Narrow your focus

When goal setting you need to be very specific.  Not just, "I want to play better." or "I want to play this song."  Its better to say  "I need to work on this particular passage of this song."  And then stick to just that small section of song until you've improved it.  Maybe you have trouble with pull-offs.  Well spend your practice just working on pull offs or at least focusing on getting them right.  

Maybe, you play a song pretty good but always mess at this one part in the middle.  Narrow your focus to that part and figure out how to play it as smooth as you can.  ONLY THAT PART.  Practice only that part until you improve it.  

Narrowing your focus can be like a microscope you hold over your playing.  How narrow you focus it will depend on what you are working on.  It can be wide and cover a large section of song or you can focus it down to just a couple notes played over and over. 

• Start small

Starting small applies to both your goals and how much of a song you try to bite off at a time.  Mucsle memory is best learned in small bits.  Therefore, its prudent to practice small sections of a song versus large swaths.  Over time, your ability and muscle memory will compile and it'll be easier to play the whole thing.  

Again, how small is dictated by how easy the piece is for you.  Difficult pieces take LOTS of work.  Don't try to force the music into your fingers.  It won't work.  Be realistic.  How much time do you practice a week?  How hard is the piece you're working on?  The harder the piece, the more work you need to put in.  

• Go after your weaknesses

You won't get better unless you work on the things you're bad at.  Maybe you're bad at lots of things.  I know I am.  Don't get overwhelmed, just pick them off one at time.  

• Set goals every practice

Its important to set goals for every practice.  If you do you, you'll see consistent improvement.  That's the point of practice right?  To get better.  

It may help to keep a journal of log of your practice routine.  This will help you keep track of what you've been working on and help you chart your progress.  It will also help you organize and focus your practices.

• Be realistic

Everything I've read about great players, my favorite players, is that they've played forever and play all the time.  Bela Fleck used to practice like 6-8 hrs a day when he was in his TEENS.  Same for Eddie Van Halen, same for Leo Kottke, same for Clarence White, and Tony Rice.  All these guys practiced more in a week than most people do for a many months, or years.  

If you hope to play an instrument really well it would be wise to consider what the masters put themselves through to play really well.  Clearly it helps your playing to play tons.  However, I can assure you that an hour a day of focused goal oriented practice will improve your playing.  If you've only got ten minutes use it.  

Set a goal.  I hope that helps.

Brad

Buying a Banjo

I am often asked by beginners what kind of banjo they should get when they are getting started.  And more often than that I meet beginning banjo players who come to their first lesson with a banjo that's not much more than wall ornament.  Completely unplayable.  They've usually spent about $100-150 bucks and they're bummed it doesn't work.  I wish I met these folks before their first lesson.  If I did I'd tell them this...

• Get the best instrument you can afford

If you start your study of music on a junky instrument you are immediately handicapping yourself.  Some people seem to think that by playing a junker this will somehow make them better.  These folks are really off the mark.  A junker will give you poor technique, sound bad, and fail to stay in tune.  Spend a few bucks more and getting something playable.

• Expect to pay between $350-$500 for a good quality banjo

I am not familiar with everything that's out there for this price.  I started on a Johnson banjo I payed $450 for.  I got lucky.  I've seen several Johnson's that weren't nearly as good as mine.  Stuart Duncan once remarked that this banjo didn't sound cheap.  Deering Goodtime models are very consistent in terms of quality.  Gold tone makes great banjos that cost around $600-700.  Search around and get the opinion of an experienced player before you buy your first banjo.