PERFECT PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT.

[jb]

...so is "muscle memory" a crock?

Not entirely. I think when people say "muscle memory," they're talking about automaticity, which is certainly something real. Because it feels automatic, people assume their brains are not doing it; it must be in their muscles. But most of what your brain does is completely invisible to you. So automaticity feels like its outside of you, but it is usually definitely a central brain process.

Yeah, that's what we mean. Or at least I do.

[Mostess]

Learning something slow and then speeding it up has never worked for me because there are subtle temporal shifts that you unconsciously make as you speed something up or down, like wanting to hold a note slightly longer (percentage-wise) during a slower version. If you make a recording at 1/2 speed, and then speed it up, it will not sound exactly like a recording at full speed.

I had a pianist friend who practiced long, complicated melodic runs like this:

1) syncopate or swing them short-long, short-long, short-long until you can do it really well
2) syncopate or swing them long-short, long-short, long-short until you can do it really well
3) viola! You can do it straight much better

He always thought it worked because you're learning the note transitions from the shorts to the longs at tempo, but you only have to learn half of them on each step. Implicit in that is that learning it at tempo is important.

Anyone do something similar?

[erik]

Something deep inside needs the music to keep going, and revolts when it doesn't.

While it appears that piano players unlearn this behavior at a young age, it seems that guitar players don't unlearn this until they start their first band, and everyone else has to repeatedly remind them "NO STOPPING, EVEN IF SOMEONE FUCKS UP" and then punching them in the arm (or denying them whiskey).

[Mostess]

(or denying them whiskey).

Too cruel.

[Leaf]

Now this is a bit away from the original topic (I know, I know, how unusual) but at Band practice, I'm offered a unique perspective on the roles of each player, and how some stereotypical behaviour can (I SAID CAN) come from particular instruments... for example, it always seemed acceptable when I was the drummer to rush guitar players along if they were trying to figure something out...now the drummer keeps doing that to me when I need a moment of clarity, and it's like "DUDE. I know what you're doing!" I don't actually say that though, I just try to defer the attention his way for a moment while I continue to figure stuff out... but shifting roles sure puts the group performance and practice dynamic into an interesting perspective... the coolest part about playing guitar for me I'm finding, is I no longer have to stress about the time.. I can float on it... what a pleasure!! Not that I lose track of it, or don't keep it, but to have other people who are focused on that leaves all this room... amazing feeling. I find the best band practices seem to be where we talk more than play... we do all work on our stuff on our own, so when we "bond" it really enhances the performing... or maybe it seems that way cause of the booze... I don't know...

[Bell Green]

Yo, didn't think my post about practicing slowly and mindfully would bring up so much debate. I was trying to put what the guy says in his book in a nutshell, but I guess I may have oversimplified it. Anyway, I was thinking about it today and realised that it only really covers the physical side of things ie the technical skill learning bit. But music is much more than that, much much more. And that's why music has this magical quality. And roboticly practicing an instrument would certainly take the music out of the music. But as was said by others, this is only part of ones practice arsenal and only really to do with the technique, the physical bit.

One of my guitarist friends used to go to a teacher he rated really highly who was very expensive, so wouldn't go that often, but got enough material to keep him going for ages. This teacher would split practice into three categories - body, mind, and soul. So one would practice on a purely physical level, to get ones technique. Then on a mental level to get ones level of understanding - harmony, key centres etc. And soul is the emotional or spiritual side of it all. This is more to do with inspiration, improvisation and creativity.

Have you read the "Inner Game of Music". A tutor of mine on a bass guitar course introduced me to that. The chapters on allowing onself to fail, how to appreciate and listen to music, and being creative and improvising have been invaluable. Another one for you to read, if you haven't already.

Music only manifests itself through the fingers, but originates in some deep dark corner of the universe that we can only come into contact with if we allow that music to come through us. And we have to practice our technique so that we are ready for it when it comes.

At this point I could launch into a discussion about art vs craft, but let's leave that for another thread.

[c hack]

My 2 cents about practicing: when practicing fingerstyle, practice SLOW and LOUD. Very important.

Also, it helps if you have a hard-on for the music. I've been teaching myself piano this past week, and I've almost got a good handle on the first half of the aria from the goldberg variations. The fact that I love it so much gets me to sit down and play through it for a few minutes every half hour or so. I think that's a good way to practice. Doesn't even feel like practice.

My favorite way to practice: Sit down in front of the TV with some mindless movie on (like James Bond or something Jerry Bruckheimer) and learn a new song while watching the movie. The only thing is, nobody else better be wantin to watch it

[Leaf]

I enjoy tv practice too!! Especially for drum rudiments...


Tonight I employed some of the ideas I learned from this thread in my lessons... I especially liked the bits about unconscious incomptence etc... and the bits about learning outcomes... that was great stuff, and two kids totally dug that. Also, I was thinking about how JB and me probably teach in some ways polar opposite stuff, yet our end goals are the same... great fuel for the mind anyway.. just talking about practicing gets me all stoked!!

[Dan-O from Five-O]

I have a question, does anyone have one of those phrase samplers? You know, something that can play a recorded part back slower but still in key. I was wondering if anyone has ever used one and found it to be of value or not.

[j$]

My favorite way to practice: Sit down in front of the TV with some mindless movie on (like James Bond or something Jerry Bruckheimer) and learn a new song while watching the movie.

I do this on occasion but almost always end up subconsciously jamming along with the soundtrack. Made 'the Pianist' more enjoyable, at least. Heh.

J$

[Bell Green]

I have a question, does anyone have one of those phrase samplers? You know, something that can play a recorded part back slower but still in key. I was wondering if anyone has ever used one and found it to be of value or not.

You can do this with your sequencer. Ok, not as fast as with a dedicated unit, but still. Record a bit and then time stretch it. Use Recycle for better results.

An ex-boyfriend of a friend of mine used to have a thing called a Jam-man, and we used to record riffs or chord progressions into that and it would keep looping around and we would then jam along. Hours of fun, long before the days of the sequencer.

[Dan-O from Five-O]

But what about something for guitar like this? http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=h ... id/240988/

[HeuristicsInc]

An ex-boyfriend of a friend of mine used to have a thing called a Jam-man, and we used to record riffs or chord progressions into that and it would keep looping around and we would then jam along. Hours of fun, long before the days of the sequencer.

The JamMan is awesome. I have one and use it a lot. You can also make ambient soundscapes by setting the delay time to some large number and the decay very long. Things repeat, but eventually fade out. This doesn't change the pitch of playback, though, so it won't do with Dan-O is asking about.
There is some VST that does this sort of thing too... I might be able to find it if you want a software solution.
-bill

[Bell Green]

Hope this thread isn't dead yet, because I was just thinking of another aspect of practice, music practice, which is listening. If music is about communication, not only about communication, but communication being a large part of it, then one has to listen to what is being said. It's a sort of active listening, the kind that we all do when reviewing songs or mixing our own works. But more simply, when we sit down and do nothing except listen to a piece of music. We might close our eyes and focus in that way, but it certainly isn't like listening to the radio when we are doing the washing up. This relaxed and more attentive state of mind might allow us to hear or respond to what is being said.

When learning a foreign language, there are four areas that need to be covered, reading, writing, listening and speaking. And I think that the same skills need to be developed in music. Not just practicing technique, but training our ear. Not just to figure out the key of a song or a verse, but to really hear what is being said and allow music to really work its magic.