I know I've been told this a hundred times. Go slowly at first. Don't try to go so fast! Slow down! I thought I'd got it. But why was I still having trouble with mistakes once I got up towards tempo? I only rarely seemed to get through it without a mistake, and the mistakes weren''t always in the same place either. And however many times I practiced it, those mistakes just wouldn't disappear. " I have to try harder or concentrate better," I thought.
Then the other day I was doing a workshop on flatpicking (don't ask) and as an aside the teacher said, make sure you can do this perfectly 10 times before you increase the speed. Ten times? Really? That got me thinking.... what do I normally do? Yes I practice it slowly, then when I've finally got it I ramp up the speed, and at the increased tempo mistakes invariably happen. What do I do then? I keep practicing it at the increased speed to eliminate those mistakes... but they are remarkably persistent...
But wait, how well established was it at the slower speed? - I maybe did it right once or twice before moving up. Not 10 times, or even 3 or 4 times. In fact it seems likely I have been increasing the speed before getting things solid at the lower tempo, so those mistakes that hadn't truly been eliminated returned with a vengeance at the higher speed. And then I practiced them! Duh. Perhaps this is why I have such a hard time eliminating mistakes. So here's my new resolution: practice things slowly until I can do them perfectly 10x. In a row. Only then will I ramp it up. I seriously hope 10x is overkill because I'm not a patient person, but maybe this is what I've been missing. It's worth a try anyway :)
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Here's a tip I came across a while back. I'm skeptical about the origins of the story, mainly because I don't think match sticks were very common in Mozart's time, but it's still a good trick. I use pennies.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7560
Thanks James - moving matchsticks one at a time for 10 perfect repetitions before moving on (and going back to the beginning for every mistake) certainly would get me motivated. Though I would probably cheat - i.e. we won't count that tiny mistake, let's move on already!
ReplyDeleteThanks James - moving matchsticks one at a time for 10 perfect repetitions before moving on (and going back to the beginning for every mistake) certainly would get me motivated. Though I would probably cheat - i.e. we won't count that tiny mistake, let's move on already!
ReplyDelete