Oh! The Joy of Recording Yourself Play ...

So long as I don't hear a recording of my playing, I can live happily in the knowledge that I'm producing something reasonably pleasant to listen to (despite the tendency of all my family members to request that I keep the door firmly shut when I'm practicing).  However, time to kick the self-delusion habit -  I'm biting the bullet and using the phone to record myself to hear what's really going on.
The first thing to overcome of course, is the 'red button' syndrome.  (No matter that the button is sometimes white - it has the same effect in terms of inducing a state of panic, with predictably negative effects).  I have been attempting to overcome this with a surfeit of exposure - i.e. during some practice sessions keeping the 'record' button pressed for every attempt - even if my efforts are sometimes so bad I have to delete without listening.  This seems to be working, in that now it only really bothers me the first time I turn it on.   OK so that hurdle overcome, what am I finding out? First, as expected, all those little (and not so little) problems become all too obvious - buzzing strings, missed notes, faulty timing (plus my recent recognition that strings ringing over to the next chord are making the whole thing fuzzy).  This is proving helpful because I can now use the oft-recommended 'slow practice' on very small sections, and with concrete goals in mind, such as figuring out a way to stop that string buzzing, or make that slur actually sound.  And after I've worked on it I can check to see if I did it right!   Ditto using the metronome to make sure I'm not speeding up or wandering around with the tempo.
Second, attempts at dynamic contrast are scarcely audible.   I'm trying to convince myself this is actually a deficiency of the phone's ability to detect rather than my ability to produce.  On the other hand, it would explain my long-suffering guitar teacher's frequent request for "more dynamics." Sigh.
Third, tone leaves a lot to be desired.  This is hard one - there is just a small chance that the paltry microphone on the phone is partly responsible for this, and I'm going to have to hook up the 'real' microphone to check one of these days. Unlike the other problems that I'm hearing on the recordings though,  I will need help to work on this and it probably won't be an easy fix. One thing I do know - I definitely can't blame the guitar, because it's way above my pay grade...

The pleasure of "messing around" on the guitar

I'll admit it.  Messing around on my guitar is not exactly what I had in mind when I came up with my new year's resolution to work on specific guitar skills (i.e. in all the time freed up by not practicing orchestra stuff).  I have excuses though.   For instance, resting my tennis elbow, going on vacation (I just got back from 2 weeks in the UK), "remembering" the things I used to be able to play, etc.     I know, I know, getting better involves that 4 letter word beginning with "W" and ending in "K," but I play for pleasure and I wanted more of it😉  PLUS the satisfaction of improving.  So rested and refreshed (albeit somewhat jet-lagged) it's time to take stock and come up with some specific goals.

Jack the poodle...one big softy

So in between noodling around, what have I been doing that I said I would?   Admittedly  I've been doing much less practicing than usual in favor of dog walking (see pic), exploring, visiting relatives and organizing phones and computers for the electronically-challenged.   In the limited time devoted to guitar, I did continue working through an easy book trying to sight read,  came up with an initial plan for how I want my "work' pieces to sound, and even recorded some of my efforts (fortunately deleted).  Darn, it's so much harder when you're trying for a specific sound - can you believe it didn't sound the least bit like I thought it did?!  Visualizing scales/ intervals turns out to be an excellent way to get to sleep though, if perhaps not so good for learning the fingerboard 😑. And I've been trying to learn a fun blues piece.  So I'm hitting the right things, just not a lot of time invested. And I've had FUN!  And this WILL continue, but to keep me honest, this is what I already know I need to do ...


 (Bach)
- SLOW DOWN (use the metronome), record sections and not speed up until they're solid enough to play 3? 4? 5? times in a row without mistakes and hearing the dynamics I want.
- work specifically on left hand positioning, particularly for ascending slurs
- If still not able to stop the mistakes, check the right hand fingering is consistent.
- Don't forget the legato
- Figure out (from the recording) if you want the last part damped. (maybe not)?
- Oh yes, play it all the way through every day (did I actually do that at all?)

 (Sor)
- Continue to work on keeping the bass quiet.
- What in the world has happened to the tone? watch the right hand again.
- Continue to practice the shifts and right hand fingering
-  I tend to want to reverse the dynamics in some places - record both ways and decide.

And noodle around having fun of course😄

All fingers and thumbs... again!

 I've been struggling mightily with a couple of new skills for the last couple of weeks.  Reminds me of when I was learning to rest my thumb on a bass string.    Then I remember thinking to myself "this is never going to happen." But it did - though admittedly it took a while.

I'm having the exact same feeling now, and I have a sneaking suspicion it's going to take even longer to get it...  What are these elusive skills?  I think of  them as sequencing and damping. Sequencing of the left hand fingers so the next one is placed before the previous one releases (thus giving that super-cool flowing sound) and damping of bass strings to prevent notes (or harmonics) ringing over and muddying the next bit.    I can see the sequencing happening eventually - though I guess I will have to work out the LH fingering in advance because my automatic choices rarely seem to hit upon the right answer.  And I've already seen that it sometimes involves a more difficult LH fingering pattern.  I guess I'll have to suck it up if that's what it takes.  However organizing my thumb is going to be an entirely different story.  Though I finally succeeded in getting it to rest on a random bass string, the thought of having to make it go to specific places at specific times? Oh my!  And  another thought - if I move my thumb around deliberately, it will also affect my RH fingering...

Question: is this going to take all of 2017 to master?  Methinks it might.

Happy New Year everyone😊

New Year's Resolutions...

Well there are few days to go yet, but it's definitely time to start thinking about New Year's Resolutions for my guitar journey..

So here are some of the things I ought to do if I want to improve my guitar playing, and things I want to do to use the music to help.  In the time-honored spirit of New Year's Resolutions I'll make a bunch in the hope that some will stick!

1) Use the recording button on the phone... a LOT more - even once a day?
2) Stop trekking through the whole piece - instead work on small bits that need work.
3) Set small goals for each practice
4) Practice performing, even if it's humiliating (actually it's almost always humiliating - get used to it!)
5) When goal-oriented practice is too depressing, don't give up - instead set the timer and use it.
6) Learn a duet piece and perform it (with my fellow orchestra delinquent)
7) Practice sight reading every day
8) Create benchmarks to convince myself I'm making progress - recordings, achievements, etc.
9) Learn a new piece to retain and play every 3 months.
10) Start playing at the nursing home again.

Freedom means... quitting?

No - not quitting guitar!  Freedom from not having the time to do the things that are important to you.  Right now with my guitar hobby, It's important that I make progress.  I want to recognize that today I can do something that seemed impossible (or at least insanely difficult) a few months or a year ago.  That's not happening at the moment, and at least one reason is the amount of time I spend learning material for the orchestra.  As our conductor pointed out - we learned about 2 hours of music this year -  meanwhile I'm thinking to myself  - that's awesome but I can't personally play a single tune as a result😞
 So although I will seriously miss next semester - 5 performances, lots of great new music- I'm going to take a break and work on some specific guitar skills.   Of course this may not be the "right" decision, especially as I really enjoy it.  How to tell if I'm doing the right thing? Often when I can't make up my mind I find it's helpful to make a decision one way or the other and then sleep on it. If the morning brings a sense of all being right with the world, then it was the right decision.  If, on the other hand, it brings a nagging sense of unease, (perhaps augmented by a complete lack of sleep) then it's time to take the other path! So tonight, I'm making the decision to quit and  I'm going to sleep on it....

Sight Reading - will it ever happen?

I am so far off being able to sight read simple pieces that it's quite depressing. I'm normally a goal-oriented person (as opposed to a process-oriented person - that's one of those Myers-Briggs kinda things) so not being able to head for a specific goal is frustrating for me.  However it turns out there is a way for us goal-oriented types to get a sense of satisfaction when the goal is miles to infinity away.

The obvious thing is to set intermediate goals - but with sight reading I'm having a hard time even  coming up with those. So I'm approaching the problem a little differently.   I allot a certain amount of time to practicing sight reading each day; set the timer;  move on when done.   (Yes I bought a kitchen timer- it's my new favorite tool and it cost less than $15!) Turns out to be a surprisingly effective strategy - In the past, any attempt to work through sight reading materials hasn't survived more than a few days before other more interesting things have intervened,    This time it's been different.  I'm up to 9th position in my book - strange and scary territory.  I even (gasp!) look forward to doing it.   I'm still scratching my head about that, but I have a feeling that removing expectations and setting a super-achievable goal, i.e. practice for 15 mins, has had something to do with it.

I guess you could call this process-oriented practice.  Come to think about it, wouldn't be a bad idea to apply this principle to guitar playing in general...😶

Practice time: how much sitting in a room on your own?...

I was having this discussion with my guitar teacher about whether I should continue with the classical guitar orchestra or not.  I've been playing in it a couple of years now, and I really enjoy playing with other amateur guitarists, and it's a blast rehearsing with a professional conductor. And I realize I'm extraordinarily fortunate to live in a place where such a thing as an amateur guitar orchestra exists.  However it takes a lot of time - make that a huge amount of time - especially right before a performance.  And to my mind that time could be more productively spent on repertoire or technique, or (heaven forbid) just playing for fun!  But as my guitar teacher said - how many people are happy spending hours a day sitting in a room practicing? Wouldn't I miss the friendships and social aspect?  Well yes.   But currently I'm missing having time to just noodle around, I'm missing practicing my repertoire pieces, and since I requested (and got) more emphasis on developing technique from my teacher, I don't have any fun new pieces to learn.  In fact most of my practice involves stuff I need to do rather than stuff I really want to do (like learn "Arabian Dance" or "Maria Luisa)."

This week for instance, I've been practicing sight reading (still working through the Duncan "Guitar at Sight" book), playing through orchestra parts with a metronome trying to make them consistent, and working on string damping and making shifts without looking at the fretboard.  To my mind none of that counts as "fun."  As a result there have been a few times when I've found myself wanting to read a book (or catch up on laundry) rather than play guitar.  So I thought I'd compile a list of goals/wants, what is needed to accomplish them, and compare it with what I'm actually doing.

Wants:
1. Make music for myself.  (Pieces I enjoy of course!)
.........Play and add to repertoire.

Short/Medium term goals
2.Play for others in a casual setting, without succumbing to an attack of nerves  -
.........Needed - lots of practice playing in public/under stress.  More solid technique (see 4).

3.Sight read simple pieces instead of having to learn them
.........Work on sight reading every day

Long term goals
4. Play better (several grades better)
.........Needed - technical work and pieces from guitar teacher

 The motivation for me playing the guitar really comes from #1 - I really love to make music, I love to progress, and I hope eventually to be able to share or use the music in some way.  Everything else stems from that.   But if I look at my practice time, maybe half of it is on orchestra material, a quarter on warm up exercises, distractions and the odd technical thing I feel like working on, and a quarter on the pieces/goals my guitar teacher gives me. So it's apparent where the problem is - I've missing out completely on things that feed my soul and spending less time than I need to on my goals. Something needs to change.   And the elephant in the practice schedule is most definitely the orchestra stuff.  So if I didn't have that, maybe I could spend a quarter time on new fun pieces, half on technical work/pieces and the other quarter a mix of warm up /playing existing repertoire/distractions.  That's about half hard work and half pure pleasure.

Which brings me back to the question my guitar teacher asked - who is happy spending hours in a room on their own playing and practicing?
Answer:  I think I am.