[Cue the training montage]
July 4, 2019 6:48 PM Subscribe
I have a bunch of music that is around 75%-80% ready. In some cases I can play all the parts, but not up to speed. In others, there are still some tricky sections that my fingers get tangled up in. What are best practices to get them completely ready to record and play in public?
About six months ago, I realized that I didn't have any continuity with my little home recording projects--basically whatever I could whip up in a day or two would be all I would do. That started to feel wrong.
So, I've started really woodshedding, playing a lot, and learning harder tunes that are above my level but not soo above my level that I can't learn them at all. I've been playing a few hours a day for the first time in around 25 years, honestly, and it feels great.
Here is a little list of what I've been doing, but I have a feeling that there are some other specific pointers that would help me to get over what feels like a plateau:
*I've been identifying sticking points, and checking to see if there are better fingerings that will help me play these sections quicker and smoother.
*I've been using anytune pro+, which is a terrific app (that I have no connection to), allowing me to slow down and loop sections of recordings and play along with them.
*I've been recording my practicing and listening to it. Sometimes it sounds better than I thought it would, and other times worse. That has been really instructive.
*I've been marking down the bpms that I can play a tune at, and slowly working them up with a metronome.
What else specifically should I do? I want to start posting these tunes and gigging again, but I feel like I'm stuck at "almost ready."
About six months ago, I realized that I didn't have any continuity with my little home recording projects--basically whatever I could whip up in a day or two would be all I would do. That started to feel wrong.
So, I've started really woodshedding, playing a lot, and learning harder tunes that are above my level but not soo above my level that I can't learn them at all. I've been playing a few hours a day for the first time in around 25 years, honestly, and it feels great.
Here is a little list of what I've been doing, but I have a feeling that there are some other specific pointers that would help me to get over what feels like a plateau:
*I've been identifying sticking points, and checking to see if there are better fingerings that will help me play these sections quicker and smoother.
*I've been using anytune pro+, which is a terrific app (that I have no connection to), allowing me to slow down and loop sections of recordings and play along with them.
*I've been recording my practicing and listening to it. Sometimes it sounds better than I thought it would, and other times worse. That has been really instructive.
*I've been marking down the bpms that I can play a tune at, and slowly working them up with a metronome.
What else specifically should I do? I want to start posting these tunes and gigging again, but I feel like I'm stuck at "almost ready."
My favorite piano teacher would have me play the peace very slowly. I could get all the notes right at a low speed, and then little by little bring it up to the proper tempo. But playing it slowly would allow me to develop a motor memory of how hitting all the right notes felt.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 5:26 AM on July 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 5:26 AM on July 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I found when learning a new piece that hitting the end felt like a great acomplishment - so after technically learning a piece mostly well enough (which it sounds like your doing), but working on memorization and getting up to speed, I'd do the last line until good. Then I'd do the last two lines. Etc.
Doing it this way, on each repititon, I'd have a bit of work for the part I was re-hashing, but then I'd get into a more familiar section, and crush it until the end, which just mentally felt great. If one does the reverse, starting at the beginning instead you've got some fluidity (and often the beginning of a piece is quite interesting and fun), but then you go into the weeds, crash and burn and then need to stop and repeat. Most reps end in failure, and one needs to take motivation from when it ends less badly - that's much harder (for me) to do.
posted by nobeagle at 7:20 AM on July 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
Doing it this way, on each repititon, I'd have a bit of work for the part I was re-hashing, but then I'd get into a more familiar section, and crush it until the end, which just mentally felt great. If one does the reverse, starting at the beginning instead you've got some fluidity (and often the beginning of a piece is quite interesting and fun), but then you go into the weeds, crash and burn and then need to stop and repeat. Most reps end in failure, and one needs to take motivation from when it ends less badly - that's much harder (for me) to do.
posted by nobeagle at 7:20 AM on July 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
Using a metronome set at a tempo where you can play it like it's a kindergarten piece. Play through, up one click faster, and again. The first several times through will feel stupid. If you get to one where you can't do it perfectly, back off two notches on the metronome and make another pass at it.
I learned ridiculously fast piano passages this way. It can take a while (weeks even) to get to where you want to be, but a certain portion of music is truly just muscle memory. Once the muscles can do it reliably every time, that's when you get to truly play with your expression.
posted by hippybear at 8:00 PM on July 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
I learned ridiculously fast piano passages this way. It can take a while (weeks even) to get to where you want to be, but a certain portion of music is truly just muscle memory. Once the muscles can do it reliably every time, that's when you get to truly play with your expression.
posted by hippybear at 8:00 PM on July 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks, everyone. These are super thoughtful and useful responses. They give me lots of ideas to work with.
posted by umbú at 9:13 AM on July 6, 2019
posted by umbú at 9:13 AM on July 6, 2019
Everyone above has suggestions about slowing down, which I definitely agree with. In addition, for any lengthy fast sections I used to break them down into small sections and practice getting each section up to speed individually then in sections with pauses between, then start joining up sections. The best thing about this was it really helped me identify the problem areas and get the rest sorted so you can focus on just the hardest bits.
posted by kadia_a at 12:46 PM on July 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by kadia_a at 12:46 PM on July 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
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posted by mikek at 3:47 AM on July 5, 2019 [1 favorite]