Posts Tagged ‘Practice’

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Playing Helps!

Tuesday, August 17th, 2010

Red Henry


Now, some folks may think that I’ve just written either a commonplace or a conundrum in that title: Playing Helps. Helps what? Explain yourself, Red.

Well, most of you have already found out that practicing your instrument helps your playing. Practicing may not make your playing perfect (the old saw is not literally true for anybody, in fact) but time spent playing your banjo, mandolin, guitar, bass, or other instrument does usually pay off in your ability to play better music.

But I’m also talking about the instrument itself. Except for banjos, the instruments we play are primarily delicate, precision wooden boxes designed to produce sound. This means that if they’re not played, they stiffen up and don’t sound as good. But if they’re played at least a few times a week, they’ll give their best and sound as good as they can!

This works two ways. If you don’t play very much, your mandolin or guitar may sound pretty dull when you pick it up, and you might not feel like playing it at all. But if you keep the instrument “played in,” it sounds really good when you play the first few notes, and those encourage you to play more. Much more.

It doesn’t take a lot of playing to keep your instrument loose and sounding good. Just as with your own practicing, even 15 minutes a day will be enough to do some good and help the instrument stay in good sound. So don’t spend a lot of time analyzing your playing or your instrument. Just play!

Red

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Record yourself!

Friday, August 13th, 2010

Red Henry

That’s right. Record yourself. That is one of the best ways to hear exactly what your playing sounds like, and to find out what you need to work on.

In years past, recording yourself was very easy and cheap to do, with the inexpensive cassette recorders that a lot of folks had. Modern technology makes recording almost as easy (but not cheap) by using video cameras or small high-tech audio recorders. Even most digital cameras can take a movie–with sound– of your playing. But whatever your favorite device is, just record yourself playing a couple of tunes. Then play them back and see what you sound like.

When you hear your music played back, it might not sound quite as good as you thought it was going to. (My band-leading, banjo-playing brother-in-law Mike says that for him, recording music– and listening to it afterward– is as pleasant as having teeth pulled. But that’s just his opinion.) Now, I’m not saying this trying to discourage anybody from playing. If in the playback, you don’t sound like Earl, or Ralph, or J.D., or Murphy, that’s not a reason to give up playing, or even recording. The point is that you can really hear what your playing sounds like. You can hear all your notes, and your timing, and your rhythm. And if you are playing steadily enough on the tape to play along with yourself during the playback, that’s excellent! You’ve come a long way, and are ready to play with other people, whether you feel like it or not!

Sometimes when you hear yourself for the first time, you might be discouraged. But this doesn’t mean that your playing normally sounds the way it does on the tape. Any time the tape is rolling (or any other recording is going on), you’re going to have it on your mind, either consciously or unconsciously. And it might affect your playing. But the more practice you get recording, the better you’ll play each time you record, and when it comes time to listen back to the tune, the better you’ll sound. Recording and listening is great practice, and can sure help a person’s playing!

Record yourself!

Red.

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Take it Easy (Flying and Picking #15)

Friday, July 23rd, 2010


Have you ever taken several days (or weeks) off from your music, and then tried to get back in practice? Every musician I know has done this. And as you have found out, sometimes it isn’t easy!

As many of you Gentle Readers know, I’ve been learning to fly and recently got my license. I’ve been flying regularly for several months, when the weather permitted. Flying takes practice, just like music. But I recently took several days off, and so now I’ll start getting back in practice– I have a short flight scheduled today to practice some landings, and then I’ll make a cross-country flight on Sunday to freshen up my ability to navigate to airports far from home. I didn’t want to take off on that cross-country flight “cold,” as you might call it. I wanted to get a shorter flight to warm up with first.

Music’s the same way. When you’ve taken several days off, don’t expect to dive in for several hours and get it back all at once. That can lead to a lot of frustration. Instead, “gentle” yourself into it by practicing a half-hour or hour each day for a while. You’ll find your playing ability coming back without having to strain. And when you’ve had a few of those short practices, your fingers and brain will be ready for longer sessions when you can really start soaking up music again. Don’t worry– the music will come back. Just take it easy.

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Unfamiliar situations: Flying and Picking #14

Friday, July 9th, 2010

Did you ever try to play music in a place that wasn’t familiar, and found yourself so distracted by the room, or the people, or the lighting, or the phase of the moon, that you had trouble playing? Or did you learn to play music while sitting down all the time, and then try to play while standing up? It might have been uncomfortable at first. You were in an unfamiliar situation.

I was reminded of this two nights ago, when I flew my very first night solo (well, my first since 1971). I’d flown several times at night recently with my instructor, but hadn’t tried it alone. So I took off about sunset and just practiced landings over and over, and kept at it as it got really dark.

Now, I’ve made about 400 daytime landings or so in the last 7 months. So I’m pretty familiar with them now. But now I was flying at night, and the situation was different. I really had to concentrate to find some of the same visual clues I’m used to in the daytime, and I had to adopt some new ones. But it worked. The results? 11 pretty good landings, including the last 3 in the pitch dark. But it did take concentration and practice in the new, dark situation (making those landings over and over). It was a gradual thing, but finally I was pretty comfortable with it. I really had to concentrate, but it just took some practice.

You can make the same kind of adjustment when you’re playing music in an unfamiliar situation. If you’re put off your stride (or even freaked out) by standing up to play, or playing in a new place, or playing in front of people, or playing in a group you’re not used to, then don’t concentrate on the unfamiliar stuff. Simplify what you’re doing and concentrate on yourself and the notes you’re playing. Keep your eyes on your instrument and play tunes you can play in your sleep, or your favorite basic backup licks, or just vamp until you have your hands and mind under control again. Let your brain assimilate the new variables a little at a time, and eventually you’ll get used to the new situation. Play your same familiar tunes and licks over and over standing up, for example, and you’ll get to where you can stand up in a group and handle not only your oldest material but new things as well. Practice at different places in your house, or your yard. Play when one or two family or friends are around– not suddenly for a crowd, but gradually. Even if you’re freaked out at first, it just takes some practice!

Red

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Flying and Picking #12

Friday, May 21st, 2010

Red Henry

Red Henry


Folks, I made a cross-country flight this morning, just to keep in practice. It wasn’t a really long trip, but I flew solo from here (Winchester, VA) to Bedford, PA, then to Cumberland, MD, and then back home: 3 flights, 8 good landings (I used the opportunity to practice those, too).

And what does this have to do with playing music? Well, Chris, Jenny, and I are performing at the Daily Grind here in Winchester (the Jubal Early Drive location) starting at 7:00 this evening. And the flying seems as if it’s gotten me in the mood to play.

This happened a lot during my first flying career, in the Air Force from 1972-75. Flying and picking just seemed to go together, one after the other. Have any of you gotten that feeling from these two activities? If so, I’d like to know about it.

Happy picking, and flying too, if that’s what you do!

Red
.

PS– Local folks, if you can’t make it to the Daily Grind this evening, we’re also performing at Borders Books here in Winchester, starting time 7:00 this coming Sunday, the 23rd.

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Consistency (Flying and Picking #8)

Friday, March 19th, 2010

Red Henry

Red Henry


Murphy had a good slow-jam session with her beginning students last night. I heard about it just after I came in from flying, and it reminded me that we often hear questions about how it’s easier to play on some days than others, and about how a student might learn a tune pretty well and then (in spite of playing it every day) not be able to play it as well on some days as on others.

Well, I can testify that flying is sure like that. My latest flights with my instructor have been at night. Last week I was able to make pretty good landings every time, but last night I started off with a great landing but then, on the next three landings, I couldn’t duplicate it for anything. Tonight we’ll fly, and I expect I’ll do better– at least, on SOME of the landings! Getting them just right is only partly a matter of practice. Sometimes it’s the situation, and sometimes you can’t tell what it is. But I couldn’t land at all unless I’d practiced it a lot. Practice helps!

Playing music is the same way. You can learn to play a tune and practice it until most of the time it sounds pretty good, but then there will be days when it just doesn’t. Every time you play a tune, it’s a little different. There may not be anything in particular you can point to as the cause, but you just simply play better on some days than on others. But practice helps! And it’s a special help if you play along with other people, or (if there aren’t many pickers near by) with our Slow Jam and Picking Up the Pace DVDs.

This doesn’t just apply to students! Professionals also find differences in their playing from one day to the next. Sometimes they’ll get frustrated with that on stage, but their overall level of playing is so high that most of the listeners can’t tell the difference. Sometimes it’s a matter of practice, and sometimes it’s the situation. Sometimes you can’t see a reason for it. But after you play a lot on stage, you know to just keep playing and act as if the music’s good– because it is! You’ve practiced a million hours in your life, so just play. And the point of your being there is so that the audience can enjoy it.

Red

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Extending your Learning-Limit

Friday, February 26th, 2010

Red Henry

Red Henry


Many of you will recall that in addition to our musical activities, I’m learning to fly. I had a great flight last Wednesday. Snowstorms and high winds had prohibited flying for almost three weeks, so I needed some practice, especially landing the plane. So I took off solo and made 3 landings at the airport here at Winchester, then flew up to Martinsburg, WV and made 10 landings on the big runway there, then came back to Winchester and finished up with 3 more: total, 16 landings in a little over 3 hours.

How did it go? Well, at first the airplane seemed pretty unfamiliar (it had been 3 weeks!) and it took the first one or two landings for me to doing them again. Then, the first several landings at Martinsburg were the best ones I made. When I came back to Winchester I was beginning to get a bit tired, and the last couple of landings could have been improved on. But it took those 3 hours for me to reach that point, and I remember when a 1-hour flight exhausted me, not so long ago. Things are improving fast.

And what does this have with learning to play music? A lot. When you’re learning to play, the instrument may seem pretty unfamiliar in your hands. It can take a while to get warmed up, and then you can get “max’d out” if you play for too long a time without rest. Your ability to learn and to play (and especially your endurance in playing) improves gradually as you go along. At first it might wear your hands and brain out to play for 30 minutes, but after a while you can play for an hour or two without feeling strained. Later, you might get with some other pickers and go all afternoon or evening, and not feel nearly as worn out as you did after a half-hour at first.

Practice, that’s the key. What you’re learning gets better, and easier, as you go along. Practice might not make perfect, but it sure helps!

Red

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Out of shape picking? Get in shape!

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
Red Henry

Red Henry

You know, in many parts of the country, this time of year there’s not much going on musically– few festivals, few shows, maybe not even any picking parties to keep up your playing ability. In my case I’ve been distracted by flying a lot since November, and by late January I got pretty rusty on the mandolin. So what do you do?

I simply started playing some every day. Not a lot, because I didn’t have enough time and energy to spend an hour or two at it, but last week I started playing 15 to 30 minutes a day. And it sure helps! Just a short practice, every day, can get you back into shape without a lot of stress and strain trying to play for hours on end.

Now, I admit that the music comes back into my fingers easily partly because I’ve been playing for a long time. But even when I’d only played for a year or two and I was going to school, I found that when the schedule was really crowded, if I could play 15 or 20 minutes each day, it really helped.

You might not learn a lot of new material with short practice sessions, but you might be surprised at how you can preserve the skills you already have. Take it easy on yourself. Review the tunes from Beginning Banjo Vol.1 or Banjo for Misfits. So? What are you waiting for? Today’s 15 minutes starts now!

Red

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Flying and Picking (5)

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
Red, Jan. 13th

Red Henry, Jan. 13th

Folks, a few days ago I had a great first cross-country flight with my flying instructor. After carefully plotting our course, winds, and checkpoints, we flew down the Shenandoah Valley to an airport 63 miles away, and came out right on target. I mean, we weren’t a hundred yards off course when we got there. In fact, we were exactly lined up with the airport’s runway.

Now, how do you make things come out exactly right on a flight like that? First you do your homework, getting all your preparation as right as you can get it. Then when you get into the airplane and take off, you get in a rhythm. You constantly check your altitude, airspeed, and heading, to make sure you’re going exactly right. At and between your checkpoints, which are about 10 miles apart, you check your course on a chart to make sure you know exactly where you are. You get into a rhythm. After each checkpoint, you start getting ready for the next one. This combination of preparation, thinking ahead, and staying in rhythm makes your flight end precisely, and safely too.

So how can you apply this to playing music? In plenty of ways. Now, we practice at home and learn new tunes not only for our own amusement, but mainly (at least in my case) to get with a group of other musicians and either pick or perform. This means, that when you’re at home, you need to do your homework. Practice your tunes, and stay in time. As Murphy says, don’t play any parts of the tunes any faster than you can play the hardest parts. (Our two “Slow Jam” DVDs are perfect for developing this skill.) You need to have your arrangements down, so that you can play them in good time without having to think about every note.

Then when you’re in a group, you can not only play the tune, but also pay attention to the other musicians while you’re playing — listen to the rhythm, and stick with it. If there’s a particularly hard part in the tune, you have to stay in rhythm while you play it. As you play each phrase (your checkpoints) listen to make sure you’re still with the others. And then, when you’ve navigated your way through your break so that you reach the end (your destination) right together with the other players, be thinking ahead to either hand the tune off or end it, and at the end, it’s a great musical experience for everybody.

Flying and picking– I love it.

Red

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Teachers and Students

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
Red Henry

Red Henry

Since we’ve had so much interest in lesson discussions recently, I thought we might like to talk about students and teachers. First of all, here are sample behaviors of a few different teachers I’ve seen. Which teacher would you rather learn from?

Teacher #1. The teacher, who is a famous bluegrass musician, spends almost the entire lesson talking about music and music theory, going into intricate details about note relationships and chord structures and progressions. The student plays one or two tunes on the banjo, the teacher assigns a tab to learn the next week, and the lesson is over.

Teacher #2. The teacher, who is a fairly well known banjo picker, spends the lesson playing and talking and playing and talking and not giving the student much opportunity to participate. The student hardly gets a chance to play at all before the lesson is over.

Teacher #3. The teacher starts off by getting the student to play their tune from last week, going through it several times for repetition, warming-up, and encouragement, and then continues all through the lesson, teaching enough new material for the next week but having the student playing at least half the time.

Well, you may think that #3 may be a no-brainer, but I have seen enough examples of the first two lesson formats to know that those two teacher-types are quite common. Nevertheless, the focus of the lesson should be for the student to be learning to play, and I wish that all teachers would make it that way.

. . . . .

Okay, now let’s talk about types of students. Here are a few examples:

Student #1. The student has canceled the previous two lessons on short notice, and now comes in late. He or she obviously hasn’t had the banjo out of its case since the last lesson, almost a month ago. The teacher has to spend the whole lesson in reviewing material and getting the student to play, using up the lesson time for practice.

Student #2. The student arrives barely in time for the lesson, and something’s always missing. They’ve lost their picks, or they’ve forgotten to practice their old material, or the dog ate their tuner– but something has always gone wrong that could have been taken care of ahead of time. The lesson starts slowly, because the teacher has to do other things besides teaching.

Student #3: This student comes in on time and ready to play. Although their life is busy, he or she has played at least a little, almost every day. They may not have learned last week’s lesson completely, but they’re ready to sit down with the banjo and give it a good try.

Which student would you rather teach? I’m glad to say that most students I know fit the #3 category. The teacher and the student both need to do their part if the student is going to learn!

Red

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