20/06/2024
westsideguitarstudio.com
This is what's on my mind.
After reading something on fb re music lessons;
Ahem!
How students are reluctant to
practise slowly and in time.
"It doesn't sound like it at that speed." (Etc)
"Yes that's correct but to play at the correct speed you need to be able to play it at a slow tempo at first so that your hands can get to the notes at the right time in the beat and in the bar.
When you've practised slowly whilst counting the rhythms, then you will eventually be able to perform the music at the required tempo.
If you keep practising too fast, you will never play the music in the way it's supposed to be played .
Firstly practise a four bar phrase or perhaps two bars or even part of a bar.
If the phrase starts on beat three, then count;
One two and start on three.
Or if the phrase starts on the second quaver of the beat then count like this
1 and 2 and 3 and.
Start the phrase on the 'and' of beat three because that's the only place that particular part of the music exists.
If you just keep playing it without counting, without reference to time and rhythm, then you're not practising what it actually is and it will do no good.
Re tempo- An analogy might be- It's rather like driving a car along a country lane which you do not know .
Would you drive along that lane at break-neck speed even though you don't know the road at all?
Once you know the road very well you can then drive quicker."
The students who listen to the advice and practise slowly, improve.
The ones who do not listen don't improve.
"But it doesn't sound like 'the tune'."
" 'The tune' *is* the rhythm.
Time and rhythm *is* what music is about.
"It's easier faster."
"If you're playing it faster but wrongly how then can it possibly be easier?
What you're saying is that it's easier to play wrongly than it is to play it correctly-which is of course absolutely true."
Even when you are crescendo/diminuendo/ applying rubato such as pulling the time around at the end of phrases for example, you're still doing it relative to the written timing.
Relative to the beat if it's not written notation.
That's partly why orchestras need a Conductor.
You must practise in time.
You must count.
Short passages when necessary.
Then piece together several short practised passages into one longer phrase.
Listen to the music being played by an expert and count as you are listening.
Be aware of the expert's rubato! (Stretching time -literally 'robbed time).
Don't copy that until you can play in time.
If it's available, watch the score as you are listening and counting.
Use one of the many apps available to slow the music down to whatever speed you are able to execute that process.
Do not try to reproduce the music at the same tempo at which the expert is playing it.
The expert has practised properly for many hours, weeks, months and years so you cannot bypass that process unless you think you are more expert than the actual expert."
Sadly many students do not want to hear the truth.
That's because in order to execute that process it takes a vast amount of patience, concentration, rigourous discipline and so on.
"But Music should be fun."
"You can have fun and play something wrongly if you like, it's your choice entirely."
"Another thing to bear in mind is that some peoples' natural ability with regard to rhythm is greater than others - some people have a higher aptitude but they will still eventually always come across a situation where they will have to study in the way I've described.
"Having fun is often the result of being good at something.
The way you 'get good' at something is rigourous discipline in whatever activity in life that happens to be.
Why do you seem to think Music is any different?"
I've always found that it's best to be direct, truthful and clear about the task at hand.
Another issue is that most students want to 'run before they can walk'.
They want to try to play things that are actually far too difficult for their level of skill and understanding and musical feel at that point in their development.
(I was the same for years until someone told me 'The Truth' )
"How do you expect to play Chick Corea's 'Spain' or
Joe Satriani's music, Tarrega, Bach, Mike Stern, or The Foo Fighters , Jimmy Hendrix or Ana Vidovic or whoever your particular 'hero' happens to be for that matter, without having gone through the same rigourous processes they have gone through themselves?
How do you expect to be able to play that by actually bypassing all the skills that they have developed over months and years?"
Unfortunately the advice often falls on deaf ears.
(Scuse the pun).

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