| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Admin |
Posted - 12/12/2011 : 08:57:44 AM
Some cool thoughts from violinist, conductor, and instructor Itzhak Perlman on practicing. I do not see why this would not apply to whatever instrument or style of music that you play.
Itzhak On Practicing
Uncle Dennis with his thoughts on rehearsal versus spontaneity.
Dennis Kamakahi (first 22 seconds of the interview) |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Iakonu |
Posted - 01/05/2012 : 11:23:56 AM
quote:
Originally posted by thumbstruck
A classical player once said, "If I skip a day of practice, I notice it. If I skip 2 days of practice, the other musicians notice it. If I skip 3 days, the audience notices it."
That was Andrés Segovia wasn't it? Hard to believe that after 3 days of not picking up a guitar a maestro such as he would loose a bit of his touch. Going on vacations must have been a bit tough.
I've generally found that if I put something down which I do repetitively for several days, whether it be the guitar or running, I come back with a slightly different perspective. I've found that sometimes this new perspective translates into doing the activity a little bit better. Perhaps a bit of distance from a repetitive activity is good for the mind. |
| thumbstruck |
Posted - 01/04/2012 : 5:19:41 PM
A classical player once said, "If I skip a day of practice, I notice it. If I skip 2 days of practice, the other musicians notice it. If I skip 3 days, the audience notices it."
Like Slipry1 says, "The more you do something, the better you'll get at it."
Music is muscle and ear memory.
Like my Dad told me, "Take your time, play clean, and don't hurt yourself." |
| Retro |
Posted - 01/03/2012 : 7:38:22 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Doug Fitch
I have a new album coming out in a few weeks. It will be all traditional slack key (no originals). I've selected some unusual tunings and seldom heard songs. Hope you guys will enjoy it.
Looking forward to sharing it with our radio listeners, too! |
| Doug Fitch |
Posted - 01/03/2012 : 4:51:13 PM
I think practicing is fun! I like what Perlman said about beginning slowly and for another reason: muscle memory. If you (nearly) always play the thing correctly, regardless of speed, you will only know the one way to play it. I am speaking only of technique here. I think this is what Terry meant when he said "perfect practice makes perfect". I agree with Dennis Kamakahi that too much rehearsal (which is to be distinguished from practice) kills spontaneity. I also like what the notion of recording because the microphone doesn't lie.
I have a new album coming out in a few weeks. It will be all traditional slack key (no originals). I've selected some unusual tunings and seldom heard songs. Hope you guys will enjoy it. |
| Trev |
Posted - 12/21/2011 : 02:56:00 AM
I've been fortunate to know many really excellent musicians in my time. All of them have this in common - they've all spent a great deal of time practising. It's certainly the case that some people seem to pick things up quicker than others, and there may be many reasons for this.
But when you see someone who's really good - well they'll have done loads of practice, you can be sure of that. |
| fred d |
Posted - 12/20/2011 : 10:31:11 AM
I have found that my practice time has become ME time I seem to get[ lost in the music and feel a fredom I don't have at performances I can play slow,fast and embellish and totaly lost in the process. I found the when I raced bicycles I got into the same feelings Racing wasen't fun (work). Like a good meal my practice can be savored and enjoyed with no exptations, and no anxiety.. MY best wishes to everyone for the coning year fred  |
| TerryLiberty |
Posted - 12/14/2011 : 5:12:09 PM
Auntie Wanda:
Great question and something that's been treated recently in a lot of human brain research. Before answering, folks should read at least a couple of the following:
Outliers and Blink by Malcom Gladwell
Talent is Overrated by Goeff Colvin
The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle
Several of the works by Karl Anders Ericsson
Regards.
Terry
Olympia WA
Forever a haumana |
| wcerto |
Posted - 12/14/2011 : 08:34:29 AM
Along this same line...is desire a bigger factor than innate talent? i.e., you want to play well (even though someone else may have more "talent") so you practice, practice, practice, you go to school, you take lessons, you research, read, listen to CDs, DVDs, etc. and play, play, play. Then there is someone else to whom it comes easily and they pick up a guitar every now and then but you see glimpses of genius should they just work at it a bit.
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| RWD |
Posted - 12/14/2011 : 04:26:02 AM
I practice everything.
When I am practicing for a performance, I go so far as to do a mock stage entrance, do an introduction, and finish playing to the end no matter what I do wrong. This was suggested to me by my classical guitar teacher and it works well.
I have the bad habit of stopping on mistakes so I can work to correct the mistake--this does not work live obviously and it will not prepare you for a live performance. If you depend on being perfect, you could panic and brain freeze when it happens.
For me it is more important to:
1) work through mistakes when they happen--there will be a room full of people watching, and
2)try not to make a face that gives it away.
I can do the first one but not the second.
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| thumbstruck |
Posted - 12/14/2011 : 04:14:33 AM
Playing at home is practicing. I've told students that listening to music is practicing, also. Getting comfortable with the instrument, interacting with others, and learning to listen are important. |
| Trev |
Posted - 12/13/2011 : 11:31:38 PM
Practising is very sporadic with me. I don’t like practising when my Alison is in the house – I think listening to someone play the same thing over and over again, and stopping to redo the ‘hard’ bits’ is particularly irksome to the listener, and I’m reluctant to put our relationship under strain.
Additionally, I’ve got a full time day job, and I play out with others about four times a week, either in gigs or in our equivalent of a kanikapila. This means that I often only get a couple of hours at home before it’s time to go out again.
So most of the time, unless I’ve got something I particularly want to learn, I don’t do much ‘practice’, but I ‘play’ all the time. The outcome of this is that while I’m reasonably OK at joining in with more or less anything someone else plays, and can pick up songs relatively quickly, I’ve got a very limited repertoire of things I can play on my own.
I sometimes practise improvising by imagining the chords in my head whilst playing things I imagine will sound good. Unfortunately, what I imagine sounds good over imaginary chords isn’t always what actually sounds good over actual chords. Still, onwards and upwards, eh?
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| thumbstruck |
Posted - 12/13/2011 : 6:27:23 PM
Any playing music with others is great for smoothing out the rough spots. Timing is greatly improved and you get to sharpen your listening abilities. |
| wcerto |
Posted - 12/13/2011 : 3:21:14 PM
I think if you play with other guys, you might want some kind of "practice" to get used to timing and maybe who going take the pa'ani and such. Plus too, if you get paid for a gig, maybe you might want to make sure you geddem good. At least practice singing the words so you get the phrasing and pronunciation right, if you are not a native Hawaiian speaker. |
| slipry1 |
Posted - 12/13/2011 : 08:41:33 AM
When I was playing pedal steel full time (5 nites/week) back in the 80's, I didn't have to practice. Of course, what you may have heard from me sounded like practice. Of course, playing for dancers is more forgiving than playing a concert. You have a lot of opportunity to "try things out". |
| TerryLiberty |
Posted - 12/13/2011 : 08:00:15 AM
Kory:
I think your dad had it right. Practice doesn't necessarily make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.
Terry
Olympia, WA
Forever a haumana |
