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Practicing As Problem Solving - BoomKaMusic
Practicing As Problem Solving - BoomKaMusic
toddknapp.blogspot.com.ar
An old teacher of mine used to say, “if you can't hear it, you can't
play it.” It took a little while for the profound meaning of this
simple seeming statement to sink in. Basically, before the
impulse comes to move the stick toward a drum or cymbal, there
is a conception of the note we're about to play. We need to have
an idea in our heads about what we're about to do. Whether that
idea is a result of reading a piece of music or hearing something
and imitating the sound, the process is the same.
Now that I teach, I can't count the number of times I've had a
student tell me that they're struggling with playing something only
to find out that they either don't understand or can't read the
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BoomKaMusic: Practicing as Problem Solving about:reader?url=http://toddknapp.blogspot.com.ar/2013/05/practici...
I'm fond of a story I once read about Yo Yo Ma. If you don't know,
he's a legendary concert cellist who sells out concert halls all
around the world. Google him. Or have a look on Youtube.
Whether you're a big fan of classical music or not, mastery is
mastery. Anyway, it's said that when Yo Yo was first learning to
play the cello, he would take very difficult pieces of music and
learn them one bar at a time. Sometimes it would take him weeks
to work out one single bar of a famous solo piece. Many would
say these pieces were “too advanced” for a player of his calibre,
but he didn't know that. He simply dove right in and had the
discipline to work out the fingerings and bowing patterns he
needed to use to get the notes on the page into the right order.
Now, I certainly don't expect all my beginner students to get
themselves a copy of Zappa's infamous The Black Page and
start working it out, but I think the example demonstrates that
with the right kind of slow, deliberate practice, great things are
made possible.
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If the part seems fairly simple to you and within your technical
abilities, then play through in time, but make sure to put the notes
in the right order. If you hit any trouble spots. Stop. Put the right
note in the right place. Then carry on to the next problem area or
to the end of the selection, whichever comes first. Don't gloss
over wrong notes hoping that they'll magically put themselves in
the right place later on. Face up to your demons! Also, keep track
of these trouble spots either mentally or by marking the music
with your trusty pencil. You know, the one you always have with
your music stuff...
From here on in, we're going to focus on the stuff you can't do,
not the stuff you can. A lot of great research has been done in
the past few years into the phenomenon of “talent”. The question
posed by many of the authors is, “what makes people who are
really good at things really good at those things?” And one of the
answers that comes up time and again is PRACTICE. I just
heard you collectively say “DUH! That's obvious, dude.” But what
isn't obvious is that great athletes and musicians often use a
similar kind of practice. Rather than constantly repeat what they
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already know and do well, they find the holes in their game and
patch them up.
Here's how it works: now that you've figured out where your
trouble spots are, you're going to ZOOM IN on those areas and
REPEAT them many times until they are no longer troublesome.
This could mean zooming in on a whole bar or just two 32nd
notes.This process should – as always – start very slowly and in
stepwise fashion. Be patient. Give your poor brain a chance to
catch up to your ego. Of course, sometimes there are underlying
problems with our technique or coordination that make it very
difficult to play a part as a whole at first. If so, move on to the
following steps.
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SIMPLIFY
CONTEXT IS KING..err...QUEE...err...DEMOCRATICALLY
ELECTED LEADER!
Once you think you have a particular trouble spot conquered, it's
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Once you're able to play the (no longer a) trouble spot in a short
loop, expand the context to include an entire section of your
piece or even the whole piece depending on where you're at. If it
isn't to play the section or the entire piece at the correct
performance tempo, you'll need to work progressively with a
metronome to get everything up to speed. You have a couple of
options here.
2. Work out all your trouble spots, and attempt to work up the entire
piece to peformance tempo as a unit.
Which path you choose here may depend on the length and
difficulty of the piece, how many trouble spots you have, etc.
Remember that we're problem solving here. The exact same
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LOOSEN UP
After the first one, the techniques listed above are largely
interchangeable. They may not end up happening in precisely
the order in which they're laid out here. Don't be too rigid. We're
problem solving, and sometimes problem solving means being
flexible in our thinking and perhaps coming at the problem from a
number of angles. Sometimes, stepwise practice and copious
amounts of zooming in and repeating won't get you where you
want to go right away. In such a case, you may have to spend
significant time plugging some holes. But, don't get discouraged.
When we get knocked back by a challenging piece, we have a
choice to lie down, whine and cry and lick our wounds. We can
tell ourselves, “I suck, I'll never get it!” and start a vanity thread
on a drumming forum. OR, we can look at it as a learning
opportunity. We can be brave and look our weaknesses in the
face and set out to conquer them in time. Who would you rather
be? The person who shrinks back from every little set back? Who
takes their ball and runs home at the first sign of trouble? Or a
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Start by setting your long-term goal. E.g. “By this date I want to
be able to play Mr. Brightside. I think it's important to set a
definite date, but be realistic. Now, sometimes the date is set for
us – i.e. there is an upcoming performance or audition for which
we need to know the material. As always, push yourself, but be
realistic. Everything is possible, but some things are more
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Now, let's set some short and medium term goals. These are
going to be detemined by where you're at in your development. If
you can already play 16th notes at 140 BPM, you'll set different
goals than if you can only play them at 100 BPM. So, here's a
medium term goal for a person in the second position: “By this
date, I'm going to be able to play my single strokes at 120 BPM.”
Again, be realistic. Expecting a 20 BPM jump in your single
strokes in a week is probably expecting too much. However, a
month of regular practice might very well get you there.
A short term goal would be “today, I'm going to play this single
stroke exercise to 80 BPM.” If you tick off that goal, then you set
another one, “next practice session, I'll play it to 84 BPM.” Slow
and steady wins the race. Be the tortoise, not the hare. If you
have no idea what I'm talking about, Google “tortoise and hare”.
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Now and again, review your goal dates. If you're way ahead of
schedule, revise them accordingly. If you're behind, assess
whether or not you're really putting in enough work to get the job
done or whether you simply bit off more than you could chew. It's
okay if you did. Discovering this doesn't mean you suck or will
never be good or that you won't reach your goals. Rather, it's a
learning opportunity. You've just learned a little about yourself,
and about your process of getting better and about how to set
appropriate goals.
Once again, it's your process. No two players get to their goals in
exactly the same way or in the same timeframe. And don't get
discouraged if you are practicing well and the gains aren't
coming steadily. Sometimes we may work away for a while only
to have the improvement come in a big, sudden jump.
Sometimes it comes in a steady, linear fashion. The key is to do
the work and not waste valuable time and energy worrying about
outcomes or comparing yourself to others. You can't control that
stuff, so don't bother trying. What you can control is how well you
set and work toward your goals.
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