30.vii.1431
A draft to be edited and organized later. These notes combine insights taken from experience, books, lessons, etc. some points are super obvious and might be removed later on.
* scales and arpeggios
- play at the speed of the slowest scale.
increase speed once you gain comfort at a given speed for all scales. it is rewarding to "cover" a particular speed and move on to the next. increase the speed by an amount comfortable/feasible. sometimes an increase can be by 5 bpm, some others it can be 10 or more bpm.
- Make the goal to practice over the entire register not just a few octaves; unless this is difficult, tedious, too time consuming.
- play two octaves apart. When this two difficult play both hands only one octave apart. But the goal should be to play with the same ease any number of octaves apart.
- as a minimum play 1/8ths for a given speed, unless it is too difficult at the start. Also aim to play in triplets and sixteenths.
* scale fingerings to be added.
* take a break every hour
There is no point pushing an exercise for more than an hour, it clouds the brain and strains the muscles.
* when it hurts (anything, shoulders, forearms, wrists, fingers, back) stop.
I find that no pain no gain is a stupid and harmful misconception. playing or practicing while in pain actually risks injury. Pain is a signal from the body to stop. heed it.
* practice regimen to be expanded later. but you want to practice
- the major scale
- at least 2 of the three or four minor scales
- the whole tone scale
- the diminished scales (whole-half and half-whole) scales
- others still
- arpeggios, triads, dom 7th tetrads, sixth tetrads
- ii-V-I progressions in various voicings (to be added later, maybe)
- the piece(s) you're working on for repertoirs and rhythms and licks.
* one writer adviced repeating a given exercise (or measures in a piece) until it can be played seven times in a row without error.
for time limitation or boredom reasons, i sometimes make do with three times in a row.
* when learning measures in a musical work, or trying an exercise, or a rhythm pattern, slow down until you get it right.
slow down the speed at which it is played until you can play it accurately.
once you reach accuracy you can progressively increase the speed as long as accuracy is maintained.
there is a threshold in speed (early for some, like me, or late for others) at which once accuracy in playing the pattern is achieved the pattern can be played at much greater speeds without problem.
* note on voicings,
* focus on problem moments , the switch over the thumb (usually where and when
the fourth and third fingers on each hand land)
once playing is flawless at a given speed
we can increase the speed.
some keys will be easier to play at higher speeds than others
i read somewhere or was told to stay the speed fo the slowest
and bring the whole up together.
i don't know the pedagogic correctness of this but i follow this point anyway.
- for the rusty but /and lazy, unmotivated
the prospect of running through the cycle of fifths
may be quite daunting - particularly if you are error prone
due to rustiness, or are still working your way up to perfection.
just imagine,
on the face of it, one has to play through
12 keys, at least 3 scales each in each key
7 times of flawless (read errorless) playing in a row
where each key has many errors (mostly fingering + timing)
that's 7 time for a given range (be it 1va up to 9th, 2va)
(for the whole register, i don't really do 7 times if well played
or unless i'm enjoying it)
so here are a tip or two
- on good (full) energy days, i intend and make an effort to go through the twelve keys
- frankly most days i am not at that ideal energy / motivation levels, so
- on a given busy , depressed or lazy day,
i focus on fewer than the twelve keys.
if i happen to be extra lazy, unmotivated, depressed or busy,
i can even just focus on one key.
even if i end up practicing in more than one key,
i form the intent to practice in only one key.
this clears up the mind, and the daunting prospect mentioned above.
at one time to overcome my aversion to a full regimen of 12 keys or errors and repititions
i worked out these variations of a rough schedule
- focus on a single key each day
- do two keys every day
- do the whites on a day, then do the blacks on another day
- take breaks. do not exceed an hour
- no pain no gain is a fallacy.
in fact , pain may lead to injury.
when an exercise begins to hurt stop.
- when you've hit a wall , where no matter how hard you try
there is no improvement such you can effortlessly play without error
sleep on it. step away, step back, get up and leave, disconnect, walk out on it .
working on a difficult piece or a problematic fingering
to the point of hitting a wall in terms of performance
means that the problem / improvement will not get better from endless repetitions
in the same session.
i find that taking time off,
even letting the day pass and revisit it the following day
works a lot better than repeating the pattern 70 times or
n times until it gets better.
this is also true when solving other kinds of problems, like math or programming,
- clear your thoughts.
particularly problems and negative feelings, distractions, anxieties
- i often discover myself playing the scales , arps, or pattern
without errors if my thought happen to wander away , or just daydream
the immediate task at hand, while repeating it.
when i'm not particularly thinking hard of it , sometimes the so-called muscle memory just takes off on its own
and i play well.
that's at least a good sign that the "muscle" memory (actually it's just memory) has absorbed the pattern
and it will stay there for good - ntil the neural connections themselves deteriorate.
it is perhaps the anxiety over the problem pattern or fingering that distracts more than helps.
on the other hand,
focusing perhaps on the landing of the fourth or third fingers with a clear mind obviously helps improvement.
solving a performance mini-problem, hitch does require focus and attention.
the wandering thought thing works in repetitive exercises, like scales and arpeggios.
- jam
most jazz books are full of the jazziest coolest funkiest voicings ,
to get my mind off a difficult/ boring exercise
i take time off to jam - to actually enjoy the instrument,
jamming after exercising is often fun, because there a sense of having paid one's dues that
propels confidence, a desire for well-earned fun with the instrument.
- work on pieces.
the other half of practice work - is the performance practice of course.
- memory is faithful ,
no matter how rusty one gets , or how many years of neglect have passed,
the memories of earlier (bygone) practice and fingerings or pieces does come back after a little bit of work.
this is why every bit of practice is useful and helps.
it always pays off the following day, week, year or decade.
- think , these fingers control and master and rule the keyboard not the other way around
with difficult passages , patterns, stubborn fingerings problems,,
play lightly (ie, do not pound the keys) and think the above thought,
it helps relieve the anxiety and sense of a daunting task to overcome,
when effort-fully laboring at getting it right, because of the keyboard layout and prescribed fingering
i get to feel i'm at the mercy of the instrument and the rules / patterns involved.
i switch roles, and activate the thought that it is my fingers that command thhat keyboard
and by god i'll bend it to my will (my will being the desired result)
i lighten up on the fingers, and hop! a little boost of confidence improves things - even if just a bit.
- play staccato as well as legato (slurred)
often i see advice to play slurred in jazz books.
i think they should say play both slurred and staccato
they are different sounds, different efforts ,
sometimes when i thought i practice a scale so well, when i switch to playing staccato from slurred or vice versa
i find a little more work is needed.
- play on a real (acoustic) piano .
there is nothing in the world like a real piano.
even if one is only looking for dexterity on electonic keyboards,
practicing on a piano making playing the plastic keys so easy , effortless and confident.
- play german russian english and japanese pianos.
it's okay to be racist in piano manufacturers.
i've played bielaruss american romanian and ukrainian pianos.
the tone is just missing, and the former age better than the latter.
- damping the sound
if playing in an apartment building and embarassed at how silly you sound making errors
on easy pieces, or figuring out any piece like a retard, or making errors on scales
and can't afford to sound proof your music room ,
- put rondelles underneath the piano legs/wheels these are like very thick glass cups on which the piano rest
- put the piano over a thick carpet
- the more furniture in the room the more sound is absorbed, curtains, carpets, bookshelves, shutters,
although they do not insulate sound, they help dampen it.
- if using an upright put cushions b/t the piano back and the wall
- using an upright (city dwellers who can't afford pro insulation jobs) will more likely only have an upright
but i imagine this works - if needs be - for a baby grand too, place a blanket inside the soundbox,
in front of , or on top of the string board.
- moth ball your piano
it'll smell bad, but will keep away wood loving pests.
###
* scales and arpeggios
- play at the speed of the slowest scale.
increase speed once you gain comfort at a given speed for all scales. it is rewarding to "cover" a particular speed and move on to the next. increase the speed by an amount comfortable/feasible. sometimes an increase can be by 5 bpm, some others it can be 10 or more bpm.
- Make the goal to practice over the entire register not just a few octaves; unless this is difficult, tedious, too time consuming.
- play two octaves apart. When this two difficult play both hands only one octave apart. But the goal should be to play with the same ease any number of octaves apart.
- as a minimum play 1/8ths for a given speed, unless it is too difficult at the start. Also aim to play in triplets and sixteenths.
* scale fingerings to be added.
* take a break every hour
There is no point pushing an exercise for more than an hour, it clouds the brain and strains the muscles.
* when it hurts (anything, shoulders, forearms, wrists, fingers, back) stop.
I find that no pain no gain is a stupid and harmful misconception. playing or practicing while in pain actually risks injury. Pain is a signal from the body to stop. heed it.
* practice regimen to be expanded later. but you want to practice
- the major scale
- at least 2 of the three or four minor scales
- the whole tone scale
- the diminished scales (whole-half and half-whole) scales
- others still
- arpeggios, triads, dom 7th tetrads, sixth tetrads
- ii-V-I progressions in various voicings (to be added later, maybe)
- the piece(s) you're working on for repertoirs and rhythms and licks.
* one writer adviced repeating a given exercise (or measures in a piece) until it can be played seven times in a row without error.
for time limitation or boredom reasons, i sometimes make do with three times in a row.
* when learning measures in a musical work, or trying an exercise, or a rhythm pattern, slow down until you get it right.
slow down the speed at which it is played until you can play it accurately.
once you reach accuracy you can progressively increase the speed as long as accuracy is maintained.
there is a threshold in speed (early for some, like me, or late for others) at which once accuracy in playing the pattern is achieved the pattern can be played at much greater speeds without problem.
* note on voicings,
* focus on problem moments , the switch over the thumb (usually where and when
the fourth and third fingers on each hand land)
once playing is flawless at a given speed
we can increase the speed.
some keys will be easier to play at higher speeds than others
i read somewhere or was told to stay the speed fo the slowest
and bring the whole up together.
i don't know the pedagogic correctness of this but i follow this point anyway.
- for the rusty but /and lazy, unmotivated
the prospect of running through the cycle of fifths
may be quite daunting - particularly if you are error prone
due to rustiness, or are still working your way up to perfection.
just imagine,
on the face of it, one has to play through
12 keys, at least 3 scales each in each key
7 times of flawless (read errorless) playing in a row
where each key has many errors (mostly fingering + timing)
that's 7 time for a given range (be it 1va up to 9th, 2va)
(for the whole register, i don't really do 7 times if well played
or unless i'm enjoying it)
so here are a tip or two
- on good (full) energy days, i intend and make an effort to go through the twelve keys
- frankly most days i am not at that ideal energy / motivation levels, so
- on a given busy , depressed or lazy day,
i focus on fewer than the twelve keys.
if i happen to be extra lazy, unmotivated, depressed or busy,
i can even just focus on one key.
even if i end up practicing in more than one key,
i form the intent to practice in only one key.
this clears up the mind, and the daunting prospect mentioned above.
at one time to overcome my aversion to a full regimen of 12 keys or errors and repititions
i worked out these variations of a rough schedule
- focus on a single key each day
- do two keys every day
- do the whites on a day, then do the blacks on another day
- take breaks. do not exceed an hour
- no pain no gain is a fallacy.
in fact , pain may lead to injury.
when an exercise begins to hurt stop.
- when you've hit a wall , where no matter how hard you try
there is no improvement such you can effortlessly play without error
sleep on it. step away, step back, get up and leave, disconnect, walk out on it .
working on a difficult piece or a problematic fingering
to the point of hitting a wall in terms of performance
means that the problem / improvement will not get better from endless repetitions
in the same session.
i find that taking time off,
even letting the day pass and revisit it the following day
works a lot better than repeating the pattern 70 times or
n times until it gets better.
this is also true when solving other kinds of problems, like math or programming,
- clear your thoughts.
particularly problems and negative feelings, distractions, anxieties
- i often discover myself playing the scales , arps, or pattern
without errors if my thought happen to wander away , or just daydream
the immediate task at hand, while repeating it.
when i'm not particularly thinking hard of it , sometimes the so-called muscle memory just takes off on its own
and i play well.
that's at least a good sign that the "muscle" memory (actually it's just memory) has absorbed the pattern
and it will stay there for good - ntil the neural connections themselves deteriorate.
it is perhaps the anxiety over the problem pattern or fingering that distracts more than helps.
on the other hand,
focusing perhaps on the landing of the fourth or third fingers with a clear mind obviously helps improvement.
solving a performance mini-problem, hitch does require focus and attention.
the wandering thought thing works in repetitive exercises, like scales and arpeggios.
- jam
most jazz books are full of the jazziest coolest funkiest voicings ,
to get my mind off a difficult/ boring exercise
i take time off to jam - to actually enjoy the instrument,
jamming after exercising is often fun, because there a sense of having paid one's dues that
propels confidence, a desire for well-earned fun with the instrument.
- work on pieces.
the other half of practice work - is the performance practice of course.
- memory is faithful ,
no matter how rusty one gets , or how many years of neglect have passed,
the memories of earlier (bygone) practice and fingerings or pieces does come back after a little bit of work.
this is why every bit of practice is useful and helps.
it always pays off the following day, week, year or decade.
- think , these fingers control and master and rule the keyboard not the other way around
with difficult passages , patterns, stubborn fingerings problems,,
play lightly (ie, do not pound the keys) and think the above thought,
it helps relieve the anxiety and sense of a daunting task to overcome,
when effort-fully laboring at getting it right, because of the keyboard layout and prescribed fingering
i get to feel i'm at the mercy of the instrument and the rules / patterns involved.
i switch roles, and activate the thought that it is my fingers that command thhat keyboard
and by god i'll bend it to my will (my will being the desired result)
i lighten up on the fingers, and hop! a little boost of confidence improves things - even if just a bit.
- play staccato as well as legato (slurred)
often i see advice to play slurred in jazz books.
i think they should say play both slurred and staccato
they are different sounds, different efforts ,
sometimes when i thought i practice a scale so well, when i switch to playing staccato from slurred or vice versa
i find a little more work is needed.
- play on a real (acoustic) piano .
there is nothing in the world like a real piano.
even if one is only looking for dexterity on electonic keyboards,
practicing on a piano making playing the plastic keys so easy , effortless and confident.
- play german russian english and japanese pianos.
it's okay to be racist in piano manufacturers.
i've played bielaruss american romanian and ukrainian pianos.
the tone is just missing, and the former age better than the latter.
- damping the sound
if playing in an apartment building and embarassed at how silly you sound making errors
on easy pieces, or figuring out any piece like a retard, or making errors on scales
and can't afford to sound proof your music room ,
- put rondelles underneath the piano legs/wheels these are like very thick glass cups on which the piano rest
- put the piano over a thick carpet
- the more furniture in the room the more sound is absorbed, curtains, carpets, bookshelves, shutters,
although they do not insulate sound, they help dampen it.
- if using an upright put cushions b/t the piano back and the wall
- using an upright (city dwellers who can't afford pro insulation jobs) will more likely only have an upright
but i imagine this works - if needs be - for a baby grand too, place a blanket inside the soundbox,
in front of , or on top of the string board.
- moth ball your piano
it'll smell bad, but will keep away wood loving pests.
###
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