Body Language

[Sixstring]

Please forgive me if I’m plowing old ground here. I joined the boards recently and have read many of the old threads, but not all.

Anyway, I was practicing tonight and working on an instrumental song I’ve been composing when I got to a particular phrase that I’ve recently added. It’s a challenge for me to execute it at the proper speed still, so I spent quite a bit of time working on it. Whenever I make a mistake on it I start over at the top. At one point the mistakes were coming more frequently, and at parts I don’t normally have trouble with.
<BADIMPRESSION MR.ROGERS> Can you say frustration? </BADIMPRESSION>

Finally I stopped at the moment of agony and just focused on what my body was telling me. I noticed that my right (picking hand) shoulder was so tight it hurt. I relaxed and tried again- much smoother. I started noticing that the stress is my shoulder was directly related to the poor execution.

I know how important it is to play relaxed, so it wasn’t a new revelation, but sometimes we forget the simple things when we’re completely absorbed by a new challenge. My hands felt loose… my forearms… everything but that one shoulder, and it was holding everything else up. As I mentioned in another post, I always stretch out before playing, and usually as I play I loosen up even more. This time, however, playing was making me tense and I had to really focus on staying relaxed in order to better execute the part.

Maybe this won’t be news to all of you, but hopefully it will help someone. When you get stuck, stop and check your body language. Often times the culprit is hiding where you least expect to find it.

Just a little tip from Uncle Sixstring. As you were…
http://www.zentao.com/ubb/smilies/smile.gif

[CyberCobre]

Great idea. I hadn't ever thought about it, but you are SOOO right. I'll have to remember to do it.

Now for my 3 cents.
You said:

so I spent quite a bit of time working on it. Whenever I make a mistake on it I start over at the top. At one point the mistakes were coming more frequently, and at parts I don’t normally have trouble with.

A common mistake is to START OVER when practicing a difficult part. All that does is to practice the parts you KNOW already, rather than practicing the parts you are having problems with....which leads to the second thing that you mentioned happening - that the parts you normally don't have problems with began to gather mistakes. This happens because you're brain is being told "you're doing it wrong and this is your punishment: to do it over and over. So, in desparation, the brain is trying to find which part of the piece is causing the pain inducing repetition punishment. And the mistakes that are then being made where there were none before begin to become established.

SOLUTION: (and I CAN thank classical training for this knowledge)
Instead of practicing a tough part by going back to the top which is self-defeating, BTW, do it this way.

SLOW DOWN. Select the area one measure before the troubling spot to one measure after. Play through the first set of notes so slowly as to be able to get it right. This sets the "right way" into the brain, reinforcing that instead of the wrong way. To do this, place the first troubling note in the middle of the area selected and stop on the first right note after the troubling area. Not, start on the next note of your cut and add in another note on the end, overlapping the last portion you just played. Do this all the way through the troubling area. Having gotten it right, rephrase it each time, still using the overlapping practice technique and play it right three times with each phrasing. Then speed up slowly until you can do it at speed. Now, take a larger and larger chunk of it and do the same thing. Repeat until you have the whole thing on ice. Remember, you practice it by starting on a different note, ending on a different note, working your way measure by measure, and even note by note through the troubling part.

It takes about 4 hours to nail 4 measures doing it this way, but, once done, unless you allow mistakes to creep in again by rehearsing the mistake (which is what classicists call playing a piece from the top only to make the same mistake at the same point again.), you should be able to play it perfectly each time.

Boring? Yup. But it works.

Here is a visual example of what I am talking about...because it is difficult to understand using words, but easy if you see what I mean in a diagram. Click here for diagram (http://www.zentao.com/guitar/Images/RehearseRep.gif)

Also, always practice THROUGH the beginning of the NEXT phrase so you don't "place a mental comma" at a measure mark, or a phrase end. This is true of stopping anywhere in a piece, and it also a rigorous standard that we apply to any practice or playing, even when we have the piece iced, or don't have any problems to focus on.

[This message has been edited by CyberCobre (edited July 15, 2000).]

[Sixstring]

Thanks, CC!
I have never thought of it that way, or had it explained to me that way, but I am absolutely going to try it. I appreciate the feedback.

[ghodaddyyo]

Thanks Cobra, that is a great way to practice new pieces, and it reinforces what my guitar teacher has been teaching me with memorizing new scales. I've been learning Jazz Chord Melodies from a book, so I'm going to apply this method and let you guys know what the results are.

[CyberCobre]

Thanks you guys. At least I feel useful and helpful for once. :)