I'm using Barfly to play along with (by ear and not looking at the ABC). Having set the speed at 50 – 60, I find that it's a bit slow and the gist of the tune tends to get lost. (It's the Humours of Glendart).
My fear is that if I speed it up I won't be able to keep up with it and bad habits will creep in. What's the best thing to do?
don't let the tune get lost. start by listening at normal speed, then lilt along, then play it slowly on your own, then speed it up when you're ready. keep going back to the recording at normal speed. pretend it's a good old TV theme or jingle that's already well stuck into your head and just needs to make it to your fingers.
My suggestion would be to learn it as slowly as you need to, but actually *learn* it, so that you can play it without playing along with Barfly.
Because, as good as Barfly is, with its concertina sound font, and Macros that give it some swing, you're going to get some bad habits by playing along with it too much, because it doesn't sound like a real person.
So use it as a tool to learn how the tune goes, but work on internalizing the tune well enough that you can play it by yourself. Then you can work on the tune at whatever speed is appropriate for you at the time, without having to worry about it going too fast
And yes, airport's suggestion is also good. Part of internalizing the tune is listening to it repeatedly in the proper context. (i.e., a real person playing it at full speed)
I use Barfly a bit too. Get the meat of the tune at a slow speed, then turn it off and try and play it from memory. Find some recordings as suggested above and ease into the speed and lilt of it as it becomes more ingrained in your head. There is also an example of that particular jig (Glendart) on the BBC sessions page that may be useful.
I was just about to post a string of links to discussions with "internalize" in them, and then it dawned on me that Barfly isn't a slowdowner - it's an abc midi-izer? yuck. I can imagine that sounds bad slowed down. Real version's of tunes sound pretty weird slowed down. You should get yourself a real barfly - preferably one who knows a few tunes and is patient enough to teach them to you phrase by phrase.
Thank you all very much. That's very clear and concise advice. To be honest, pressing the buttons on the computer becomes a bit of a chore after a while and starts to interfere with the task in hand. I know the tune pretty well in my head (Planxty's version of it), so maybe I should be brave and just try to play it on my own.
As for teachers, I've had three different ones over the years but they all (in the nicest possible way) gave up in frustration! They could obviously see the extent of my talent.
yes, airport, Barfly is an ABC player for Mac, however, it does have a concertina "sound font", which is digital samples of a concertina. And it has "stress programs" that allow it to play with some swing. So it's certainly not as bad as listening to a normal midi player, even when slowed down.
But that doesn't mean that you should rely on it as a teacher for anything other than getting the bones of a tune.
And stick with it, amhrán, it doesn't matter how good you are, or how fast your progress is, as long as you're enjoying the journey...
Record it, play it over and over, sing it until you are sick of it, play the recording over and over until you are sick of it
And then sit down a play it slowly.....metronome at least early if you need some help stamping your foot at a slow even pace if you are ADHD like me and think that 120 is garceful walk!
Just patience, letting the tune speak to you and teaching your fingers to dance to the tune
On the fly...
On the fly...
I'm using Barfly to play along with (by ear and not looking at the ABC). Having set the speed at 50 – 60, I find that it's a bit slow and the gist of the tune tends to get lost. (It's the Humours of Glendart).
My fear is that if I speed it up I won't be able to keep up with it and bad habits will creep in. What's the best thing to do?
# Posted on February 13th 2009 by amhrán
Re: On the fly...
I thought you might be referring to the Patrick Street recording
http://www.thesession.org/recordings/display/2789
don't let the tune get lost. start by listening at normal speed, then lilt along, then play it slowly on your own, then speed it up when you're ready. keep going back to the recording at normal speed. pretend it's a good old TV theme or jingle that's already well stuck into your head and just needs to make it to your fingers.
# Posted on February 13th 2009 by airport
Re: On the fly...
My suggestion would be to learn it as slowly as you need to, but actually *learn* it, so that you can play it without playing along with Barfly.
Because, as good as Barfly is, with its concertina sound font, and Macros that give it some swing, you're going to get some bad habits by playing along with it too much, because it doesn't sound like a real person.
So use it as a tool to learn how the tune goes, but work on internalizing the tune well enough that you can play it by yourself. Then you can work on the tune at whatever speed is appropriate for you at the time, without having to worry about it going too fast
# Posted on February 13th 2009 by Reverend
Re: On the fly...
And yes, airport's suggestion is also good. Part of internalizing the tune is listening to it repeatedly in the proper context. (i.e., a real person playing it at full speed)
# Posted on February 13th 2009 by Reverend
Re: On the fly...
And thanks Rev for finding the correct word ("internalizing") rather than resorting to a lame analogy (like I did)
# Posted on February 13th 2009 by airport
Re: On the fly...
I use Barfly a bit too. Get the meat of the tune at a slow speed, then turn it off and try and play it from memory. Find some recordings as suggested above and ease into the speed and lilt of it as it becomes more ingrained in your head. There is also an example of that particular jig (Glendart) on the BBC sessions page that may be useful.
# Posted on February 13th 2009 by Jusa Nutter Eejit
Re: On the fly...
I just wanted to see 'internalize the tune' one more time on here, that was cool.
# Posted on February 13th 2009 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: On the fly...
I was just about to post a string of links to discussions with "internalize" in them, and then it dawned on me that Barfly isn't a slowdowner - it's an abc midi-izer? yuck. I can imagine that sounds bad slowed down. Real version's of tunes sound pretty weird slowed down. You should get yourself a real barfly - preferably one who knows a few tunes and is patient enough to teach them to you phrase by phrase.
# Posted on February 13th 2009 by airport
Re: On the fly...
Thank you all very much. That's very clear and concise advice. To be honest, pressing the buttons on the computer becomes a bit of a chore after a while and starts to interfere with the task in hand. I know the tune pretty well in my head (Planxty's version of it), so maybe I should be brave and just try to play it on my own.
As for teachers, I've had three different ones over the years but they all (in the nicest possible way) gave up in frustration! They could obviously see the extent of my talent.
# Posted on February 13th 2009 by amhrán
Re: On the fly...
yes, airport, Barfly is an ABC player for Mac, however, it does have a concertina "sound font", which is digital samples of a concertina. And it has "stress programs" that allow it to play with some swing. So it's certainly not as bad as listening to a normal midi player, even when slowed down.
But that doesn't mean that you should rely on it as a teacher for anything other than getting the bones of a tune.
And stick with it, amhrán, it doesn't matter how good you are, or how fast your progress is, as long as you're enjoying the journey...
# Posted on February 13th 2009 by Reverend
Re: On the fly...
Record it, play it over and over, sing it until you are sick of it, play the recording over and over until you are sick of it
And then sit down a play it slowly.....metronome at least early if you need some help stamping your foot at a slow even pace if you are ADHD like me and think that 120 is garceful walk!
Just patience, letting the tune speak to you and teaching your fingers to dance to the tune
# Posted on February 13th 2009 by zippydw
Re: On the fly...
cant type fer c**p. "graceful walk" and and another blown punch line
# Posted on February 13th 2009 by zippydw