Whats that all about??
One day I could play reels and jigs all evening no probs, relaxed and in tune then the next day i scrape the shite out of the fiddle with the intonation of "Edward, wet sausage fingers"
It nearly brings ma to tears... why is consistency so elusive?
I often wonder whether my playing is inconsistent or whether the standard I expect of myself is inconsistent. I've come to the conclusion that I'll worry about this more when I'm older.
The act of playing music is not as simple as it might seem. There is a large thread of connection between the conscious mind, the subconscious mind, the physical act of playing, and the instrument itself. Just as easily as your mood might change, things are going to be different from day to day. Physical surroundings (temperature, humidity, noise level, etc), psychological differences (mood, other things on your mind, sobriety level, etc), and intangible differences (who you're playing with, what kind of mood they're in, phase of the moon, whatever...) can all come into play.
I think the one thing that you will find, however, is that the more experience you get, the more consistent you will be able to be.
Living in the "recorded era" of music, we have a distorted sense of consistency. Run a track on your cd or mp3 player, and damn if it don't sound perfect every time!
Well of course it does....
Real humans, on the other hand, are inconsistent by their very nature. So are musical instruments. And the music itself is a changeling.
So what to do?
Don't let it bother you. Adapt. If your tone just refuses to come out strong and clear, play soft and whispery for a day. If your reel rhythm vanishes, play slow airs.
Let go of your expectations. Relax. Stop worrying about tone, intonation, rhythm. Quit *trying.* Drop everything and just play effortlessly.
Take a break. Do something--anything--else.
Conversely, hone in on the smallest detail of what's not working. Tone? Play a single note for half an hour, lingering over its tone. Make it sound as sweet as possible. Savor it.
If everything you already know sounds like crap, learn something new. Suss out a new tune. Try vibrato or shifting up the neck.
Go listen to someone whose playing you admire. Dive in and listen deeply. Find something you haven't heard before.
Go play someplace different--find a big echoey culvert or laundromat or indoor swimming pool and ricochet tunes off the reverb. Or a spot by a brook or lake (or the ocean). Play to the water.
Every musician - every creative artist - no matter what level - is never 100% consistent, so don't worry about it too much. As your playing improves, so the difference - as far as the listener is concerned - between your 100% and not-quite-100% will become less apparent, even though you may be keenly aware of it.
You want advice... ok drop tunes, work on scales arpeggios, bowing , intonation. . of course this is controversial here. lord knows why, but it is. I dont mean to be controversial, if you dont notice a big improvement in 6 months you can have your money back 100% consistency is not possible , but attaining good intonation ,good rhythm, can be attained pretty consistently. Thats it savage.
Says a man who should definitely heed it. I mean come on reverend how long have you been playing trad? can you play a tune from start to finish with no mistakes?
I feel yer pain Savage. Some of the wisest words I ever heard were to learn to play right through your mistakes without stopping. I know gaffs are coming - I'm consistently inconsistent in my playing - I just try not to let them throw me off the rails and I don't let them ruin my fun anymore.
I do know that (as Will CPT and many others have mentioned) playing tunes very slowly several times through helps increase consistency. You're gonna play at session speed when you're at your local anyway, but in your kitchen play them S L O W L Y.
It's common to focus on your mistakes and not hear all the stuff that sounds just fine. And then you start dreading those trouble spots--self-fulfilling prophecy.
I remember way back that I used to think of tunes as river running--some easy, calm pools, some riffles, and a few big rapids and waterfalls that nearly always capsized me.
But that line of thinking led to tension exactly where tension would do the most damage. The "effortless" mantra helped bail me out. Also, over time, you learn to find the space between the notes no matter what pace you're playing, or how technically twisted the tune might be. So it feels like each note is a choice, and you have time to consider each note, decide how you want to play it, and so it comes out.
To answer your question, jig, I have been playing Irish Trad melodies for around 5.5 years, and had a year or two of working on accompanying it prior to that. And played guitar for about 20 years before that.
So I don't have your supposed vast experience, but at least I've posted samples of my playing so people can make up their own minds about my skill level, instead of just me telling them how great I am and how much experience I have...
If you spend 6 months practicing scales and arpeggios, you will get very consistent at playing scales and arpeggios. It might even have some positive effect on your tune playing as a whole, but I don't know that it would affect your playing as much as practicing tunes. If you want to get more consistent at playing tunes, practice tunes...
Right reverend I know , because i have seen your clips.
If you havent done something, how do you know what effect it will have? you dont.
''If you want to get more consistent at playing tunes, practice tunes...''
Ahh Reverend , Where did this piece of wisdom come from? your own experiance ?
I have never met a player that I respected or admired that has suggested dropping tunes altogether for 6 months of scales, arpeggios, and intonation practice.
So it is not only my "experiance" (sic) that tells me this, but also a combination of logic, and the experience of numerous other players that I *do* respect.
I might actually respect your playing, and put more credence into your advice if I didn't believe that you're nothing but a wind-up artist that specialized in proselytizing mostly rubbish... But so far, you've given me very little that leads me to believe the contrary.
The differences between you and several other people that come across as authorities of ITM on this site are vast, but maybe the most notable one is that I know and have played with many of them.
So while I speak from my experience as a relative newcomer to Irish, at least I try to give people a realistic view of where I'm coming from, and back it up with recordings, etc. So why don't you pony up and show us a sample of what all your hard work has accomplished. Then people might take you more seriously.
Ha, I read the top of this post and thought I'd add: "drop tunes and practise scales instead". But he beat me too it.
"If you haven't done something, how do you know what effect it will have?"
I have played scales and arpeggios for years. Tunes are scales and arpeggios, except they are interesting scales and arpeggios.
If you want to get better at playing tunes, then play tunes. If you play scales and arpeggios instead, all you are doing is playing c r a p tunes.
Some days, one just needs to 'bag it' and try again in the morning.
Humans have moods. Some days you're hot and others...forget about it. But mosat are in between. When I am in a screwed up frame of mind...I just get more and more pi**ed off and beat myself up. Nothing usually comes of that.
Except bad blood pressure and Herself not talking to me.
I've barely been fiddling longer than you, session savage, but I have done wheel-thrown pottery for the past seven years, and I'm finding that my skill as a fiddler is developing in a very similar way to my skill as a potter. (I'm not a professional potter, but I'm good enough to teach, participate in shows, sell my work, and do commissions.) When I started working with clay, I had very, very little influence over the quality of the final product. I'd set out to make a bowl, but as often as not, partway through, the clay would decide that it was destined to become a mug, and I realized that resistence was futile. As I gained control over my medium, my pots began to conform to my initial conceptions for them more and more. A few years back, I created a lovely vase - ten inches tall, perfectly symmetric, and with a beautiful contour. I'd never made anything like it before, and I was ecstatic. A fellow potter was equally impressed, and picked it up to admire it - and promptly dropped it, breaking my vase beyond repair. I was devastated. It was *years* before I created a vase of similar quality.
Now, I crank out vases like that, and better, all the time. I think of that first, perfect vase, as a fluke. I didn't have good control over the clay, and sometimes the products that would result from that lack of control would be beautiful freak accidents. (More often, they were misshapen bowls.) The quality of the tunes that I crank out these days doesn't vary quite as did the quality of my initial clay objects, but I still mess up some tunes that I nailed a day earlier, and there are occasional beautiful moments when everything comes together in a way that I know I won't be able to replicate anytime soon. I still have a long way to go in terms of gaining control over my fiddle and bow, and so I prefer to think of the tunes I play well as beautiful freak accidents, rather get too upset about the ones I play badly. And I remind myself that I may have made a mess of the reel that I played well yesterday, but that I still played it better than I would have one a good day a year ago. And the variability in quality is less than it was a year ago, though I still have bad days. I still have bad days in the pottery studio, too, and if I were to set out to write out my methods to deal with those, I'd end up with more or less a pottery-specific version of Will's first post . In pottery, I've resigned myself to the fact that not everything is going to work out every time. Instead of aiming to create a bowl that's just as good as the last bowl I created, I just aim to develop my skill with clay, and improved consistency follows, though I recognize that there will be peaks and valleys. And I'm doing that with the fiddle too - aiming to play well, rather than aiming for each tune to be as good or better than the last one I played.
"You want advice... ok drop tunes, work on scales arpeggios, bowing , intonation. . of course this is controversial here. lord knows why, but it is. I dont mean to be controversial, if you dont notice a big improvement in 6 months you can have your money back 100% consistency is not possible , but attaining good intonation ,good rhythm, can be attained pretty consistently. Thats it savage. "
It is not controversial here. The only controversial thing around here when this topic comes up in one guise or another is you. I honestly don't know why you persist in dredging up this nonsense all the time when you know what (totally justifiable) reaction you will get. If you're not a serial troll you must be a masochist. You really do think that the aim of playing this music is to play a tune from start to finish without making a mistake, do you? You wouldn't know a musical mistake, as opposed to a technical mistake, if it hit you between the eyes, I'll wager. I really would be over the moon if you proved me wrong. And before you sound off (as you've already done to someone else who challenged your stupidity) that I know nothing because I don't play the fiddle, why don't you just show us that you can play it instead of patronising us and swanning around with you know-it-all-been-playing-it-for-I've-forgotten-how-many-dreary-decades condescending crap? You're such an incredibly clever chap that mere sound clips should be a cinch to you. It's a simple request. So p*ss or get off the pot.
It's tricky to get a post in these days session savage amoung all the slagging. I'll make an attempt though.
As far as consistency goes practice is the only answer - whether or not you use exercises is up to the individual but I certainly wouldn't advise dropping the tunes. They say you are only as good as your last performance and personally that's how I judge if I'm putting enough effort into my music. (though there is no excuse at gigs I forgive myself in cases of the whole session crew are drinking more than usual )
I suppose we all would like to base our capabilities on these times when we're playing above ourselves but it can be misleading. Improving how you sound at your worst is a good way ahead and just enjoy the good nights and take encouragement from them.
The thing is, SS the tunes will be a part of you for the rest of your life. Whats the hurry to play them? What, I think , you want , is to be able to play the instrument which you use to play the tunes, right? IMNSHO, the two aspects are the instrument and the music. they are separate issues. 15 yrs ago I was in a similar position as you. But I already had plenty of tunes, I realised that to actually play these tunes with any justice I would need to concentrate on fundamental techniques of tone production, intonation etc. without the added complication of trying to play tunes as well.
As a sports coach we use isolation exercises, drills, with many repetitions. this could be a phrase from a tune or a scale, etc etc we work on this and reintegrate it back into our game.
Now you can take Lligs advice, just play tunes. or you can take mine or any combination. but to exclude something that could be very helpful? now why would you want to do that? my concept of effective practice includes both 'camps'; tunes, scales, etc etc etc.
I play music for money. That's how I pay my mortgage and feed my family. In order to do this I have to maintain a level of consistency which is acceptable to the paying public, who are parting with their hard-earned cash to listen to me and my colleagues play. A very respected colleague of mine once said "you have to ensure that, even on an off day, your performance is perfectly presentable".
This means loads of practice. And, yes, scales and arpeggios and every exercise in the book and any other exercise you can devise to further challenge yourself.
Playing tunes is also great, so long as you don't play them with a slack attitude, but pull yourself up all the time and correct the slightest mistake.
E.G., if you play a tune ten times and you get it completely right five times, you need to keep practising to up your percentage.
I know that many contributors to this forum play music as a hobby rather than to pay the rent but, if you seriously want to improve, you have to get harsh on youself.
Not everyone responds to that, and many are turned off by being harsh. I've found it best to be nice to myself, yet very firm. I leave all that harsh stuff to the football coaches.
By the way, this thread is called "Elusive Consistency". If you're looking for the "Crusade to Play Scales and Arpeggios" please try Floor 3 next to "Sporting Goods".
If you get a tune wrong five times out of ten, how is practising scales and arpeggios going to help you to get it right ten out of ten? It strikes me that the best bet would be to play the tune until you get it right (whatever "right" means), which you're going to have to do once you've been off practising your scales and arpeggios anyway. My way of practising scales and arpeggios is to play lots of tunes. Get a couple of hundred tunes under your belt and you'll have every scale and arpeggio you'll ever need. Trust me, I'm a dogturd.
Will CPT said - "Also, over time, you learn to find the space between the notes no matter what pace you're playing, or how technically twisted the tune might be."
Sorry to interrupt the acrimony, but I just wanted to take a minute to celebrate this comment that was mentioned above. It really hit home to me, especially this afternoon as I was plodding away on the C section of Guns of the Maginificent Seven - suddenly visualizing this obvious concept, the notes began to simply flow out - very zen I know, but also very cool. Thanks Puddy Tat!
I've recently discovered a book on this issue - it's fantastic. Lots of what is written here is kind of in the book, but it's a nice reminder in a form you take with you and remind yourself that you are able to break free of self limitations.
The Inner Game of Music - Barry Green & Tim Gellway.
There's a hidden difficulty with Steve's suggestion, and it is this:
Unless those couple of hundred tunes are chosen very carefully, one fine day the fiddle player is going to meet a tune with technical requirements that he hasn't come across - it might be an unusual string crossing, a scale passage involving 3 flats, or shifting up to the 3rd or 4th positions, to mention just a few.
The purpose of practicing scales and arpeggios over 2-1/2 to 3 octaves (which is as much as you'll ever need for Irish music) in isolation from tunes is to ensure that fingering and position shifts over that range become automatic and never again need to be thought through for an individual tune. Practicing position shifts as isolation exercises also has the great advantage of getting the player to relax the left hand and wrist, otherwise these shifts can never be done automatically, and a relaxed left hand is one of the key features of a good player.
I would never suggest that anyone should spend a whole practice period exclusively on technical exercises - still less doing this over a period of weeks or months (or even days); that is just plain silly and a sure recipe for killing enjoyment for the instrument or even the music itself.
But, by taking a little time at the start of the practice period to work on some technical exercises before going on to play tunes the player is not only warming up (very important in itself) but ensuring that he will in the long run have efficient tools for playing the music. How long is "a little time"? Impossible to say - it depends on the individual and what needs to be done - but I would suggest that it should be at least long enough to ensure that the hands and mind are well warmed up and functioning easily. Then go into the tunes.
I must add that technical exercises should be done with thought and care to make sure that poor technique isn't inadvertently being practiced (and reinforced). That's why it's important to have a teacher or another experienced player look at your playing occasionally to check for this. Bowing is a particularly difficult area - poor bowing techniques can so easily creep in without the player noticing.
Trevor, I don't think you ever get all the possibilities sussed out, whether you play tunes or scales and arpeggios or all of the above. The point is, sooner or later you get adept enough to take whatever comes in stride. The tunes will get you there sooner, and with a greater understanding of the idioms.
In fact, one of the great benefits of playing the tunes is that you vary them every time, so you're always teasing out something new that you haven't tried before. ***With the tune leading the way.*** I suppose you could do that with scales and arpeggios too, but why not enjoy the tunes? They are more fertile ground for exploration--***because they're actual tunes.*** That's why they exist, not just for developing our technique, but to pique our imaginations. How much more satisfying!
Sorry, Trevor, but your approach to this music is understandably colored by your years playing cello. No harm there, necessarily, but it's certainly a very different approach than most trad musician's take.
JNE, glad you found something useful amid the steaming piles. Again, I'm just passing along what mentors and other players have given to me over the years. One was the notion that good players make each note seem like the most important sound in the whole world the moment the note is played. Another notion is simply that time exists between each note. What we do with that time is what makes it music. Combine those two ideas and suddenly even the fastest finger-twisting reel comes at you like slow bullets in The Matrix.
Um, "4th position"??? Seriously? Can you name a single tune in the trad session repertoire that uses 4th position? And if there is one, why wouldn't we just play it an octave (or two) lower?
Sure, I go into 2nd and 3rd sometimes (mostly when playing tunes outside the Irish trad body of tunes). Again, the tunes themselves are great for learning those shifts and across-the-strings positions. Want some practice with the most common notes on the A and E strings in 2nd or 3rd position? Try the C part of Jerusalem Ridge. Or the B part of MacArthur Road, or the C part of Moving Cloud. Figure out various ways to get the notes, exploring the positions.
My routine not that I am qualified to preach, is to attempt to play the hardest tune I know. Then leave it and play a rake of tunes I know and love. Then try some newish ones. At the end of that practice session I go back to the hard one. If the plan works I will be thrilled that I can play it a bit better - still cr*p though.
If I have enough time I will mix my practice sessions between instruments as well though most people seem to think that is a bad idea.
I have a similar approach in that I do try to stretch my comfort zone by playing difficult material so that when I go back to simple jigs they re within my grasp. That is one end of my approach. the other is playing really simple things slowly and carefully , such as scales. Why scales should be controversial I don't know. they are the first thing any piper is taught. if the pipe tradition is not traditional , what is?
I find cross-training helps. Sometimes with a little Flamenco (I'm rubbish but its fun) & sometimes I dig out the leccy guitar & Marshall and thrash out some 12 bar with as much overdrive as the valves will take. When I go back to the T. Banjo & ITM its like coming home & all is right with the world again.
Thanks for all your replies people.
From reading the posts I reckon I dont need to panic too much.
At the moment my routine is.. play a chellenging set, if I F it up I play a few slow airs followed by a few handy tunes I know really well and back to the original. If i get it right then I keep playing but on the occasion where I just cant get it right.... I pick up a different instrument.
Then of course there are the days when I play that difficult set and nail it straight away. them are the days when I make the most of it and play until I fall asleep.
Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. They are much appreciated.
Re. llig's point about professionals being better than amateurs - I would never, in a million years suggest that. Some of the best players I know are farmers or teachers or accountants etc. I'm just talking about my own mindset. After X number of years at school and three at music college, when I came to do my first professional gig I watched the people coming into the theatre clutching the tickets they had paid good money for and thought "OK, this is serious now". That's the mindset that encourages me to seek consistency (plus love of music). For amateur players, as the word implies, it's pure love of music - a very good thing.
"sometimes I dig out the leccy guitar & Marshall and thrash out some 12 bar with as much overdrive as the valves will take. When I go back to the T. Banjo & ITM its like coming home & all is right with the world again" - SeanMc
If I come to a tune I haven't played before and it has new moves in it that I need to hone, I hone them by playing the tune. Harmonica players have positions too, at least five of which are commonly used. I had to think about that sentence carefully before I typed it because I just don't want to be thinking about positions when I'm playing tunes. All I want to know to begin with at least is that I could hack it six times round in the pub. I'm not suddenly going to collapse in a heap mortally regretting the fact that I should have spent hours or days or years playing scales and arpeggios. It's fun playing tunes. I'm only going to do what's fun.
Consistency comes with experience, the more you play, the more consistently you play. After a while, the tunes that gave you trouble don't trouble you any more. Like someone said recently, no shortcuts.
Do what works. Like Steve, I find scales and arpeggios boring, although of course I worked on them when I first started pipes because I had to. You have so much going on with the instrument that you'd have to be a prodigy (or a very competent trad player on another instrument, which I wasn't) to be able to play a tune when you strap on a set for the first time. You play scales and then arpeggios and whatever other combinations of notes to just get used to controlling the thing and figuring out what pressures work for which notes and so on. Once I worked that out, I never "practice" scales unless I need to play one in order to see how out of tune the reed is that day.
Anyway, the first instrument I learned to play was French horn, started at age seven or eight. I wanted to play tunes I knew and more importantly liked (ie the main theme of Beethoven's 7th.... I was a strange child) but my teacher thought scales and arpeggios were more important. Probably were for technique's sake but they killed motivation. He'd write me out a tune if I begged for it but would assign exercises as well. Of course when you're ten years old you don't really understand the long term value of the exercises so I just found the whole thing rather dull. Used to have rows with the parents about practicing as I've always found it difficult to practice a piece of music I have no interest whatsoever in, a problem for French horn. Even in group situations -- bands and orchestras -- it was boring since French horns rarely get the melody. Needless to say I quit the French horn when I was about thirteen.
The point is play the music that's fun. Life is too short.
And hey, some people think scales are the epitome of musicality. I was in a festival piping workshop, rated as "intermediate," and when the teacher asked everyone in the workshop what their experience was, one guy said, "I just figured out how to play a scale of two octaves on the chanter, so I'm an intermediate player."
I think a lot of the objections to scales stem from a reaction to this dry, dull, paper orientated teaching method. Its a shame that such useful exercise gets binned as result. I came to music the other way , a few guitar lessons and we formed a punk band with me playing playing bass . I then moved on to singing ballads, and backing trad in a three piece. Then with the gift of a mandolin I started getting serious with the tunes. after learning the basic scales of course. then years later I got a banjo and taught my self to read music. wishing to improve my understanding of the guitar I learnt and practised scales and arpeggio so that I was free to use the whole neck, About 15 or so years ago I picked up a fiddle. It seemed pointless to me to attempt tunes, after trying for a while. so i spent my first year or so training scales etc , while playing tunes on the banjo etc. About 7 yrs ago while studying music for a year, I became interested in baroque music. To play this requires a firm grasp of basic techniques. so i spent more time with scales etc. To this day I still start my day with a few scales. As I play many different sizes of fiddle that is pretty important for figuring out the differing intervals. Of course I play tunes but trying to do something and failing because your basic technique is lacking is demoralising and frustrating. Its not fun making a scratchy unpleasant sound. I much rather play a simple scale well and have satisfaction that it sounds in tune and harmonious. Scales are the building blocks for Melodic improvisation. the building blocks of the tunes. I am a much better fiddler for that effort./ that is why i recomend them to others. I defy any nay sayer to pick up a set of pipes and play tunes. If they would like to post the results, then we will have the evidence. Same with steve. who plays the harmonica. see how well he plays his tunes on a fiddle. I dont know what scales jim, fiddle4u did. Id be curious to find out. jim?
"Scales are the building blocks for Melodic improvisation." This has to take the Bullsh!t Sentence of the Year award. And what the hell is "backing trad in a three piece?" You could care to tell us but for Christ's sake I've already covered sartorial puns in my tiny brain so please don't bother with those. And here's jig, who claims to play the fiddle (he can't prove it with clips, mind, clever though he is). See how well he plays his tunes on a harmonica. Your good sense appears to be having a day off, lazyhound.
I used to be sable to play the old grey whistle test, badly. my head couldn't get round the fact that when you blow or suck the note changes.
I wouldn't dream of interjecting ill informed advice on a harmonica thread. Perhaps Steve you might offer us the same courtesy?
i think consistency is elusive for a number of reasons but one of them is the fact that everybody has 'off' days.
now if that's to do with bio rhythms etc - i could n't say but i sometimes feel,even before i pick up the instrument ,that it will be tough going.
so even if you have a lot playing hours under your belt it can still happen.
hopefully,the more time you've spent playing tunes will at least ensure that even on an off day will ensure that the results are still fit for human consumption.
btw,silverspear,i really have to pick you up on your comment that 'French horns rarely get the melody'.
mein Gott!
Elusive Consistency
Elusive Consistency
Whats that all about??
One day I could play reels and jigs all evening no probs, relaxed and in tune then the next day i scrape the shite out of the fiddle with the intonation of "Edward, wet sausage fingers"
It nearly brings ma to tears... why is consistency so elusive?
# Posted on May 13th 2008 by session savage
Re: Elusive Consistency
I often wonder whether my playing is inconsistent or whether the standard I expect of myself is inconsistent. I've come to the conclusion that I'll worry about this more when I'm older.
# Posted on May 13th 2008 by mehitabel23
Re: Elusive Consistency
The act of playing music is not as simple as it might seem. There is a large thread of connection between the conscious mind, the subconscious mind, the physical act of playing, and the instrument itself. Just as easily as your mood might change, things are going to be different from day to day. Physical surroundings (temperature, humidity, noise level, etc), psychological differences (mood, other things on your mind, sobriety level, etc), and intangible differences (who you're playing with, what kind of mood they're in, phase of the moon, whatever...) can all come into play.
I think the one thing that you will find, however, is that the more experience you get, the more consistent you will be able to be.
# Posted on May 13th 2008 by Reverend
Re: Elusive Consistency
Living in the "recorded era" of music, we have a distorted sense of consistency. Run a track on your cd or mp3 player, and damn if it don't sound perfect every time!
Well of course it does....
Real humans, on the other hand, are inconsistent by their very nature. So are musical instruments. And the music itself is a changeling.
So what to do?
Don't let it bother you. Adapt. If your tone just refuses to come out strong and clear, play soft and whispery for a day. If your reel rhythm vanishes, play slow airs.
Let go of your expectations. Relax. Stop worrying about tone, intonation, rhythm. Quit *trying.* Drop everything and just play effortlessly.
Take a break. Do something--anything--else.
Conversely, hone in on the smallest detail of what's not working. Tone? Play a single note for half an hour, lingering over its tone. Make it sound as sweet as possible. Savor it.
If everything you already know sounds like crap, learn something new. Suss out a new tune. Try vibrato or shifting up the neck.
Go listen to someone whose playing you admire. Dive in and listen deeply. Find something you haven't heard before.
Go play someplace different--find a big echoey culvert or laundromat or indoor swimming pool and ricochet tunes off the reverb. Or a spot by a brook or lake (or the ocean). Play to the water.
# Posted on May 13th 2008 by Will CPT
Re: Elusive Consistency
Every musician - every creative artist - no matter what level - is never 100% consistent, so don't worry about it too much. As your playing improves, so the difference - as far as the listener is concerned - between your 100% and not-quite-100% will become less apparent, even though you may be keenly aware of it.
# Posted on May 13th 2008 by lazyhound
Re: Elusive Consistency
You want advice... ok drop tunes, work on scales arpeggios, bowing , intonation. . of course this is controversial here. lord knows why, but it is. I dont mean to be controversial, if you dont notice a big improvement in 6 months you can have your money back
100% consistency is not possible , but attaining good intonation ,good rhythm, can be attained pretty consistently. Thats it savage.
# Posted on May 13th 2008 by jig
Re: Elusive Consistency
>> if you dont notice a big improvement in 6 months you can have your money back
And that advice is worth about what you paid for it
# Posted on May 13th 2008 by Reverend
Re: Elusive Consistency
Says a man who should definitely heed it.
I mean come on reverend how long have you been playing trad? can you play a tune from start to finish with no mistakes?
# Posted on May 13th 2008 by jig
Re: Elusive Consistency
I consider my life much too short and precious to waste 6 months going down a blind alley...
# Posted on May 13th 2008 by wolfbird
Re: Elusive Consistency
I feel yer pain Savage. Some of the wisest words I ever heard were to learn to play right through your mistakes without stopping. I know gaffs are coming - I'm consistently inconsistent in my playing - I just try not to let them throw me off the rails and I don't let them ruin my fun anymore.
I do know that (as Will CPT and many others have mentioned) playing tunes very slowly several times through helps increase consistency. You're gonna play at session speed when you're at your local anyway, but in your kitchen play them S L O W L Y.
# Posted on May 13th 2008 by Jusa Nutter Eejit
Re: Elusive Consistency
Oooh, that's a great point, JNE!
It's common to focus on your mistakes and not hear all the stuff that sounds just fine. And then you start dreading those trouble spots--self-fulfilling prophecy.
I remember way back that I used to think of tunes as river running--some easy, calm pools, some riffles, and a few big rapids and waterfalls that nearly always capsized me.
But that line of thinking led to tension exactly where tension would do the most damage. The "effortless" mantra helped bail me out. Also, over time, you learn to find the space between the notes no matter what pace you're playing, or how technically twisted the tune might be. So it feels like each note is a choice, and you have time to consider each note, decide how you want to play it, and so it comes out.
# Posted on May 13th 2008 by Will CPT
Re: Elusive Consistency
Can you play the fiddle WB? what makes you think you are qualified to offer any advice upon a subject you know nothing,
# Posted on May 13th 2008 by jig
Re: Elusive Consistency
To answer your question, jig, I have been playing Irish Trad melodies for around 5.5 years, and had a year or two of working on accompanying it prior to that. And played guitar for about 20 years before that.
So I don't have your supposed vast experience, but at least I've posted samples of my playing so people can make up their own minds about my skill level, instead of just me telling them how great I am and how much experience I have...
If you spend 6 months practicing scales and arpeggios, you will get very consistent at playing scales and arpeggios. It might even have some positive effect on your tune playing as a whole, but I don't know that it would affect your playing as much as practicing tunes. If you want to get more consistent at playing tunes, practice tunes...
# Posted on May 13th 2008 by Reverend
Re: Elusive Consistency
If he does, then it's not currently an important element of his bio.
# Posted on May 13th 2008 by lazyhound
Re: Elusive Consistency
Right reverend I know , because i have seen your clips.
If you havent done something, how do you know what effect it will have? you dont.
''If you want to get more consistent at playing tunes, practice tunes...''
Ahh Reverend , Where did this piece of wisdom come from? your own experiance ?
# Posted on May 13th 2008 by jig
Re: Elusive Consistency
I have never met a player that I respected or admired that has suggested dropping tunes altogether for 6 months of scales, arpeggios, and intonation practice.
So it is not only my "experiance" (sic) that tells me this, but also a combination of logic, and the experience of numerous other players that I *do* respect.
I might actually respect your playing, and put more credence into your advice if I didn't believe that you're nothing but a wind-up artist that specialized in proselytizing mostly rubbish... But so far, you've given me very little that leads me to believe the contrary.
The differences between you and several other people that come across as authorities of ITM on this site are vast, but maybe the most notable one is that I know and have played with many of them.
So while I speak from my experience as a relative newcomer to Irish, at least I try to give people a realistic view of where I'm coming from, and back it up with recordings, etc. So why don't you pony up and show us a sample of what all your hard work has accomplished. Then people might take you more seriously.
# Posted on May 13th 2008 by Reverend
Re: Elusive Consistency
Ha, I read the top of this post and thought I'd add: "drop tunes and practise scales instead". But he beat me too it.
"If you haven't done something, how do you know what effect it will have?"
I have played scales and arpeggios for years. Tunes are scales and arpeggios, except they are interesting scales and arpeggios.
If you want to get better at playing tunes, then play tunes. If you play scales and arpeggios instead, all you are doing is playing c r a p tunes.
# Posted on May 13th 2008 by llig leahcim
Re: Elusive Consistency
Some days, one just needs to 'bag it' and try again in the morning.
Humans have moods. Some days you're hot and others...forget about it. But mosat are in between. When I am in a screwed up frame of mind...I just get more and more pi**ed off and beat myself up. Nothing usually comes of that.
Except bad blood pressure and Herself not talking to me.
# Posted on May 13th 2008 by zippydw
Re: Elusive Consistency
Consistency is a side effect of control.
I've barely been fiddling longer than you, session savage, but I have done wheel-thrown pottery for the past seven years, and I'm finding that my skill as a fiddler is developing in a very similar way to my skill as a potter. (I'm not a professional potter, but I'm good enough to teach, participate in shows, sell my work, and do commissions.) When I started working with clay, I had very, very little influence over the quality of the final product. I'd set out to make a bowl, but as often as not, partway through, the clay would decide that it was destined to become a mug, and I realized that resistence was futile. As I gained control over my medium, my pots began to conform to my initial conceptions for them more and more. A few years back, I created a lovely vase - ten inches tall, perfectly symmetric, and with a beautiful contour. I'd never made anything like it before, and I was ecstatic. A fellow potter was equally impressed, and picked it up to admire it - and promptly dropped it, breaking my vase beyond repair. I was devastated. It was *years* before I created a vase of similar quality.
Now, I crank out vases like that, and better, all the time. I think of that first, perfect vase, as a fluke. I didn't have good control over the clay, and sometimes the products that would result from that lack of control would be beautiful freak accidents. (More often, they were misshapen bowls.) The quality of the tunes that I crank out these days doesn't vary quite as did the quality of my initial clay objects, but I still mess up some tunes that I nailed a day earlier, and there are occasional beautiful moments when everything comes together in a way that I know I won't be able to replicate anytime soon. I still have a long way to go in terms of gaining control over my fiddle and bow, and so I prefer to think of the tunes I play well as beautiful freak accidents, rather get too upset about the ones I play badly. And I remind myself that I may have made a mess of the reel that I played well yesterday, but that I still played it better than I would have one a good day a year ago. And the variability in quality is less than it was a year ago, though I still have bad days. I still have bad days in the pottery studio, too, and if I were to set out to write out my methods to deal with those, I'd end up with more or less a pottery-specific version of Will's first post
. In pottery, I've resigned myself to the fact that not everything is going to work out every time. Instead of aiming to create a bowl that's just as good as the last bowl I created, I just aim to develop my skill with clay, and improved consistency follows, though I recognize that there will be peaks and valleys. And I'm doing that with the fiddle too - aiming to play well, rather than aiming for each tune to be as good or better than the last one I played.
# Posted on May 13th 2008 by Tall, Dark, and Mysterious
Re: Elusive Consistency
What a delightful post TDM..
# Posted on May 13th 2008 by jig
Re: Elusive Consistency
"You want advice... ok drop tunes, work on scales arpeggios, bowing , intonation. . of course this is controversial here. lord knows why, but it is. I dont mean to be controversial, if you dont notice a big improvement in 6 months you can have your money back 100% consistency is not possible , but attaining good intonation ,good rhythm, can be attained pretty consistently. Thats it savage. "
It is not controversial here. The only controversial thing around here when this topic comes up in one guise or another is you. I honestly don't know why you persist in dredging up this nonsense all the time when you know what (totally justifiable) reaction you will get. If you're not a serial troll you must be a masochist. You really do think that the aim of playing this music is to play a tune from start to finish without making a mistake, do you? You wouldn't know a musical mistake, as opposed to a technical mistake, if it hit you between the eyes, I'll wager. I really would be over the moon if you proved me wrong. And before you sound off (as you've already done to someone else who challenged your stupidity) that I know nothing because I don't play the fiddle, why don't you just show us that you can play it instead of patronising us and swanning around with you know-it-all-been-playing-it-for-I've-forgotten-how-many-dreary-decades condescending crap? You're such an incredibly clever chap that mere sound clips should be a cinch to you. It's a simple request. So p*ss or get off the pot.
# Posted on May 13th 2008 by Steve Shaw
Re: Elusive Consistency
It's tricky to get a post in these days session savage amoung all the slagging. I'll make an attempt though.
As far as consistency goes practice is the only answer - whether or not you use exercises is up to the individual but I certainly wouldn't advise dropping the tunes. They say you are only as good as your last performance and personally that's how I judge if I'm putting enough effort into my music. (though there is no excuse at gigs I forgive myself in cases of the whole session crew are drinking more than usual
)
I suppose we all would like to base our capabilities on these times when we're playing above ourselves but it can be misleading. Improving how you sound at your worst is a good way ahead and just enjoy the good nights and take encouragement from them.
# Posted on May 13th 2008 by bogman
Re: Elusive Consistency
opps, sorry about the shambolic grammar
# Posted on May 13th 2008 by bogman
Re: Elusive Consistency
"They say you are only as good as your last ~performance~"
*leans back, tears open bag of popcorn*
# Posted on May 13th 2008 by Tall, Dark, and Mysterious
Re: Elusive Consistency
Figure of speech TDM. As good as your last tune, if you prefer.
# Posted on May 13th 2008 by bogman
Re: Elusive Consistency
The thing is, SS the tunes will be a part of you for the rest of your life. Whats the hurry to play them? What, I think , you want , is to be able to play the instrument which you use to play the tunes, right? IMNSHO, the two aspects are the instrument and the music. they are separate issues. 15 yrs ago I was in a similar position as you. But I already had plenty of tunes, I realised that to actually play these tunes with any justice I would need to concentrate on fundamental techniques of tone production, intonation etc. without the added complication of trying to play tunes as well.
As a sports coach we use isolation exercises, drills, with many repetitions. this could be a phrase from a tune or a scale, etc etc we work on this and reintegrate it back into our game.
Now you can take Lligs advice, just play tunes. or you can take mine or any combination. but to exclude something that could be very helpful? now why would you want to do that? my concept of effective practice includes both 'camps'; tunes, scales, etc etc etc.
# Posted on May 13th 2008 by jig
Re: Elusive Consistency
I play music for money. That's how I pay my mortgage and feed my family. In order to do this I have to maintain a level of consistency which is acceptable to the paying public, who are parting with their hard-earned cash to listen to me and my colleagues play. A very respected colleague of mine once said "you have to ensure that, even on an off day, your performance is perfectly presentable".
This means loads of practice. And, yes, scales and arpeggios and every exercise in the book and any other exercise you can devise to further challenge yourself.
Playing tunes is also great, so long as you don't play them with a slack attitude, but pull yourself up all the time and correct the slightest mistake.
E.G., if you play a tune ten times and you get it completely right five times, you need to keep practising to up your percentage.
I know that many contributors to this forum play music as a hobby rather than to pay the rent but, if you seriously want to improve, you have to get harsh on youself.
# Posted on May 13th 2008 by Chief Wanganui
Re: Elusive Consistency
Not everyone responds to that, and many are turned off by being harsh. I've found it best to be nice to myself, yet very firm. I leave all that harsh stuff to the football coaches.
By the way, this thread is called "Elusive Consistency". If you're looking for the "Crusade to Play Scales and Arpeggios" please try Floor 3 next to "Sporting Goods".
# Posted on May 13th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Elusive Consistency
If you get a tune wrong five times out of ten, how is practising scales and arpeggios going to help you to get it right ten out of ten? It strikes me that the best bet would be to play the tune until you get it right (whatever "right" means), which you're going to have to do once you've been off practising your scales and arpeggios anyway. My way of practising scales and arpeggios is to play lots of tunes. Get a couple of hundred tunes under your belt and you'll have every scale and arpeggio you'll ever need. Trust me, I'm a dogturd.
# Posted on May 13th 2008 by Steve Shaw
Re: Elusive Consistency
LOL, Steve.
Woof woof!
# Posted on May 14th 2008 by Will CPT
Re: Elusive Consistency
Since when, in diddley music, has there been a precedent that the professionals are better than the amateurs?
If you seriously want to improve your tune playing, play tunes.
# Posted on May 14th 2008 by llig leahcim
Re: Elusive Consistency
Will CPT said - "Also, over time, you learn to find the space between the notes no matter what pace you're playing, or how technically twisted the tune might be."
Sorry to interrupt the acrimony, but I just wanted to take a minute to celebrate this comment that was mentioned above. It really hit home to me, especially this afternoon as I was plodding away on the C section of Guns of the Maginificent Seven - suddenly visualizing this obvious concept, the notes began to simply flow out - very zen I know, but also very cool. Thanks Puddy Tat!
OK - back to your slagging
# Posted on May 14th 2008 by Jusa Nutter Eejit
Re: Elusive Consistency
I've recently discovered a book on this issue - it's fantastic. Lots of what is written here is kind of in the book, but it's a nice reminder in a form you take with you and remind yourself that you are able to break free of self limitations.
The Inner Game of Music - Barry Green & Tim Gellway.
Worth a look.
# Posted on May 14th 2008 by Brown Creeper
Re: Elusive Consistency
... and if I wanted to get harsh on myself, I'd take up a martial arts, or maybe S&M.
But I don't want to get harsh on myself. Do you really think that to play tunes better, you have to get harsh on yourself?
# Posted on May 14th 2008 by llig leahcim
Re: Elusive Consistency
I'm disappointed. When you said you'd recently discovered book on this issue I thought you were going to tell us about a torture manual you'd found.
# Posted on May 14th 2008 by Steve Shaw
Re: Elusive Consistency
There's a hidden difficulty with Steve's suggestion, and it is this:
Unless those couple of hundred tunes are chosen very carefully, one fine day the fiddle player is going to meet a tune with technical requirements that he hasn't come across - it might be an unusual string crossing, a scale passage involving 3 flats, or shifting up to the 3rd or 4th positions, to mention just a few.
The purpose of practicing scales and arpeggios over 2-1/2 to 3 octaves (which is as much as you'll ever need for Irish music) in isolation from tunes is to ensure that fingering and position shifts over that range become automatic and never again need to be thought through for an individual tune. Practicing position shifts as isolation exercises also has the great advantage of getting the player to relax the left hand and wrist, otherwise these shifts can never be done automatically, and a relaxed left hand is one of the key features of a good player.
I would never suggest that anyone should spend a whole practice period exclusively on technical exercises - still less doing this over a period of weeks or months (or even days); that is just plain silly and a sure recipe for killing enjoyment for the instrument or even the music itself.
But, by taking a little time at the start of the practice period to work on some technical exercises before going on to play tunes the player is not only warming up (very important in itself) but ensuring that he will in the long run have efficient tools for playing the music. How long is "a little time"? Impossible to say - it depends on the individual and what needs to be done - but I would suggest that it should be at least long enough to ensure that the hands and mind are well warmed up and functioning easily. Then go into the tunes.
I must add that technical exercises should be done with thought and care to make sure that poor technique isn't inadvertently being practiced (and reinforced). That's why it's important to have a teacher or another experienced player look at your playing occasionally to check for this. Bowing is a particularly difficult area - poor bowing techniques can so easily creep in without the player noticing.
# Posted on May 14th 2008 by lazyhound
Re: Elusive Consistency
I'll also add that I'm 100% with Jig and Chief Wanangui.
# Posted on May 14th 2008 by lazyhound
Re: Elusive Consistency
Trevor, I don't think you ever get all the possibilities sussed out, whether you play tunes or scales and arpeggios or all of the above. The point is, sooner or later you get adept enough to take whatever comes in stride. The tunes will get you there sooner, and with a greater understanding of the idioms.
In fact, one of the great benefits of playing the tunes is that you vary them every time, so you're always teasing out something new that you haven't tried before. ***With the tune leading the way.*** I suppose you could do that with scales and arpeggios too, but why not enjoy the tunes? They are more fertile ground for exploration--***because they're actual tunes.*** That's why they exist, not just for developing our technique, but to pique our imaginations. How much more satisfying!
Sorry, Trevor, but your approach to this music is understandably colored by your years playing cello. No harm there, necessarily, but it's certainly a very different approach than most trad musician's take.
JNE, glad you found something useful amid the steaming piles. Again, I'm just passing along what mentors and other players have given to me over the years. One was the notion that good players make each note seem like the most important sound in the whole world the moment the note is played. Another notion is simply that time exists between each note. What we do with that time is what makes it music. Combine those two ideas and suddenly even the fastest finger-twisting reel comes at you like slow bullets in The Matrix.
Ain't it a great feeling?!
# Posted on May 14th 2008 by Will CPT
Re: Elusive Consistency
Um, "4th position"??? Seriously? Can you name a single tune in the trad session repertoire that uses 4th position? And if there is one, why wouldn't we just play it an octave (or two) lower?
Sure, I go into 2nd and 3rd sometimes (mostly when playing tunes outside the Irish trad body of tunes). Again, the tunes themselves are great for learning those shifts and across-the-strings positions. Want some practice with the most common notes on the A and E strings in 2nd or 3rd position? Try the C part of Jerusalem Ridge. Or the B part of MacArthur Road, or the C part of Moving Cloud. Figure out various ways to get the notes, exploring the positions.
# Posted on May 14th 2008 by Will CPT
Re: Elusive Consistency
My routine not that I am qualified to preach, is to attempt to play the hardest tune I know. Then leave it and play a rake of tunes I know and love. Then try some newish ones. At the end of that practice session I go back to the hard one. If the plan works I will be thrilled that I can play it a bit better - still cr*p though.
If I have enough time I will mix my practice sessions between instruments as well though most people seem to think that is a bad idea.
# Posted on May 14th 2008 by Donough
Re: Elusive Consistency
I have a similar approach in that I do try to stretch my comfort zone by playing difficult material so that when I go back to simple jigs they re within my grasp. That is one end of my approach. the other is playing really simple things slowly and carefully , such as scales. Why scales should be controversial I don't know. they are the first thing any piper is taught. if the pipe tradition is not traditional , what is?
# Posted on May 14th 2008 by jig
Re: Elusive Consistency
I find cross-training helps. Sometimes with a little Flamenco (I'm rubbish but its fun) & sometimes I dig out the leccy guitar & Marshall and thrash out some 12 bar with as much overdrive as the valves will take. When I go back to the T. Banjo & ITM its like coming home & all is right with the world again.
# Posted on May 14th 2008 by SeanMc
Re: Elusive Consistency
Thanks for all your replies people.
From reading the posts I reckon I dont need to panic too much.
At the moment my routine is.. play a chellenging set, if I F it up I play a few slow airs followed by a few handy tunes I know really well and back to the original. If i get it right then I keep playing but on the occasion where I just cant get it right.... I pick up a different instrument.
Then of course there are the days when I play that difficult set and nail it straight away. them are the days when I make the most of it and play until I fall asleep.
Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. They are much appreciated.
# Posted on May 14th 2008 by session savage
Re: Elusive Consistency
Re. llig's point about professionals being better than amateurs - I would never, in a million years suggest that. Some of the best players I know are farmers or teachers or accountants etc. I'm just talking about my own mindset. After X number of years at school and three at music college, when I came to do my first professional gig I watched the people coming into the theatre clutching the tickets they had paid good money for and thought "OK, this is serious now". That's the mindset that encourages me to seek consistency (plus love of music). For amateur players, as the word implies, it's pure love of music - a very good thing.
# Posted on May 14th 2008 by Chief Wanganui
Re: Elusive Consistency
"sometimes I dig out the leccy guitar & Marshall and thrash out some 12 bar with as much overdrive as the valves will take. When I go back to the T. Banjo & ITM its like coming home & all is right with the world again" - SeanMc
Lol, I do that too.. nothing like it
# Posted on May 14th 2008 by session savage
Re: Elusive Consistency
If I come to a tune I haven't played before and it has new moves in it that I need to hone, I hone them by playing the tune. Harmonica players have positions too, at least five of which are commonly used. I had to think about that sentence carefully before I typed it because I just don't want to be thinking about positions when I'm playing tunes. All I want to know to begin with at least is that I could hack it six times round in the pub. I'm not suddenly going to collapse in a heap mortally regretting the fact that I should have spent hours or days or years playing scales and arpeggios. It's fun playing tunes. I'm only going to do what's fun.
# Posted on May 14th 2008 by Steve Shaw
Re: Elusive Consistency
Consistency comes with experience, the more you play, the more consistently you play. After a while, the tunes that gave you trouble don't trouble you any more. Like someone said recently, no shortcuts.
# Posted on May 14th 2008 by AlBrown
Re: Elusive Consistency
My thoughts, for what they're worth...
Do what works. Like Steve, I find scales and arpeggios boring, although of course I worked on them when I first started pipes because I had to. You have so much going on with the instrument that you'd have to be a prodigy (or a very competent trad player on another instrument, which I wasn't) to be able to play a tune when you strap on a set for the first time. You play scales and then arpeggios and whatever other combinations of notes to just get used to controlling the thing and figuring out what pressures work for which notes and so on. Once I worked that out, I never "practice" scales unless I need to play one in order to see how out of tune the reed is that day.
Anyway, the first instrument I learned to play was French horn, started at age seven or eight. I wanted to play tunes I knew and more importantly liked (ie the main theme of Beethoven's 7th.... I was a strange child) but my teacher thought scales and arpeggios were more important. Probably were for technique's sake but they killed motivation. He'd write me out a tune if I begged for it but would assign exercises as well. Of course when you're ten years old you don't really understand the long term value of the exercises so I just found the whole thing rather dull. Used to have rows with the parents about practicing as I've always found it difficult to practice a piece of music I have no interest whatsoever in, a problem for French horn. Even in group situations -- bands and orchestras -- it was boring since French horns rarely get the melody. Needless to say I quit the French horn when I was about thirteen.
The point is play the music that's fun. Life is too short.
# Posted on May 14th 2008 by TheSilverSpear
Re: Elusive Consistency
And hey, some people think scales are the epitome of musicality. I was in a festival piping workshop, rated as "intermediate," and when the teacher asked everyone in the workshop what their experience was, one guy said, "I just figured out how to play a scale of two octaves on the chanter, so I'm an intermediate player."
"Do you know any tunes?" asked the teacher.
"Nope."
# Posted on May 14th 2008 by TheSilverSpear
Re: Elusive Consistency
I think a lot of the objections to scales stem from a reaction to this dry, dull, paper orientated teaching method. Its a shame that such useful exercise gets binned as result. I came to music the other way , a few guitar lessons and we formed a punk band with me playing playing bass . I then moved on to singing ballads, and backing trad in a three piece. Then with the gift of a mandolin I started getting serious with the tunes. after learning the basic scales of course. then years later I got a banjo and taught my self to read music. wishing to improve my understanding of the guitar I learnt and practised scales and arpeggio so that I was free to use the whole neck, About 15 or so years ago I picked up a fiddle. It seemed pointless to me to attempt tunes, after trying for a while. so i spent my first year or so training scales etc , while playing tunes on the banjo etc. About 7 yrs ago while studying music for a year, I became interested in baroque music. To play this requires a firm grasp of basic techniques. so i spent more time with scales etc. To this day I still start my day with a few scales. As I play many different sizes of fiddle that is pretty important for figuring out the differing intervals. Of course I play tunes but trying to do something and failing because your basic technique is lacking is demoralising and frustrating. Its not fun making a scratchy unpleasant sound. I much rather play a simple scale well and have satisfaction that it sounds in tune and harmonious. Scales are the building blocks for Melodic improvisation. the building blocks of the tunes. I am a much better fiddler for that effort./ that is why i recomend them to others. I defy any nay sayer to pick up a set of pipes and play tunes. If they would like to post the results, then we will have the evidence. Same with steve. who plays the harmonica. see how well he plays his tunes on a fiddle. I dont know what scales jim, fiddle4u did. Id be curious to find out. jim?
# Posted on May 14th 2008 by jig
Re: Elusive Consistency
"failing because your basic technique is lacking is demoralising and frustrating" - 100% in agreement, as with the rest of that response.
# Posted on May 14th 2008 by lazyhound
Re: Elusive Consistency
"Scales are the building blocks for Melodic improvisation." This has to take the Bullsh!t Sentence of the Year award. And what the hell is "backing trad in a three piece?" You could care to tell us but for Christ's sake I've already covered sartorial puns in my tiny brain so please don't bother with those. And here's jig, who claims to play the fiddle (he can't prove it with clips, mind, clever though he is). See how well he plays his tunes on a harmonica. Your good sense appears to be having a day off, lazyhound.
# Posted on May 14th 2008 by Steve Shaw
Re: Elusive Consistency
I used to be sable to play the old grey whistle test, badly. my head couldn't get round the fact that when you blow or suck the note changes.
I wouldn't dream of interjecting ill informed advice on a harmonica thread. Perhaps Steve you might offer us the same courtesy?
# Posted on May 15th 2008 by jig
Re: Elusive Consistency
i think consistency is elusive for a number of reasons but one of them is the fact that everybody has 'off' days.
now if that's to do with bio rhythms etc - i could n't say but i sometimes feel,even before i pick up the instrument ,that it will be tough going.
so even if you have a lot playing hours under your belt it can still happen.
hopefully,the more time you've spent playing tunes will at least ensure that even on an off day will ensure that the results are still fit for human consumption.
btw,silverspear,i really have to pick you up on your comment that 'French horns rarely get the melody'.
mein Gott!
i can tell you've never played viola,lol!
# Posted on May 15th 2008 by biggus dave
Re: Elusive Consistency
i regret bitterly the double 'will ensure that' in the above post.
i blame it on the bio rhythms...
# Posted on May 15th 2008 by biggus dave
Re: Elusive Consistency
Its all right dave . dont worry about it, we all slip up occasionally.
# Posted on May 15th 2008 by jig