OK I know I just submitted a discussion, so I hope I'm not breaking any etiquette by submitting a second query so quickly, but I have a burning question:
When you start to practice, do you immediately launch into that tune that's been beating in your brain all day so that you've barely laid your keys down & rushed to the music room to play it, or do you actually submit yourself to some discipline & engage in some warm-up exercises?
If the latter, some suggestions would be lovely. Many thanks.
Depends on whether I do have one particular tune that's been harassing me or not!
Usually I do start with some exercises -- first scales into third position, then bowing exercises, then rolling every note, first short rolls and then long. Then tunes.
This is, of course, when I actually can cram in time for practising. An exasperated Mike Dugger told me his last visit that I am possibly going to remain the fiddle player with the most *potential* that he knows for the rest of both of our lives if I don't start practising more.
It's a problem when you work at home. Either you practise too much and don't get any work done, or the work is overwhelming and you never get any practising done. And now that I don't work at my computer as much, it's harder to just pick up the fiddle in the loading and compiling phases.
In the hopes of getting myself to practice more often, and not make it miserable for myself, I try
not to burden myself with too many rules and too much rigidity when sitting down to practice.
I do this because I have been too hard on myself in the past, and I stopped enjoying practice time
if I got too anal with myself. So then, I stopped practicing enough.
There are some things that Iv'e decided are really important, and that I know I really need to work
on. 1. Keep my fingers relaxed, so I don't injure myself. 2. Play as well in tune as I can. 3. Slow
down and respect the rhythm.
So, generally when I sit down, I work on tuning up and playing some long tones. Then, I just see
what I feel like playing. Sometimes, when I'm uptight, I like to warm up with the same tune -
one that I personally find relaxing, and that has some rolls and crans to work through. I play it slowly
and in a relaxed fashion. The tune I like to do this with is "Behind the Haystack." Other days, if I'm
ready to roll, I'll just start out playing the tune that has been bugging me all day. I might find I
can't really play the tune yet, so then I remember what matters most. I slow down, relax, and try
to get the rhythm right. (For me, if I can't play a tune, it shows up as bad rhythm every time.)
Shannon Heaton once told me in a lesson that we will perform as we practice. If we practice relaxed,
then we perform relaxed. If we practice tense, then guess what the whole musical experience will
be? So, I have a mantra, "Relax -- relax, relax."
I'm with Dirk. Too many rules and "have tos" and I'm out the door! I might do a few long bows and run up and down a scale or two briefly, but then I dive right into the tune. Each tune teaches me a technique just by playing through it. And if a certain bit is giving me trouble, a roll or a triplet or whatever, I just isolate that bit and go over it a few (billion) times. I do try to choose simpler tunes to start out with, so I guess those are my warm-up exercises. I've always done it this way, even when I first started playing. Not that this is the answer for everyone! But it means that I always get excited about each new tune, because I wonder....what'll *this* one teach me?
As far as "practising" goes, I read something early on, a quote by someone that said basically that there is no "practising". Either you *are* playing or you aren't, whether in your living room or out in public or whatever. And when you are playing, you are learning. Sounds kind of Zen! Anyway, I think it's helped me avoid the negative connotations that the concept of practising can have. Then again, Zina's description of focussed bowing and fingering exercises makes me feel vaguely...dare I say it.....ashamed. Heh. Not that this will make me mend my ways or anything!!
"Either you *are* playing or you aren't". That's wonderful! I think I was just learning that (the hard way, of course). Lately, I've found that when I imagine someone is listening to my playing (as if I were playing for someone else), my playing is very different, and usually quite a bit worse. Now, I'm trying to keep that imaginary listener in mind as I practise and I attempt to 'communicate' the tune towards them.
Still, I have to admit, there is value in the nose-to-the-grindstone practice for technique, intonation, ornaments, etc. 15-30 minutes of rolls a day really makes everything easier to play. *Hey, that rhymed!*
I could tell you what I do to practice, but it really wouldn't do you any good. Everyone needs to practice different things, and so every person will have a different practice session, but here are few things to keep in mind:
1. relax! (thanks, Dirk)
2. when you practice a whole tune, practice with an eye towards performance - Christine is dead right about that false distinction too.
3. If a particular ornamentation is giving you trouble, practice it by itself for a while. But all of that has been said already - Here's the most important I've learned:
4. Don't practice your mistakes. If you do so, you are reinforcing them.
Sometimes remembering items 1-3 will solve the problem, but there are times (I'm sure you can identify) when I am unable to make any progress and I'm fighting with my own hands. When that happens the best thing you can do is quit. Part of practicing is knowing when to do it...and when not to.
Actually, I guess I could take some slight issue with the "performance vs. practise" thing. There's times when I practise that I try some way far out stuff (for me) that has actually resulted in stuff I now use -- variations, ornament, stuff like that. I am definitely in "practise" mode when doing that kind of thing, not performance mode. When performing, I tend to keep in mind that my audience wants to hear the good stuff, not the weirdo stuff that I'm trying out to see if it sounds as good outside my head as in.
There really is lots of stuff that I listen to outside my head and realize that it has little to no value and that it's not really playing.
But then, I don't have negative connotations about practising. I love practising. I love being able to diddle around with the tunes. I love the discipline of working out a kink. I even like the technique drills. It's my biggest regret right now that I'm too busy to really be able to practise a lot.
On the other hand, I definitely see the value in what you're talking about, Chris. Shame be damned, Chris -- I do the exercises because I need them. My technique sucks. Heh.
Here's what the music and dancing have taught me about mistakes that you're trying to correct: SLOW DOWN. You can't play it fast, you can't own whatever it is you're doing, until you can play it well slow. Play it as slow as you need to in order to correct whatever it is you feel you're doing wrong. Keep it at that speed until it's completely natural. Then gradually (very gradually) speed it up until you can do it at the speed you want to do it.
For me and my rusted-shut fingers, warm up is that first half hour of playing (tunes, never drills or exercises) that gets the circulation going, oils the joints and tendons and muscles, and wakes up the nerve synapses, reminding them they have a job to do. I play tunes during warm up because I'm too stiff and tight to possibly have any technical epiphanies...better to just play something I know, that I enjoy, starting slow, and finding out whether all my parts are still working. Kinda like starting your car when it's 40 below zero--you let it idle for a while before revving the engine (assuming it starts at all .
I don't have any particular tunes for warm ups, but on fiddle I tend to favor reels with a more linear melody line--avoiding big jumps from string to string, and nothing where I'm holding a two-finger "chord" longer than a split second. So I gravitate toward tunes like the Morning Star, Rakish Paddy, Boys of the Lough. If I'm really stiff, I might start out with an air or slow jig, again, avoiding locked in fingering positions and big bow jumps.
As I loosen up, I'll add in tunes that stretch the fingers more or require more string crossings, covering the range of the instrument. Maudubawn Chapel is a great late-stage warm up tune for fiddle.
On whistle and flute, I don't know enough tunes yet to worry too much about what to choose from when warming up--I can play everything I know in less than half an hour! *grin* But I do like starting with something in the middle range, like the Annamaculeen Reel, which doesn't spend too much time at either end of the whistle/flute's range. Burning of the Piper's Hut is also a good one, and both tunes offer plenty of opportunity to get those rolls rolling.
One thing I've noticed about warming up for gigs is that I need to make sure I do at least one warm up tune in Gm, F, or Bb...something to anchor those Bb and Eb notes in my mind's ear so I'm not wandering on them when they pop up during the performance. Eileen Curran, or one of Paddy Fahy's jigs or reels usually does the trick.
In short, I'd like to believe that I'm getting my "drills" in by being selective about the tunes I warm up on, and by using a tune to isolate any potential trouble spots. It's more fun than drills, and keeps the tunes fresh. After all, my goal is to learn lots of tunes, not lots of drills....
I'm a bit troubled by people referring to drills, exercises and scales as if the mere knowledge that such things exist will magically drain all feeling from your playing and turn you into a mechanical-sounding, soulless Music Robot. This is just not true! I'm classically trained, use sclaes and trills in my warm-ups, and still manage to play with feeling, and I know many classical players who do exercises for hours a day and can still put enough magic into a performance to bring an audience to tears of joy. "Schooled" is NOT synonymous with "lifeless" any more than "folk" or "traditional" are synonymous with "ignorant"!
I used to have a 'cello teacher who was a wonderfully physically free player, and damn good too! He once told me he went to play his 'cello to a movement guru (I don't know what system it was). He asked him what he could take away with him to aid his playing. The guru said to just think of two things: be aware and be flexible. I've never forgotten this. It seems to me that everything to do with practise, performing, technique, interpretation, etc., is covered by the combination of these two ideas.
As regards warming up, I start my practise by improvising for 5 minutes, before I've even tuned up my cello. I warm up by playing my own ideas and enjoying myself. That way I'm starting my practise from the perspective of playing music, rather than trying to get it right.
One more idea: My Alexander Technique teacher told me that it's better to think "observe, play, discover", rather than "practise, try, get it right."
Oh, no, I don't think *that* at all! It's just that those reports I heard over the years of classical players doing exercises for hours a day sounded like a joyless way to approach music, in my opinion. I know myself well enough to know that if presented with that prerequesite to learning to play, I wouldn't bother. I wanted to play tunes, not do exercises! I didn't mind a *few* exercises, but not hours' worth. I would not be playing now if I'd had a teacher who insisted on the classical approach. My teacher was classically trained, but understood that the classical approach was not for everyone. And I'm immensely grateful to him for setting me on the path in a way that encouraged me and didn't scare me off.
I envy people who have the discipline to train that way and still be enthusiastic about the music learning process. I try not to think about how much better I could be if *only*. On the other hand, I love playing and have made pretty amazing progress for someone who (a) never had a music lesson in her life till 33, and (b) refuses to do much in the way of exercises and drills! So I guess as far I'm concerned, it's all just frosting on the cake from here on out
Even after 7 years, I wake up every day anxious to play. That's gotta count for something, I figure
Hm. Well, to me, the drills are part and parcel of the joy of playing, so I guess I don't really think of them as drudgery -- it's actually kind of an alien concept to me, this finding technique drills to be work and not playing. It's all playing to me, I don't really see much difference in motivation between doing some roll drills and playing a tune, it's just another part of the playing (like a session is different from a performance -- both are fun, they're not the same thing, but it's all playing). I actually find the drills rather fun, to be honest -- will I or won't I make that jump into third with good intonation? Stay tuned and find out in just half a measure! -- and it's a bonus that they actually help the playing out tremendously. I get to have fun, AND I turn out to be a better player faster than if I didn't have some fun with my fingers, who could ask for more?
You're an inspiration, Zina. Maybe I'll go dig out my Aerobics for Fiddlers book and see what I can do. My new mantra..."it's all playing, it's all playing, it's all playing, not drudgery not drudgery not drudgery"! And it's not that you're easily amused, it's just that you must have the patience of a saint *grin*.
Back in the old days (way old...older than me!!).....Piano composers would develop canons for students and these are now accepted in classical music forms as exercises. The step between exercise and tune is very minor, particularly for certain composers.
What does this have to do with warming up???
Well, if you can take your favorute tunes, extract a difficult, repetitive phrase from each one and build these into your own form of canons, you can take the term drudgery out of your daily playing routine.
I have done this and found it works really well, particularly as I get very frustrated with scale exercises. It's not a complete method, but it may be worth adding in.
Andy, what a great idea! So, we should have Will or someone think up some reels and jigs that exist only to work things like cross-bowing and weirdo but common arpeggiate runs (that one part in the B of Wise Maid leaps to mind) and such-like, and post them! Each two measure difficult run is repeated four times on different strings (in the case of the fiddle) with a pickup to the next key/string, then the B works another weird section. C'mon, one of you guys, waddaya say!? I'd do one, but I've got two dresses to deliver on Friday night for Sunday's feis...
P.S. If I'm an inspiration, why aren't I practising regularly, Chris? *snort* Don't take *me* as a shining example, that's for sure. I have GOT to start turning down work.
You're the second person in two days to tell me I must be patient, Chris. Maybe I'm entering a new phase of my life; no one's really ever told me THAT before (except for when I teach -- it's the only time *I* think I'm patient!).
Well I guess Andy and Zina said what I was trying to say about using tunes to warm up and "practice" certain techniques and skills, rather than using drills.
For example (I'll take your hint, Zina), if you want to work on first finger rolls on fiddle, do the B part of Last Night's Fun:
|d~f3 a~f3|d~f3 egfe|
Make that a repetitive piece that you play till your ears fall off. Then do it on the other strings:
|G~B3 d~B3|G~B3 AcBA|
and so on.
I've always practiced/played this way...thought it was fairly intuitive. When I get a chance, I'll post some other ideas, but I'm sure everybody can toss up a bunch of similar ideas.
P.S. The idea isn't to glorify "traditional ignorance," but to find ways (drills, tunes, whatever) that develop the techniques and skills (and frame of mind) most appropriate to the style of music we're trying to play. If someone wants to use classical oriented drills to polish their ITM skills, go for it. But the tunes themselves, and excerpts thereof, work fine for me, thanks. Never intended to denegrade "drills," just don't find them personally very productive (and I too play with feeling and technical clarity, at least according to the poor old sacks that have to listen to me .
Most of this discussion seems to be focused on practicing the fiddle. I'd like to throw in my 'two cents' worth as a flute player. I can't say I have any particular routine. Every time I pick up my instrument I'm in a different space, therefore I might be inclined to approach the 'practice' in a different manner. I can say the following-I always spend some time playing 'long' notes. Aside from just sustaining the note, I will push the envelope to just before the breaking point, and then back it down. I over-blow notes to reach the harmonics thereby strengthening my embrochure. I may also practice cuts, rolls, and crans, both in isolation and within the context of a tune. I try to include some sight-reading, or tune -listening time where I work through a particular passage in a tune. When I get to the tunes, I play them up-tempo and down-tempo. I also make time to physically write out tunes, transpose them to different keys, and transpose them from ABC to standard notation. As I am a beginning fiddler, I have a different routine. This includes playing long, sustained notes using the whole bow, playing scales, thirds, and triads over two octaves. I also take passages from tunes and play them agonizingly slow, minding intonation and bowing. And, as ha been mentioned previously, I pay attention to the physical state of my body when playing. I practice in short segments, attempting to be relaxed
throughout ...
I think what's important here is that we all want to arrive at the same point - playing music.
For each individual, the journey will be different. I play the way I do because it works for me. The canon method of practice was something new and fresh and helped me enormously when the more standard route of scales and drills was not working. The idea of modifying classical exercises for Irish tunes still means that you're playing ITM and should reinforce the tune styles and emphasis that you're looking for. I would never think of somebody as ignorant just because they practiced a different way...rather I would look to see what they could teach me.
I have just started fiddling, and can play "all" the tunes I know in less that 5 minutes! I am looking forward to the checking out the drills that Will has posted. But to the point of practicing I just finished a book called The Art of Practicing: A Guide to Making Music From The Heart by Madeline Bruser ISBN 0-609-80177-5. It has some interesting ideas on things to do while practicing - and although I haven't formally sat down and practiced this way - by reading I have discovered how I tense up and what types of things I am doing that made even my tunes (all 6 of them!) sound like exercises and drills. I am happy to report that occasionally when I can actually relax, they sound more like music - of course at that point I get all excited and tense up...and you know where it goes from there...anyhow, she covers a bit of all the instruments piano, guitar, strings, flute...
Yes, the Bruser book is worth reading, although a lot of what's in there is just common sense to the average session musician. There's also a good book on the "Joy of Making Music" (not sure if that's the real title) that has plenty of good relaxation tips.
Pause for a moment
to let the melody
ripple over you
like snow melting
into an alpine lake.
Breathe in an aura of sphagnum
soaking up the challenge
soft and resilient.
Embrace an avalanche of emotions.
Feel moon shadows dripping
in streamers of black and silver
from ramparts towering above,
while the shoreline shimmers
in a necklace of crystal rainbows.
Dabble your toes in the water
Numb any ill feeling that leaves you cold.
Watch gilded doilies crochet out toward centre.
Let your imagination reach out and touch
a pool, at the heart of the lake, so deep
it reflects in gold,
the highlights of all possible tomorrows.
You glance down,
suddenly aware you are walking on water,
and riding moonbeams as effortlessly as a tossed feather.
Up ... higher ... fluttering, tumbling, soaring
till you find clarity,
THEN YOU MAKE MUSIC
just warming up
just warming up
OK I know I just submitted a discussion, so I hope I'm not breaking any etiquette by submitting a second query so quickly, but I have a burning question:
When you start to practice, do you immediately launch into that tune that's been beating in your brain all day so that you've barely laid your keys down & rushed to the music room to play it, or do you actually submit yourself to some discipline & engage in some warm-up exercises?
If the latter, some suggestions would be lovely. Many thanks.
# Posted on April 29th 2002 by emily_bmore
Re: just warming up
Depends on whether I do have one particular tune that's been harassing me or not!
Usually I do start with some exercises -- first scales into third position, then bowing exercises, then rolling every note, first short rolls and then long. Then tunes.
This is, of course, when I actually can cram in time for practising. An exasperated Mike Dugger told me his last visit that I am possibly going to remain the fiddle player with the most *potential* that he knows for the rest of both of our lives if I don't start practising more.
It's a problem when you work at home. Either you practise too much and don't get any work done, or the work is overwhelming and you never get any practising done. And now that I don't work at my computer as much, it's harder to just pick up the fiddle in the loading and compiling phases.
Zina
# Posted on April 30th 2002 by Zina Lee
Re: just warming up
In the hopes of getting myself to practice more often, and not make it miserable for myself, I try
not to burden myself with too many rules and too much rigidity when sitting down to practice.
I do this because I have been too hard on myself in the past, and I stopped enjoying practice time
if I got too anal with myself. So then, I stopped practicing enough.
There are some things that Iv'e decided are really important, and that I know I really need to work
on. 1. Keep my fingers relaxed, so I don't injure myself. 2. Play as well in tune as I can. 3. Slow
down and respect the rhythm.
So, generally when I sit down, I work on tuning up and playing some long tones. Then, I just see
what I feel like playing. Sometimes, when I'm uptight, I like to warm up with the same tune -
one that I personally find relaxing, and that has some rolls and crans to work through. I play it slowly
and in a relaxed fashion. The tune I like to do this with is "Behind the Haystack." Other days, if I'm
ready to roll, I'll just start out playing the tune that has been bugging me all day. I might find I
can't really play the tune yet, so then I remember what matters most. I slow down, relax, and try
to get the rhythm right. (For me, if I can't play a tune, it shows up as bad rhythm every time.)
Shannon Heaton once told me in a lesson that we will perform as we practice. If we practice relaxed,
then we perform relaxed. If we practice tense, then guess what the whole musical experience will
be? So, I have a mantra, "Relax -- relax, relax."
Have fun.
-Dirk
# Posted on April 30th 2002 by dirk
Re: just warming up
I'm with Dirk. Too many rules and "have tos" and I'm out the door! I might do a few long bows and run up and down a scale or two briefly, but then I dive right into the tune. Each tune teaches me a technique just by playing through it. And if a certain bit is giving me trouble, a roll or a triplet or whatever, I just isolate that bit and go over it a few (billion) times. I do try to choose simpler tunes to start out with, so I guess those are my warm-up exercises. I've always done it this way, even when I first started playing. Not that this is the answer for everyone! But it means that I always get excited about each new tune, because I wonder....what'll *this* one teach me?
As far as "practising" goes, I read something early on, a quote by someone that said basically that there is no "practising". Either you *are* playing or you aren't, whether in your living room or out in public or whatever. And when you are playing, you are learning. Sounds kind of Zen! Anyway, I think it's helped me avoid the negative connotations that the concept of practising can have. Then again, Zina's description of focussed bowing and fingering exercises makes me feel vaguely...dare I say it.....ashamed. Heh. Not that this will make me mend my ways or anything!!
# Posted on April 30th 2002 by soft black stars
Re: just warming up
"Either you *are* playing or you aren't". That's wonderful! I think I was just learning that (the hard way, of course). Lately, I've found that when I imagine someone is listening to my playing (as if I were playing for someone else), my playing is very different, and usually quite a bit worse. Now, I'm trying to keep that imaginary listener in mind as I practise and I attempt to 'communicate' the tune towards them.
Still, I have to admit, there is value in the nose-to-the-grindstone practice for technique, intonation, ornaments, etc. 15-30 minutes of rolls a day really makes everything easier to play. *Hey, that rhymed!*
# Posted on April 30th 2002 by Caoimghgin
Re: just warming up
I could tell you what I do to practice, but it really wouldn't do you any good. Everyone needs to practice different things, and so every person will have a different practice session, but here are few things to keep in mind:
1. relax! (thanks, Dirk)
2. when you practice a whole tune, practice with an eye towards performance - Christine is dead right about that false distinction too.
3. If a particular ornamentation is giving you trouble, practice it by itself for a while. But all of that has been said already - Here's the most important I've learned:
4. Don't practice your mistakes. If you do so, you are reinforcing them.
Sometimes remembering items 1-3 will solve the problem, but there are times (I'm sure you can identify) when I am unable to make any progress and I'm fighting with my own hands. When that happens the best thing you can do is quit. Part of practicing is knowing when to do it...and when not to.
TC
# Posted on April 30th 2002 by tccaucutt
Re: just warming up
Actually, I guess I could take some slight issue with the "performance vs. practise" thing. There's times when I practise that I try some way far out stuff (for me) that has actually resulted in stuff I now use -- variations, ornament, stuff like that. I am definitely in "practise" mode when doing that kind of thing, not performance mode. When performing, I tend to keep in mind that my audience wants to hear the good stuff, not the weirdo stuff that I'm trying out to see if it sounds as good outside my head as in.
Shame be damned, Chris -- I do the exercises because I need them. My technique sucks. Heh.
There really is lots of stuff that I listen to outside my head and realize that it has little to no value and that it's not really playing.
But then, I don't have negative connotations about practising. I love practising. I love being able to diddle around with the tunes. I love the discipline of working out a kink. I even like the technique drills. It's my biggest regret right now that I'm too busy to really be able to practise a lot.
On the other hand, I definitely see the value in what you're talking about, Chris.
Here's what the music and dancing have taught me about mistakes that you're trying to correct: SLOW DOWN. You can't play it fast, you can't own whatever it is you're doing, until you can play it well slow. Play it as slow as you need to in order to correct whatever it is you feel you're doing wrong. Keep it at that speed until it's completely natural. Then gradually (very gradually) speed it up until you can do it at the speed you want to do it.
Back to the grind...
Zina
# Posted on April 30th 2002 by Zina Lee
Re: just warming up
This is my first posting here, although I
# Posted on May 1st 2002 by Hollyn
Re: just warming up
For me and my rusted-shut fingers, warm up is that first half hour of playing (tunes, never drills or exercises) that gets the circulation going, oils the joints and tendons and muscles, and wakes up the nerve synapses, reminding them they have a job to do. I play tunes during warm up because I'm too stiff and tight to possibly have any technical epiphanies...better to just play something I know, that I enjoy, starting slow, and finding out whether all my parts are still working. Kinda like starting your car when it's 40 below zero--you let it idle for a while before revving the engine (assuming it starts at all
.
I don't have any particular tunes for warm ups, but on fiddle I tend to favor reels with a more linear melody line--avoiding big jumps from string to string, and nothing where I'm holding a two-finger "chord" longer than a split second. So I gravitate toward tunes like the Morning Star, Rakish Paddy, Boys of the Lough. If I'm really stiff, I might start out with an air or slow jig, again, avoiding locked in fingering positions and big bow jumps.
As I loosen up, I'll add in tunes that stretch the fingers more or require more string crossings, covering the range of the instrument. Maudubawn Chapel is a great late-stage warm up tune for fiddle.
On whistle and flute, I don't know enough tunes yet to worry too much about what to choose from when warming up--I can play everything I know in less than half an hour! *grin* But I do like starting with something in the middle range, like the Annamaculeen Reel, which doesn't spend too much time at either end of the whistle/flute's range. Burning of the Piper's Hut is also a good one, and both tunes offer plenty of opportunity to get those rolls rolling.
One thing I've noticed about warming up for gigs is that I need to make sure I do at least one warm up tune in Gm, F, or Bb...something to anchor those Bb and Eb notes in my mind's ear so I'm not wandering on them when they pop up during the performance. Eileen Curran, or one of Paddy Fahy's jigs or reels usually does the trick.
In short, I'd like to believe that I'm getting my "drills" in by being selective about the tunes I warm up on, and by using a tune to isolate any potential trouble spots. It's more fun than drills, and keeps the tunes fresh. After all, my goal is to learn lots of tunes, not lots of drills....
# Posted on May 1st 2002 by Will Harmon
Re: just warming up
I'm a bit troubled by people referring to drills, exercises and scales as if the mere knowledge that such things exist will magically drain all feeling from your playing and turn you into a mechanical-sounding, soulless Music Robot. This is just not true! I'm classically trained, use sclaes and trills in my warm-ups, and still manage to play with feeling, and I know many classical players who do exercises for hours a day and can still put enough magic into a performance to bring an audience to tears of joy. "Schooled" is NOT synonymous with "lifeless" any more than "folk" or "traditional" are synonymous with "ignorant"!
JeffK
# Posted on May 2nd 2002 by JeffK627
Re: just warming up
I used to have a 'cello teacher who was a wonderfully physically free player, and damn good too! He once told me he went to play his 'cello to a movement guru (I don't know what system it was). He asked him what he could take away with him to aid his playing. The guru said to just think of two things: be aware and be flexible. I've never forgotten this. It seems to me that everything to do with practise, performing, technique, interpretation, etc., is covered by the combination of these two ideas.
As regards warming up, I start my practise by improvising for 5 minutes, before I've even tuned up my cello. I warm up by playing my own ideas and enjoying myself. That way I'm starting my practise from the perspective of playing music, rather than trying to get it right.
One more idea: My Alexander Technique teacher told me that it's better to think "observe, play, discover", rather than "practise, try, get it right."
Jonathan.
# Posted on May 2nd 2002 by Jonathan
Re: just warming up
Oh, no, I don't think *that* at all! It's just that those reports I heard over the years of classical players doing exercises for hours a day sounded like a joyless way to approach music, in my opinion. I know myself well enough to know that if presented with that prerequesite to learning to play, I wouldn't bother. I wanted to play tunes, not do exercises! I didn't mind a *few* exercises, but not hours' worth. I would not be playing now if I'd had a teacher who insisted on the classical approach. My teacher was classically trained, but understood that the classical approach was not for everyone. And I'm immensely grateful to him for setting me on the path in a way that encouraged me and didn't scare me off.
I envy people who have the discipline to train that way and still be enthusiastic about the music learning process. I try not to think about how much better I could be if *only*. On the other hand, I love playing and have made pretty amazing progress for someone who (a) never had a music lesson in her life till 33, and (b) refuses to do much in the way of exercises and drills! So I guess as far I'm concerned, it's all just frosting on the cake from here on out
Even after 7 years, I wake up every day anxious to play. That's gotta count for something, I figure
# Posted on May 2nd 2002 by soft black stars
Re: just warming up
Hm. Well, to me, the drills are part and parcel of the joy of playing, so I guess I don't really think of them as drudgery -- it's actually kind of an alien concept to me, this finding technique drills to be work and not playing. It's all playing to me, I don't really see much difference in motivation between doing some roll drills and playing a tune, it's just another part of the playing (like a session is different from a performance -- both are fun, they're not the same thing, but it's all playing). I actually find the drills rather fun, to be honest -- will I or won't I make that jump into third with good intonation? Stay tuned and find out in just half a measure! -- and it's a bonus that they actually help the playing out tremendously. I get to have fun, AND I turn out to be a better player faster than if I didn't have some fun with my fingers, who could ask for more?
Maybe it's just because I'm easily amused. *grin*
Heigh ho. Back to the sewing machine.
Zina
# Posted on May 2nd 2002 by Zina Lee
Re: just warming up
You're an inspiration, Zina. Maybe I'll go dig out my Aerobics for Fiddlers book and see what I can do. My new mantra..."it's all playing, it's all playing, it's all playing, not drudgery not drudgery not drudgery"! And it's not that you're easily amused, it's just that you must have the patience of a saint *grin*.
# Posted on May 2nd 2002 by soft black stars
Re: just warming up
Back in the old days (way old...older than me!!).....Piano composers would develop canons for students and these are now accepted in classical music forms as exercises. The step between exercise and tune is very minor, particularly for certain composers.
What does this have to do with warming up???
Well, if you can take your favorute tunes, extract a difficult, repetitive phrase from each one and build these into your own form of canons, you can take the term drudgery out of your daily playing routine.
I have done this and found it works really well, particularly as I get very frustrated with scale exercises. It's not a complete method, but it may be worth adding in.
Andy
# Posted on May 2nd 2002 by Mcbear365
Re: just warming up
Andy, what a great idea! So, we should have Will or someone think up some reels and jigs that exist only to work things like cross-bowing and weirdo but common arpeggiate runs (that one part in the B of Wise Maid leaps to mind) and such-like, and post them! Each two measure difficult run is repeated four times on different strings (in the case of the fiddle) with a pickup to the next key/string, then the B works another weird section. C'mon, one of you guys, waddaya say!? I'd do one, but I've got two dresses to deliver on Friday night for Sunday's feis...
P.S. If I'm an inspiration, why aren't I practising regularly, Chris? *snort* Don't take *me* as a shining example, that's for sure. I have GOT to start turning down work.
You're the second person in two days to tell me I must be patient, Chris. Maybe I'm entering a new phase of my life; no one's really ever told me THAT before (except for when I teach -- it's the only time *I* think I'm patient!).
Zina
# Posted on May 2nd 2002 by Zina Lee
Re: just warming up
Well I guess Andy and Zina said what I was trying to say about using tunes to warm up and "practice" certain techniques and skills, rather than using drills.
For example (I'll take your hint, Zina), if you want to work on first finger rolls on fiddle, do the B part of Last Night's Fun:
|d~f3 a~f3|d~f3 egfe|
Make that a repetitive piece that you play till your ears fall off. Then do it on the other strings:
|G~B3 d~B3|G~B3 AcBA|
and so on.
I've always practiced/played this way...thought it was fairly intuitive. When I get a chance, I'll post some other ideas, but I'm sure everybody can toss up a bunch of similar ideas.
# Posted on May 2nd 2002 by Will Harmon
P.S. The idea isn't to glorify "traditional ignorance," but to find ways (drills, tunes, whatever) that develop the techniques and skills (and frame of mind) most appropriate to the style of music we're trying to play. If someone wants to use classical oriented drills to polish their ITM skills, go for it. But the tunes themselves, and excerpts thereof, work fine for me, thanks. Never intended to denegrade "drills," just don't find them personally very productive (and I too play with feeling and technical clarity, at least according to the poor old sacks that have to listen to me
.
# Posted on May 2nd 2002 by Will Harmon
Re: just warming up
Most of this discussion seems to be focused on practicing the fiddle. I'd like to throw in my 'two cents' worth as a flute player. I can't say I have any particular routine. Every time I pick up my instrument I'm in a different space, therefore I might be inclined to approach the 'practice' in a different manner. I can say the following-I always spend some time playing 'long' notes. Aside from just sustaining the note, I will push the envelope to just before the breaking point, and then back it down. I over-blow notes to reach the harmonics thereby strengthening my embrochure. I may also practice cuts, rolls, and crans, both in isolation and within the context of a tune. I try to include some sight-reading, or tune -listening time where I work through a particular passage in a tune. When I get to the tunes, I play them up-tempo and down-tempo. I also make time to physically write out tunes, transpose them to different keys, and transpose them from ABC to standard notation. As I am a beginning fiddler, I have a different routine. This includes playing long, sustained notes using the whole bow, playing scales, thirds, and triads over two octaves. I also take passages from tunes and play them agonizingly slow, minding intonation and bowing. And, as ha been mentioned previously, I pay attention to the physical state of my body when playing. I practice in short segments, attempting to be relaxed
throughout ...
# Posted on May 2nd 2002 by Imnotirish
Re: just warming up
I think what's important here is that we all want to arrive at the same point - playing music.
For each individual, the journey will be different. I play the way I do because it works for me. The canon method of practice was something new and fresh and helped me enormously when the more standard route of scales and drills was not working. The idea of modifying classical exercises for Irish tunes still means that you're playing ITM and should reinforce the tune styles and emphasis that you're looking for. I would never think of somebody as ignorant just because they practiced a different way...rather I would look to see what they could teach me.
Andy
# Posted on May 2nd 2002 by Mcbear365
Re: just warming up
I have just started fiddling, and can play "all" the tunes I know in less that 5 minutes! I am looking forward to the checking out the drills that Will has posted. But to the point of practicing I just finished a book called The Art of Practicing: A Guide to Making Music From The Heart by Madeline Bruser ISBN 0-609-80177-5. It has some interesting ideas on things to do while practicing - and although I haven't formally sat down and practiced this way - by reading I have discovered how I tense up and what types of things I am doing that made even my tunes (all 6 of them!) sound like exercises and drills. I am happy to report that occasionally when I can actually relax, they sound more like music - of course at that point I get all excited and tense up...and you know where it goes from there...anyhow, she covers a bit of all the instruments piano, guitar, strings, flute...
# Posted on May 2nd 2002 by macmuffins
Re: just warming up
Yes, the Bruser book is worth reading, although a lot of what's in there is just common sense to the average session musician. There's also a good book on the "Joy of Making Music" (not sure if that's the real title) that has plenty of good relaxation tips.
# Posted on May 3rd 2002 by Will Harmon
Re: just warming up
Would that be "Making Music For the Joy of It?" by Stephanie Judy? That book was really the *best* encouragement for me when I first started out!
# Posted on May 3rd 2002 by soft black stars
Re: just warming up
Pause for a moment
to let the melody
ripple over you
like snow melting
into an alpine lake.
Breathe in an aura of sphagnum
soaking up the challenge
soft and resilient.
Embrace an avalanche of emotions.
Feel moon shadows dripping
in streamers of black and silver
from ramparts towering above,
while the shoreline shimmers
in a necklace of crystal rainbows.
Dabble your toes in the water
Numb any ill feeling that leaves you cold.
Watch gilded doilies crochet out toward centre.
Let your imagination reach out and touch
a pool, at the heart of the lake, so deep
it reflects in gold,
the highlights of all possible tomorrows.
You glance down,
suddenly aware you are walking on water,
and riding moonbeams as effortlessly as a tossed feather.
Up ... higher ... fluttering, tumbling, soaring
till you find clarity,
THEN YOU MAKE MUSIC
# Posted on May 3rd 2002 by Jill
Re: just warming up
Chicken Soup for Practicing? ;o)
# Posted on May 4th 2002 by B Rad
Re: just warming up
Definitely check out the Alexander Technique. Their website at http://www.alexandertechnique has lots of information for musicians.
# Posted on February 26th 2003 by misterbob