Getting tunes solid

Jon-M · Post by **Jon-M** » Sat Oct 13, 2001 1:34 pm

Hello All,
I'm wondering how other folks approach mastering a tune that you've basically learned. That is, after you've learned it by heart getting to that place where you can play it with rock solid utter confidence in a public setting.

ndjr · Post by **ndjr** » Sat Oct 13, 2001 1:48 pm

One approach is simply to practice it a lot, even to practice different ways of playing and ornamenting it, until you can play the tune while you're thinking about something else as you mix and match versions. That helps to deal with the distractions inherent in playing in public or with other musicians. Note that this may take a while to achieve, and that the time required will depend on your skills and the complexity of the song. Early on in my fife career I essayed to learn the composer's version of 'Dixie', and worked on it for several years before I tried playing it in public.

Another approach is to start playing in informal public places. When my daughter was younger, she'd always want me to take her to the park when I got home from work. No problem! I took her and my fife and whistles in hand and off we went. While she played, I played. This helps to overcome shyness about playing in public.

_________________
Best regards,

Neil Dickey

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: ndjr on 2001-10-13 15:49 ]</font>

TonyHiggins · Post by **TonyHiggins** » Sat Oct 13, 2001 5:44 pm

I'd agree with Neil. Practice is a big part of it. Going over a tune a zillion times will work wonders. Practice at different speeds and with a metronome. Practice at a comfortable speed where you have good control and experiment. Focus on a good rhythmic performance. And at the risk of boring you with my repetition: record yourself and listen critically. Think about what you might want to improve, rerecord, and check it out. It will show you your rough spots. Once you hear yourself play something acceptably on recording, there you are: confidence.
Tony

Whistlepeg · Post by **Whistlepeg** » Sat Oct 13, 2001 11:21 pm

I agree with Tony, one of the best ways to improve is to tape yourself and listen to it carefully. It never ceases to amaze me that what I think I am doing very clearly, doesn't always come across in the recording and therefore to anyone listening.
To practice being able to play when there are distractions, a suggestion (I think by John Skelton) is to practice your tunes once in awhile with the AM radio on quite loudly - really gives you a workout in concentration!

skendal · Post by **skendal** » Sun Oct 14, 2001 7:26 am

Practicing a ton, taping, varying speed and making variations are all great ideas. What I find for myself is that I can practice a tune till I'm thoroughly sick of it but there will still be cracks in it. The cracks will show up as mistakes and flubs when there is any pressure or stress but I won't notice them at a slowish tempo just sitting in my living room playing. I think it's important to find these places and practice them under more high pressure conditions. Just turning on a metronome or the tape recorder will do. Playing in front of other people even at a session where they can hardly hear me is also good.

Incidentally, I have recently read threads in two separate places about the stress brought on by turning on a recording machine, even in a low-key situation. Just recording your practice sessions often pretty severe upset in some people.

Steve

Ciaran De Bhal · Post by **Ciaran De Bhal** » Sun Oct 14, 2001 7:35 am

Yup.. that s about it, Practice, practice, practice, play a litte, then practice some more. Play along with a CD or Tape on the steeringwheel of a car s you drive along, but above all practice...

....and enjoy it

Ciaran

ErikT · Post by **ErikT** » Sun Oct 14, 2001 7:40 am

Oh, I'm laughing out loud

And most of you know why.

Whistling from the safety of my living room (most of the time),
Erik

Raymond · Post by **Raymond** » Sun Oct 14, 2001 8:41 am

Sorry, but I consider practice while driving - even just fingering the steering wheel like a whistle - bad advice. The only thing you should do while driving is DRIVE.

If cracks, breaks or mistakes pop up in the same places when you stress/perform/get nervous then in your practice session (away from the car), you should isolate those problem areas and only focus on them, repeating the problem passages over & over. People tend to want to play straight through the tune and gloss over the problem areas, because it's less fun to endlessly repeat one or two measures than to tear off a jig from beginning to end.

mike.r · Post by **mike.r** » Sun Oct 14, 2001 1:03 pm

I enjoy mental practice as I am walking.I did this today with the Monaghan jig for about 20 minutes and a brisk walking rhythm makes for a good tempo.When I paused to play,the tune did have more solidity and I think tapping a tempo on the steering wheel as one is driving,which is what I think Kiran was talking about, is a good idea and would not compromise ones driving ability. Cheers all,Mike

Cayden · Post by **Cayden** » Sun Oct 14, 2001 1:17 pm

Practice, yes. But. When thinking of Irish music it is immensely important to understand the phrasing/structure of the dance tunes i.e. which notes are the important ones, which ones you can skip if need be and that sort of thing. You need to know the bones to put some meat on them as they say.
Experienced players instinctively know how a tune is stitched together, often enough I sit to play with old 'locals' and sometimes tunes come up of which you are certain they won't have them. First time round they pick the bones, second playing fills in a few gaps and quite often the tune is there third time round.

Having a tune this way, you will feel more confident, also it is more pleasing to get through a tune when it makes sense. I played with Accordeon player Conot Keane this sunday night (which was a very welcome change from our usual accordeonist Jacky Daly) and Conor has this lovely phrasing going, no effort to play at all.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Peter Laban on 2001-10-15 02:26 ]</font>

LeeMarsh · Post by **LeeMarsh** » Sun Oct 14, 2001 1:19 pm

On 2001-10-13 15:34, Jon-M wrote:
Hello All,
I'm wondering how other folks approach mastering a tune that you've basically learned. That is, after you've learned it by heart getting to that place where you can play it with rock solid utter confidence in a public setting.

I have two suggestions. First find a public setting where you can play it with no confidence at all, or little confidence. This might be in the park across from your house, with a group a friends that get together in your home, or a quite session where you feel accepted and where folks are more concerned about enjoying the music than playing it "right".

I'm visiting here in Houston and one of the sessions is very relaxed and accepting. An accomplished flute player (by accomplished I mean he has 2 solo CD's to his credit) started a tune, lost it, and ended up playing different tune that had a couple of phrases in common. Afterwards he and the rest of us laughed about it. Some of us figured he did it on purpose; but, it sure let the pressure off. It got us to focus on playing instead of performing, great fun resulted.

So my first suggestion is to find a venue or session where you can have fun playing. A place where you feel accepted. Such a session also provides a great opportunity to practice recovering snafu's, like when the phrase you've practiced a hundred time slips away into never-never land and you just can't remember it. Playing with the fun folk will let you catch it the next time it comes around.

My second suggestion is to find a meaning in the tune. What does the tune say to you and how does it express what you want to say?
Sometimes these things arise naturally, like the tune you played for a particular event that just clicked between you, the music, the audience, the other players; it just worked. It becomes the expression of the moment and is remembered as such. The next time the tune is played, you tend to play it to share that moment with some new folks.

If you have a new tune, listen to it without thinking about the mechanics of playing, listen to the way it feels. Close you eyes, what images come to mind as you listen? A mountain brook, a toddler at play in the playground, a quite moment by a fireplace, memories of a lost loved one, memories of a fight fought, victory or defeat. Let the tune seap into you. The next time you play it, don't play the tune, play the feeling and images. Share yourself in the tune.

If you can find a place of acceptance to play where you can share yourself and your music, you've found the magic.

Brian Lee · Post by **Brian Lee** » Sun Oct 14, 2001 2:26 pm

We do this a lot in our session here in Salt Lake too. We'll rack our poor brains to remember a tune, think we're starting it right, and about three measures into it, we realize we're actually playing something completely different! The beauty of it all is that even if we don't know the name, we know the music well enough that most everyone can just jump right in.

Sometimes we'll mix up tunes, and come up with some really strange hybrid kind of tunes that you won't find in ANY tune book! LOL It's funny, and again most of us can follow well enough that it's still a blast to play!

When we're done playing, we'll kind of sit there in the circle, and give each other dumb looks, while scratching our heads and say: "What the heck was THAT all about?!" but we LOVE what we play, and so we'll continue to play it.

We have some tunes down note for note, but to play with that much stiffness and rigidity to whats on paper, seems to take away from the simple pleasure of folk music. At least to me.

So, just relax, play with an open mind, and EXPECT to make a mistake or two. Much of the time, they can add a bit of whimsy to what's being played

Bri~

kardshark87 · Post by **kardshark87** » Sun Oct 14, 2001 3:50 pm

Lee Marsh,
Would that "accomplished player" you're talking about be Turlach Boylan? Just curious....

Brent

Jon-M · Post by **Jon-M** » Mon Oct 15, 2001 7:50 am

Thanks all, for your kind responses. We'll see how it goes.
Jon Michaels

brownja · Post by **brownja** » Mon Oct 15, 2001 8:33 am

One more variation on Practice...
Practice starting at different points in the piece. There are two reasons for this. I play a tune 'till i screw up then start at the beginning again. So after a while, i've played the beginning maybe 5000 times, but only made it to the end twice.
The other reason is that if/when you do make a mistake during a performance, it's import just to keep right on going. My natural tendancy is to say "oops" (or more colorful words to that effect) and reply the bar i'm on. Starting at random points in the piece may help get you back track without having to repeat a section.
Cheers,
jb