Chiff and Fipple Forums

sbfluter wrote:

free-feet wrote:What's the use in exercises when there's a tune with every technique you need to learn in it that you can learn to play instead.

I guess the thing is if I only play the tune, then the tricky part comes around once every minute's worth of playing, and if I mess it up, then it's another minute before I get a chance to try again, and if I mess it up, then that's twice now I've reinforced the mistake, so I hope that in a minute or so I'll try again, but nope, I flubbed it again, so maybe next time round...

So exercises, even if they consist of difficult pieces from a tune, ought to focus your attention better than just tunes.

If there's a tricky part in a tune, just play the tricky part! You don't have to go through the whole tune just to get back to the tricky part again.

So, if part B of a tune is a real problem and part A is a doddle, then you don't need to keep playing part A, just part B. Or even if it's just a bar or two of a tune, just play that bar or two until you get it sorted out.

Break tunes down into bits and practice the bits that are causing the problems more than the bits that aren't.

I have 2 sheets - one for jigs and one for reels each with the tunes I know listed by the key. When I practice tunes, I look at the lists and try new combinations of tunes/keys. That way I'm practicing in sets - the way you play at sessions. Sometimes I discover some new, good sets and also some that don't work so well. Either way I'm learning!

doogieman wrote:I have 2 sheets - one for jigs and one for reels each with the tunes I know listed by the key. When I practice tunes, I look at the lists and try new combinations of tunes/keys. That way I'm practicing in sets - the way you play at sessions. Sometimes I discover some new, good sets and also some that don't work so well. Either way I'm learning!

Add some slides. They can ooze back and forth between your two sheets! Heck, add some airs. They can evaporate from one sheet, and condense to the other!

Well, gotta polkalong now.....

Don't forget lots of listening.

I practiced cuts, taps, and rolls, but I never learned them properly till I found the appropriate tunes that exemplified them. The most important thing, at least early on, is to find tunes you like. Listen to them over and over, play them over and over.

crookedtune wrote:

doogieman wrote:I have 2 sheets - one for jigs and one for reels each with the tunes I know listed by the key. When I practice tunes, I look at the lists and try new combinations of tunes/keys. That way I'm practicing in sets - the way you play at sessions. Sometimes I discover some new, good sets and also some that don't work so well. Either way I'm learning!

Add some slides. They can ooze back and forth between your two sheets! Heck, add some airs. They can evaporate from one sheet, and condense to the other!

Well, gotta polkalong now.....

And make sure you're three sheets to the wind while you're at it.

Thanks for all the good advise everyone.

It seems that the consensus is:

• play some exercises
  play tunes - especially the hard bits
  listen lots
  play more tunes
  and practice, practice, practice

Although I think that if I followed the example of wvwhistler

I keep mine on the desk near me along with some sheet music. When I'm sitting there thinking, I pick up one of the whistles and play ten seconds of a song I'm working on...

I may get into trouble with the boss.

Anyway, I better go and practice!!

Ctrl Alt Del wrote: Although I think that if I followed the example of wvwhistler

I keep mine on the desk near me along with some sheet music. When I'm sitting there thinking, I pick up one of the whistles and play ten seconds of a song I'm working on...

I may get into trouble with the boss.

Anyway, I better go and practice!!

I only do this at home. I don't get much stopping time at work seeing that I work in a hospital so I don't recommend it at work unless you are the boss!

Lots of good advice in this thread. My own practice is to play tunes. Slow down the difficult parts and repeat them a bunch of times. If you learn enough tunes, you'll find difficult scales/arpeggios, etc within one tune or another.

If you insist on playing scales and classical exercises, you might do them with jig/reel/hornpipe rhythms. Otherwise, you might be reinforcing a non-swing style of playing, which I've heard a lot from people who come from a classical background. A listener should always be able to identify the downbeat.

My #1 rule for myself is to learn tunes that I like to play. Nothing can conflict with that. That way, I end up only practicing things I like. Clever, huh?

Bonus tip: If you feel yourself getting bored with your practice routine, learn a new tune. It'll wake you right up.
Tony

Here's another idea that has worked wonders for me: Get an iPod or similar and put all the tunes you are learning on it. Put it in your car and listen to that instead of the radio. Once the tunes are in your head, learning them is much easier.

walrii wrote:Here's another idea that has worked wonders for me: Get an iPod or similar and put all the tunes you are learning on it. Put it in your car and listen to that instead of the radio. Once the tunes are in your head, learning them is much easier.

thats what i do too, but the ratio of my time spend on listening (to the tunes and of cuz other types of music) to practise ...hmm around 200:1...

listening more really helps, you can notice how the master players add ornaments and take notice of their style (using slides, rolls, crans, etc)

walrii wrote:Here's another idea that has worked wonders for me: Get an iPod or similar and put all the tunes you are learning on it. Put it in your car and listen to that instead of the radio. Once the tunes are in your head, learning them is much easier.

it deffinitly helps, but kinda gets annoying after a while cause they are always there! and wont leave

I make an i-tunes playlist from cd's of tunes I'm learning or maintaining, put them into the ipod, put on headphones, and play along one after the other.
Tony

I suggest listening to as much solo whistling as you can find.

Seamus Ennis said 7 years listening.