Green Book gracenote lesson question

[MichaelRS]

Having a problem understanding the following;



At the top of page 29 of my "Green Book", the gracenote excercise shows a Low G and two low A's with a G grace note between the low A's.

But it says the the common mistake is to move the little finger before the high G finger producig an extra low A.
then
Make sure the first finger to move is the high G.

But that is not how I read it.
I'm reading: sound a low G, sound an 1/8 low A (thus moving the little finger first), then hit the high G gracenote between it and the last low A.

What am I not understanding? Or is it just written/explained poorly in realtion to the music notation?

[MichaelLoos]

What you're looking at is the written out "common mistake" - it's how NOT to do it.
Mark it with a red X.
What you are supposed to do is "low G - G gracenote onto low A", watching that the gracenote is spot on the A, and not, after a short A has already been sounded.

[MichaelRS]

What you're looking at is the written out "common mistake" - it's how NOT to do it.
Mark it with a red X.
What you are supposed to do is "low G - G gracenote onto low A", watching that the gracenote is spot on the A, and not, after a short A has already been sounded.

So you ARE, then, in effect, sounding two A's...seperated by the gracenote?

And to get that "first" A, you have to move your R-little finger first. Ja?

[MichaelLoos]

No - there's supposed to be only ONE A, with a G grace note BEFORE it.
Play low G, play a G gracenote by lifting the left forefinger, then immediately open the right little finger for A.

At the top of page 29 of my "Green Book", the gracenote excercise shows a Low G and two low A's with a G grace note between the low A's.

This is NOT an exercise, it is to show what is commonly done wrong. It's the mistake written down, actually to clarify things...
The right way to play it is shown at the beginning of lesson 3 - low G, Gracenote, low A - that's all.
If there is a first and a second low A, separated by a grace note, you're doing it wrong.

[MichaelRS]

No - there's supposed to be only ONE A, with a G grace note BEFORE it.
Play low G, play a G gracenote by lifting the left forefinger, then immediately open the right little finger for A.

At the top of page 29 of my "Green Book", the gracenote excercise shows a Low G and two low A's with a G grace note between the low A's.

This is NOT an exercise, it is to show what is commonly done wrong. It's the mistake written down, actually to clarify things...
The right way to play it is shown at the beginning of lesson 3 - low G, Gracenote, low A - that's all.
If there is a first and a second low A, separated by a grace note, you're doing it wrong.

Ooops. I'm a rock. Sorry. Thga's EZ enough to do. I wonder why they bothered writing out the other. Because THAT, as written, would be played as i said, right?

[MichaelLoos]

Because THAT, as written, would be played as i said, right?

Right - you've got it!
When I started playing I found this quite helpful, to make clear what NOT to do.
Many beginners have great difficulties playing a gracenote exactly ON the note, and they all tend to make exactly this mistake. It's probably because they have to concentrate on two things at a time - the gracenote and the next melody note. The only way is, gracenote exercises (even though they are boring), watching yourself very well, until your fingers develop a kind of "memory" so you don't have to think about the grace notes any longer. Once the finger movement as such works well, a metronome can help a lot to get the grace notes in the right timing.

[MichaelRS]

Because THAT, as written, would be played as i said, right?

Right - you've got it!
When I started playing I found this quite helpful, to make clear what NOT to do.
Many beginners have great difficulties playing a gracenote exactly ON the note, and they all tend to make exactly this mistake. It's probably because they have to concentrate on two things at a time - the gracenote and the next melody note. The only way is, gracenote exercises (even though they are boring), watching yourself very well, until your fingers develop a kind of "memory" so you don't have to think about the grace notes any longer. Once the finger movement as such works well, a metronome can help a lot to get the grace notes in the right timing.

Many thanks for the pointers and heads up.
M

[pancelticpiper]

Yes cleanly changing notes with a gracenote is difficult for some beginners!

One teacher had the following system, which I've found to be helpful with some students:

"Lift two, replace one." By this he meant to lift the gracenote finger and melody finger(s) together, then replace the gracenote finger. So he would slow down the movement in question, going from Low G to Low A with a High G gracenote, like:
x xxx xxxx
x oxx xxxo
x xxx xxxo

And if going from, say, E to D with a High G gracenote, he might have the beginner do this:
x xxo xxxo
x oxo ooox
x xxx ooox

I should say that I've had one or two students over the years that had SUCH problems with changing notes with gracenotes that the only way I could get them to play them cleanly was to break everything down into FOUR steps, putting the melody note change in the middle of the gracenote, which absolutely insures a clean note-change.

For each note change, they would have to lift the gracenote finger, then change the melody note, then replace the gracenote finger:
x xxx xxxx
x oxx xxxx
x oxx xxxo
x xxx xxxo