Practice time?

[The_walrus0]

Do you guys have any tips of how to get the most out of my thirty or so minutes of practice?

I can read the notes and understand tonguing. I've been going through the ornamentation part of the Clarke tin whistle tutor book, and I've also picked up the Complete Irish Tin Whistle Tutor.

They are helpful and I feel I'm making progress in getting ornamentation to be a bit more natural.

I just can't play a dern song! Most of them are so fast and even the slow ones often sound so different on the CD that I feel I must be doing something wrong. I am playing the right notes, I just feel like I'm not getting the right rythm maybe?

Does anyone have any tips when learning a song? I listen and I play, rinse and repeat. Still, the tune that's coming out of my whistle doesn't sound much like what they play on the CDs.



I love my whistle and I'll never put it down as long as I live, I'm just afraid I'm holding myself back somehow.

[maki]

You won't be fast for a while.
Don't worry about speed, just focus on accuracy and speed will come after a time.
I didn't worry about any ornamentation for the first 8-9 months, besides basic cuts.
YMMV

So what tunes are you working on?

[Feadoggie]

I just can't play a dern song!

No wonder! We sing the songs. We play the tunes.

I listen and I play, rinse and repeat.

Listen, listen, listen, listen. Have the tune solidly in your mind and heart. Play,play,play. Listen. (Dance) Play. Listen. Play.

Use slow down software to change the tempo to be slower but without changing the pitch. What you use depends on how you are set up computer and siftware wise. Speed controls are built into many currently available software music players these days. That can help get you up to speed.

Feadoggie

[MadmanWithaWhistle]

I'm a very listening and memory based person, so my approach may not work for you, but I'll offer it just in case. It's doubtful I could learn a song well without having heard it at least once. I have to memorize what it should sound like first before I can play it. If you're having problems getting through a song, try writing in breath breaks and focusing on playing the entire song through (even with mistakes), rather than taking it in sections.

[highwood]

try... focusing on playing the entire song through (even with mistakes)

I would like to add a huge caveat to that statement: While I understand the intention it is good to remember that you play what you practice, and if you practice mistakes you will play mistakes. Now you do learn from mistakes the trick is to hear them and NOT practice them. So if you play a tune all the through several times and make the the same mistake twice stop and practice just that bit, get it right before you try to play it all the way through.

Same with speed - slow your playing down to the point that speed is not causing errors. Speed will come (or not).

JS Bach once offered an organ student some remarkably simple advice. Organ playing he said, "...is nothing remarkable..., all one has to do is hit the right notes at the right time and the instrument plays itself."

I am playing the right notes

If so it is probably the rhythm - though the twiddly bits do change the sound of it all, you can have very little or a whole bunch and the tune can still have the right feel/sound.

I listen and I play, rinse and repeat

Exactly the right thing to do, just don't expect results overnight.
A teacher can help.
It is hard to really listen to yourself play, you're just too involved - but to become really good it must happen. Recording your playing can be enlightening - you still have to figure out what you are doing wrong if you don't like the sound of it.

I could ramble on, but I won't!

Oh, most importantly, enjoy yourself. And remember 'boring practice stuff' becomes easier and more enjoyable as you get better.

[ecohawk]

Feadoggie's point about using slow-down software is the best way to go. I've been very successful by breaking a tune down into a few parts, then learn each part at the correct rhythm but at a slower tempo. When you can play through the entire tune at a slow tempo, gradually increase the tempo to the point where errors begin to creep back in, then work on playing all the way through slightly slower than that and keep trying to increase the speed. This is the only place I've found a metronome helpful. I wouldn't get stuck too much with the metronome on everything but it has helped me quite a lot with the faster tunes.

I'd be a little careful of practicing tunes over and over at speed when you are making mistakes. Perfect practice makes perfect.

good luck,
ecohawk

[Peter Duggan]

If you're having problems getting through a song, try writing in breath breaks and focusing on playing the entire song through (even with mistakes), rather than taking it in sections.

Like highwood, I think that's misguided advice! The bit about the breath breaks is fine, but the rest completely counter-productive... you must break things down and slow them down as necessary (NB this can be strangely satisfying when you resist the temptation to speed them up or put them back together too early) and mustn't try rebuilding too soon (although we probably all do/have done from time to time) or you're just learning all the wrong moves...

Now if only I had a penny for every time I've heard a pupil (on whatever instrument) 'practising' by playing tunes right through and hoping they'd just sort themselves out in the end!

[Mr Ed]

I didn't worry about any ornamentation for the first 8-9 months, besides basic cuts.

I must be slow 'cause every time I try adding more ornamentation the rhythm and phrasing suffers, and this is after almost a year of playing. I do some exercises with a metronome to get the fingers used to those twiddly things, but the spontaneous adding of them to a tune still looks far off in the distance.

Do you guys have any tips of how to get the most out of my thirty or so minutes of practice?

Maybe cut it down to 15. Use the rest of the time for fun by playing tunes you know well, or trying to pick out theme music to TV shows by ear. Whatever it is, enjoy it!

I've been going through the ornamentation part of the Clarke tin whistle tutor book, and I've also picked up the Complete Irish Tin Whistle Tutor.

You could be getting ahead of yourself. I tried skipping to the ornamentation section of the Clarke Tin Whistle book too soon and the rhythm and phrasing suffered for it. I know some are of the opinion to start right away, but some of us take longer to get this stuff down, especially those of us new to ITM to being with. Slow down, both in what you're trying to learn and the tempo of the tunes. Break up the tune in phrases, learn bit by bit. If someone else learns it in a week good for them, but if you takes you two weeks...don't worry about it.

[Poppi]

I'm certainly no expert, but I am satisfied with my progress of late. When I first started playing, I tried to learn ornamentation too soon at the expense of rhythm. I was also impatient with the tempo. Be patient. Slow the tune down and concentrate on rhythm. I like to memorize the tune and work on it repeatedly. I practice phrases or parts of phrases that give me trouble until they no longer give me trouble.

I also like to search the Internet for videos/recordings of tunes that I am working on so I can get a sense of phrasing, rhythm and variation (and for examples that I do not want to emulate).

Having said all of this, I know I am holding myself back by not getting personal instruction.

[bigskybri]

Do you guys have any tips of how to get the most out of my thirty or so minutes of practice?

--cut---



I love my whistle and I'll never put it down as long as I live, I'm just afraid I'm holding myself back somehow.

Why limit yourself to 30 minutes? Just keep on playing if time is not an issue. Also, bring a whistle where ever you go. I'm always packing a whistle and will pull it out for a quick toot or two should the opportunity arise.

[killthemessenger]

I had a co-worker like that once. Always pulling his whistle out for a little tootle. Loveable little chap. Can't remember exactly what happened to him... no, hang on, it's coming back to me... no... lost it. Some accident. Anyway, he never came back to work after the surgery.

[Nomi]

It might help to pick one tune you really like and work it through relentlessly. Play fairly slow a few times through and pay attention to the places you mess up consistently. Then play up to one of this spots, then beat it with a stick until it gives in. I go over and over the fingering of tough spots in increments, (driving my kids mad in the process), until it becomes pure muscle memory. Then work it back into the song because it can become detached, like a word the suddenly doesn't mean anything if you say it too many times. Don't worry too much about ornamentation, you can work that in later. Once you own a song (pardon, tune) in your hands and heart, it beomes your b*tch and you can make it do what you want.

[The_walrus0]

All of this advice has been incredibly helpful!

I hadn't even thought of using a software to slow down the song, which would be so very helpful in getting the right rythm out of the song.

Now, I think the reason I've been feeling off is because I do need to work on rythm.

I have been learning ornamentation mostly to help me separate the notes.

So this weekend I'll find some software to slow down the song and I'll go from there.

I really just felt like I was missing a piece of the puzzle. I don't much like tonguing and so I wanted a way to separate the notes but I got all caught up in ornamentation without learning the rythm really well.

Thanks everyone! I am definitely keeping it fun. I also have not settled on one specific tune, which I think I should do.

Alright guys, I have goals! That's all I needed.

[Feadoggie]

So this weekend I'll find some software to slow down the song and I'll go from there.

You may already have some software to do this. Microsoft's Media Player has it built -in, as one example. You can search the board for what folks use or recommend. Here's one thread where it was discussed a while back just to get you started. viewtopic.php?f=43&t=77196 Things have advanced a bit since then.

Feadoggie

[chas]

It might help to pick one tune you really like and work it through relentlessly. . .

This was a great post. It's to a great extent how it clicked for me (along with slowdown software, which many have mentioned). Two things I might add. One tune began clicking with me, and that's the one I beat on. So you might pick a favorite tune, or one that just fits with your style/level of playing. The other thing I'd add is, record yourself and listen back, preferably back-to-back with the same tune by someone you like, slowed down to the same pace. Then you'll hear what you just feel is wrong with your playing.