Practice, practice, practice
- Ctrl Alt Del
- Posts: 83
- Joined: Tue Dec 25, 2007 8:32 pm
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: Wollongong, Australia
Practice, practice, practice
We're always told that practicing in the solution for most of our musical instrument problems, including the whistle.
I'm interested to hear from people as to what they do for practice. Coming from a classical flute background I grew up with scales, arpeggios etc, exercises and of course pieces. Being new to the whistle I'd be keen to hear what people do in their whistle practice.
thanks
I'm interested to hear from people as to what they do for practice. Coming from a classical flute background I grew up with scales, arpeggios etc, exercises and of course pieces. Being new to the whistle I'd be keen to hear what people do in their whistle practice.
thanks
I find that I need rebooting every now and then!
- FJohnSharp
- Posts: 3050
- Joined: Thu May 30, 2002 6:00 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
- Tell us something.: I used to be a regular then I took up the bassoon. Bassoons don't have a lot of chiff. Not really, I have always been a drummer, and my C&F years were when I was a little tired of the drums. Now I'm back playing drums. I mist the C&F years, though.
- Location: Kent, Ohio
I think you need to throw a few exercises in with the tunes. Gray Larson has exercises in his books, and there is another book for fife players called Better, Stronger, Faster that works on smoothness and scales. But tunes are great too if you stay on the lookout for snippets in tunes that can become exercises. Make a note of those places that trip you up and add them to your exercise regimen. For example I have trouble with 'pedal tones' that are found in tunes like 'Reconciliation' and 'Mooncoin Jig.' I try to do a few of those as exercises.
Classical players are taught to do exercises for a reason--because it works.
Classical players are taught to do exercises for a reason--because it works.
- free-feet
- Posts: 173
- Joined: Sat Nov 03, 2007 3:55 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
- Location: The Beautiful South Coast of Devon
- Contact:
Learn tunes, play tunes. Learn fiddly bits while playing tunes with fiddly bits in them. 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. It's much more fun!
I used to play classical brass so i do know that it's much more fun from real experience.
I used to play classical brass so i do know that it's much more fun from real experience.
I never liked exercises so I don't often, if at all, do them. Instead just play tunes, play the ones you know already atleast once a day to keep them sharp and/or try to add in some variations. And then just pick a new tune and practice that one.
Some people like doing scales and other exercises but I find it to be boring and it doesn't give me much incentive to pick up my instrument and play. Besides by playing tunes and enjoying yourself you'll develope the same skills as doing exercises too while enjoying yourself more.
Some people like doing scales and other exercises but I find it to be boring and it doesn't give me much incentive to pick up my instrument and play. Besides by playing tunes and enjoying yourself you'll develope the same skills as doing exercises too while enjoying yourself more.
- wvwhistler
- Posts: 162
- Joined: Sat Jun 23, 2007 2:16 pm
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: West Virginia
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 or I might just play nonsense that is perhaps scales or rolls or some other ornamentation. Every once in a while I might try blindly honking out a bit of a tune that I fancy on my CD's to see if my memory of each note is getting better thus making it easier to play by ear.
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." - Oscar Wilde
"All the world's a stage, and most of us are desperately unrehearsed." - Sean O'Casey
"All the world's a stage, and most of us are desperately unrehearsed." - Sean O'Casey
- riverman
- Posts: 692
- Joined: Sun Nov 06, 2005 4:05 pm
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: Eel River, Indiana
I'm very sloppy with my practice. I never play scales, or practice rolls, except in tunes. Somehow, however, I did learn cuts and rolls, though I need more speed with the rolls. I play whatever song is capturing my fancy at the moment. Sometimes I play all the tunes I know, and I can't do that in one sitting anymore.
And so, in spite of all my efforts, I've improved.
And so, in spite of all my efforts, I've improved.
"Whoever comes to me I will never drive away." --Jesus Christ.
- Tucson Whistler
- Posts: 389
- Joined: Thu Sep 20, 2007 1:47 pm
- antispam: No
- Location: Tucson, AZ
I play tune after tune, then practice any tricky parts in the tunes, and then try to add some ornamentation (this part is new since getting The Essential Guide...). I also pick a song I like and practice it a lot until I have it and then I find another and do the same thing.
"Life is far too important to be taken seriously"
~Oscar Wilde
~Oscar Wilde
- WyoBadger
- Posts: 2708
- Joined: Wed Jun 27, 2001 6:00 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
- Tell us something.: "Tell us something" hits me a bit like someone asking me to tell a joke. I can always think of a hundred of them until someone asks me for one. You know how it is. Right now, I can't think of "something" to tell you. But I have to use at least 100 characters to inform you of that.
- Location: Wyoming
I agree. (I asked this question once and got similar answers) I would add a couple ideas, though: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. It's much more fun!
1. Practice tunes at a variety of speeds. Remember that accuracy and "life" are more important than speed. Sometimes I force myself to slow my barn-burner tunes way down and work technique. They always sound so good when I speed them back up after a week or so of that!
2. Get a good metronome and use it regularly. I don't like practicing with a metronome, but try to spend part of my practice time with one. It will do wonders for your playing.
3. Frequently learn new tunes by ear, listening to recordings. Even if you don't get the tunes memorized, it's great training for the ears, it will make it easier to pick up new tunes when playing with friends, and it's fun.
I'm a classically trained brass player too, Freefeet (euphonium), though I generally wear shoes when performing. My whistle practice is a lot less regimented than my euphonium, though I actually love playing Arban exercises--what a nerd.
Tom
Fall down six times. Stand up seven.
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...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.
So exercises, even if they consist of difficult pieces from a tune, ought to focus your attention better than just tunes.
~ Diane
Flutes: Tipple D and E flutes and a Casey Burns Boxwood Rudall D flute
Whistles: Jerry Freeman Tweaked D Blackbird
Flutes: Tipple D and E flutes and a Casey Burns Boxwood Rudall D flute
Whistles: Jerry Freeman Tweaked D Blackbird
It took a while, but I've finally convinced myself that I MUST play each tune correctly the first time through during each practice. On tunes where I have a known problem area, this means I play that tune VERY slowly the first time through each day, slow enough so I'm sure I can get the difficult part right on the first try. No surprise to the regulars here, going slow is the way to get fast.sbfluter wrote: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.
The Walrus
What would a wild walrus whistle if a walrus could whistle wild?
The second mouse may get the cheese but the presentation leaves a lot to be desired.
What would a wild walrus whistle if a walrus could whistle wild?
The second mouse may get the cheese but the presentation leaves a lot to be desired.
- anniemcu
- Posts: 8024
- Joined: Thu Sep 11, 2003 8:42 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 10
- Location: A little left of center, and 100 miles from St. Louis
- Contact:
All the tunes you already know, the tunes you are working on learning, the scales on every whistle you own, those little parts that are giving you a hard time, the half-hole or alternate fingerings you choose, tunes from your memory that aren't necessarily in the genre you want to play but that you already know the melody of well, patterns of scales with triplets, doubles, singles, taps, rolls, crans, etc., any little ditty you like the sound of... getting your fingers to know where they are, your mouth to know where the note is, your ear to know what the note is and where to go next... and anything else that gets you more in touch and in tune with the music and the instrument, therefore more comfortable and confident in what you are doing.
edited to correct multiple typos
edited to correct multiple typos
Last edited by anniemcu on Fri Jan 18, 2008 6:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
anniemcu
---
"You are what you do, not what you claim to believe." -Gene A. Statler
---
"Olé to you, none-the-less!" - Elizabeth Gilbert
---
http://www.sassafrassgrove.com
---
"You are what you do, not what you claim to believe." -Gene A. Statler
---
"Olé to you, none-the-less!" - Elizabeth Gilbert
---
http://www.sassafrassgrove.com