Metronome Metronome Metronome

  1. Kevin Stueve
    Kevin Stueve
    Metronome with scales to improve speed -- 15 to 20 minutes most day. Check and noticing improvement.

    Metronome to work through difficult passages and fingerings in classical music -- 15 to 20 minutes most days. Won't know the result until a few more practices with the orchestra.

    Metronome to smooth out my monthly newbie tune (or to satisfy Mark :D ).

    Now my fingers are so sore I can't just noodle.

    This mandolin addiction has accomplished something no band director or piano teacher ever achieved. I'm using that cursed metronome :P
  2. Sherry Cadenhead
    Sherry Cadenhead
    Using a metronome keeps me from speeding up on the easier parts of a piece. I like the metronome, but detest scales. My teacher just suggested a way to make them more tolerable. It works - if anyone is interested. Looks like I just changed the subject. Sometimes I do that. ☺
  3. Kevin Stueve
    Kevin Stueve
    I'm interested continue Sherry
  4. Sherry Cadenhead
    Sherry Cadenhead
    It's nothing revolutionary, really, and maybe everyone's already doing it (except me, of course). I used to play through one octave scales in A, C, D, G and E major. I can do that at varying speeds, depending on the key. With the metronome set on quarter notes, I would play quarter notes first, then eighth, then sixteenth. I just happened to mention to my teacher how bored I am with doing this day after day after day.

    My teacher suggested I only work on exercises for the key in which the piece I'm working on that day is written. So, for example, if my piece is in G major, I'll go through the one octave scale a couple of times, then move on to the descending scale study she wrote for me, then various rhythm, arpeggio, thirds and double stop exercises. I can see how this strategy helps me once I get to the actual music.
  5. Kevin Stueve
    Kevin Stueve
    ah. Since I'm doing the scales as an effort to boost my speed. I tend towards g, d, a major scales with open strings then flip to some
    FFcp Scales like C and G again. Then maybe move scales up the neck. Trying to make sure I work over the majority of the strings and frets from 1 to 10 at various tempos
  6. Sherry Cadenhead
    Sherry Cadenhead
    My teacher wants me to play open strings going up, 4th finger coming down. She says doing this eliminates having to think which you should do each time. It works well for me.
  7. sportsnapper
    sportsnapper
    Rather than pure scale work I’m falling back onto some of my old violin books which have studies - so exercises based around scales such as Carl Flesch and Kreutzer. Still get stuck with 4 sharps though!
    For the pieces I’ve recorded recently, I haven’t been using a metronome - I think I keep pretty good time. But I’ve just been doing a multitrack recording of Michael turners waltz for the song a day group, with a MIDI cello line. I’ve been using a metronome as well, and finding it very difficult to get both th e mandolin parts in sync - much harder than I expected too. I hope it’s I’m just out of practice. I think it’s also quite difficult with a machine based beat - you have no feel for the music.
  8. Kevin Stueve
    Kevin Stueve
    Sherry, yea when I said open string scales I meant open on the way up 4th finger on the way down vs FFcP (four finger closed position) scales where there are no open strings up or down.

    Sportsnapper I've often thought of finding a book of etudes (either for violin or mando) but never had one recommended.
  9. Sherry Cadenhead
    Sherry Cadenhead
    My teacher is primarily a clasical violin and viola teacher. She's given me a few etudes. Would you like for me to ask her for a recommendation?
  10. Mark Gunter
    Mark Gunter
    #LoveTheGnome
  11. Louise NM
    Louise NM
    Kevin, Marilynn Mair's Complete Mandolinist has three or four etudes in each major/minor key, up to four flats or sharps. (And four of either is plenty, I would say. Anything else is just abusive.) Some she seems to have written herself, the rest are from various mandolin and violin etude books. This book is wonderfully complete.

    As Sportsnapper says, the Flesch scale studies is about as complete as you can get.

    The Franz Wohlfahrt 60 Studies for the Violin, Op. 45, is a good resource. The Kreutzer etudes are classic for violin, but I would say they are of limited use for mandolin. Some yes, some no. If you have someone else to play with the Bartók 44 Duos For Two Violins are a lot of fun. Odd rhythms, Eastern European flavor. If you are working on learning positions, the Harvey Whistler Introducing the Positions books are good. The red one is third and fifth, the blue-green one is second and fourth.

    If there is a decent violin shop in your area, go browse through books and see what looks good to you.
  12. Posterboy
    Posterboy
    Definitely metronome and scales and also think about recording yourself too. Trying to analyse your playing whilst your playing is using too much brain power for me.

    Run scales in different interval sequences and rhythms, many players use these in their improvisation so it is useful.

    Like descending in 3rds with a triplet rhythm
  13. Mark Gunter
    Mark Gunter
    Kevin, here is a public domain sheet of forty "mandoline studies"

    http://www.mandotopia.com/ge/Hucke40.pdf

    I found it on this page, which has several more public domain sources.

    http://www.mandotopia.com/mandolinPD3.htm

    Also, check this out:

    http://www.mandotopia.com/mandolinPD2.htm
  14. Kevin Stueve
    Kevin Stueve
    thanks Mark
  15. sportsnapper
    sportsnapper
    I like in those studies - though of course, you could just play Bach! I'm working on the Allegro of the 6th Violin Sonata G major, BWV 1019 - atm - found in my box of old music. It's got my old violin teachers finger markings pencilled in - he was a wonderful old Polish chap, and a superb musician. Brings back a few memories...
  16. Kevin Stueve
    Kevin Stueve
    oh I play bach . but lately all I get done is work on the pieces for the mandolin orchestra concert
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