I’m pretty excited, so I wanted to share this. Everybody has different ways they like to do things. I just wanted to share what is really working for me.
I’ve only been playing about 6 mos. I have a list of tunes, about 20 or so, that I know, and that I play regularly. Sometimes it gets a little monotonous playing all of the same songs, constantly at the same speeds.... I needed to figure out a way to start advancing.
Well about a week ago, I got Strum Machine. This is an awesome app if you are not familiar with it. Well it had just about all of the tunes that I knew preloaded. So, immediately it was pretty neat playing my tunes with a backup band.
But then I started messing around with the auto speed increased, I forget exactly what they call it. But you can customize it any way you like. What I am doing is having a tune loop or replay about 6-8 times, depending on the tune. I start it at a slightly slower than comfortable speed. It is crucial to be honest with yourself, and set this accordingly. You do not wanna learn or practice sloppy playing.
So, the first time through, I do the melody, and it is a mellow speed, usually 60 bpm. During this, I am focusing hard on playing very clean, precise notes. I have the Strum Machine set to advance 2-3 bpm per loop, again depending on the tune.
The second time through, I will play backup. Don’t want to neglect that...
Then, I am back on melody. By now, it getting around 65-68. Then it will advance again, and again....,,
The first time I cannot keep up, and play clean, I stop. Then adjust numbers accordingly. Right there in the app there is a notepad that you can use for each song and in that I usually put a date and the speeds that I was hitting.
I find by starting a little slower on the melody focusing on clarity and then easing up the speed without having to stop altogether just kind of gradually ease you into playing faster and I’m really seeing big results.
I have added about 10 bpm do you everything and play just in the last 7 to 10 days or so.
Let me know if you have any other thoughts or ideas or if you have any questions about any of this or if you have a different system altogether that you prefer.
Just trying to help....
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