This is a great technique. My teacher has had me use it for learning difficult (for me) rhythms, except that I would make a mark every time I played it correctly (from the written music), and I didn't have to start over every time I didn't play it correctly. Had to force myself to do it.
2018 Girouard Concert oval A
2015 JP "Whitechapel" tenor banjo
2018 Frank Tate tenor guitar
1969 Martin 00-18
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That’s a good point Jill, I’ve actually just reached that block out stage where I can read fast enough to be able to play a lot of tunes straight off.
This means that I can play new tunes by reading, but five minutes later I have no idea how to begin them.
-though for some strange reason I can remember the finger flow if they are standard tunes once I get started.
So my objective now is to play ‘air’ mandolin a lot more often.
Like miming with fingers but with no mandolin.
Sherry, as Jill says, there is no requirement to play from notation but equally no ban on anyone using notation for SAW postings. In my own case there are lots of tunes I have posted on the SAW group where I just played them from the notation and if you asked me to play them now I doubt if I could, certainly not without having the notes in front of me. I am a reasonably fluent reader of standard notation and so I find that those tunes have not been learned but just played as I recorded them.
Tunes I can play from memory are ones I play regularly, both alone and in the sessions I play in and also with my band, though the band has not been happening over the past year. It is interesting that even when I have not played a memorised tune for some time, it seems to come back to me as soon as I start to play it.
I am just back in from playing in a live session from 8pm till 10.30 and there was not a single piece of notation during this session. We all know each other and well and are also familiar with the tunes and sets that are likely to crop up during the evening. We have no set list but just take it in turns to start a tune and see what happens. It is great fun!
I'm playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order. - Eric Morecambe
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