Escaping Mediocrity

[MandoJon]

I have started the New Year with the intention of systematically working through Bickford, regardless of whether I think I know a given technique or not. So I swallowed my 'perpetually intermediate' mandolinist's pride and opened at page 1. I propose to periodically share my experiences in case they might help other terminally-mediocre players:

1) The rest stroke I find unnatural but then nobody ever taught me either how to hold the plectrum or how to use it. I've alway just done what came most naturally. It's not the swing of the arc (which I like because I get more volume and an arguably better tone) but the resting on the adjacent string. I've been playing guitar and mandolin for years and never done it (or seen the need for it). I'm encouraged that some of you said that it's not the only way!

2) I am trying out the "standard" grip recommended by Bickford (I have always used the "pencil grip"). The only advantage I have found is that my two-course tremelo is now a rough approximation of something credible (where as before I found this very difficult). If anything, my normal tremelo is now worse than before and the plecturm slips much more when playing vigorous chords. I've tried this grip before and found it akin to what a gorrila must feel like doing caligraphy. This time around though, things are a bit better. Is there anything inherently wrong with the "pencil" grip? Is it worth the effort to relearn how to hold a plectrum?

3) There is a great deal of emphasis on plectrum direction. Again I've always just kind of flowed without thinking about it (usually defaulting to consistent DUDUDUDU but that pattern changes unconciously depending on triplets and other stuff). Dumb question: does it really matter THAT much?

Phew! This is all so basic but I've never been challenged to think about it before!

Generally, I have noticed a slight improvement already in my reading ability but it's patchy, especially for reading waltzes (for some reason). I can play them if I know them already and I can improvise a credible impromtu waltz - but reading it, even slowly (which I have to) it sounds like an uncoordinated three yearold plucking a rubber band guitar.

Please feel free to comment, or beg me not to continue with the diary, etc!

[Bob A]

As no one knowledgeable seems inclined to chime in at the moment, I'll wander in where angels fear to tread.

My thinking about the "rest on adjacent string" thing is that it is meant to encourage the habit of strongly plucking the PAIR of strings, rahther than choking up the stroke.

I was fine with alternating pick direction and, as you say, more or less unconsciously changing the pattern as it seemed proper. The Gertrud Troester video, with a section on downstroke only, opened my ears to the tonal difference such playing can make. Now of course my playing is neither fish nor fowl (I avoid the temptation to substitute "foul", but I am as usual unsuccessful). I'm between the intuitive playing stage and the overly-self-conscious-of-my-picking stage. My expectation is that I will eventually internalise what I'm learning, and revert to playing intuitively on a higher level. Well, I can dream.

My hope is to meet up with an actual teacher for a series of lessons to identify my bad habits and accumulate some good ones. Who knows - it may happen.

Good luck to you, and kudos for the aim for self-improvement.

[Eugene]

I love that ol' book. In addition to a conscious effort to ensure both strings are plucked, I think the rest stroke encourages you to drive the plectrum in towards the soundboard of the mandolin on the downstroke for stronger tone...which I guess you implied wholly satisfactorily, Bob.

I think the essence of Bickford on pick direction can be distilled to the same message in Gertrud's videos: downstroke should be the default and the upstroke is to be used when there are too many notes to execute in downstroke. Of course, there is a bit more in the detail, but that's the essence.

[MandoJon]

Thanks for the comments guys. I appreciate suggestions and input.

Bob said:

My hope is to meet up with an actual teacher

I'd love to have an actual teacher but I don't know any in the area and doubt I could afford a decent teacher anyway, hence my decision to go back to basics. It really hurts the old pride but I reckon its the only way to do it by myself.

Last night I concentrated on pick direction as per Bickford and it brought back memories of my early days playing guitar. Back then (pre-mandolin) I naturally defaulted to downstrokes for everything except the "diddley" bits. I got told off for this by "more experienced" guitarists and also found books that said I should always use alternating strokes. How peeved am I to have to relearn something that was once natural and I took pains to unlearn until it become an unconcious thing! I'm encouraged by Eugene to persevere on this.

Perhaps it's the angle I hold the mandolin but I would have to contort my wrist a little to effect the rest. (I know I hold it a bit funny from habit of playing folk music with fiddles, bodhrans etc - I hold the back away from my belly for volume and slightly twist the sound board up to help me hear myself above their din). Driving the plectrum is good though and that is something I've taken from the rest-stroke idea and it has definately improved the tone and volume. I find I can also play more powerfully with a greater degree of relaxation in the wrist. I also think that it helps the rhythm a bit because it feels a bit more akin to strumming and I play rhythm guitar in my church band.

As for "pencil grip" vs "standard grip". I'm going to push on with relearning how to hold the plectrum. I know that the pencil grip is not wrong because I've seen it advocated by the likes of Simon Mayor but I also notice he defaults to the standard grip as do most of the really good players I've seen. Given that it helps my two-course tremelo - that's an advantage so I'll stick with it. I'm loosing the feeling of being ham fisted and rapidly loosing the urge to revert to the pencil grip as the new way becomes more familiar.

I have another go at the Dicky Bird Waltz (page 30). It still just sounds like an untuneful succession of notes with no resemblance to the pulse of a waltz. I had to run through some jigs and reels at high speed to get over my frustration. Why didn't I pay attention in music classes at school

BINGO! I just looked up my PDF copy to get the page number and it suddenly dawned on me that if I group bars in pairs as "sub-clauses" within a phrase, it makes sense (when I tap it out on my desk with my finger - having no mandolin to hand). That was an on-line Eureka moment!!!!

Is anybody else working on Bickford? Please join in if you are and if you are a mandolin guru, please criticise, comment or question.

Jon

[MandoJon]

Last night I cracked the Dicky Bird Waltz although I still think it's a silly tune and not particularly melodic (which I believe was part of my problem). My guess is that Bickford is actually teaching you about tremelo by stealth - a comment which will only make sense if you see how he's written the piece and notice that the section on tremelo comes soon after this piece.

The chord notation is interesting (pages 31 and 32). As a guitarist, I had always taken the veritcal wiggly line to mean a strum somewhere between a normal strum and an arpeggio (sort of harp-like). Perhaps this is what Bickford means because he gets you to do a glide/push-stroke/coule of the individual notes first and then tells you to play the chord in a like manner. I think I will continue to assume that all chords without the virtcal wiggly line are strummed normmally and those with the wiggle get the coule treatment (as I always have to date) unless somebody wiser can tell me otherwise?

[MandoJon]

OK - onwards and upwards. Last night I moved on to pages 32 to 37 covering Tremelo, using the fourth finger and the Firefly Waltz.

This section went much faster because I can already do a passable tremelo. Having changed plectrum grip, I find my tremelo a bit 'sticky' but, by playing more confidently, I can usually improve it. The Waltz was infinitely better than the Dicky Bird Waltz perhaps because it was a bit more melodic and so more instantly "waltzable".

As I did the exercies using the fourth finger I was reminded of the Aonzo family scales and the FFcP. I must start doing these again. I also concentrated on pick direction and way I plucked the strings especially on the exercies on pages 36 and 37 - the latter being a missnamed exercise called "Changing stings on the up stroke" - if you follow the pick direction I would have called that changing strings on the down stroke - maybe it's a matter of perspective (or maybe I got it wrong). Anyway, I found that my version of the rest-stroke (I don't actually touch the adjacent string but the dynamic of the swing is the same) is starting to give improved tone and volume. My mandolin almost seems to echo inside itself in a pleasing ringing way. Keeping the fingers down until needed is also improving clarity - I must work more on this!

In general, the exercises fine and useful in themselves but my point in doing Bickford from page one is as much to learn to read music as anything. I am now at a point where things are starting to become semi automatic. Interestingly, some notes trigger a response better than others. The 'G' on the line the trebble clef sits on is the best. Other pairs of note trigger a response but a bit dyslexically:

1) 'A' (second space) and 'C' (third space) can get confused (I know what they should be - I'm talking about what trying to sight read at playing speed) but I never confuse 'A' and 'F'.

2) I have the same dyslexia between 'F' and 'D' (space below the last line) but less pronounced as I also do with 'E' and 'C' (top space and third space) and 'F' (top line) and 'D' (first line down)

3) 'G' and 'D' (lines 2 and 4) are like 'Way markers' to me and usually get me back on track.

I almost never confuse a 'space note' for a 'line note' even on the ledger lines. The interesting thing is that I do NOT confuse 'A' with 'F'. So, here's my theory: I am starting to learn automatic responses and my brain is focussing on the space or the line as being more obvious than the relative position in the stave. The secondary (unconsious) response seems to be an association of the relative position in the stave with a string - which is why 'A' and 'F', 'G' and 'B' and not confused but 'A' and 'C' sometimes are. Because the strings don't sit evenly on the stave the association of relative position breaks down when passing from the 'A' string to the 'E' string until I get into the ledger lines when there is never any confusion (up to 'C' on fret eight - but come on I'm still learning to read!).

Well, I thought it was interesting

[MandoJon]

It looks like this is a lonely furrow I'm ploughing here. I think that, while I'll continue my systematic progress through Bickford, I'll stop the diary and spare the bandwidth.

[Jim Garber]

Jon:
We are all struggling at whatever levels we are at. I do enjoy reading your travails but haven't had much to contribute.

Actually, your postings have convinced me to start plodding thru the Bickfords again. I have been playing for more years than i would admit, however it never hurts to go back to square one. there is always something to learn.

As far as teachers: if there is any way youh can locate and afford a few lessons., it might be to your advantage. IMHO, you cannot learn completely correct technique from a book. Even one or two lessons with a good teacher can set you straight. You could even talk to them about getting started and then working by yourself on Bickford.

Jim

[MandoJon]

Hi Jim,

I'm encouraged that somebody has found it interesting. Perhaps I'll carry on with the diary a little longer then. If you are starting to plod through Bickford again then, please, chip in. I am trying to be candid and have exposed my white underbelly a lot already (not pretty) but I am also trying to be thorough and analyse my performance both as somebody with some experience but trying not to let prior knowledge get in the way of Bickford (a bit schitzophrenic).

You're right - a few lessons would be good but at least I am not starting from scratch (even though it might sound like it). I have several years of bad technique to draw on (which is one of the reasons for treating Bickford as more than just sight reading exercises). The problem with lessons is to first find a teacher!

My aim is to work through all four Bickford books and be a much better mandolinist for it and I welcome anybody who'll travel with me some or all of the way.

[Jim Garber]

The problem with lessons is to first find a teacher!

Jon:
Where are you geographically located?

Jim

[MandoJon]

So - the diary is reprieved... for now

Over the weekend I decided to review my work to date and went back over the earlier melodies. It was VERY refreshing. After just a short time I can notice an imrovement in my reading ability. Even the Dicky Bird Waltz sounded almost pleasant. I am deliberately avoiding playing any of the tunes too much for just this reason - I am learning to read not to memorise (the latter is how I always used to learn tunes so I know I can do that).

I also added page 38 with the study for both hands and the tune "Grazioso". My first-sight playing of Grazioso was better than I remember my first-playing of Dicky Bird... sort of proof of progress I guess. However, Bickford's footnote to think of "flying birds" made me laugh because all I can think about now is "flying fingers" and that's how I read it! This bad habit is one I MUST crack. The hardest part is keeping fingers down when crossing strings. Even harder though is getting fingers correctly down ready to descend but I'll take this one step at a time. So I have decided to re-start my Aonzo scales and FFcP practice as a primarily mechanical exercise to keep those finger grounded as a new habit.

On Sunday I played Guitar in my church band, not having picked it up for over a month. It felt huge and the plectrum felt odd back in the old pencil grip. I kept the grip though because Simon Mayor mentions he uses it when he needs more power and I play in a very large hall with no amplification so I whallop my six-string hard (and break strings often). It's interesting how quickly a habit can form in terms of the new grip. If practice does not make perferct it certainly makes things permanent! This got me thinking about previous mando practice. I had got into the habit of playing very quietly for fear of waking my babies. It had resulted in a very bad plectrum technique that lacked tone, precision, volume and feeling. So, now I practice in the kitchen which is not underneath their bedrooms. The guitar I habitually flog and only play loud. The mandolin I used to barely tickle with no swing of the arm. It's no wonder Bickford's plectrum technique has improved my tone and volume. So - habits can form for other reasons than the music or the instrument. Perhaps the woodshed is the best place after all

[MandoJon]

Jim,

I'm in Aberdeen - Scotland. A friend who is a school music teacher here asked ME if I knew a local mandolin teacher for one of his pupils. My friend would normally have been my first point of call because schools tend to have lists of instructors.

I'd be surprised if there was absolutely nobody and I know of at least two other Aberdonian players who visit this site. However, I have also asked in a couple of local music shops and they didn't know anybody. There is an organisation here called SCAT (Scottish Culture and Traditions) that is a sort of informal workshop for Scottish folk music. Nobody there could help me either.

[Jim Garber]

Ian P. Steele is on this board. Perhaps he knows someone in your area. He asnd his wife is very active in mandolin education in Scotland, tho not Aberdeen, i don't think.

Jim

[Martin Jonas]

Ian and Barbara are in Lanarkshire, which is quite a distance from Aberdeen, and Nigel Gatherer (who is a wonderful teacher) is in Edinburgh, I think. You may want to consider going for the residential weekend mandolin course in Wiston Lodge in Lanarkshire, which Barbara tells me is on 24th to 26th March this year. I went last year, and intend to go again this year, as it helped me no end with my technique and my approach to the instrument. Tutors last year included Alison Stephens, Nigel Gatherer and Barbara Pommerenke, and you'll get to play solo, in ensembles and in a full mandolin orchestra. Highly recommended!

Martin

[John Bertotti]

MandoJon I have been doing Bickford also. I just started over because of timing issues. I am using a metronome set real slow and find that real hard. I also try do set it so I have to start so only half the beats are played, I think they are called back beats but don't hold me to that. But playing the alternating beats was even harder. As far as confusing things like you listed above I have the same problem. Plow on man. John

[MandoJon]

Thanks for the info and the support guys. I will plough on and I will seriously consider the residential course in Lanarkshire. Martin - do you know how I can get more details about that please?

Last NIght's Study:
John mentions using a metronome and I think he's right to do so. My timing is usually pretty good from years of rhythm guitar but I know I should also use one... anyway...

I took pages 38 to 43 as my text (I'll be repeating some of this so don't worry that I'm rushing on too fast). Grazioso went badly wrong. How can I play through it one day well and the next day be barely able to read it? Actually I think it is because I hadn't "played myself in". I have found that my sight reading is much better after I have been doing it for half an hour or so than at the start of a session - even when the pieces are different. If I start a session with Noddy reading exercises it gets my music-reading eyes tuned in. I'll have to go back to Grazioso again.

Hasta La Manana was a disaster also but I was encouraged to see Bickford's special note that this piece may be studied later at the discretion of the teacher.

This took me to the Scale studies in G. A little light went on inside! The first eight bars are almost exactly like the start of the Aonzo scale sequence! The rest is sort very Aonzo-esque but focussing solely on 'G' at the lower end of the fretboard. I'd already spotted that I should get back to Aonzo scales and the FFcP and Bickford knew that about 80 years ago (probably around the same time as Aonzo's grandad was teaching Aonzo's dad the Aonzo family scales... I'm not actually suggesting that Aonzo Senior learnt from Bickford, just that, if you needed proof either of Bickford's or Aonzo's methods - well there it is!

The G string etude was a lot of fun. It is not particularly interesting from a melodic point of view but it was good fun to see how fast you can rip it (warm the fingers up first!).

The next section on tremelo was, as usual, less of a struggle. For one thing I have more time to read the notes and secondly I can already do a reasonable tremelo (baring some improvements which are coming thanks to Bickford). I liked the Tremelo Melody on page 44 because it was an opportunity to ham it up with volume dynamics (not yet mentioned for tremelo by Bickford but something I learned from a Simon Mayor book) and wring a bit of passion out of it

The rules for starting and stopping the tremelo were interesting. I discovered that it is something I already do subconciously and a lesson that was hard-learned when teaching myself how to come into and out of tremelo. I would have found it helpful not to have the grace notes and just go with the tie but I guess that Bickford was trying to illustrate his point. Those grace notes confused me at first until I had carefully reread the paragraphs above.

So - I must keep working on stopping the flying fingers, build up my fourth finger and do my scales.

I'll see you guys in Springtime (geddit? OK so you need to see the book for that one )

[MandoJon]

Tuesday night
As ever, it was part revision and part new work. I kicked off with a quick run through my FFcP to loosen off first though. I spanned pages 35 to 45 so I could take another crack at the Firefly Waltz and Grazioso. The waltz went well and Grazioso was improved. It's not the technical dificulty of the piece but my reading ability that's the problem. The best thing was the improvement in Hasta La Manana. It bore a passable resemblance to a tune this time.

I enjoyed hamming up the Tremelo melody on page 41 again. My tone is much improved using the fist ('standard') grip and less pressure on the plectrum. I need to watch the alignment of my right hand to the strings though and not only on the tremelo. Experiementing with this shows how small adjustments can make a big difference. I must try not so much to pluck on the up stroke as strike (I understand what Bickford was chuntering on about back on page 16). Using the pencil grip I used to pluck the strings with a combined arm, wrist AND finger movement like you might pluck a bird. Bickford has just an arm movement which, being simpler, is easier to control at speed and keep relaxed.

I did a lot of careful work on the 'Importance Of Leaving The Left Hand Fingers In Position'. I have a stunted little finger though, which doesn't even extend to the first knuckle of the adjacent finger (or last knuckle depending on which way you're counting). This has always made it virtually impossible to hold a string down with my little finger without damping the adjacent string underneath. I guess I can work on expanding my span a bit by repeating FFcP and Aonzo scales until the left hand stretches and becomes more fluid.

Two great side benefits of learning to read is that I am not only working through exercises I used to avoid because playing jigs and reels was more fun but also I no longer stare at my left hand and have a rapidly developing sense of unseen finger position - a sense that it greatly helped by KEEPING THOSE FINGERS DOWN!

And that brought me to "In Springtime". This was a fun piece except the tremelo got a little rough but perhaps I was getting tired.

My tone is not yet consistent but now, at its best, it is in a different league to just a couple of weeks ago. I put much of this down to the plectrum putting the maximum energy into the strings while avoiding damping them by being in contact too long. I'm starting to glimpse the potential that I might be able to reach if I can keep up this rate of practice throughout the year. I can't help feeling excited despite the huge mountain I've yet to climb.

[MandoJon]

I've had little time to practice this passed couple of days. All I've managed is a few minutes of FFcP. Fear of forgetting all I've learned is creeping in

[Vinaccia]

Hi Jon, #I came across this article entitled "The Art of Practice" by Logan Gabriel through the mando cafe website a few years ago, and found it very helpful, and thought it may be helpful to you in focusing your noble efforts working through the Bickford method books:

The Art of Practice
Published July 18, 2000
By Logan L. Gabriel

Ever since you have started your instrument you have no doubt heard everyone say "practice, practice, practice". #Well, what does that mean? #Is practice the monotonous repetition of certain exercises and chords and scales? #Is it the same thing day in and day out? #My answer is hardly not. #Practice, like your instrument needs to be practiced. #What? First, we must define practice, it is a word that teachers throw around quite a bit but do not often elaborate. #Now let's put an end to popular myths surrounding practice.

MYTH: Practice makes perfect.
FACT: Practice makes permanent. #In the words of Al Woods (Tiger's Dad), "Practice makes permanent, PERFECT PRACTICE makes perfect." #The fact of the matter is that if you let mistakes work their into your playing you practice the mistakes not the proper material. #You are now probably saying, "Well of course i'm going to make mistakes that's why I've got to practice!" #Yes, you are going to make mistakes but they can be minimized. #The way to minimize is to play slowly.

MYTH: In order to play fast I have to practice fast.
FACT: You need to be able to think while you play. #Aaron Shearer, a famous classical guitar pedagogue was an advocate of "aim directed movement", which is having a clear understanding of where the fingers need to go before you move them there. #Aim directed movement can only be accomplished by slow practice. One very important part of practice that a lot of players overlook is that of visualization. #Some of the most constructive practice can be achieved without even touching a guitar! #The best thing about visualization is that it can be done almost anywhere. # #Try this:1.Sit down and close your eyes. 2.Picture yourself playing a guitar from your normal point of view. In other words do not picture yourself as though you were watching in the audience, but that you are looking down at your hands as the actual player. 3.In your mind "feel" yourself playing just open strings. #"feel" i and m prepare and follow through as you play the open high e string. After a while of doing just the open high e string try moving through the rest of the strings, paying close attention to detail. #After you have gotten the hang of the open strings try playing a simple first position scale like C major. #this is a little harder because now you have to visualize the right and the left hand. #This is a little tricky but no more trickier than syncronizing the two hands, in actuality, it will happen it just takes time.I believe it was Elliot Gould who was infamous for memorizing works of music while in transit to his next concert and then being able to play those pieces in concert from memory.

MYTH: #I don't need to warm up.
FACT: #Would a football player ever dream of taking the field without first stretching, same for a gymnast, he or she would never dream of it. #The question is, why do so many guitarist and instrumentalists in general perform or practice without first warming up? #My teacher Ben Verdery told me that his doctor who specializes in "musical injuries" said that out of all musicians the guitar has the most. #What can you do? #The first thing you can do is to do things like touch your toes, stretch out your arms, do some shoulder rolls, do some wrist rolls, anything to get the blood flowing to all the individual body parts. Musically you must warm up as well. #You should have an arsenal of easy etudes and preludes to play through before you tackle your major repertoire. Maybe some Carcassi etudes or Sor studies, Tarrega, Giuliani, Coste, Aguado, Carulli, all these composers wrote some very effective and useful etudes and easy pieces that are great for getting the fingers moving. #Also, do not neglect the importance of DAILY scale and arpeggio study. #The study of scales and arpeggios does not have to be in the form of monotonous position scales and Giuliani's 120 #studies for the right hand. #They can take the form of etudes. #Carcassi 1 from 25 melodious etudes by Matteo Carcassi edited by Emilio Pujol, contains tons of C major scale runs, while etude 1 by Heitor Villa-Lobos is great for arpeggios. #There is an incredible amount of #works to be found on practicing scales and arpeggios so explore what's out there.

MYTH: #I don't need to practice reading music.
FACT: #You better believe you do! #The way to practice sight reading is to have various collections of easy pieces at your disposal (pieces that are well below your technical abilities) and just sight read them. #As your sight reading gets better you will be able to read harder pieces and at an increasingly swifter pace. #Remember that reading music and becoming proficient at it is difficult, there is no magic pill or formula and no esoteric teaching that will make you become a great sight reader overnight. #The only thing that will make you become a great reader is to just DO IT! #Also use visualization as a tool for sight reading. #Get a piece of music and read it as though it were a newspaper or book and picture yourself playing the piece as you read it. One of the most overlooked things pertaining to practice is that you must have a game plan. #Don't think that you need to practice for 10 hours a day in order to have a successful session. #The truth of the matter is that you can have a very successful session in about 20 minutes. #Remember you do not have to practice everything at once. #when you sit for practice have a clear vision of what it is that you want to improve. #For instance, #If you want to work on a certain position switch in a certain scale then take that time (after warm up of course) and work on just that problem area. #JUST THAT PROBLEM AREA, is the key. #Stay focused, don't let your mind wander, there is a difference between practice and doodling. #Don't get me wrong doodling has it's place, #I've stumbled across some of my favorite themes that way, but there is a time and place for everything. #Beethoven said it best, "a musician must have the heart of a Gypsy and the discipline of a Soldier." Logan L. Gabriel 2000-07-18

[margora]

I agree with Mr. Gabriel's comments on practice. However, I think he means Glenn Gould, not Elliot.

[MandoJon]

Thanks to both Robert and Jonathan for their contributions. That is a very helpful article. Some of it I had heard before but it is good to be reminded of it.

I've had another tough few days trying to find time to practice but I managed to fit in one three-quarters-of-an-hour sessiona dn two ten minute sessions over the weekend. Such is the musical life of a family man!

The FFcP and Aonzo practice is really helping and I am starting to stretch my little finger. My last ten-minute session was an ultra slow run through the FFcP and I am heartened that this is a good thing according to Gabriel. I'm up to the Juggler march on page 46 now (still repeating previous pages for practice).

Taking on board the advice of Logan Gabriel I intend to experiment with a slight change in my practice. I will now do ultra slow FFcP and Aonzo scales as my warm up. My problem with simple sight reading is just that! That IS the level of my reading ability and to read anything well below would be virtually not to read at all. But, never mind, I'm improving slowly. I will experiment with visualisation and do some during my lunch breaks at work. I'll report back after a while on how that's going.

I greatly appreciate the engouragement I've had from a few folk while doing this process and this diary is not just for sharing but a spur to keep me going partly through the occassional word of encouragement and partly because, when I don't practice the whole world (should it care to look!) will know

A final thought: It was interesting to read about playing slowly as a means of practicing to play fast. I used to do Tai Chi and what few Westerns know (or care to admit) is that Tai Chi is a fast martial art and one of the reasons it is done so slowly is so the body can learn the patterns and then you can do it at fight-speed (there are also other reasons like developing muscle control and balance but they also contribute to fast movement...

[Mark Levesque]

Hi Jon,

One thing that really helped accelerate my reading on the mandolin is to take sheet music with you wherever you go and try to visualize with your mind's eye where you would place your finger(s) to play the piece.
This makes sitting at the dentist's office during your kid's appts or waiting for your muffler to be replaced, a practice session.

Cheers,
Mark

[dave17120]

Just thought you might be interested Jon....... my Bickford is called ABC2. I am using it to teach myself how to read music. I have always picked up tunes by ear, and therefore often inaccurately.... but I find I still need the facility of being able to play WITH someone/thing...... and the thing I really like about ABC is that you can slow it down and speed it up as you like, without changing the key
Bon chance with Bickford, Dave

[MandoJon]

Thanks for the comments Mark and Dave. All input is greatly appreciated. I have used ABC to help me hear folk songs and that has been useful but I find I 'cheat' and rely more on my memory (not even strictly my ear) than on reading.

Anyway - last night - I did some very slow and deliberate FFcP practice to warm up and am working on that puny little finger. I felt an ache I had not experienced since I was first learning years ago. When it got sore I laid my hand flat on the table for a few seconds rather than risk injury. I then did some slow reading of easier early pieces. I am really pleased to say that holding the fingers down is becoming second nature very quickly. I still need to remind myself to do it, especially when I speed up but the habit is starting to form.

I didn't cover any new ground but simply worked on technique, not even getting as far as the Juggler March (that's quite a fun tune BTW). I think I have got to a point where I almost scared to go on. I know it sounds really stupid and I can't explain it. I think it's a fear that I have not absorbed everything from the lessons to date and will somehow jepordise all my future practice, but I also know that, by moving on, what I'm working on now will be much easier when I go back.

My lunch-break at work is looking more appealing for visualisation practice. I got the Christofero book at the same time (well it was only a fiver) and I might work through that for visualisation work so as I don't become too familiar with the exercises in Bickford (after all I am supposed to be reading them and NOT playing from memory).

It's funny, now that I have improved my tremelo, I now think it needs improvement... new standards to aim at I guess.

[MandoJon]

Last night I started as usual with FFcP. It went badly - poor intonation, hesitant phrasing and bad timing. I then revised some of the earlier tunes. Same thing - bad intonation and a 'juddery' tremelo that I thought I'd left behind me. I tried moving on to some new material on the basis that I have to move on sometime but it was the same again but with added sight-reading problems. I then tried to cheer myself up by rattling through some jigs and reels. I kept stumbling, even in old favourites.

Arrrghhh! What have I done to my playing? It is as though I am now only as good as the point I have reached in Bickford (which is soooo depressing because I was much 'better' before I started).

I seem to have reached an awful point where my new habits are not fully formed (new grip, new way of striking the strings, new pick angle and new left hand technique) and where my old habits are partially broken. I am neither fish nor fowl and now can neither fly nor swim. It wasn't just last night because I have felt this coming on during the last few practice sessions. This whole thing has gone way beyond my initial aim of simply learning to read music.

I have a choice - I either back out now and re-establish my old techniques which at least saw me through most things and by which I could play at a fair old speed (flying fingers aside)... OR... I put all my faith in Bickford and the power of good technique. I know this will mean that I will apparently get worse (as guaged when I play the old music the old way) for a while.

Well, I think there is nothing for it. I MUST carry on because otherwise I will be stuck in the lower half of mediocrity forever. I will have to back right off on speed (somebody said that was a good idea) and grind those new habits into my fingers. If you have encouragement then I need it now!