Posted by Andah1andah2 on Saturday, November 7, 2009
Sorry if this is boring to read. I'm using these blog entries for my practice notes also, so I can refer to them and maybe they are helpful to someone else. I'll try to make others more interesting.
In essence, the shuffles Im practicing for bowing and different length notes:
1. The finger/wrist motion shuffle is : 16th,16th,16th,16th, 8th,8th..repeat
2. What my teacher calls a basic shuffle: quarter, 8th, 8th, quarter..repeat
3. one I've thrown in for practice: quarter, quarter, 8th, 8th, quarter...repeat
Hey, any others that a newbie should practice?
I work these on open strings and to dem cabbage.
I checked my fingering on scales using the e-tuner and was off a lot. I am now adjusting my fingers in reference to where the tape is and that's probably not a good point of reference, since the tape won't always be there.
The little thing is addictive. Poor banjo.
mudbug Says:
Saturday, November 7, 2009 @9:30:46 AM
Hey, Stew! This is just my point of view, so take with a grain of salt or ignore it altogether. DUMP THE TAPE! Sorry. I didn't mean to yell. You're intending on getting rid of it anyway at some point in the future, yet you're using visual cues to help you where eventually there won't be any. When all you have is auditory info, like a blind person, you HAVE to use your ear more. Since you will eventually have to rely solely on your ear, why not work on that now too..........O.K..........I'll shut up now and mind my own bussiness. Have a nice day! :-)
autumnstrings Says:
Saturday, November 7, 2009 @9:35:44 AM
Not boring at all. I love reading what other people are practicing. There's a lot to glean from others experience.
BC Says:
Saturday, November 7, 2009 @10:45:08 AM
I agree. There is a lot of insights, suggestions, and methods others (i.e.-me) pick up from your blogs. Keep up the good work.
bj Says:
Saturday, November 7, 2009 @11:19:10 AM
I agree with mudbug. Dump the tape. There's a reason for that. If the bridge shifts, the tape will be wrong. And bridges shift a bit every time you tune. Which means your finger is supposedly on the note but your ear is hearing something else. BAD!!!
There's a cello drone CD you can play along to that others have found helpful. Just play the drone of the key the tune is in, and it should help you stay in tune and train your ear better.
http://www.navarrorivermusic.com/cello_drones.php
Andah1andah2 Says:
Saturday, November 7, 2009 @12:19:52 PM
Thanks folks,
I have my next lesson on Tuesday and will talk to my teacher about the tape. They appear to be "training wheels" that need to come off fairly quickly. I see that they are holding me back now, although in the very beginning I had no idea of where to find the notes to a scale so they helped. BJ, I don't know what a drone is, but I'll check out your site and see if I can figure it out.
BTW, While practicing today I plucked out the basic tune to Old Dan Tucker. I'm so proud of myself. I can't wait to learn how to do double stops.
bj Says:
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 @7:44:50 AM
The cello drone is just a single note in a lower register. If you play the D cello drone while playing a tune in the key of D, it will help to dial your intonation in. Your ear will make your finger adjust to the right places so it sounds good against that root note. Hard to explain, but it seems to work, a couple beginner fiddlers in our jam group are doing it and their intonation has improved a lot since they added that to their practice.
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