J. McGillivray "Rhythmic Fingerwork" (IN STOCK)
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1.75 poundsRythmic Fingerwork by Jim McGillivray is a great book of exercises for people who want to work on their technique. Pipers from beginners through intermediate and advanced levels will find these 141 exercises, clear explanations and demonstration that you can download at www.pipetunes.ca/PF/347-2 a boon to their musicianship.
How to
Practice
A music teacher is very important to anyone who is trying to become a better
musician, but a teacher cannot make you a better musician; a teacher can only
tell you how to improve. The actual improvement has to be done by you, and on
your own time. A private or band lesson is a time to show the teacher what you
are doing at the moment, the teacher will then tell you what to work on, and how
to work on it. You don't have time to practice during a lesson; you are there to
get the insight needed in order to improve. Individual practice is absolutely
necessary if you want to improve and become a better musician.
It is
important not just to practice, but to practice properly.
To make the
most progress in your individual practice time, make sure to include the
following:
* Setting Goals
* Setting practice times
* Warming up
* Working at it
* Sight-reading
* Cool down
* Evaluation
How To Set Goals:
Your practice should have long-term, medium
term, and short-term goals.
What are your long-term goals as a Piper or
Drummer? Are there particular pieces of music you'd like to be able to play? A
band you would like to be able to join? You need to know where you would
eventually like to end up in order to set your medium and short term goals. Your
medium goals may be to find less difficult pieces to play in order to prepare
you to play the pieces you can't play yet. You may need to improve your tonal
quality, your tuning, or finger technique. Your short-term goal may be to work
slowly through one line of a piece of music with correct finger technique. Your
short-term goals should be very specific and something you can achieve.
How To Set Practice Times:
How often and how long should I
practice? Practicing often is much more important than having lengthy practice
sessions. You are better off sitting down during the day for three 20-minute
sessions rather than sitting for a full hour with the chance of losing your
focus. The better Piper or Drummer you become the more you have to practice in
order to continue to improve. Practicing every day is ideal. Skipping a day
occasionally won't hurt, and may even rest your muscles. But after skipping a
day, you will start the next practice session further behind than you were on
the day before you skipped. Skipping a day more than once a week will make
progress difficult. If you don't have time one day for a full practice session
doing warm-ups or cool-downs is better than skipping a day.
How To
Warm Up:
Playing an instrument is the same as being an athlete. Don't
play the hard stuff cold; you won't be playing to the best of your ability, it's
a waste of time, energy and can be very frustrating. Warm ups may seem like they
have no value but they can be some of the most productive minutes of your
practice time. What are warm ups - If you are having problems playing a
particular movement in a tune remove it from the tune and play it slowly and
precisely from every note of the scale. If your long-term goal is to play the
big tunes or get into the top bands; you have to have your scales down cold.
Warm ups should be easy, you're getting your mind and body into the playing
grove. In order to have a great practice start with the easy stuff. Sure it's
only scales but playing them with the best technique and best musicality you
have will lead to big payoffs later. So take a few minutes and play some
exercises slowly and precisely.
Work On It:
Once you have
warmed up get out the stuff you want to work on. Some tips for improving as fast
as possible: Don't practice it wrong! Don't play wrong notes, leave notes out,
or play wrong rhythms. This just teaches you to play incorrectly. If you can't
play it right, slow it down enough that you can play all the notes correctly and
in rhythm no matter how slow you have to go. Once you can play it slowly, speed
it up a little, but never to a speed that you can't handle. Play through your
music then skip the easy parts; they're easy! Concentrate on playing the hard
parts, slow them down and practice them until you can play them with the correct
technique and the right tempo. If there is a note or a movement you are having
trouble with make it part of your warm up exercises and practice it every day.
How To Sight Read:
The ability to play music that is put in
front of you, with few errors, the first time you seeit is one of the most
useful skills a musician can have. Like any other skill, practicing it
specifically develops the ability to sight- read well. Each practice session
should have time spent reading through and trying to play a section of
unfamiliar music. If large portions are too difficult for you to sight-read,
begin with something easy and over a period of months, try to work up to reading
more complex passages.
Cool Down:
While practicing the
difficult parts of your music, you may have become tense, frustrated or slipped
into bad technique or lost your musicality or tone. Always end your practice
session by playing tunes you like and are easy for you. Relax and perform it for
"yourself", play it with the very best technique and musicianship. This part of
your practice helps develop a "repertoire" of music that you will always have
ready for a performance.
Evaluate:
To help set goals for
future practice sessions, evaluate each session. Don't be hypercritical but be
objective.
What progress did I make today on the difficult stuff?
What is still giving me trouble, can I address this in warm ups?
What
should I work on in my next practice session?
Am I trying to play something
too difficult?
If it was going to be easy everyone would be doing
it!