February Content
Content
Hey all, Jordan here on behalf of the team to bring you an update for the new tunes and lessons being added for February. I hope you enjoy it and I hope it helps. I've recently been dealing with a corneal ulcer and am jsut getting back to being able to use screens. It's been rough, but it's made me practice a lot more with my eyes closed. That can have great benefits and it's something I encourage learners of all levels to try in what ever capacity they can. I talk about that more in the video.
I've got some new ideas brewing about how to make the lesson material more beneficial, diverse, and engaging for you all so stay tuned! Also, if you missed January's blog post and content update video, then click on that link and check that out, there's a lot of good info on the blog post and video to help boost your practice sessions.
Below you'll find a video featuring highlights and practice tips for everything new this month. There's instrument specific sections, but also general learning tips at the end entitled "Teacher Tips". I've included those and some other things mentioned in the individual sections in a text section below this vid, and included a few links as well. If you want to hop to "your instrument" in the video here's the minute marker for each of them:
Banjo: 0:28
Mandolin: 16:09
Guitar: 27:38
Clawhammer: 41:35
Teacher Tips: 49:50
Teacher's Tips
1. Play with Your Eyes Closed
When learning from tab, or by watching someone's hands in a video we are using our eyes to help us learn our instrument. However, there is humongous benefit to playing by feel and using your sense of touch. If this is new to you, playing a whole song might be out of the question, especially if it's not memorized. You can start simple. Take baby steps. Try to close your eye and identify your strings one at a time using your sense of touch with your fret hand. Then, try to place a specific finger on a specific fret. This is a great way to introduce your self to the world of touch with your instrument. There's more details in the video about this in the "Teacher Tips" section at the end of the video, so check that out.
For those who are more intermediate, and maybe have some scales or simple songs memorized, try to start playing with your eyes closed! You will often be more relaxed, and since you are thinking more using your sense of touch and sense of hearing, you are engaging the most important senses needed to play music!
2. Sing or Speak as You Play Melody or Chord Changes
Do this. Do it a lot. As a teacher I consistently see astounding progress from students who do this. It increases their understanding, capability and joy. The melody is the heart of a song. Lyrics are tied to that. We already have a natural understanding of spoken language, which uses variation in pitch, timing, rate of speed, and dynamics - just like music! The more we tie our first language to the language of music, the more we will develop intrinsic understanding of it.
So, sing or speak the melody in time with a song you are learning. You can do this in Tunefox. For many melody tablatures the lyrics are included so you can see how the words and syllables line up with the melody notes. You should also listen to the original recordings regularly, so much so that you are able to hum through the melody even when the music isn't playing. If you can't do that yet, give it time, and keep listening. It will come.
Also, try and sing or speak the lyrics as you strum through the chord changes. I talk about this in each section of the video and in the Teacher Tips section at the end.
3. A Simple Approach to Scale Practice
In the "Teacher Tips" section I detail a method of scale practice I use in private lessons for students I know aren't practicing, or those who are having a tough time digesting a complete 7 note scale. Instead of using 7 notes, you just take two notes at a time and exercise them. This can be applied to any instrument. It's great practice for your hands and ears, and won't overwhelm you mentally.
Take the first two notes of any scale, and play them repeatedly. For example the C major scale has these notes: C D E F G A B. Just play the first two notes of the scale, which are C and D, a lot of times. Play them a bunch! Go for 10, 20 or 50 times. This is a workout for your hands and mind. Through repetition you'll memorize the whole scale. Then, do to the 2nd and 3rd notes of the scale, which are D and E. Play those back and forth. Keep doing that through all the notes in the scale.
I talk in more detail in the video and show how it can be applied to the melodic scale on banjo. This scale can be confusing, even for intermediate players, so this approach to practice is great, and makes it very manageable. You are just dealing with two notes at a time.
You can expand this concept once you have a handle on it. Instead of 2 notes at a time try 3. The first 3 notes in the key of C are C D and E. I usually like to play CDED to keep the number of notes nice and even. So, you'd play scale degrees 1232, and practice that a bunch, then play scale degrees 2343, and so on.
5. Play Scales that Match the Song Key
This is a great way to warmup. It gets your hands moving and fretting and playing notes you will be using in the song. Hopefully, it will also help you connect the scale knowledge to the song. For example, if you are learning Rocky Top on the mandolin and in the key of B major, you should practice your B Major Scale before practicing the tune.
If you are learning Blackberry Blossom on guitar, then G Major Scales and G Major Workouts are where you should go to warmup before working on the tune.