I have noticed a few different levels of plateaus and jumps in skill around here, and in myself. A recent one for me was noticing the ease in which I was either sight-reading staff or modifying to almost-staff-tab, so I could play it. Combining this with a brief layout of where the scales are leads to a nice comprehensive approach. The scale layout is becoming innate, so formally writing it is less important. Yay!

I am looking for two things for my next leap:
Playing freely - I think this comes mainly with experience, but I could be wrong
More percussive techniques, such as Kerchunk, right-hand thumb kerchunk, more hand slapping.

Kerchunk??!!
Now you're talking
More than just notes
Expression!! Musicianship!!

Phil D. Voyd

Cant argue with that , having a kerchunking good time myself at the moment.

Too much information Captain

Private E. Vent

You know, I read this post a few times and wanted to reply to it because I feel like it definitely applies to me also. I have been busy of late, so finally a chance to get in on the discussion. So, yeah cool thread. I love reading about where people are at, breakthroughs, etc.

For me, I needed some focus. Literally, taking several factors out of the equation has made things much easier, and following a more focused plan of attack that recognizes my need for "cooking time" has helped a ton! It is unbelievably frustrating to invest a lot of time and money in something and not see a reciprocal improvement in skill and ability. The solution; clearly a shift in approach and attitude...

1) It takes time. For me, about a night to basically learn a bass side thing and a melody side thing, and another 3-4 weeks to sandwich the two together. Patience is critical... (Lol Not easy for me, I expect results, dammit...)

2) I realized that I didn't really "know" the separate parts so I decided to follow Steve A's advice and practice one side of the instrument's part separately until it's instinctive. I still have a ways to go on all of my pieces, but it really helped to separate the parts. As my benchmark, I decided I was ready to move on once I could play it without looking. It has helped, a lot!

3) Working on my improvisation, while learning the notes on the neck, while trying to self accompany, while trying to be cool and doing it all on the spot is simply too much for me at this point! Although I was making (sloooow) progress, it is simply too much to digest at one time. So, I decided to simplify, and separate. For instance... Learning the notes on the neck is a "separate" thing I do with flashcards for 10-15 minutes a day. Then, a simple diatonic chord progression (like V-I) in the Bass, with a 1 octave scale played over it in the Melody gets played, transposed to all 12 keys. I impose limitations though, like ONLY on the same string sets for now, and only REALLY paying attention to the relationships between the root notes. To advance my right hand articulation, and have some fun, I set up a TC Electronics "Ditto" looper on my Bass side. Basically, I try to come up with a nifty groove to loop on the bass side, and then I focus only on the melody side, and pretend I am a guitar player again and go nuts. All my scales modes and arpeggios, a different key each day, and it is a lot of fun... I spend about a half hour on this a day, and it is really amazing how powerful and positive playing like this has been for me. I try to sightread a bit everyday also, but while I do these I try to leverage what I already know...

4) Consistency. I decided to take the toughest part of this instrument and make it so that each time I learn a tune, I can leverage previous tunes learned. The bass side, and the respective "accompaniment" potential needed to be "knocked down" so as to be a bit more tangible, and digestible. So after taking a long look at Mr Kevin Chiasson and David Tipton's approach, I decided to run with the "basics" that Steve A was showing me. 10ths in the bass as a standard "arrangement" tool for my covers. I can worry about getting fancy in the bass a little later on down the line; Besides; 3rds are a great way to define a chord in simplest possible terms. I figure once I get a hundred or so tunes down this way, then I can take things a bit further. It's only been a few weeks and my repertoire is growing rapidly...

5) Separate the big "project" from simpler "survival" tunes. Just because a tune is simple, doesn't mean it has any less relevance or validity. And at the same time, a tough "project" is an opportunity to work on a unique piece of music that may have some strange rhythmic relationships...

So along the way, I use whatever I can to help me learn the stuff. Guitarpro6 has been great, I love the "Speed trainer" and looping mode. Logic ProX is a handy tool, as is my Boss DR880.

I guess it takes a while to figure out a "system" to approach this instrument. We are all different and have unique experience and skill sets that we bring to the instrument. More to come, guys.

Scott, you nailed it! It's all about focus and consistency! Baby steps to were you want to go, but it only works if you know where that place is! So happy for you man!
That's how I've approached it and I notice evolution every single day since I started. And I have a lot of fun along the way!
Cheers
Rodrigo


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Yes, for me as well. Focus, consistency, and patience! I find if I try to focus on everything, I get totally blurry, and my head starts swimming. If I narrow my focus, it works better. I am going to make a "study list", and try to follow a pattern of practicing. I think I need more of a rigid approach. I find I flit back and forth, getting off track with one concept that grabs my attention, sometimes when I am in the middle of trying to grasp a totally different concept.

I too have been trying to nail melody, then bass, both single handed. That is my big weakness. I haven't yet memorized notes/chords and finger positions for all of the chords. I especially have trouble on the melody side for some reason.
Once I get the parts pretty well down, combining them with 2 hands does not seem terribly difficult to me. Perhaps because as a drummer I am used to all 4 limbs doing different beats, and even sometimes different tempos, at the same time. My years of playing the zendrum also seems to be making the transition to hand independence easier for me.

Good comments Scott! Good thread concept and ideas Sagehalo! *Kerchunk*!

Friggin BEADGooC

That is all

Thanks
Noah Genda

Well thanks, dudes!


For me, I found that I was just not spending enough time isolating the two sides. One of the sides needs to be so well rehearsed that it's on autopilot. I mean, if one is constantly having to make decisions about rhythm, note location, finger accuracy, etc, and then multiply that by two and well, it's basically a mistake salad... Waiting to be tossed...

So, in my last lesson with Steve he mentioned yet again how one day a drummer he was working with had him play only the bassline part of a tune they were working on. For, like hours.
The stuff a teacher mentions more than once is where the gold is, it really is! So I went about recreating that situation for myself.

I gotta say, having access to a score that you can change the tempo, play along with, loop specific sections and play along, it's sooooo helpful!

Thanks for your thorough reply, Scott!

One of the things I was taught by my coaches on the way to being a national level fencing competitor was that learning goes in slow portions that appear to plateau before large leaps and more plateaus.

At FHA 2014, nearly every instructor mentioned keeping one hand simple when the other was complex. Having an automatic motor allows for freedom in the other to express in the moment without too much extra care. When each hand is doing something difficult you can reduce the difficulty by either changing the part or practicing more with separate hands. On this note (haha, note), I think it is important to compare how thin a melody over chords can sound versus (haha, verses) a dyad or triad approach. Carrying a melody with harmony in the RH over LH accompaniment of broken chords/bass lines is one pleasing approach to the instrument.