Ok... so you've all just got your sheet music (or any other music works) and you or your teacher expects it to be played well in a certain amount of time. Having trouble with your new notes? Or the timing? Is it the music and "feeling" meant to be played differently? Is the music really frustrating you?
Don't worry too much. Take a deep breath, calm yourself down. I, myself as a grade 8 AMEB piano player know what it feels like to get stuck on the music, hence slowing down progress. Follow these very, very simple steps to perfect absolutely ANY song. Advice given from teacher...lol
1. Play the first bar SLOWLY
Play the first bar very slowly (as slow as your wish... because according to my guitar teacher: There is a limit on how fast you play... whether arm sore or can't read notes fast enough. But there is never a limit on how slow you play. Good advice, huh?
2. Take in the detail of the first bar SLOWLY
Slowly play every single note in the first bar slowly, but with care. If there is a few hard chords/notes, play them repeatedly, get used to the notes. If there is the musical "feeling" play it with feeling. Do not worry about the speed, even if it's fast. Do everything you need to do MINUS the speed.
3. Go to the next bar
After mastering the first bar, go on to the next bar, and do steps 1-2.
4. Put/Play the first two bars together SLOWLY
Link bars 1 and 2 together, and do everything you need to do, still putting the speed out of the way.
5. Continue on
Repeat steps 1-4 for the rest of the page. After that, take a rest, and do the same thing the next day!
Congratulations! You have mastered the easy "step-by-step" or "bar-by-bar" method. This method cannot get much simpler.
Although this method is boring (because you just want to get on with the music), you will finish the song with very high and good standards in a short amount of time.
Let's look at the comparison:
Person A wants to play the whole song quickly, and wants to finish the song early. He/she plays an hour a day... repeating the page over and over and over again.
Person B wants the play the song quickly as well, but with patience combined, he/she practices bar by bar, following the above instructions. He/she too plays an hour a day.
In the end:
Person A finishes the song in X amount of time, but quite poorly, with almost no detail at all, even incorrect and missing notes!
Person B also finishes the song in X amount of time, but he played the song very well with quality and detail, an went on to perform in many concerts around the nation, becoming famous and earning millions (okay maybe not the last part, but you get the idea).
Or looking in quality perspective:
Person A plays Y amount of quality in Z amount of time.
Person B plays Y amount of quality in half or even more of Z amount of time.
Concluding this topic...
If your new to a song, play it slowly, bar by bar. After you are familiar with the song and detail, you will naturally start to play faster, hence completing a song with success! =]
Monday 20 December 2010
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Thursday 2 December 2010
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