If Inanimate Objects Can Sync Themselves…

I’m going to have to play the devils advocate here. I hate metronomes, and they didn’t really make me any better, faster or cleaner when I was just starting. I was a metronome junkie during undergrad, but I don’t think that’s where my sense of time came from. I do think metronomes are good for creating tense guitarists, and tense guitarists don’t last long..

Want to be an awesome musician for the rest of your life? Start playing with people from day one. I fell into playing with a band at church every week. Best experience of my life. Can you imagine having a weekly gig four months after starting guitar? I was awful, but I got better really quick.

Find people. Play with them. I was lucky enough to have a “partner in crime.” A friend was a drummer, same guy who played at church every week, and we jammed together a lot–A LOT. Just experimenting, and messing around; writing music and playing our favorite songs.

Playing with someone, anyone, is the best way to learn how to sync with other people. I recently jammed with my friend again; we haven’t played together for a few years. But that chemistry we’d had before came right back. It was a lot of fun.

-CD

Chriss last blog post..Monday Motivation: New Year Edition

My routine is to not have a routine! Well, sort of. During the school year, I have a time only routine. I shoot for at least 3 hours/day, more if I have time that day. Out of school it’s…whatever. I have a few goals to accomplish over this winter break, which I’m well on my way to to doing. But it’s break, and I play guitar all the damn time, so I tend to ease back a bit. I almost always mysteriously get better after not playing much during breaks. It’s weird.

Other than that, I spend about 30 minutes on “technique” which includes a basic RH warm up and some arpeggio patterns. Sometimes slurs for the LH, sometimes not. I usually break my practice into hour sessions, as I can’t stand sitting there for more than that. I usually chunk that hour up into half hours and work on a specific piece or section during each half hour. As I get better at a given piece I can practice more of it in a half hour, while I’m just starting those thirty minutes may be spent on a few measures.

I played in band from a young age (clarinet and later upright bass), so I think a lot of my sense of time comes from that. I did have a problem with speeding up when I was first starting classical, but it was a nervousness issue. I wasn’t trying to suggest that people not play with a metronome, but I think guitarists put too much emphasis on playing with one. Everyone should be able to play with a metronome without a problem, but there’s a time for using one and a time for not. Knowing when to put down that metronome is a valuable skill.

-CD

Chriss last blog post..An Interview with Charles Mokotoff

emon, thanks for the pointer to the strogatz thing. I’ve actually read his book.