Help with Practice

[fatt-dad]

Dear NG,

There are several resons that I write this post. First I searched "practice" here at the Cafe and found no hits in the titles, just burried in the content - so there would have been lots of clicking around.

However, the real reason that I post is to get some ideas on what skill drills I should work on regularily. I am at the point where I do pick up my mandolin every day, but end up working in my comfort zone - playing the same tunes, etc.

I found the "perpetual motion" exercizes under "lessons" at the Cafe, and will try to work through these (comments?). I have been advised to work on arpeggios also.

Knowing that most tunes that I play are in G, A, D (occasionally) C, I want to get more dexterity moving through the scales, broken chords and learning to assemble breaks. I just don't have anything in front of me to look at. I read only tab, so that is my first problem.

Can anybody tell me what drills they use to develop and maintain dexterity (confidence, accuracy, etc)? Do you have tabedit files to share? Is there the mandolin equivalent to Chopan (old-school piano drills)?

Thanks in advance.

fatt-dad

[davestem]

You probably have already seen these, but there are a few good exercises and practice tips at www.mandozine.com. You can get to these by following the "Techniques" button at the top of the homepage. There is a good series of articles by John Bird and Mike Stangeland on helping to structure your practice, and quite a few good exercises.

These include John Moore's picking exercises, Tim O'Brien's & Mike Stangeland's Arpeggio exercises, Jethro Burns' warmup exercises, Carlo Aonzo's closed position scale series, & a number of different tremolo exercises.

[John Flynn]

I'm sure there are lots of arbitrary drills out there and I'm equally sure that folks who are into that sort of thing will provide suggestions to you. Let me suggest an alternate way of looking at the situation that works for me, in the hopes you will find it helpful. I have never had much use for standard drills. I've tried them, but I've never found them very useful and I certainly have never found them enjoyable. Since I play for enjoyment, that always seemed counter-productive. What I do is make up my own drills based on what I am trying to learn to play. As I progress, I naturally find myself attracted to learning more and more difficult peices and more sophisticated techniques I can use to embellish what I already know. I make drills out of things that block my path in those directions. So if a tune I'm learning requires a certain cross-picking roll that is challenging to me, I will drill on that roll until I get it. Or if a tune has a passage in it that I can't quite get, that passage will be my drill for the week. I find this much more motivating and meaningful, because it is a drill I create and I can immediately put the results to good use. Just MHO.

[davestem]

Very good point, mandojohnny, and that's a technique that I find very useful, too. #However, I find that a small amount of structured drill-time at the beginning of practice (say 10 minutes of a 30 minute practice) will cause me to challenge myself in ways that I wouldn't if I were only working on material. #I think of it as a type of cross-training. #Lifting, running, and doing grass drills--though tedious and un-fun--will (in conjuction with throwing, catching, blocking, tackling, and running plays) help you develop into a great football player more quickly than you would if you just scrimmaged all the time.

Also, working on challenging drills and exercises will get your chops better prepared for improvisation than learning new pieces will, I think.

However, if exercises and drills just bore the pants off of you, and you'd rather skip practice than include them in your practice time, then obviously they're not the right thing.

[fatt-dad]

I like both of your approaches. For the near term though, I want to take a stab at some structured "formal" drills. It's encourging to know that davestem has had some luck incorporating the mandozine drills into his practice. I'll try to get these in front of my nose - thanks!

Much of my call for help comes from recent playing with others, especially on tunes that I don't know. After a few rounds, I "feel" as if I can take a stab with a break, but I'm missing muscle tone. My mind tells me to do some exercizes and get ready.

fatt-dad

[chirorehab]

One of my goals is to learn the notes of the fretboard. #To do this I have been practicing scales up & down the fretboard.

I have been using the wonderful resources at jazzmando.com (http://www.jazzmandol.com).

Even though I play mostly bluegrass, these drills are very, very helpful..

Checkout this section: FFCP (http://members.aol.com/teesch/FFCP.html) - It brought my playing up a notch and opened up a whole new world!

Ted deserves a lot of credit for this system! Thanks Ted

Good luck,

Eric #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

[Jim Garber]

fatt-dad:
I highly recommend learning notation -- it will open up a world of possibilities to you, including many studies originally intended for violin. In just a few weeks of working on reading notation would get you up to speed and open up a whole world of music. I am both an ear learner and a reader so I can appreciate both skills and they both help in my music. Why limit yourself?

I would also recommend Goichberg's 35 Progressive Etudes, op. 6 (http://www.mandolincafe.com/cgi-bin/strings/searchdb.cgi?uid=default&view_records=1&keyword=goichberg) which is available from Plucked String for a reasonable price. What is great about these is that these are pleasant pieces that build your skills as you work on them. Sort of like the mandolin tunes you are used to except covering all the keys.

Jim

[fatt-dad]

Dear NG,

Thanks for the great suggestions. One thing that I learned from my practice last night, is that most of the drills really show me how clumsey my pinky is. I know there is an active post on this right now, but whew!

Jgarber - regarding the etudes, for $10.00 I am tempted to give notation a try. I am somewhat curious about those etudes and (from my piano days) can readily imagine that they would give me a workout. For now, I am going to try to progress through the O'brian arpeggios and consider notation in the months to come.

f-d

[JGWoods]

I have been using the wonderful resources at jazzmando.com (http://www.jazzmandol.com).

Even though I play mostly bluegrass, these drills are very, very helpful..

Checkout this section: FFCP (http://members.aol.com/teesch/FFCP.html) - It brought my playing up a notch and opened up a whole new world!

Ted deserves a lot of credit for this system! Thanks Ted

Good luck,

Eric #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif
I too have been working on Ted's stuff and my theory of the day is that the pinky is the key opening up #the mandolin. With your pinky working well you can play in closed positions and then the logic of the tuning, and the relatively short scale length gives you all of the keys and easy transposing.

Combine that with reading standard musical notation and there is no limit to growth but time and talent, or the lack of it- as in my case.

I am convinced, but I sure have a lot of work to do
best
gw #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif

[Ted Eschliman]

Gordon & Eric, thanks for the vote of confidence.
I'm feeling a bit generous, so at the risk of giving away for free, part of something I'll have to charge for next year, I'm posting a link to a 4 page PDF that might revolutionize your playing, the way it has mine:
Four Finger Closed Position Exercises (http://www.tannah.net/ted/proof/IonianFFcP.pdf)
Knock yourselves out! (and your pinky as well...)
This is not on my website, BTW

[David Horovitz]

Ted,
These look fantastic. Thanks for sharing!
I've developed some of my own triad arppegio drills that move from #I-IV-V-I-vi-ii-V-I. I do them all in first position in multiple keys. It really stretches the fingers. I like how your exercises cover 7th-tone arpeggios as well as harmonic and melodic movement.
I guess I could just do these in all keys and then cover the rest of the modes too and I'd be set. #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[jim_n_virginia]

My teacher told me to stop just going up and down the scales. He told me to get a recorder and record background music, -I did it in guitar chords- (like I, VI, V,) progression etc or in different keys simple chords to different songs and THEN pratice scales but actually try to make up tunes when you practice. Also he said to try and fit in doublestops, hammerons, pull offs you know all the ornamental stuff. It has really helped my playing.

As far as straight up drills this is what I did to whip my pinky into shape.

I bought "Speedpicking" by Rowan Robertson YUP it is a electric guitar speedpicking drills book. (got it on eBay for like 10 bucks) I just adapted it to mandolin. It has given me a hand of "STEEL" http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

There are some GREAT exercises in there. And as an added bonus it not only helped me in my mando playing it has helped my flatpicking on the guitar out a lot by giving me a new perspective (from the electric guiter view)

Also if you are looking for the structure that daily drills will give you, you might try a teacher. You get homework and you HAVE to get it down in a week. You don't get stagnate, you keep learning each week.

good luck!

[fatt-dad]

Dear mandohack (a.k.a., Ted), in a few months, I will have to post anew and report my progress. I have just hit the print button and feel like you have offered the type of drills that I can use. Thanks.

Thanks also to the rest for your insight.

f-d

[fatt-dad]

Jim-N-Virginia, I would love to find a teacher that had a lesson plan and was structured enough to be prepared for me. I have had some lessons, but rarely did I receive any "homework" beyond pentatonic scales (not that there is anything wrong with that).

f-d

[Don Christy]

I've been playing for less than a year and have been taking a weekly class.

Two things that have begun to really help me, some formal "daily minimum" drills and an ensemble class.

The ensemble class provides so much motivation and is fun because there's a fiddle, guitar, and another mando.

For daily minimum, I use some of the exercises in mandozine tabledit exercise libraries. Usually takes about 10-15 minutes out of my morning practice of about 40 minutes. I usually play twice a day on weekdays (40 minutes in the morning and however long I want in the evening depending on what's going on.

I'm currently doing three types of drills. I start with arpeggios (Grisman's daily minimum routine) which is great for learning up the neck and different keys (good idea to take the time to identify each arpeggio's key and write it on the tab). Then I do the Dancla op. 74 exercise and something similar by Becky smith, both giving a good pinky workout. Then I do John Moore picking exercises. I end with the Kreutzer Exercise. This one combines good pinky work with some cross-string pickin. I find it the hardest to get through without error.

The rest of my practice time I work on tunes from class or from jams or just stand up and try to chop to some recorded music and work on my rhythm.

Good luck,
Don

[fatt-dad]

Thanks Don! Great ideas.

f-d

My practice consists everyday and i practice for about 1hr too 2hr. I highly recomend at least practice for 1 hour. Dont practice too much where its not fun but make sure you do have a good daily practice routine.

[mandonewbie]

fatt-dad,

I'm a newcomer to the mandolin, and I practice daily, usally getting in a least one hour. I located a teacher and I think that's going to get me to a level I never would have achieved on my on....I've only had 3 lessons, but I have learned 3 fiddle tunes in that time, each of them utilize the pinky during play. I've also learned the major scales, and I'm beginning to learn the notes on the fretboard. All of this because of having homework, that is expected to be completed before I return for the next lesson.....Not that I'd get in trouble if I didn't complete the assignments, but I'm paying $ for this, so it keeps me focused....I hope you can find a good instructor, who will keep you on track.......Good Luck!

[fatt-dad]

I wanted to comment to Ducati08 (a.k.a., Don). I looked at the Grisman exercizes, but wasn't sure how applicable they would be in that they are in 6/8 time. Can you provide some insight on how 6/8 drills would help with the more normal playing?

f-d

p.s., those ffcp exercizes are quite a workout!

[chipotle]

Mandohack, thanks a ton for that post! This is something I will be working on, it is really applicable for what I am trying to achieve.