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Write yourself out a click in midi in a DAW
Start with 1 bar count in however you like
Then 2 bars click on every beat
Then 2 bars with click every 2 + 4
Then switch it off for as many bars as you like (the more bars the more difficult), don't look at the ruler as it can give visual hints, just try and keep time.
Then bring it back in on every beat.
See how many bars you can get with the click off, while still landing exactly on the 1 when the click returns.
You can use any pattern you want, at any tempo you want. If you want to check consistency, record each take to it's own channel (only listen to the one you're recording during the test though) and play them back, see how steady you're keeping it when the metronome is off.
OK, It makes sense when I read it... The situation you describe is really familiar Right now I'm 'stuck' on a couple of bars of a Bill Piburn arrangement of Jobim's Chega de Saudade...
Coming down the neck I catch the C# on the 5th string with my pinky, make an awkward stretch for the E#6/Ab (?), a full barre at the second fret for the partial F#m add9/A (?), slide the barrre up to the 4th fret and done. This one's also 130bpm and I can't do anything but make a mess at tempo. I'm lacking strength for the barre, struggling with the stretch..
I know it's a technique problem, and I know I need to make some changes. I've got a gut feeling that doing the technique test in your blog won't do jack for me (but if it would I'd like to know why!), but it sounds like you think there's some kind of speed-demon challenge that would help me get it down. My usual method would be to carry on playing slow and build up from there, and to be honest I'm at a loss to see a speed-oriented exercise that'd help me here, but hey, this is an interesting thread, and I'm in deep now... what's the speed challenge that will help me to play this better?
What's your current top speed on my test?
---------------------1-------------------------5-----
--------------3-------------------------3------------
-------1-------------------------1-------------------
------------------------------------------------------
-4------------------------4---------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------
(can't seem to get image file to upload, so went the old fashioned way)
Can you keep all the lower notes ringing while the top string alternates between frets 1 and 5? If so what speed can you do it to? We're looking right at the independence of finger 4 here, so there's definitely crossover with my pattern, where a big problem for a lot of people is the inter-dependency of fingers 3 and 4.
@dtr This was a truly great post:
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/1469785/#Comment_1469785
Wis'd.
Your current Jobim conundrum has about as much to do with Old_Swanner's alternate picking test as fish farts have to do with why icebergs float. Might as well be a different instrument.
@Old_Swanner Intimating that you can do a few Martino choruses has piqued my interest. Might I ask to see your meat, please? By that I mean a video of your top speed on your own test, to your own conditions, i.e. 4 clean bars of repetition.
You show me yours and I'll show you mine?
In the interests of adding something productive: when I joined my current band, I struggled with the riff in the signature song. Palm-muted sixteenths at 165. Guess the genre! I goosed the 'nome until I could do it scrattily at about 200. That made it much easier to find the pocket at target, and gave me a safety net for runaway drummers with bad Black Metal habits when playing live.
So: short bursts at tempos higher than your target. More repetitions than required at tempos lower than your target.
Rick Graham (YouTube) and Jonathan Strange (Maniacal on forums/Shred Training [his business]) as examples for inspiration and further guidance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf7eu1PFiKk
Classical/fingerstyle guitar was my go to for decades. What you're looking at with this Jobim passage is a prime example of the proverbial "bitch".
Some things to keep in mind when dealing with transcriptions of pieces that were written for other instruments or combined instrumental/vocal pieces transcribed into solo pieces:
The person who is doing the transcription might have a different physiology from your own. Might also be at a higher skill level. Segovia's hands were like bear paws. HUGE. That, combined with all his years of study, made what would seem impossible to some a complete breeze for him.
Parkening recorded a wonderful album of personally transcribed Bach works and published an accompanying book with all those pieces, written note for note. I was studying and gigging a lot at the time, so I grabbed that book, happily thinking I'd increase my repertoire. Some of the stretches and passages were unbelievably hard, though. The man is a virtuoso. Fortunately, Sir Parkening had the foresight to realize there would be plenty of people like me, so he flagged those tough sections (very accurately) and had a glossary at the end of the book with alternate (aka: easier) fingerings for each section that could be used until the real thing was finally achieved (if ever).
That's one of the things I'd advise you on, dtr: if you're in a hurry to get this piece down for a gig and there won't be thousands of virtuosos, salivating and waiting to see if you botch that section or not, I'd say just find a fingering that's comfy for you which leaves out a note or two and makes it flow easier, for now. Work on the tougher stuff over time.
If, however, you've got some time and want to do it according to this transcription, I would say to tread with caution and move slowly. Swanee's right about the independence of the 3 and 4 fingers. It's a common stumbling block that needs to be developed over time. If you try to apply the advanced bpm method, you could easily end up practicing your mistakes over and over again, which will put you into the "practice makes permanent in a bad way" camp. You might want to take a lesson or two just for this one section, in fact. Skype or not. Get you on the right track to start.
Even more importantly: you want to avoid injury. Tendonitis is a common malady of people coming off of injuries too quickly. And if it's severe, you're in trouble. It also crops up when we try to do something that's not natural to our physical makeup in too rushed of a fashion, in the first place. I don't know where you're at, dtr, in terms of technique...so please forgive if I'm playing "master of the obvious", here, but if this passage requires techniques and stretches that are new to you or are not yet fully developed, then you'll need to teach your body and mind how to get it right, slowly and gradually, with breaks in between, during which you either rest or move on to stuff that you're more comfortable with. Then back again to that grind. It'll become natural and flow easier over time.
@Old_Swanner - yep, I wrote the fingering wrong - I use the pinkie for the A on the 1st string and the 3rd finger for the C#. I don't manage to hold the notes as long as I should, pretty much just play them in passing (with the aim of keeping them ringing as much as I can). I'll try out your exercise and see if it helps with the stretch. Oh, and I think I'm only 'GCSE' level in your test.
@gitapik - thanks for the advice. I'm in no hurry, I just play for fun and it'll be a looong time before anyone but friends and family hear me play this. The whole piece is a new style for me (more used to US blues based stuff) so I'm chipping away at it slowly as I don't get as much time to play as I'd like. A friend suffers from terrible RSI, to the point of being unable to play, so it's something I'm pretty watchful about.
I only have little hands, and need to use a fairly extreme hand position to even get these notes out, so to me this feels to me like a much higher level than GSCE. That may differ for someone with larger hands, our physical limitations are always a factor. That's another reason I like my pattern as a good general overview, hand size is not an issue at all, a six year old can play it easily enough.
I'll predict, if you can achieve real improvement on this Pilburn section, your potential speed on my test (relating to left hand) will also rise. Do you know what's stopping you making it to 100bpm? Right hand, left hand or co-ordinating the two?
I do have big hands though (playing ninths on a piano is comfortable, can play a 10th at a stretch), so while I still have a lot of work to do on stretching and strength I don't think I'll be limited physically.
I've just tried the pattern you posted and can keep the notes ringing fine, but my right hand can't keep it together for long once I get past 80bpm..
If a player can play it faster fingerstyle than with a plectrum does that mean they are less musical?
An extreme example, but the same idea applies to your question, just not as obvious.
Time to give up (or take up bass).
And talking of videos, DLM said: I'm still eagerly awaiting your meat DLM!
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4181/34465578686_51f1041f22_o.jpg