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I mostly do chord work in my band, busking standards and written arrangements. When it's my turn to do a 2 or 4 bar single note break or a full chorus my hands aren't ready and sort of seize up. My RA probably has something to do with it but when I played in a GJ style duo where I played most of the twiddly stuff I would fly (all the right notes but not necessarily in the right order!!) It's just the short bursts that give me the problem. When I realise it's not happening I seem to tense up more.
Any tips please?
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10-04-2024 10:57 AM
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You need to practice those transitions. Then they’ll get easier. That is the obvious answer. But, since RA is likely part of the difficulty, if I’m interpreting your situation correctly, it seems that you have a mental melodic image in your imagination that you want to attain, but you’re not able to accomplish it physically. Maybe you want your single note lines to be gymnastically impressive, like John Coltrane or Allan Holdsworth?
Let go of all of that…develop single note phrases that work for your physical ability. Just play those. Practice those. They will come out. Then as you’re playing, when the moment happens, the image in your mind will be of the kind of accomplishable vocabulary you have prepared, and you’ll be more successful in having it come out.
It’s ok to leave space. Give yourself a pause like a breath. Hop in and out of the groove with chordal statements and melodic statements.
While practicing, play melodically using the exact same rhythmic articulation you were using with chords, but now with notes. Then add to it gradually, never dropping the groove.Last edited by enalnitram; 10-04-2024 at 02:27 PM.
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Originally Posted by enalnitram
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it's just another thing to practice. Check out this video of Moonglow. I forgot what I was trying to show halfway though, but you'll see.
Start with Kenny Burrell's Chitlins Con Carne, the call and response is right in the head. Then just apply that to other tunes. Autumn Leaves is another one that fits, maybe I'll do a video of that later.
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Originally Posted by AllanAllen
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Originally Posted by garybaldy
My process is basically just make up some BS and then play with that over time and it’ll get better.
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Originally Posted by garybaldy
It was on acoustic and maintaining consistent dynamics was noticeably difficult. You probably got that part together.
But for transitions and what to play in the single note parts, I used a backing track with a similar chording style and drilled the tune. First playing melody only, then chords only and then ad-lib only. Once the fluency was there with those three individual aspects separately, I moved between them by trading eights, fours and twos, and even odd breaks and phrases, working out a few lines, focusing especially on the transitions while staying in tempo, over and over and over until it was second nature. Not just “playing” the tune, in other words, but “playing around” with it, in both form and content.
Main lesson from that experience, which has already been noted above, was to sync my imagination with my hands, feeling my physical limitations and working within those limitations in context rather than constantly struggling against them.
Wishing you all the best in your endeavors!
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If we're talking about the break which leads to a solo chorus ...
A lot of players really burn on that kind of break. Lotta notes, very exciting.
But, you don't have to do it that way. One high note, held for 8 beats can work. Or anything in between.
I think the thing that makes it work is that first note must be placed really well -- in time. That is, at the exact right moment.
So, I'd start by practicing the breaks with one note and then add from there.
I'd also suggest giving some thought to the left hand movement in going from the last chord to the first solo note. It might help to arrange it so you don't have to move much.
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Originally Posted by JazzPadd
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Originally Posted by rpjazzguitar
It definitely requires calmness, more practice, more concentration and planning head.
And the trouble is I'm now practicing for a rock gig tomorrow night!
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Originally Posted by garybaldy
Or, more like yours, Bb, Am7, Abm7, Gm7, C7. Easy chromatic movement.
The issue isn't so much the lick. Rather it's to nail the time when the lick starts. It doesn't have to be fancy, but it does have to be right in the groove. And play it with authority.
That, or practice until you can do something harder <g>.
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I have this too lol. Not necessarily breaks but I have trouble just getting at it immediately and playing aggressively. I have to plan things out and wind up to it a bit and let context work. Let me list all the things which hinder my technical ability:
1. I have the shakes, a neurologic disability called essential tremor. So I shake when I do fine motor things or when I get nervous.
2. I was an athlete before a musician. So it's more moving your body without a bunch of fine finger movements especially in my main sport of swimming. This could have hardwired me for less finger dexterity.
3. Bass was my 1st instrument. This developed my hands asymmetrically and it took years to counteract this for piano.
4. Didn't start with lessons on piano to gain any technique.
5. Didn't even get how technical skills were a thing until a few years ago, 20 years into being a musician. Lol!
A thought I had to develop technical skills aside from trying to pinpoint exercises was simply play fast. Playing fast forces you to tighten things up neuro-muscularly so it should improve your technical skills??
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Op - sounds like you’re probably overfretting your chords. I had the same thing.
It’s a classic - heavy right hand = clench left hand.
Practice loosening up your right hand rhythm attack, and make sure you don’t push down on the chord grips any more than necessary.
This may also have a beneficial effect on your rhythm.
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Relax your wrists consciously starting from the shoulders.
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I would play an F blues line over a key change from Bb to F.
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It's the disadvantage of playing chord shapes, your fingers can get locked into these chord shapes.
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Originally Posted by Bobby Timmons
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Originally Posted by Bobby Timmons
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Originally Posted by Christian Miller
I've been doing my damnedest to pick lightly and I can do it after a warm up. I need to work on the chord grips.
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Originally Posted by garybaldy
Apart from of course Eddie Lang who played a brutal setup by all accounts.
For a reasonable action I still think you can work on relaxation. This something cellists work on for example and they use heavier actions than most guitarists. My wife’s cello teacher said ‘quiet left hand, loud right hand.’
The way you put enough pressure on chords can be explored as well.
I’d also suggest trying a lighter pick <1mm. Harder to play blazing single note stuff, but there’s an interesting psychology at play which sometimes a bit of recording at a distance can address - more right hand force does not always equate to greater projection. A softer pick places an upper limit on how hard you can hit the strings too.
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Originally Posted by pamosmusic
Last edited by Bobby Timmons; 10-05-2024 at 03:53 PM.
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Originally Posted by Bobby Timmons
If you practice in mistakes, your muscle memory doesnt give you a pass because you were trying it at 280.
There are some useful ways to do it … I like bursts a lot. So I might set the metronome for 60 and play eighth notes perfectly five or six times, then just leave the metronome and imagine it’s on one and three, play it maybe two or three times perfectly, then imagine it’s just on beat one and burn it once.
Then I go back down. Maybe set the metronome to 61.Last edited by pamosmusic; 10-05-2024 at 02:03 PM.
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Originally Posted by Christian Miller
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Originally Posted by Christian Miller
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A thing I recall having to work through (I say this as if it's all in the past) was a certain level of uncertainty or insecurity.
Like, I'd wait to hear something from the other musicians and then, assured that I knew where we were, I'd play my part -- a moment too late.
I had to develop more confidence in order to start playing a break when I thought the time was right -- and risk getting it wrong. I had to learn to trust the chart and play the ink right on time -- not a moment after everybody else.
Two things helped confidence. 1. More repetitions. 2. Sitting with the chart and making sure I understood the lead up to the break, rhythmically and harmonically. Then more repetitions.
One other thing that helped a little was thinking about what chord to have in mind during an unaccompanied break. Say it's a iii VI ii V I. The I is hit on the first beat of a two bar break. When you return to the top of the tune, say the chord is the same I. You could do your break solo on the I. Or, you could do it on the V7 going to I.
Or, get as elaborate as you're capable of getting. A common one is to play the chords that make up the turnaround for the solo choruses, typically a iii VI ii V, but not always.
You could do something like IMa7 biiiMa7 bVIMa7 bIXMa7 (C^7 Eb^7 Ab^7 Db^7).Last edited by rpjazzguitar; 10-05-2024 at 04:29 PM.
Barry Harris "miscellaneous rule"
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