Metronome Practice? Are Scales Worth It? | Guitar Practice Log 243
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- Опубліковано 5 сер 2024
- Welcome to the practice log of Cameron Fernandez, BA in Music and Guitar Teacher.
Need some guitar lessons? Contact me here for questions and scheduling: cameronspracticeshow@gmail.com
Pricing: $60 for an hour lesson ($30 for half hour)
All skill levels welcome, including complete beginner. ;)
Student-only masterclass hosted every other Friday afternoon. (EST)
Available for new students as of this post: Yes
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And my thing, what's on the docket?
The Docket:
Morning:
BWV 1001
Introduction and Variations on a Theme by Mozart, Op. 9
BWV 1009
Night:
Morel: Sonatina
Lamentos do Morro
BWV 997
Villa-Lobos Preludes and Choros No. 1
#classicalguitar #practice #bach #music #guitar #classical #sor #musicjourney #classicalmusic #guitarra
Metronomes are the best. At my level, they help me not play too fast. I use them differently for saxophone and jazz but yeah. Use them. Always. I'll die on this hill.
Bravo, I enjoyed that, I don't use the metronome as much as I should, will try harder, soon😊
Thank you!
Jazz saxophonist Bob Reynolds advocate you have to have your inner pulse and be accountable to counting.
You tend to rely on the metronome as it beeps on every beat. It's a good idea to have the one beep only on the first of every bar or every two bars. The more bars between beeps the more difficult. Allows rubato in between but do you get back on? Are you still counting properly in between? Food for thought y'all.
I usually always practice with a metronome when learning a new piece and once I figure out the fingerings and get comfortable with the rhythms, I work on interpretation without and do like what you do right now.
7:09 thanks for the bell toll effect tutorial. Looked up that piece you mentioned featuring it - Koshkin’s Toy Solidier - some other interesting effects in that one, snare drum imitations, playing above the nut.
ua-cam.com/video/nIsCZ09IDGA/v-deo.htmlsi=IXr_kyOB3bd7MTjh performance of Toy Soldier. 1:50 for the bell toll effect. (Seems that YT is allowing a link in comments now, cool)
metronomes are cool, especially for scale practice/technique practice and building speed. I start my practice off with some metronome work so I can make sure I am staying even with the beat with whatever I am practicing. For pieces its nice to use for harder sections that require proper timing. I think its an incredible tool to build a sense of an inner pulse as well. I feel like using a metronome wont hurt you, but not using one will.
I think it’s common to think mastery of scales is only important when composers demand it rigorously. Otherwise, scales may seem mostly like “soft skills”. Getting a feel for the 1 to 4 finger spacing for every position, smoothness of string crossings, getting finger to touch metal, general neural connections between left finger down and right finger pluck. These are skills that are essential at all levels.
However, by the time you reach such works that test scales as a hard skill, it will be too late. Some pieces in the higher echelon takes scale mastery as an afterthought.
You go to the gym so that when you fall off a cliff, you’re able to hang and pull yourself up. If you’re hanging and haven’t been training, you’re boned.
If you think you will never fall off a cliff or be tested in that way, then fine. Scales aren’t that important. But, if you’re a thrill seeker, you’ll want to have been training every day to be ready for anything that comes.
In short, your scale training should match your desire to tackle harder pieces in the long run. If you want to get to the end game, there’s no choice but to train.
Hi cameron! I’ve been watching for a few months now, and i’ve enjoyed the quips and personality you add, very entertaining. Much more digestible in this format than a lot of the guitar scene on youtube.
I’ve been playing guitar for about a year and 8months now, and I’ve built a practice regime for myself that I “feel” is good, but at times im not sure im headed in the right direction. I spend about 2-3 hrs a day practicing, sometimes more (recently my wrist has been hurting haha) and I’ve seen improvements, but i’ve realized recently that I severely lack in my song library. I don’t play for anyone in particular and I’ve never done it for performance, just for personal satisfaction. But I wonder now if I should be dedicating more time to learning songs as well as practicing scales and such. Currently I’m learning Merry Go Round of Life from Howls moving castle in order to fill that gap I feel.
For reference, my routine is
10min picking only practice with metronome
10min legato, with metronome. quarter, eighth and then 16th notes.
20-30min Synchronization practice up and down the entire fretboard with varying finger placements (i.e. 1234, 1324, 3412, etc.) to a metronome.
20-30min Major scale shapes and patterns. metronome
10min Pentatonic. metronome.
15min of pinky control and sweep picking practice.
10min of Arpeggio seventh chord sequences.
and when i feel up to it, i do ear training as well.
the rest of the time i spend reading from sheet music or through tab to learn a specific song (this is a new addition).
I feel as though ive really improved, but ive also never practiced music before and when i think of all the potential for routes i could go, for both learning and creating music, it feels like all im doing is losing time sometimes lol.
i suppose i just want a confidence boost that Im doing something right and not just overwhelming myself. i do enjoy my practice though, its not a slog.
let me know your thoughts if you can!
thanks for the vids cameron!
That’s incredible. Certainly a lot of technique! I recommend checking out the royal conservatory of music syllabus for inspiration on pieces by skill level.
@@Itsyoboyjy ill check it out, thank you!
That's a huge amount of time on technique. I wish I could do that, but I lack patience, and tend to focus on working on various pieces, but if you can maintain that you should become more advanced quickly.
This could be an interesting one to review in the chair 😄
I feel like I'm a student of yours 😄🎉
What if we told you that it can go beyond a feeling 😏
@@Itsyoboyjy 🙀😲😳🫢
😄
@@Sorhands 😸😉
Metronomes don't lie, which makes them annoyingly revealing. I can only tolerate metronome practice for short periods before becoming too irritated, so yes, extremely useful to use a metronome to improve your practice.
I have a question.... why does everyone play Capricio Arabe from Terraga.... why does no one play Estudio Brilliante.... it's one piece I've had trouble with...
There are definitely a lot of Tarrega pieces that get swept under the rug…
Capricho Arabe has a very memorable melody and the reputation as a crowd favorite. It got me into classical guitar years ago!
I think he hit the nail on the head😄
How do I as a beginner and kinda self teaching, pick out pieces to practice? How do I know if I am playing pieces that are too hard for me at that moment? And where do I find these pieces that I should be learning?
Edit: thank you for any responses, enjoying the content! Have a good day/night!
Pieces that a too hard are ones you simply cannot play, or can only play very slowly. If you are a beginner, find a teacher, even if only for a few lessons, just to make sure you do not have any bad habits. I've seen very advanced players with horrible technique which holds them back, yet they refuse to take corrective action because they have perfected the bad practices and find it difficult to change.
Ah that’s a great chair question, I’ll answer it soon ;)
What are your thoughts on studying with musicians who are not classical guitarists? Would one benefit from study with an accomplished pianist, horn player, and vocalist, RE: phrasing and interpretation (they not being guitar-centric or self-referential)? Lessons with a jazz guitar maestro for technical insight and harmonic mechanisms (akin to a motocyclist and bicyclist sharing riding philosophy)?
That is an interesting question, I’ll answer it in the chair😄