Ha, there's the second one, thanks again! Following up on the self-loathing / punishment segment: This is probably the most crucial issue because it's where the most time is wasted. It seems too idealistic, but it's actually perfectly doable for students of any level to avoid getting frustrated if we can make them feel & understand what's actually going on. Constantly, there are hundreds of tiny micro-actions throughout practice that activate us (make us more awake, concentrated, more in control), and there are potentially even more actions that deactivate us (make us more tired, impatient, less in control). We simply want a lot of the former, little of the latter. Some examples for activating actions: warm-up rituals, anticipation, visualization, impulse prevention (e.g. finger preparation, or freezing the movement for a split-second just before touching the string) -> these all can act as immediate reward triggers Examples for deactivating actions: Instant release movements (going for the note as quickly as possible, the standard behavior for 90% of students), overshooting movements, correction movements, excessive repetition, excessive tension, etc.pp.. Frustration is really the end point of these actions that will then completely remove us from achieving anything. It might sound super counterintuitive, but awareness and enjoyment are really the same thing. Where we fail as teachers is when we only ever tell our students to force themselves to concentrate, when it’s actually always a myriad of little mental tricks that get us moving, even (and especially!) with world-class performers. Oh, and Stephanie got the blouse after a concert in Rome for 20€. She says hi! 👋👋
I hold a graduate degree in guitar performance. Even so, I had never learned the basic principle of becoming good at playing until very recently... the notion that practice means concentrated effort. (Sounds like common sense... but in my case, common sense was not so common!) While a student of guitar, I was WAY too in a hurry, and glossed over glaring mistakes in the hope that they would simply go away. Perhaps, deep down, I didn't have the confidence that I had the ability to fix mistakes. Lack of conviction that I could master the instrument with practice was my downfall. Today, I've adopted the philosophy that if something is not right, I won't just let it go... rather, I would fix it. I learned from Scott Tenant and Sharon Isbin that when you make a mistake, it takes at least six times of playing it correctly before you have taught your fingers to play the passage correctly. So, now the rule for me is... avoid mistakes... but should you happen to make one, address it by playing the passage at least six times correctly (using metronome at a slow speed and working the tempo up gradually). Being critical of your own playing and not allowing mistakes is the key, in my opinion, to virtuosity. (Today, while practicing, I constantly talk to myself and ask... "What would a virtuoso do... would they simply gloss over this glaring mistake, or would they fix it?" Then, I would work slowly and repeat the passage over and over correctly... at least six times. Counting the number of times I do it correctly seems to help. Once again, I wish to thank Scott Tenant and Sharon Isbin for this life-changing advice.
"Don't use your nails on the tap!!" At the NY Guitar Seminar a couple of weeks back, Michael Newman told us some of "what he'd learned". "Don't close your fly with your right hand!"
Going with the topic of that video and motivation to practice I have to admit (holding my hands up here) that although I practice classical guitar I don’t think I really enjoy it for the music’s sake but I just use it to better myself and have something to aim for and get better at. I do love music generally though however, most classical guitar music doesn’t really move me as much as I think it should especially compared to other forms and genres. I don’t get much out of it in actually enjoying the music that I practice on classical guitar. Also, by the time I have learnt a piece any love I had for the piece that I have practiced is gone.
9:57 😏 More seriously though, these videos pretend that we’re just lab rats that live only for immediate gratification. Take a grain of salt from psychology and neuroscience. First and foremost, the art of patience, awareness, and self critique can be worked on in many things aside from guitar. This is not a “get good quick(er)” scheme, it’s a lifestyle choice for improvement and change. The more it’s applied across your life, the more automatic it is to apply to practicing. Second, I don’t see videos of evidence describing the importance of long term goals as a motivator for short term work. There’s a fetish on immediate gratification because there’s more lab evidence, but one of the reasons we have survived as a species is because people started to save and prepare for a better (or worse) future. Without a long term vision, a couple weeks of hard practice may go by before you drop the piece after getting a taste of what it’s like to play it. Some pieces take years to learn, and you cannot rely on the variable nature of immediate gratification to see the work to its just end. In short, you can treat your music like a high school crush, where love is an addiction, or you can actually commit to something and build the love that will be hardy, one day at a time. Without the idea of a long haul, you might as well treat every piece like a summer fling, one demanding attention until it shortly runs itself into disinterest.
I love that you said this. I can only speak for myself, but I don't go after "immediate" gratification when it comes to music. I don't even know what that looks like, tbh. It's usually a long haul, but for me even the haul is gratifying. Moreover, one mindset I adopted when I first "got back into" music was that I don't know where it will take me, but I know that I'll go somewhere, and what that somewhere looks like may not be what traditional success looks like, but it will be cool. I try to not aiming for super specific goals too often, but always improve and let my musicality do the heavy lifting. I can't be passive, but I don't have to fret about the minutia.
Ha, there's the second one, thanks again! Following up on the self-loathing / punishment segment: This is probably the most crucial issue because it's where the most time is wasted. It seems too idealistic, but it's actually perfectly doable for students of any level to avoid getting frustrated if we can make them feel & understand what's actually going on.
Constantly, there are hundreds of tiny micro-actions throughout practice that activate us (make us more awake, concentrated, more in control), and there are potentially even more actions that deactivate us (make us more tired, impatient, less in control). We simply want a lot of the former, little of the latter.
Some examples for activating actions: warm-up rituals, anticipation, visualization, impulse prevention (e.g. finger preparation, or freezing the movement for a split-second just before touching the string) -> these all can act as immediate reward triggers
Examples for deactivating actions: Instant release movements (going for the note as quickly as possible, the standard behavior for 90% of students), overshooting movements, correction movements, excessive repetition, excessive tension, etc.pp.. Frustration is really the end point of these actions that will then completely remove us from achieving anything.
It might sound super counterintuitive, but awareness and enjoyment are really the same thing. Where we fail as teachers is when we only ever tell our students to force themselves to concentrate, when it’s actually always a myriad of little mental tricks that get us moving, even (and especially!) with world-class performers.
Oh, and Stephanie got the blouse after a concert in Rome for 20€. She says hi! 👋👋
...micro-actions, micro-aggressions! Kids today! In my day, aggressions were MACRO!! (Grumble grumble...and GET OFF MY LAWN!)
Lovely Morel piece…very subtle, nuanced….played un- rushed , well played performance. Thank you.
Aw thanks! I appreciate it😄
Great episode. Really liked the tone you are getting from those bass strings in Morel. Guitar is singing at 2:02
Thank you😄
I hold a graduate degree in guitar performance. Even so, I had never learned the basic principle of becoming good at playing until very recently... the notion that practice means concentrated effort. (Sounds like common sense... but in my case, common sense was not so common!) While a student of guitar, I was WAY too in a hurry, and glossed over glaring mistakes in the hope that they would simply go away. Perhaps, deep down, I didn't have the confidence that I had the ability to fix mistakes. Lack of conviction that I could master the instrument with practice was my downfall. Today, I've adopted the philosophy that if something is not right, I won't just let it go... rather, I would fix it. I learned from Scott Tenant and Sharon Isbin that when you make a mistake, it takes at least six times of playing it correctly before you have taught your fingers to play the passage correctly. So, now the rule for me is... avoid mistakes... but should you happen to make one, address it by playing the passage at least six times correctly (using metronome at a slow speed and working the tempo up gradually). Being critical of your own playing and not allowing mistakes is the key, in my opinion, to virtuosity. (Today, while practicing, I constantly talk to myself and ask... "What would a virtuoso do... would they simply gloss over this glaring mistake, or would they fix it?" Then, I would work slowly and repeat the passage over and over correctly... at least six times. Counting the number of times I do it correctly seems to help. Once again, I wish to thank Scott Tenant and Sharon Isbin for this life-changing advice.
This man has been to heck and back just to warn us the dangers of oblivion
Interesting thought!
“You have to fill your day with something” holy crap I say this all the time
"Don't use your nails on the tap!!" At the NY Guitar Seminar a couple of weeks back, Michael Newman told us some of "what he'd learned". "Don't close your fly with your right hand!"
But the zipper’s on the right - not sure if I’d be able to pull that off - something about Mary moment …
@@jayrussell26 Since I don't use my left hand I hadn't thought about it. Yeah, it requires a lot of flexibility in the left wrist.
Another great video and wonderful Morel performance...
Aw thanks! 😄
❤ 🥳 Im addicted, to watching you 😉. I need an intervention. 😮
woooh...someone is sleeping well 👊
lol.... I love Stephanie Jones....
this guy is Stephanie's husband , he is part of a quartet they play in
0:29
mad Dora the explorer vibes I love it
😂
Going with the topic of that video and motivation to practice I have to admit (holding my hands up here) that although I practice classical guitar I don’t think I really enjoy it for the music’s sake but I just use it to better myself and have something to aim for and get better at.
I do love music generally though however, most classical guitar music doesn’t really move me as much as I think it should especially compared to other forms and genres. I don’t get much out of it in actually enjoying the music that I practice on classical guitar. Also, by the time I have learnt a piece any love I had for the piece that I have practiced is gone.
I’ll address this in the chair😔
@@Sorhands thanks will look forward to hearing your thoughts about that.
9:57 😏
More seriously though, these videos pretend that we’re just lab rats that live only for immediate gratification. Take a grain of salt from psychology and neuroscience.
First and foremost, the art of patience, awareness, and self critique can be worked on in many things aside from guitar. This is not a “get good quick(er)” scheme, it’s a lifestyle choice for improvement and change. The more it’s applied across your life, the more automatic it is to apply to practicing.
Second, I don’t see videos of evidence describing the importance of long term goals as a motivator for short term work. There’s a fetish on immediate gratification because there’s more lab evidence, but one of the reasons we have survived as a species is because people started to save and prepare for a better (or worse) future. Without a long term vision, a couple weeks of hard practice may go by before you drop the piece after getting a taste of what it’s like to play it. Some pieces take years to learn, and you cannot rely on the variable nature of immediate gratification to see the work to its just end.
In short, you can treat your music like a high school crush, where love is an addiction, or you can actually commit to something and build the love that will be hardy, one day at a time. Without the idea of a long haul, you might as well treat every piece like a summer fling, one demanding attention until it shortly runs itself into disinterest.
I love that you said this. I can only speak for myself, but I don't go after "immediate" gratification when it comes to music. I don't even know what that looks like, tbh. It's usually a long haul, but for me even the haul is gratifying. Moreover, one mindset I adopted when I first "got back into" music was that I don't know where it will take me, but I know that I'll go somewhere, and what that somewhere looks like may not be what traditional success looks like, but it will be cool. I try to not aiming for super specific goals too often, but always improve and let my musicality do the heavy lifting. I can't be passive, but I don't have to fret about the minutia.
255 Logs, Cameron might be addicted to Music 😔
😅
I became and engineer because I was a mediocre musician.
😔