Technical Difficulties

Jazzaferri

Now you are honing in on what you need to work on. Don't waste time on the stuff you can do, focus all your effort on those small problem areas. Both ways will get you to the same place in the end but focussing on what needs to be corrected will get you there faster

Paul Murray

Cheers for the feedback Jazzaferri, much appreciated!

Buco

I always found that I improve the most when after working on something I leave it alone and then come back to it.
That could be short term or long term.
Short term example could be something like a short lick, you mentioned Django's "I'll see you in my dreams" solo which I've been working on myself and in it there are plenty of challenging bits.
I'll take one of those and break it into even smaller bits and work on each one separately.
Then I'll start joining each of the micro chunks into adjoining pairs and continue pairing until I have the lick I'm working on joined in one piece.
Then, and that's the point of my post, I'll leave it for 20-30 minutes, come back to it and it immediately seemingly sounds better than when I left it.

Or it could be long term, like when I was trying to get that triplet lick from Dark Eyes, this one

I practiced it for at least two-three months several times a week and just could not reach the performing speed. I thought "well that might be something I just won't be able to do" and left it alone thinking that I was pretty much done trying.
I came back to it after 3-4 months one day practicing in my bedroom on a whim and right away I was able to play it at performance speed, I don't how fast in bpm but I felt right away I could now do this with my band. And I did.
I don't have that awesome bouncy feel like Stochelo does in his video but I do it my way and it's OK.
What changes in your brain/muscles when you leave things gestate?
No clue, but it does happen.

This last example thought me another thing too, I'll never tell myself I can't do something.

Buco

Paul Murray wrote: »

Secondly I have a question about 'I'll See You In My Dreams'. In bar 48, the ascending Bm arpeggio into the Fmaj descending arpeggio, I find it hard to play it consistently. 180 bpm is a comfortable tempo for that piece for me, but any faster I seemed to have hit a plateau. Anyone any tips on playing that? What picking directions do people use?

Thanks in advance,
Paul

Could it be bar 38, the one that start at 00:50?

Buco

I just recorded a video showing how I approach challenging parts by going to half speed/full speed and breaking down a lick into smaller bits that I eventually string together. My picking is following GJ formula except I know I alternate pick one note at the end of the F major bar that I don't think needs to have that loud attack. The picking hand is the challenging thing on this solo, all the consecutive downstrokes on those descending arps. I decided to learn this one Django style, two fingers and at first I though left hand will be nearly impossible but it turned out right hand is what's taking much longer if I follow classic GJ picking formula.

Paul Murray

Hey buco, thanks for the reply and the video. Excellent playing by the way. That's the lick I was talking about. It's not that I find that the whole phrase/run is a problem for me. I find the trouble happens just as play the last note in the Bbm arpeggio, the C note on the 1st string and then proceed to the next one, Bb and then to A. What picking directions do you use for these 3 notes? I started out with DUD but have recently been trying out DDU so that the last note on the 1st string is an upstroke which might work better, I just need to spend more time with it but obviously need to stick with one method. Also for those consecutive downward Bb maj and Bb min arpeggios, do you push through with the wrist or let gravity do the work?

I always found that I improve the most when after working on something I leave it alone and then come back to it.

That's very true, I just need to remember that more often! I think part of the problem is I've probably been a bit obsessive with it. Everytime I pick up the guitar I keep playing those same licks that are giving me trouble whereas I probably just need to leave them alone for a while! Also the method that you suggest about breaking problem areas down in to smaller chunks and working on them is what I generally do as well.

This last example thought me another thing too, I'll never tell myself I can't do something.

Exactly, I try and remember back to when I started out learning this stuff and all the stuff that I couldn't play that I can now do half-good!

Paul Murray

It's a good tip to leave it alone for awhile. It's easy to overwork these things and it starts to eat away at your confidence - that's where the brain thing might be an issue!

Very true, I think I need to just go back to some simple chord strumming for a while...

Buco

You can go back to something as or more complex, as long you give your brain/muscles time to process what you just asked them to do.
But yes, I had to tell it out loud to myself last night "man just leave it alone" because I went back to practicing this whole solo but after I ran through it a few times and went to work on something else, I kept coming back to I'll see you...so I had to slap myself on the wrist.

For those 3 notes, C to Bb to A, I do DUD. I think you kinda have to have a snap on that A note. I hear it as one phrase ends on C, Bb is just a lead up to a new phrase and then the new phrase starts on A so you gotta make it stand out, hence you need a downstroke.
I get your thinking though, I think in those terms myself although mostly when I try to figure most efficient way to move while soloing.

In that Bb arp my arm moves very deliberately but from the elbow. The wrist there is anchored and doesn't move at all except when it reaches high E string and there it does a small flick on that last note to give it more accent.
But once it starts moving from D string downwards it is a stiff bar, stiff but not tense.

Thanks man, been chipping away on it since last Nov or so. Even if it's not there yet, I know it's improved me in general so I don't mind to continue chipping away slowly.

ya-honza

For me, its the open arpeggios that cause me the problems, in particular the descending/ascending one over the Cm in Blues en Minor, or even E dim. It just feels so unnatural but I'm plugging away every day at slow tempos and then trying to play against backing tracks at full tempo. I am noticing some improvements but if I try to throw it in during a gig, it usually falls flat... one day though..!

Jazzaferri

One of the finest jazz musicians I know said it takes about 6 months between the time he really gets a phrase and it starting to turn up in his soloing naturally. He's only a sax player though.