Practicing a rough spot-should I think or just do?

I've basically got my first song project finished (Good Golly Miss Molly). I know what I want to do in every section and I can mostly do it, but there is one place where I have to slow way WAY down because otherwise my fingers often end up being placed inaccurately. I'm wondering how to get this down and, in particular, whether I should be using the thinking part of my brain or should I just be doing the same couple of bars over and over at a slow enough pace that I'm not making mistakes but not really thinking about it (e.g., not looking at fretboard and saying to myself, "OK, 3rd fret 5th string, now quickly slide your 3rd finger up to the 5th fret and look at your 1st and 2nd fingers to ensure that they land in sequence on the 4th and 5th frets of the 4th and 3rd strings respectively...). I know that initially you have to think about what you're doing and later, when you get good at it, you barely need to think of it at all. When should I make the transition? Can you sabotage your progress by holding on to conscious effort for too long? Is there a point at which it's helpful to back off with you're conscious brain because it's actually getting in the way? If so, what are the indications that that time has come? Although I'm struggling with a specific part of a specific song, the question is really a fairly general one having to do with learning strategies.

Thanks,

Dave

Hi Dave,

Great question, and I appreciate how tuned-in you are to the many aspects of the learning process!

For the section of Good Golly that is giving you trouble, I would suggest this: Separate that snippet of the song out from the bigger picture, and make a mini-project out of it.

This means you will slow it WAY down, and at this point in the process, by all means use your cognitive mind, eyes, ears, and narration to coach yourself through all the nuances of the moves that are being made in that snippet. Super-slow and methodical.

If there are any aspects of your technique in that section that sometimes happen one way and sometimes another (for instance, sometimes you use your index finger for a particular note, and other times you swap out your middle finger for that same exact note), examine which of the permutations is the best choice for the context. And then settle on that permutation and commit to it as you continue to slow-practice the rough spot.

Spend a good amount of time on lots of super-slow repetition of the rough spot - this is how the "information" begins to gel in the form of new neural sequences in your brain, and this is the path by which you will ultimately be able to wean your cognitive mind from being so intensely involved in supervising this section.

So, I would begin your practice sesssions of the song with this.

Give it a good chunk of time - 15 minutes or more.

THEN...try placing it in context within the song, but again, in super-slo-mo. In other words, play just the line of the song that preceeds the rough spot, try to flow through the rough spot, and continue on through to the line that comes after the rough spot. Stop there, and repeat, focussing on integrating these parts.

Create a mini-project out of THIS. Preceeding line, rough spot, the next line - as a package deal. And approach it with the same mindset - plenty of cognition and coaching, as needed. Plenty of watching with your eyes as needed. Very very slow, and lots of repetition.

Try to integrate taking a breath at the moment you transition from the preceeding line into the rough spot. This helps your brain unlearn the habit it may be in of getting into a state of anticipatory tension at that juncture. You know, like you're saying to yourself, "Uh oh, here comes that hard part!" Thoughts such as these actually translate to increased physical tension, which increases the chances that the rough spot will continue to lack the kind of flow you are looking for - simply because the body has tensed up.

And THEN......see about putting the song together as a whole.

If you encounter any other tricky transtitions or hiccups in the flow of the song, follow the process above to work them out and bring them up to par with quality of ease you are able to play the easist parts of the song in.

HA - can you tell I have a LOT to say about the learning process? You really got me going - have fun and best of luck!

-Lisa

Lisa,

Thanks so much for that thoughtful and helpful response. I especially like the idea of taking a breath at the troubling transition as that would not have occured to me. I'm out of town right now but eager to get back and work on that section.

Cheers

Dave

Originally Posted by: LisaMcC

Hi Dave,

Great question, and I appreciate how tuned-in you are to the many aspects of the learning process!

For the section of Good Golly that is giving you trouble, I would suggest this: Separate that snippet of the song out from the bigger picture, and make a mini-project out of it.

This means you will slow it WAY down, and at this point in the process, by all means use your cognitive mind, eyes, ears, and narration to coach yourself through all the nuances of the moves that are being made in that snippet. Super-slow and methodical.

If there are any aspects of your technique in that section that sometimes happen one way and sometimes another (for instance, sometimes you use your index finger for a particular note, and other times you swap out your middle finger for that same exact note), examine which of the permutations is the best choice for the context. And then settle on that permutation and commit to it as you continue to slow-practice the rough spot.

Spend a good amount of time on lots of super-slow repetition of the rough spot - this is how the "information" begins to gel in the form of new neural sequences in your brain, and this is the path by which you will ultimately be able to wean your cognitive mind from being so intensely involved in supervising this section.

So, I would begin your practice sesssions of the song with this.

Give it a good chunk of time - 15 minutes or more.

THEN...try placing it in context within the song, but again, in super-slo-mo. In other words, play just the line of the song that preceeds the rough spot, try to flow through the rough spot, and continue on through to the line that comes after the rough spot. Stop there, and repeat, focussing on integrating these parts.

Create a mini-project out of THIS. Preceeding line, rough spot, the next line - as a package deal. And approach it with the same mindset - plenty of cognition and coaching, as needed. Plenty of watching with your eyes as needed. Very very slow, and lots of repetition.

Try to integrate taking a breath at the moment you transition from the preceeding line into the rough spot. This helps your brain unlearn the habit it may be in of getting into a state of anticipatory tension at that juncture. You know, like you're saying to yourself, "Uh oh, here comes that hard part!" Thoughts such as these actually translate to increased physical tension, which increases the chances that the rough spot will continue to lack the kind of flow you are looking for - simply because the body has tensed up.

And THEN......see about putting the song together as a whole.

If you encounter any other tricky transtitions or hiccups in the flow of the song, follow the process above to work them out and bring them up to par with quality of ease you are able to play the easist parts of the song in.

HA - can you tell I have a LOT to say about the learning process? You really got me going - have fun and best of luck!

-Lisa