Practice Or Learning Suggestions

[darticus]

I have some tunes I like but can't play the notes fast enough to make it sound right. I can hear the tune on you tube but I can't play the tune notes fast enough or at the right amount of time for the music note. Because I can't change the note button fast enough. I am reading this. I think the only way is to keep playing the notes until I get faster and can than maybe I can play to the note beat on the music sheet. Is this the best way to learn it.? Thanks Ron

Edited September 11, 2016 by darticus

[Jim Besser]

I have some tunes I like but can play the notes fast enough to make it sound right. I can hear the tune on you tube but I can't play the tune notes fast enough or at the right amount of time for the music note. Because I can't change the note button fast enough. I am reading this. I think the only way is to keep playing the notes until I get faster and can than maybe I can play to the note beat on the music sheet. Is this the best way to learn it.? Thanks Ron

 

Everybody learns differently; there's no one size fits all answer.

 

Since you seem to be learning by hear, using recordings as your guide, try this.

 

- Record the tune you want to learn (from Youtube,Spotify, whatever), using Audacity, or a similar program, and store it as an MP3

- Get a slow down program such as the Amazing Slow Downer, or learn to use Audacity, which I think can also slow down music without changing pitch (I've used ASD for years and love it)

- play along at 60 percent speed and try to get it right.

- when you do, start gradually increasing the speed.

 

It's a slow process, but keep working at it and you'll get better.

[darticus]

 

I have some tunes I like but can play the notes fast enough to make it sound right. I can hear the tune on you tube but I can't play the tune notes fast enough or at the right amount of time for the music note. Because I can't change the note button fast enough. I am reading this. I think the only way is to keep playing the notes until I get faster and can than maybe I can play to the note beat on the music sheet. Is this the best way to learn it.? Thanks Ron

 

Everybody learns differently; there's no one size fits all answer.

 

Since you seem to be learning by hear, using recordings as your guide, try this.

 

- Record the tune you want to learn (from Youtube,Spotify, whatever), using Audacity, or a similar program, and store it as an MP3

- Get a slow down program such as the Amazing Slow Downer, or learn to use Audacity, which I think can also slow down music without changing pitch (I've used ASD for years and love it)

- play along at 60 percent speed and try to get it right.

- when you do, start gradually increasing the speed.

 

It's a slow process, but keep working at it and you'll get better.

 

Thanks for the good info. Will check it out. Ron

[Chris Ghent]

Find yourself a teacher. It will save you years.

[Hereward]

If there is a concertina group near you, it's well worth giving them a visit and seeing what they have to offer in the way of teaching. I travel to one most months that involves two trains and the London Underground for a total of two hours but is well worth it.

[darticus]

Thanks all for the suggestions. Ron

[RatFace]

I didn't really understand the original post, but it mentions YouTube and not being able to keep up. Click the gear/cog symbol at the bottom right of videos on YouTube and change the speed to 0.5 (0.25 cuts the audio) for a quick/easy slow-down.

 

In general, don't worry about playing fast - concern yourself with playing well, at whatever speed you can play well at. As you play more, you'll find yourself able to play well and play at the speed you like (whether that's fast or slow). It's not a process you can rush.

[darticus]

I didn't really understand the original post, but it mentions YouTube and not being able to keep up. Click the gear/cog symbol at the bottom right of videos on YouTube and change the speed to 0.5 (0.25 cuts the audio) for a quick/easy slow-down.

 

In general, don't worry about playing fast - concern yourself with playing well, at whatever speed you can play well at. As you play more, you'll find yourself able to play well and play at the speed you like (whether that's fast or slow). It's not a process you can rush.

I read the music, I play the notes but not at the correct time for the note as it takes me time to find the buttons. I guess as I keep playing it over and over I will get faster in playing and than can eventually play at the proper times needed. Thanks Ron

[Theo]

 

I didn't really understand the original post, but it mentions YouTube and not being able to keep up. Click the gear/cog symbol at the bottom right of videos on YouTube and change the speed to 0.5 (0.25 cuts the audio) for a quick/easy slow-down.

 

In general, don't worry about playing fast - concern yourself with playing well, at whatever speed you can play well at. As you play more, you'll find yourself able to play well and play at the speed you like (whether that's fast or slow). It's not a process you can rush.

I read the music, I play the notes but not at the correct time for the note as it takes me time to find the buttons. I guess as I keep playing it over and over I will get faster in playing and than can eventually play at the proper times needed. Thanks Ron

 

No, not really. You need to play slowly enough so that you CAN play the notes in the correct time, otherwise you are just learning bad timing. Then practice at that speed. I guess you may also need to take only short parts of a tune and practice them on their own, and repeated over and over again. Once you can play a short phrase slowly and in time then extend the phrase and repeat the process. And use the simplest tune you can fine. Twinkle twinkle little star is a good one that I have used successfully with adult beginners. Other nursery rhymes are good too.

[darticus]

 

 

I didn't really understand the original post, but it mentions YouTube and not being able to keep up. Click the gear/cog symbol at the bottom right of videos on YouTube and change the speed to 0.5 (0.25 cuts the audio) for a quick/easy slow-down.

 

In general, don't worry about playing fast - concern yourself with playing well, at whatever speed you can play well at. As you play more, you'll find yourself able to play well and play at the speed you like (whether that's fast or slow). It's not a process you can rush.

I read the music, I play the notes but not at the correct time for the note as it takes me time to find the buttons. I guess as I keep playing it over and over I will get faster in playing and than can eventually play at the proper times needed. Thanks Ron

 

No, not really. You need to play slowly enough so that you CAN play the notes in the correct time, otherwise you are just learning bad timing. Then practice at that speed. I guess you may also need to take only short parts of a tune and practice them on their own, and repeated over and over again. Once you can play a short phrase slowly and in time then extend the phrase and repeat the process. And use the simplest tune you can fine. Twinkle twinkle little star is a good one that I have used successfully with adult beginners. Other nursery rhymes are good too.

 

Never was very good with reading music for songs I didn't know how to play tunes until I here them played over and over. Will try. Thanks Ron

[Jay-Jay]

I'm pretty much a beginner myself well I think now intermediate and the best advice I could give someone is don't worry about playing fast, play the tune at a slow pace, even at a slow pace you can hear the rhythm and hear the tune and it still sounds quite lovely.

 

If you want a simple slow down option windows media player can slow it down to .5 speed.

 

Open Chrome or other web-browser/ open 2 tabs one for youtube and the other (it's an mp3/converter/downloader) http://www.youtube-mp3.org/

 

Copypaste song into converter - download

 

Open the song in Windows Media player

[darticus]

I'm pretty much a beginner myself well I think now intermediate and the best advice I could give someone is don't worry about playing fast, play the tune at a slow pace, even at a slow pace you can hear the rhythm and hear the tune and it still sounds quite lovely.

 

If you want a simple slow down option windows media player can slow it down to .5 speed.

 

Open Chrome or other web-browser/ open 2 tabs one for youtube and the other (it's an mp3/converter/downloader) http://www.youtube-mp3.org/

 

Copypaste song into converter - download

 

Open the song in Windows Media player

Thanks for the suggestions. Ron

[Halifax]

My old music teacher used to say: "In order to learn a piece fast, play it slow." He was a proponent of the metronome. You start playing at the metronome tempo you can, usually pretty slow, and move up notch by notch until you are playing at tempo.

[darticus]

My old music teacher used to say: "In order to learn a piece fast, play it slow." He was a proponent of the metronome. You start playing at the metronome tempo you can, usually pretty slow, and move up notch by notch until you are playing at tempo.

Maybe I should download a metronome. Thanks Ron

[Anglo-Irishman]

Maybe I should download a metronome. Thanks Ron

 

 

What, and practice your concertina exclusively in front of your PC? I don't know about you, but I need completely dfferent seating arrangements for PC work and music. And a different setting is quite nice, too!

 

I have a cheap but reliable electronic tuner for my stringed instruments, and it has a metronome function built in. It's better than a mechanical metronome, in that it emphasises the first beat of the bar. It also has a visual output (also emphasising the first beat), and you can get the acoustic beat via earbud, if you want to record yourself. And you can take it anywhere you care to practise.

 

I agree with Halifax - playing slowly and in time is a good way of laying the foundation for later fast playing, and a metronome is the tool for this.

 

Your postings hitherto prompt me to give the following advice: don't try to run before you can walk. If you still have to take pauses, however short, to find the next note, you're still learning the instrument. When you've learnt the instrument, you can then start learning tunes.

I've taken up quite a few new instruments over the years, and I've found that the acid test of whether I've got a grip on an instrument is whether I can play some old tune that I've known from my mother's knee correctly (not necessarily beautifully!) on it after about 3 or 4 runs through. When I've got that far, I can start learnng new tunes, or arranging familiar tunes for the instrument in question.

 

It all takes time to sink in. Don't worry about it!

 

Cheers,

John

[darticus]

 

Maybe I should download a metronome. Thanks Ron

 

 

What, and practice your concertina exclusively in front of your PC? I don't know about you, but I need completely dfferent seating arrangements for PC work and music. And a different setting is quite nice, too!

 

I have a cheap but reliable electronic tuner for my stringed instruments, and it has a metronome function built in. It's better than a mechanical metronome, in that it emphasises the first beat of the bar. It also has a visual output (also emphasising the first beat), and you can get the acoustic beat via earbud, if you want to record yourself. And you can take it anywhere you care to practise.

 

I agree with Halifax - playing slowly and in time is a good way of laying the foundation for later fast playing, and a metronome is the tool for this.

 

Your postings hitherto prompt me to give the following advice: don't try to run before you can walk. If you still have to take pauses, however short, to find the next note, you're still learning the instrument. When you've learnt the instrument, you can then start learning tunes.

I've taken up quite a few new instruments over the years, and I've found that the acid test of whether I've got a grip on an instrument is whether I can play some old tune that I've known from my mother's knee correctly (not necessarily beautifully!) on it after about 3 or 4 runs through. When I've got that far, I can start learnng new tunes, or arranging familiar tunes for the instrument in question.

 

It all takes time to sink in. Don't worry about it!

 

Cheers,

John

 

Thanks for your suggestions. Ron

[alex_holden]

 

Maybe I should download a metronome. Thanks Ron

What, and practice your concertina exclusively in front of your PC? I don't know about you, but I need completely dfferent seating arrangements for PC work and music. And a different setting is quite nice, too!

 

There are a lot of metronome apps for smartphones/tablets too.

[Alan Day]

I hope you do not take this posting as being rude ,but many learners think that there is some sort of short cut to playing well.They try to skip learning scales, or methods to improve playing that many experienced players have suggested and attempt tunes that are outside their capabilities.Nothing can beat pure practice,playing over and over again until those around you are driven mad.There are some things that beginners do that can immediately improve your playing ,that is to practice pull notes to shorten the note ,similar to what you are playing on the push.The other is to play quieter, this gives you more air, reduces the strain on your voice if you are singing with the instrument and enables listeners to hear the words over the sound of the instrument.By playing quieter this increases the speed of your playing and reduces air loss .Always push yourself on working on things you cannot play until you can,but do not forget the ground work and above all experimentation.Is it possible to play the tune another way? Can you improve your speed by using accidentals, or playing across the rows? These little short cuts opens up a new plateau and suddenly what used to be so difficult becomes easy.

I am still learning fifty years on ,but still using techniques (right or wrong ) I used thirty years ago.

At least I still love the instrument as much now as I did when I started.

Al