Recording Myself Increased Playing Ability

[Delbert Blackketter]

All,

 

I made an interesting, and fun discovery about my playing the other day. (Stagi mini-18) I have been fumbling along for quite a few months (like, 30) with this thing, waiting for my finances to improve to the point of getting myself a real concertina (the kind with two notes on one button - you know - THAT kind). I picked up a FOSTEX 8-track digital recorder, recorded myself playing chords on the guitar, and then played along with myself. Seriously - my playing jumped way up. I was able to play at near-real speed, and to play by ear. I was playing tunes I had never attempted previously, simply because of rock-solid unchanging accompaniment. (my assessment of this result)

 

I had not anticipated this result. I did expect that I would finally practice both the A and the B parts of tunes, instead of simply the A part, as per usual practice. This was a noticeable improvement inside of 10 minutes.

 

Has this phenomenon been observed by others? Obviously I had better skills than I had been making use of, as I was somehow inhibiting myself. This recording gave me 'permission' to dive in and Play!

 

Bellowing in Buffalo,

 

Del

[Woody]

.....I had not anticipated this result. I did expect that I would finally practice both the A and the B parts of tunes, instead of simply the A part, as per usual practice. This was a noticeable improvement inside of 10 minutes.

 

Has this phenomenon been observed by others? Obviously I had better skills than I had been making use of, as I was somehow inhibiting myself. This recording gave me 'permission' to dive in and Play!

I think that sometimes in practising we get into a rut. Something like this helps you get out of the old routine. I like to sometimes move away from whatever routine I've got into and try to play something new and different, and I tend to find that all my playing, including the old stuff, seems to improve as a result.

[Hooves]

.....I had not anticipated this result. I did expect that I would finally practice both the A and the B parts of tunes, instead of simply the A part, as per usual practice. This was a noticeable improvement inside of 10 minutes.

 

Has this phenomenon been observed by others? Obviously I had better skills than I had been making use of, as I was somehow inhibiting myself. This recording gave me 'permission' to dive in and Play!

 

 

You might also try MIDI accompianment. I use Band-in-the-Box for backup on octave mandolin and guitar, yet I have not tried it with concertina or accordion. Whats nice is you can enter chord progressions and change rhythm, though most of the included patterns seem more suitable for some types of music than others (the "irish" style doesn't sound even a wee bit celtic to me).

 

Still, its useful for practicing improvisation and feeling out songs and if you actaully take the time to create your own "styles" you might be able to get something closer to waht you want than the included patterns.