Well it's working a treat so far!Originally Posted by barney.
sounds intresting...keep us posted..
Sorry I missed this post earlier...
I notice if I go a day without practise!
I'm slightly dubious, I feel you may be assuming/expecting certain results, hence creating a self-fulfilling prophecy? You really notice a difference in the quality of your playing after missing a day's practise? From your vids I can see you are operating at a fairly high level as a musician, I can't for a minute imagining a perceivable drop in skill level from missing a day (or more) of practise. Possibly from a learner, who doesn't have all the muscle memory embedded from years of playing I would expect a drop off. I tend to have a fresh burst of playing energy after a break, someone earlier mentioned about practising "in your head", I find this to be almost as effective as keeping the physical act of playing topped up.
"without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible"
Whether it's externally noticeable or not isn't something I can tell, I can certainly 'feel' that my playing is somehow less stable if I go a day without practise.
what's the latest with the experiment Nik, how are things going for you and your study group?Much appreciated!
Sorry I missed this post earlier!
David
Latest news:
Experiment so far has been 100% successful! I've actually got better results than I anticipated. The technique section of the CGPW core manual has been edited and embellished slightly to recognise and accommodate what I have found. The non-diatonic technical practice section has been re-organised and developed, and the 'diatonic' technical practice section has been tweeked a little too.
Hopefully the manual should be complete, printed, and available (with an accompanying website) by the end of the year.
A couple more tweeks, and an absolute load of graphic design/layouts, and it should be good to go!
From the section "All About Practise"
4: How to Practise
“In order to achieve the best, most durable results of your actions, you must first assess the situation you are in, and then act in accordance with the results of your assessment. Never just jump in and start a job without assessing your situation first. You can learn all the principles and the skills but no two jobs are exactly the same because you will always be working in unique circumstances”
- Ernest Speakman (Master Craftsman)
Because ‘how to practise’ is such a vast area with a wealth of debate, discussion, and difference of opinion, I’ve tried to remain focused only on what I have found to be strong, effective principles and ideas that have stood the test of time. As I frequently say to my students, “no two pairs of hands are the same, so no two people will have exactly the same experience of playing the guitar”. With this in mind, it stands to reason that where no two pairs of hands (and equally no two minds) will experience practise the same way, and as such I would wish this section (as with the majority of this book) to be considered as a presentation of information and guidelines rather than any hard and fast ‘rules’. These guidelines and ideas should not be considered in any way ‘definitive’.
How to practice is dependent on what it is that you wish to build familiarity with. This will include consideration of the purpose of practice (expanding the definition of the purpose of practice to incorporate the specific information which you wish to develop familiarity), and the consideration of ‘what practice consists of’.
Within the technique section, there are objectives for each exercise which serve to assist in their consideration for devising a practise plan but the following ‘5 step checklist’ should offer a good basis for practising at the most basic level:
5-Step Checklist:
1 Make sure you have the right finger behind the right fret on the right string.
2 Do not put your finger directly on the fret. Make sure it is behind the fret.
3 Make sure you are pressing down hard enough, but not too hard.
4 Make sure that no parts of your fingers (or hand) are touching any string that they shouldn’t be.
5 Make sure that no parts of your clothes (like jumper or shirt sleeves) are touching the strings.
Right now, I'm not sure whether I've got a really good idea, or a really terrible idea, but (despite an absolutely colossal amount of work), I'm seriously considering making the CGPW core manual available completely for free.
Every belief that I have regarding educational ideology and the extent to which high quality information, and all (accurate and valuable) educational resources should not in any way be 'withheld' from anyone (in accordance with an outdated and thoroughly self-defeating sentiment that "knowledge is power").
If the CGPW core manual is made available, but may be more expensive than what some people can afford, I know that I'll feel pretty bad about that, and probably want to give it away, but then again I still need to buy my porridge and carrots etc.... It's a bizarre moral dilemma!
Perhaps I should do this with only parts of it?
Any thoughts?
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