New answers tagged practice
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I don't mean ear training - naming intervals, or playing back melodic phrases by ear. I mean - becoming better at noticing when you are perhaps 20 or 30 cents out on a note. For instance if I play certain octave intervals on saxophone they do tend to be slightly wide. It is all to easy to get used to that. I am interested in how to become more aware of it.
...
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I concur with the other answers that you are looking for movable system ear training, even if all you want is to improve your internal tuner. As Richard pointed out, a movable system teaches you the function of each note within the context of the scale. Once you have a feeling for this function, you will have a much easier time recognizing when you are not ...
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I agree with Richard learning and training solfege (movable do re mi) practicing all scales and modes and intervals from the same tone. But there is another training that was the greatest benefit to me: By trying to play or notate melodies, tunes of well known songs, and controlling my writing with an instrument. Later you can continue with your own ...
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The absolute best exercise to train your relative pitch is to sing music on some kind of movable system.
This is because movable systems—like movable do and scale-degree numbers—teach you the function of what you're singing, which is ultimately exactly what relative pitch is. (Fixed systems, like fixed do, do not teach function, which is why I believe it's ...
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Your concern seems to really be about sensing correct pitch.
That isn't a specific violin problem, but it happens to be the case you are learning to play violin.
...before electronics, say, in the 1800s? ...not in the presence of their instructor ...check your intonation
I think it's very good to look into historical sources, but you may be conflating ...
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There are some excellent suggestions at
https://appsreeds.com/pages/dealing-with-a-sharp-high-g
(Some of which you’ve tried already).
The other thing to say is that practice chanters aren’t always made to the most exacting of standards, so it may be something that can’t be fixed like an incorrect hole placement, a resonating chamber that has not been ...
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I doubt anyone played the violin without an instructor. At that times, music was more of a job than a luxury. Some, such as the nobility class could do so, but they had the ability to hire a good tutor. The middle class could hardly afford it, a reason why the clavichord, a cheaper version of the keyboard instruments was invented. Plus, they didn't play ...
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Have you ever hiked a scree field or maybe hiked a boulder laden trail where the path is uneven, the rocks are different sizes, distances, shapes and heights and you have to make short or long leaps between rocks? Scales are like that. You don't just play them and magically you can play fast. You play fast because like hiking those rocks, you make ...
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Skimming through the existing replies, I'd also like to add that practising scales induce Discipline as a pianist. Especially true if you want to be a professional pianist or classical pianist (hobby or professional).
Practising scales help with lots of other small things such as techniques, music theory, sight-read so on and so forth. But to be good at ...
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You are probably going much too fast, as a beginner.
We don't know what standard you are at after your "unsuccessful tries", but the ABRSM exam syllabus gives speeds for the different grades. If we convert them into 16th note scales (they are given in the syllabus for 8th-note scales) they are:
Grade 1 - 30BPM. 2 - 33. 3 - 40. 4 - 52. 5 - 63. 6 - 76. 7 - ...
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I agree with other answers that the speed to practice scales at is the speed where you can play them accurately, evenly, smoothly, and cleanly.
Beyond that, when you ask what the goal should be in terms of speed or where "diminishing returns" set in, I would counter by asking you, "Why are you practicing scales in the first place? What are you trying to ...
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Scales are great exercises and warm-up material. They help get fingers flexing, and also help one understand which notes go together diatonically, but that will depend on which scales one plays.
As far as speed is concerned, it is as important to be able to play them slowly and in time as it is to play them fast, albeit accurately. If it's for exam purposes,...
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The speed you should be doing them at is the speed at which you can do them accurately and evenly. Once you get comfortable doing them at that speed, notch it up a bit - never going faster than you can handle. Don't just practise the ones that you are good at and know well. Spare time and energy to get the trickier ones just as good.
There is no rule ...
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Since you're asking for warm-ups, not 'how to'...
I sing in half a dozen throat styles, especially syzgyt.
After studying Hefele a few years back, I moved on to analyzing the intervals I could achieve with vowels (caps are long): I-U II-i III-E IV-o V-A VI-O VII-a VIII-U and minors iii-e v-u vi-O.
With that you can do solfege warm-ups: DU Di DE Do DA DO ...
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for anyone looking at this that plays piano, I highly recommend Josh Wright's tutorials. at first when i tried using them, they didn't work quite right. now, after only a month they have helped dramatically. not saying I can suddenly play HR2, but I am getting a lot better.
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Make sure you're playing it RIGHT. No fumbles. At all! If you're just 'taking a run at it' and tolerating inaccuracies it won't improve. If you can't play it slowly, to a click, you can't play it!
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I know this all too well, both in myself and my students. For me, the only thing to do is to put the piece away for a few weeks, even months, then when I get back to it there's usually a huge jump in improvement.
It's also useful engage with the piece in other ways. Do a harmonic analysis or research its background (it's practical to create and keep a ...
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Harmonium have a temparate scale notes means they are fixed in weight, and as we no that indian classical music is based on notes as well as spaces between notes (i.e shrutis), so there are also gliding of notes,meend, ornamentation etc..and harmonium can't go to that detail..thats why for professional vocal practice, string drone(taanpura) is the best ...
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These are all good answers. @michael-curtis makes the key point regarding thoughtful as to robotic approaches. Unless you are one of the 1% of the 1% of musicians born with what can only be described as the "gift", then you need to do real work in order to attain any level of competence. Jascha Heifetz has been quoted as saying that if he missed 1 day of ...
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The Main Characteristics of Romantic Music
https://www.rpfuller.com/gcse/music/romantic.html
Freedom of form and design. It was more personal and emotional.
Song-like melodies (lyrical), as well as many chromatic harmonies and
discords.
Dramatic contrasts of dynamics and pitch.
Big orchestras, due mainly to brass and the invention of the valve.
Wide ...
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Let me try to unpack the quotation a bit.
Romantic characteristics:
"Chromatic expansion": more possibilities for use of chromaticism, in context, I think this refers mostly to harmonic patterns (like chromatic chord progressions you wouldn't generally find in Bach or Mozart, for example)
"Development of striking elaborations of linear tonal syntax": "...
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It's not strictly necessary to use an electronic tuner to tune a violin! In fact, getting all strings in tune with each other is quite enough, even in the early stages - provided the strings aren't too loose or tight!
And that can be a good way to start listening to the notes it produces - the P5 sound.
Playing violin needs concentration on the sound ...
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How did beginning students practice hitting the right notes?
One doesn't need an electronic tuner or recording to check their intonation. When the violin, a tuning fork or a wind instrument, or even a piano, could be used, though the piano would go out of tune with time, though relatively slowly.
When one is playing, one can listen to the interference / ...
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You are missing the difference in society between 1800 and today. In 1800, people learning the violin would usually either be the children of professional or amateur musicians, or members of the upper class who employed private tutors for every aspect of their childrens' education, including music.
So the student would be learning in an environment where ...
3
I don't see electronics as much help for practice in general. The pitch reference was most likely a piano or a decent flute/recorder: the ability to compare pitches even for different tone colors had so to be trained earlier, which is a definitive advantage.
Not only for hitting the correct pitch (which is far from being the only useful ability improved by ...
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Your question assumes that the current standard is to use electronics as an aid. They can be helpful but a musician must be able to hear the correct tones. This takes time and practice to get right and there are exercises and techniques for achieving very good relative pitch. Relying on electronics to do this is actually detrimental to a musician's ...
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Same way they mostly do now. There's not much use of electronic aids.
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The usual advice for training prefers frequent but shorter sessions over infrequent long sessions.
It's hard to say exactly what numbers to use. There are psychological factors as play. But, I think a minimum of 20 minutes a day, everyday is a good starting point.
Everyday practice is a goal. You might miss some days. The point is to make it a natural ...
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It all depends on how good you want to get. If you want to play really well, you have to practice a lot. If you don't care, then you don't need to practice as much.
When you do practice, you need to get the most out of you practice time. You have to make sure you're playing the right exercises in exactly the right way and with full concentration. That often ...
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Can you play anything at 16th notes + 130 bpm speed?
If not then you need to polish your chops. Some comments have suggested that if you just play the passage slow and slowly speed up it will come up to speed. For the most part that is the correct way to get a new piece learnt to speed. But that also assumes that your foundation does not have a gaps. If ...
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It's usually better to practise regularly (say 5 days a week?) and only as long as you can retain your concentration and focus. That's obviously a very individual thing. Shorter, regular sessions are better than intermittent long ones. You have to work out your own balance. Try to get into a routine - eg. start with scales and arpeggios, then exercises ...
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Here's a different slant—try being a team member. If you know you have an exposed passage coming up, arrange with one of the other trumpet players that they'll do your line for a couple of bars (which will be in the stave) while you gather yourself before coming in above the stave. Also, farm out the high parts so everyone has a go. This is much less ...
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Playing high is much more about control than strength. You're probably getting tired quickly because you're trying to rely on strength rather than air support and a controlled embouchure.
The best way to improve range is not to work on playing your highest notes, but to work on making slightly lower notes easier. Focus on trying to play high C with as ...
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Try to focus on relaxing your face muscles and making your air faster. When the note does come out, it shouldn't be forced; it should just be a result of your fast air. I think working up to the note with scales is a good idea, just don't over do it all at once.
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It is normal that you can reach the higher tones easier when the instrument is cold. Further your lips and muscles are getting tired - also from warming up.
I've seen a video where a trumpeter puts his tongue between the under lip and the teeth to play high notes. The tone is not so fine but at least he is able to reach the notes.
When I am not in form I ...
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My method when recording:
Play the song using your recording sofware(DAW) in a simple 4/4 measure straight through. When you feel the tempo is not right adjust it until it feels right. It's ok if it's all sounding sloppy at this point as long as your changes are where they need to be.
Adjust your metronome tempo at the parts you have changes if needed. In ...
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My experience is that you will need to be nasal to sing in the mask. The air flow (which produces the sound) will need to pass through both the mouth and the nose. For sufficient air flow (the amount of air must be huge!) you will need a lot of space inside your mouth (note that it does not mean that your jaw is opened as open as you can!). The space inside ...
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