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Topic: Learning breakthroughs |
Curt Trisko
From:
St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
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Posted 12 Jun 2013 6:53 pm |
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Since I started teaching myself psg, my progress is best described as being a set of sudden breakthroughs. My right hand, my left hand, you name it. It seems all the positive change happens very suddenly... almost overnight.
For example, for the first year that I was playing, my right hand was never quite the way it should be. Then, all of sudden, just by changing the posture of the thumb slightly, it now looks awfully close to the way it ought to look. Along with that came much improved palm blocking, which I was hopeless at before.
It's not just physical aspects of playing either. My feel for the music has also progressed suddenly several times. I guess sometimes it just "clicks", right? Psg is such a complicated instrument that it takes your brain time to make sense of all that information, but when it finally comes together... wow!
It makes me think of the old rock'n'roll legend of selling your soul to the devil. People would see a guitarist improve so fast and so drastically that they thought the devil must be involved somehow. Granted, no one would ever mistake that happening to me, but I really notice it when I listen to recordings I made even 3 or 4 months ago. |
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Don R Brown
From:
Rochester, New York, USA
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Posted 12 Jun 2013 7:40 pm
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Curt, I think you're right on. Graphing my progress (what little I have made of it compared to where I want to get to) would not look like an incline, but rather like a flight of stairs. I go for what seems like a long time more or less stagnant, then suddenly find that I am able to do some thing or make some sound that had been resisting my attempts. Not that I did anything different (or maybe I did) but finally it works.
I'd say your observations are accurate, and probably normal. |
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Mark van Allen
From:
Watkinsville, Ga. USA
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Posted 12 Jun 2013 9:10 pm
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Don and Curt, I think you're both really on to something when it comes to the learning curve. I always tell my students to look out for the "stair step" growth and enlightenment pattern... the tread may seem long... but the riser just slams on up there. Most players will tell you they hung in for long periods of seeming... sameness... and then one day woke up to new abilities or awareness. It's a tough slog, but once you've been through a couple of "riser" experiences, it gets easier to hang on through the "tread" phases. Keep on keepin' on!
_________________
Stop by the Steel Store at: www.markvanallen.com
www.musicfarmstudio.com |
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Don R Brown
From:
Rochester, New York, USA
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Posted 13 Jun 2013 5:02 am
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| Mark, you are right, the feeling I get when I discover I have climbed a new riser is the reward for slogging along the tread. It's what makes it worthwhile. Thanks for the encouragement! |
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Jim Pitman
From:
Waterbury Ctr. VT 05677 USA
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Posted 13 Jun 2013 5:38 am
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I'd have to aggree. When I first started out I had been playing dobro for years and I quickly learned some PSG more or less out of excitment over being able to change the intervals between strings. I "plateued" for about three years it seems, then, wamo, another step came, another plateau, etc.
I watched a special on brain development the other day about the shape and geometry of the human brain. There's a spot near the back that a formation changes shape as one's musical aptitude progresses. It's gradual. I wonder if it just takes repetiton and time. |
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Michael Hummel
From:
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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Posted 13 Jun 2013 6:50 am
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Sounds exactly like my experiences after one year in. In fact, the most recent plateau inspired me to seek out some instruction (from John McClung, which is great!)
I'd also like to relate another thing that happened -- our band is doing a tune by Marty Stuart where Mr. Hughey played steel ("This One's Gonna Hurt You...") I was sure I would NEVER work out what was going on. And then I ordered Mark van Allen's "Hughey Tips and Tricks #1" CD. After listening to that a few times and really absorbing the way Hughey approaches things (and Mark explains it REALLY well) the next time I played it with the band, our drummer actually stood up and shook my hand. Talk about a riser!
Cheers,
Mike
_________________
MSA Classic 5+4
Too many 6-strings and amps to list |
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Daniel Policarpo
From:
Kansas City
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Posted 14 Jun 2013 2:04 am
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| Jim Pitman wrote: |
I watched a special on brain development the other day about the shape and geometry of the human brain. There's a spot near the back that a formation changes shape as one's musical aptitude progresses. It's gradual. I wonder if it just takes repetiton and time. |
I think I'm ready for a 2x4 to that spot. |
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Mark van Allen
From:
Watkinsville, Ga. USA
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Posted 14 Jun 2013 8:33 am
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That cracks me up, Daniel. I have occasional students that are seeking what I call "the 2/4 method" where they don't want to study, or investigate theory or chord structure, but just want me to hit them with a board that causes "knowledge". I used to be one of those myself. 
_________________
Stop by the Steel Store at: www.markvanallen.com
www.musicfarmstudio.com |
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