Mind over matter?

[Barry Hembling]

Hi, I'm wondering if I might get a few thoughts regarding an issue I have with a little practice routine of mine.
I have a favourite warm up exercise which I use regularly which consists of a simple 3 string, 3 finger pattern played over adjacent strings. I start with 10 , 9, 8 and play 10,9,8,9,8,9, then repeat using T,1,2,1,2,1, played over a 3 beat bar. I'll repeat that sequence a couple of times, then move up one string to 9,8,7, and continue to work my way up to the higher strings. Sometimes I'll also work the pattern all the way up the neck as well. I find it is a good warm up and is also great blocking practice.
My problem arises when I get to strings 2 and 1. The picking pattern remains the same, but the notes suddenly become out of sequence in their pitch, and my brain, even after 5 or 6 years of trying, refuses to accept the different sound. I can happily incorporate the 1st and 2nd strings into my normal playing, but can't get my brain to accept the sound produced by my practice roll. My fingers just won't do it.
So, should I continue to beat myself around the head over this, or just accept that I have a discerning ear which won't tolerate the unexpected.
I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has experienced an issue like this. Perhaps try my little roll and see if it works for you?

[Fred Treece]

I get it too. It’s because the rest of the exercise establishes that linear quality you refer to, and when you get to the “chromatic” strings, that quality becomes irregular, or curved. The brain takes some time to adjust because the ears are giving it something a little odd to process, and the fingers fight back and try to get back on the linear path.

I keep at it, specifically because the straight ahead finger picking pattern lends itself to that un-linear curveball, and produces some unusual licks. But I also try to find the adjusted picking pattern that actually keeps the linear sound flowing too.

Have you tried playing only the sequences that involve string 1 & 2? Try practicing very slowly just one sequence by itself until you get it right. Then add one sequence to that one until you get them both right. How slow is slow? Like, don’t-let-your-fingers-make-a-mistake slow. Don’t use a metronome until you get it right without one.

[Bryan Daste]

Yep, I've experienced this when practicing picking patterns. Something about the aural feedback being "wrong" really throws me.

[Jim Cohen]

Me too.

[Dan Beller-McKenna]

You should probably replace those two strings when you do your warm up. Tune them to a high B and E. Then put the other strings back on when you're done.

Yeah, no. I don't have any help to offer.

[Jim Kennedy]

We react naturally to the diatonic scale. It is hard wired into us. Even people who can't carry a tune in a bucket recognise when this pattern is deviated from. Same with tension and resolution. It is inherently expected that a chord pattern based on the diatonic scale will resolve to the 1. We all have music in us, some more than others.

[Bob Hoffnar]

It throws me also. I think it’s important to practice it enough to make it sound normal though. It is the key to tons of very common licks. Plus any banjo player can do that stuff in there sleep.

Another way to open up your playing is to play the exact same patterns over different beats. Also maybe try playing the pattern as triplets, 16ths and that sort of thing. I spend the first half hour of daily practice on rhythm and picking patterns. Super fun stuff.

[Dave Mudgett]

Sorry, I just tried your pattern and I don't get it. It's a picking pattern that, for each trio of adjacent strings, has a particular sound that one can learn, and thus learn to expect that sound and thus be able to recognize when I'm doing it correctly and when I'm not. That's the only feedback I need to be able to correct mistakes and ultimately make it work for me.

The other thing is that I can hear a potential musical use for any of those 8 patterns of notes. They're not necessarily connected to each other, but again, this is a picking exercise. Lots of picking exercises are mechanical like this. Not every useful pattern of notes is an ascending linear pattern based on notes in a well-known scale.

On the top 3 strings, try this - first drone your 6th string G# to give a harmonic anchor, and now play your pattern. The pattern is now an G#7 or G#m7 arpeggio consisting of 1, 5, and b7 notes - 1,5,b7,5,b7,5. It's just that the 5 and b7 are lower than the root.

Plus any banjo player can do that stuff in there sleep.

Very observant, Bob. Yes, I sorta' play banjo, and these kinds of patterns are used all the time, especially the ones where we thumb the 5th (high G drone) string up the neck.

[Tom Campbell]

See Joe Wright's manual "My Approach to Pedal Steel Guitar" Pages 57-83. Picking patterns, grips, to keep one busy for a lifetime!

[Bob Hoffnar]

Barry,

try

2,T,2,T,1,2,T,1

It is a more standard "roll"

or what I practice to keep things interesting

2,T,2,T,1,2,T,2,T,1

[Fred Treece]

T-1-2 all throughout works for me. Or does that take the “exercise” out of it?

Edit:
Hmm, after further analysis...T-1-2-T-2-1 does Barry’s sequence better.

[Ian Rae]

Those top two strings were put there to provide passing notes, so of course they don't fit with the rest. I don't include them in my warm-up, but I admire those who persevere with them

[Bob Hoffnar]

Those top two strings were put there to provide passing notes, so of course they don't fit with the rest. I don't include them in my warm-up, but I admire those who persevere with them

Depends on how you look at it. Strings 5 , 2, and 1 are a major triad or the 5 chord in the key of E . If you played piano would you leave out the 2nd and 7th note of a major scale because they don’t fit with the rest ? Those top 2 strings are one of the main things that give the E9 tuning such a comprehensive elegance. They are an interval of a minor 3rd diatonic to the key.

[Ian Rae]

Bob is right as always. I was just offering sympathy to the OP who found that those two strings jarred with the rest of his particular warm-up. I practise them separately, in the triad with 5 and as passing notes in the A/F position, where I find the scale on 52413 appealing.