The Bar Hand Exercise
Posted: 25 Jan 2010 12:36 am
As promised this is how I develop the left hands accuracy for pitch, timing, and tone.......The more technical control a player has, the more freedom the player has to express musical thoughts without experiencing technical limitations....... I use this practice method to overcome a combination of issues.
Although I have never spoken to Buddy about this subject, I have heard from some of my students that he uses a similar method to develop his accuracy. Buddy should get credit here as well for pioneering in depth practice habits. The fret positions I learned from my Hawaiin teacher...She most likely got them from the oahu method...I don't know for sure.....nuff said
Mastering the bar hand is crucial to tone....The more confidence a player has when moving the bar, the more chance his tone will improve...Its all about developing controlled movement of the bar.....First off, I believe there is not enough time in my lifetime to learn all there is to know about music and steel guitars. I accept this as fact.....So with that understanding, I try to make the most efficient use of my practice time.
On the E9th tuning, I first set the metronome to a slow rate than I move the bar from the open position to all of the fret positions listed below while picking two strings consecutively in time with the metronome.....I pick string 7 than 8 and then I move to the next fret position and repeat picking those strings..... I keep repeating this picking pattern at each fret position of this lengthy exercise.
I always start at the open position......Below this paragraph I list the fret moves....pick the 7th than 8th strings as quarter notes through all of the fret positions........Its important to move the bar through all the positions I list below without breaking the quarter note rhythm. Don't stop if you make a mistake, keep moving through all of the frets while continuously picking strings 7 and 8 as quarter notes .....Slow the metronome down until you can do this comfortably. Once you have these moves memorized you can gradually increase the metronome speed.....It is important to memorize this so that your eyes and ears are the main focus. Remember to keep the bar straight....No vibrato.
Here are the fret positions.....
0...2...4...6...8...10...12...10...8...6...4...2 don't stop here play the next line.
0...3...6...9...12...9...6...3 again don't stop that scale type rhythm...now play
0...4...8...12...8...4 and the last step of this circular style of bar practice, play
0...5....10...15...10....5 DON'T stop to rest here, its very important to repeat the whole process over and over for minutes. In a way this is a musical tongue twister....Start out slowly and gradually increase the metronome speed as your accuracy improves......If you have access to a synth, piano, or bass guitar you can record several minutes worth of an E note.....By practicing all of these patterns over that E note, your intonation can be improved by using the same practice routine......
The first line is an E augmented scale pattern......The second line is a E diminsh scale pattern.....The third line is an E augmented scale pattern....The fourth line is a scale pattern of stacked fourths......Because all of this practice is theory based, you can take any snippet from these patterns and use that snippet to play over certain chord changes......Study how to apply augmented and diminish scales and your off to a good start here.......
What gets accomplished with this exercise?
1) Picking the strings with a metronome, while moving the bar, develops timing and physical coordination.
2) The musicality of the notes helps the ears to develop. By hearing intervals outside of the major triad sound, the players ears are expanding beyond their harmonic familiarity.
3) Because the bar is constantly moving, hearing intonation is being perfected..at the same time the players visual accuracy is also being improved. Moving the bar beyond the pocket approach tweaks the players athletics. This exercise is getting the player ready to perform any bar position move with surgical precision.....Look at this type of training as getting ready to run a marathon.
4) playing to a droned E note is a wonderful way to develop the ears. The players ear has to zero in on the pitch of another instrument......As a side note....Speed on this exercise is not important and should not be the goal...Fret accuracy or intonation is the desired result.
5) Timing, playing scale patterns, and visually checking fret accuracy, builds coordination between the ears, hands, and the mind with one stroke of the brush.
As a beginner I was taught to focus on one issue at a time.....As they say hindsight is 20/20......Now I realize that at least with this exercise the combination of issues I mentioned can be dealt with simultaneously....our minds sometimes absorbs the physical aspects of playing this instrument differently...This exercise really helped me....Paul
Although I have never spoken to Buddy about this subject, I have heard from some of my students that he uses a similar method to develop his accuracy. Buddy should get credit here as well for pioneering in depth practice habits. The fret positions I learned from my Hawaiin teacher...She most likely got them from the oahu method...I don't know for sure.....nuff said
Mastering the bar hand is crucial to tone....The more confidence a player has when moving the bar, the more chance his tone will improve...Its all about developing controlled movement of the bar.....First off, I believe there is not enough time in my lifetime to learn all there is to know about music and steel guitars. I accept this as fact.....So with that understanding, I try to make the most efficient use of my practice time.
On the E9th tuning, I first set the metronome to a slow rate than I move the bar from the open position to all of the fret positions listed below while picking two strings consecutively in time with the metronome.....I pick string 7 than 8 and then I move to the next fret position and repeat picking those strings..... I keep repeating this picking pattern at each fret position of this lengthy exercise.
I always start at the open position......Below this paragraph I list the fret moves....pick the 7th than 8th strings as quarter notes through all of the fret positions........Its important to move the bar through all the positions I list below without breaking the quarter note rhythm. Don't stop if you make a mistake, keep moving through all of the frets while continuously picking strings 7 and 8 as quarter notes .....Slow the metronome down until you can do this comfortably. Once you have these moves memorized you can gradually increase the metronome speed.....It is important to memorize this so that your eyes and ears are the main focus. Remember to keep the bar straight....No vibrato.
Here are the fret positions.....
0...2...4...6...8...10...12...10...8...6...4...2 don't stop here play the next line.
0...3...6...9...12...9...6...3 again don't stop that scale type rhythm...now play
0...4...8...12...8...4 and the last step of this circular style of bar practice, play
0...5....10...15...10....5 DON'T stop to rest here, its very important to repeat the whole process over and over for minutes. In a way this is a musical tongue twister....Start out slowly and gradually increase the metronome speed as your accuracy improves......If you have access to a synth, piano, or bass guitar you can record several minutes worth of an E note.....By practicing all of these patterns over that E note, your intonation can be improved by using the same practice routine......
The first line is an E augmented scale pattern......The second line is a E diminsh scale pattern.....The third line is an E augmented scale pattern....The fourth line is a scale pattern of stacked fourths......Because all of this practice is theory based, you can take any snippet from these patterns and use that snippet to play over certain chord changes......Study how to apply augmented and diminish scales and your off to a good start here.......
What gets accomplished with this exercise?
1) Picking the strings with a metronome, while moving the bar, develops timing and physical coordination.
2) The musicality of the notes helps the ears to develop. By hearing intervals outside of the major triad sound, the players ears are expanding beyond their harmonic familiarity.
3) Because the bar is constantly moving, hearing intonation is being perfected..at the same time the players visual accuracy is also being improved. Moving the bar beyond the pocket approach tweaks the players athletics. This exercise is getting the player ready to perform any bar position move with surgical precision.....Look at this type of training as getting ready to run a marathon.
4) playing to a droned E note is a wonderful way to develop the ears. The players ear has to zero in on the pitch of another instrument......As a side note....Speed on this exercise is not important and should not be the goal...Fret accuracy or intonation is the desired result.
5) Timing, playing scale patterns, and visually checking fret accuracy, builds coordination between the ears, hands, and the mind with one stroke of the brush.
As a beginner I was taught to focus on one issue at a time.....As they say hindsight is 20/20......Now I realize that at least with this exercise the combination of issues I mentioned can be dealt with simultaneously....our minds sometimes absorbs the physical aspects of playing this instrument differently...This exercise really helped me....Paul
