Wnen you say "practice tunes of of books" does that mean you are sight reading the music while you play?
If so then one approach might be to memorize the tune and shut the book. Then play it. Don't think about reproducing every note that's on the page but rather getting your right hand (if your'e a righty) to speak the groove and the 'contour' of the melody of the tune even if that means simplifying what you are doing with your left. See Monroe/Compton for examples :) Hope that helps Perry On Mar 11, 11:46 am, Mike Hoffmann <[email protected]> wrote: > Learn it informally, and then teach it to yourself. > > On Mar 11, 2009, at 10:02 AM, MinnesotaMandolin wrote: > > > > > > > Hey all-- > > > I'm curious how others handle this dilemma of mine, or if it's even an > > issue. When I practice tunes out of books (my primary books are the > > Phillips vol. 1, O'Neils music of Ireland and the Fiddler's Fakebook) > > I struggle to make the tune sound "informal." I have a classical > > background, on guitar and the oboe, and it's hard for me to play off > > of sheet music without sounding like a presentation. > > > When I learn a song from a person, I don't have this problem. Same > > with the handful of tunes I've written. But out of the dozens of tunes > > I've worked on out of books, only a few don't sound like a recital > > when I play them. I've actually hit a point where the fiddle tune > > books aren't that much more fun than exercise books, for how stiff > > they can sound under my fingers. I keep coming back to them though, > > because I figure it's good for me to work on 'em anyway. I also got a > > few classical mandolin books so I could read through some sheet music > > and be happy with the "formality" of my playing. > > > I got a hunch the answer to my question is "practice," but I wonder if > > anyone has some other tips or suggestions. > > > I normally don't think of myself as a stiff player, but most of my > > focus is on creating rhythm parts for the original songs my band does. > > > On a related note, how do folks decide to "set" a tune where all the > > information that might be available about it is its title and the name > > of the fiddler the book's author collected the song from? > > > just curious, > > > erik- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Taterbugmando" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
