What to do when you hit the wall?

[reeve21]

Originally Posted by J-Doug

Put Freight Train into your repertoire. Play it once through every practice session but definitely it's time to move onto the next tune.

Thanks for permission to move on, Doug!

Bob

[TBman]

Originally Posted by reeve21

Thanks Barry, I think it may have been you who suggested taking it slow, one song at a time.
Bob

Could be, but if you are hitting the wall you have to "change gears" to get out of the rut.

Originally Posted by reeve21

Thanks for permission to move on, Doug!

Bob

Well you're the one giving yourself permission here, right? I just don't want to see you burn yourself out. When learning new techniques, tunes, etc. there is a point of diminishing returns. Trust me I know this from experience.

[reeve21]

Great suggestions, everyone.

I am lucky to be able to go home for lunch almost every day, just me and the dog, the newspaper and a few minutes on the guitar. A few minutes of heaven on earth :-)

This suggestion from LeftArm really seemed to help me get "unstuck" after lunch today. It is one that I have heard before, but obviously I needed to be reminded:

"Try to think a bar ahead of where you are playing. This is like looking where you want to go rather than looking at what you are trying to avoid. It's like if you are on a bike . If you concentrate on a lampost that you are trying to avoid you are more likely to run into it."

I appreciate all the interest, encouragement and support!

Bob

[raggedymike]

When there is a difficult part of a song I find I tend to anticipate it. When I nail it, my mind goes Woo Hoo! and promptly freezes up. The only cure for me is to practice the transition between that part and the next (slowly and forever).

[amyFB]

Originally Posted by reeve21

Ok, I am a couple of weeks into Mark Hanson's intro to Travis picking book.
Been strumming for a long time but never finger picked before.

I've been playing Freight Train for a good hour a day for a week now. By memory, not by sight. I know the tune. I can do all the fingerings and keep the bass going at a reasonable tempo. The problem is I can only play it cleanly all the way through about 1 out of 6 times. I lose focus and forget where I am, my mind wanders about, and that leads to fingering errors even if I am on track up to that point. When I get near the end on a cleanly played chorus I'll flub the easiest part! I feel like I'm choking on a 2 foot putt!

Someone advised taking it one tune at a time, which is why I am spending so long on it, but my growth has stopped. My thought is that I should move on, come back to it in a few days and all this practice will have had time to penetrate my brain and I'll be able to play it in my sleep. I think the issue right now is mental and my head needs to hear another tune.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

Bob

Are you also singing along ? I find it easy to get lost in daydreaming when I just have notes to play. Lyrics help me keep my place and after a while lyrics are associated with notes and chords that my hands are playing on the guitar.

[reeve21]

Originally Posted by amyFB

Are you also singing along ? I find it easy to get lost in daydreaming when I just have notes to play. Lyrics help me keep my place and after a while lyrics are associated with notes and chords that my hands are playing on the guitar.

Hi Amy,

Excellent question and suggestion. I have no problem singing along and keeping time when I strum. But I'm only a couple of weeks into Travis picking, and it is more difficult for me to sing along. I think I'll go back to Sloop John B, which is Mark Hanson's first song in his intro book, and see how I do singing that lyric as the picking pattern is very simple on that one.

I agree having a "marker" in the vocal to associate with changes in fingering may help me keep my place. I am stomping my foot, counting out loud and still my concentration wanders.

Thanks for the suggestion,

Bob

[reeve21]

Originally Posted by raggedymike

When there is a difficult part of a song I find I tend to anticipate it. When I nail it, my mind goes Woo Hoo! and promptly freezes up. The only cure for me is to practice the transition between that part and the next (slowly and forever).

Thanks Mike. In other words, it don't come easy. I know what you mean :-)

Bob

[reeve21]

Originally Posted by J-Doug

Well you're the one giving yourself permission here, right? I just don't want to see you burn yourself out. When learning new techniques, tunes, etc. there is a point of diminishing returns. Trust me I know this from experience.

Thanks Doug. I aspire to your level of diminishing returns :-)

[RodB]

Yes, good advice from Amy. I don't sing but when playing an instrumental of a song that I know I here the words in my head as I play (silent singing!), and find this also helps with timing and especially expression. I have also read the words as I played the tune of songs.

[reeve21]

Thanks to you folks I am now playing a very simple arrangement of Freight Train cleanly nearly every time, and when I do make a flub I can keep on course and not fall apart.

All of the suggestions were helpful, but the one that put me over the top was from LeftArm (and maybe others) which was simply to be anticipating what comes next, not focusing on what you are doing "now." Funny thing is I have used this technique in the past on strumming songs where the chord changes come quickly or in places I don't usually expect them. Jim Croce's I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song for instance.

I first picked up this technique from Gene Bourque (who occasionally posts here) on his Cape Cod Acoustics blog, which I highly recommend.

I think this keeps my brain occupied enough to stay in the moment and not wander to other topics.

So I had the answer, I just didn't know it. The forum is great, thank you all!

Bob

[Kerbie]

Good to hear that, Bob. Don't stop now...

[TBman]

Originally Posted by reeve21

Thanks to you folks I am now playing a very simple arrangement of Freight Train cleanly nearly every time, and when I do make a flub I can keep on course and not fall apart.

All of the suggestions were helpful, but the one that put me over the top was from LeftArm (and maybe others) which was simply to be anticipating what comes next, not focusing on what you are doing "now." Funny thing is I have used this technique in the past on strumming songs where the chord changes come quickly or in places I don't usually expect them. Jim Croce's I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song for instance.

I first picked up this technique from Gene Bourque (who occasionally posts here) on his Cape Cod Acoustics blog, which I highly recommend.

I think this keeps my brain occupied enough to stay in the moment and not wander to other topics.

So I had the answer, I just didn't know it. The forum is great, thank you all!

Bob

Hmmm. I'll have to try this, thanks!

[reeve21]

Originally Posted by Kerbie

Good to hear that, Bob. Don't stop now...

Thanks for the encouragement, Kerbie. In the words of one of my favorite musicians, "It's Too Late To Stop Now!".

Don't take this the wrong way, but I smile every time I see one of your posts. You see I named my dog Kirby. He is the only one who hears most of my efforts on the guitar :-)

Bob

[reeve21]

Originally Posted by TBman

Hmmm. I'll have to try this, thanks!

Barry, I find that it puts my hands in position for the next change earlier than they would otherwise be, which in turn makes me more relaxed and actually improves my tone. Or maybe it is the Pinot Noir and baked stuffed shrimp my bride made for dinner, but either way it is all good :-)