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Old 01-09-2022, 03:53 AM
TDW TDW is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2021
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I thought it might be worth a quick update. So I'm about 85% complete on the first TE module. Would I recommend it? yes I would, but is it as good as I thought it would be? mmmm, that's a bit more of a difficult one.

TE's teaching style is to demonstrate exercises that will help build up to some wider exercise or piece of music to play. I find that some of them are really good and others are pretty pointless. That said, the guy is a CGP so it's fair to say he knows what he's doing! I've flagged about 10 of his short lessons to revisit and improve on technique so I think the longer term benefit will play out over time.

Next step for me is to finish the module and then I'm going to look at the Richard Smith package. I was going to move straight onto TE's second module (which covers learning more of his music) but I want to see what foundational exercises RS provide to see if I can build on what I've learned. Once I'm done with that I intend to look at the books by Mark Hanson.

Two things that I think are worth mentioning if anyone in a similar position is reading this thread - firstly, I'm impressed with how good I'm getting with the independent thumb/PIMA system. TE provides catchy harmonic chord patterns so his lessons are quite infectious. The result is obviously to play more and more, which in turn improves technique. One tip I'd give when learning boom chick is to lift the palm away from the bass strings to hear them in their full glory. This helps with two things, firstly it helps you confirm if you have fingered the chord correctly by hearing all of the strings play nice and clear. Secondly (and more importantly imo) it helps you identify when you make a mistake with selecting the bass string. Advanced players won't have that problem, but as a beginner it's easy to hear the bass strings when they are dampened and convince yourself it all sounds great. Lift your palm and you'll soon pick up on any errors as the bass won't compliment the harmonic of the GBE strings. The overall effect is that it makes you much more mindful with the thumb positioning and alternation of strings.

Secondly, I've found myself switching towards playing full time with a thumb pick! I was originally comfortable playing the boom chick with the pick on, but removing it when playing other pieces using full open string method. The more I've practiced, the more reliant I've become on the speed and accuracy that the thumb pick offers.

It's difficult to explain, but when I don't use the thumb pick I find that I miss the bass strings and have to 'reach back' further to pluck them. Using the thumb pick reduces the reach back which increases the overall speed of playing. I've been testing out 4 different thumb picks to see which ones suit me best (noting that I've got thick thumbs).

1. Metal .25 gauge Dunlop one from amazon, which I bought in this set https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jim-Dunlop-...7&sr=8-17&th=1 I really like the fact it can be moulded easily to your thumb and it's comfortable to play with. I don't like the fact that it makes an unpleasant sound when it slides on the strings as it's metal on metal. I would definitely recommend this pick overall.

2. I bought myself 4 of the Fred Kelly yellow picks https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fred-Kelly-...63&sr=8-1&th=1 I shaved one of them down so that only a tiny edge was protruding and in all honesty, this is the one that got me more comfortable with that method as your thumb doesn't have to make so much of an adjustment. I then played with the metal one for a while and flitted between the metal and a full Fred Kelly pick to compare the two. The Fred Kelly's don't make an unpleasant sound when sliding on the string so all in all I now prefer the full Fred Kelly pick.

3. the fourth and final thumb pick I've been trying is this one https://www.antonyscott.com/products...4915a4d7&_ss=r You can buy them from Amazon as well and I have to say that I think this is my favourite. It plays very similar to the FK, but it has a slightly different shape to the end of it and the overall build quality is quicker and more sturdy.

Just a bit of food for thought for anyone else in a similar position.
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