Posts Tagged ‘Banjo Technique’

This ebook, An Alexander Technique Approach to Banjo Technique, is published on this website in a PDF format. It is very detailed and practical, and it will give you the physical tools you need to take the limits off of your ability to create an extraordinarily accurate and kind banjo performance.
This ebook is also for sale on all AMAZON websites in a KINDLE format.
Located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.A. (MOVEMENT THERAPY)
THERE ARE THREE REASONS TO RECORD YOURSELF PLAYING THE BANJO.
THE FIRST IS TO GET FEEDBACK ON YOUR PLAYING, THE SECOND IS TO CREATE A RECORD OF YOUR PLAYING, AND THE THIRD IS TO RECORD YOURSELF PERFORMING FEARLESSLY.
It is the recording yourself performing fearlessly that probably surprised you as you read it. Let me address all three.
The first, recording yourself is truly an objective way to step back literally from your banjo playing, and hear if you are playing what you think you’re playing.
Whenever I recorded myself playing the guitar, it was amazing how many things I became aware of that I corrected right away. These changes included consistency of tone quality, evenness of tempo, how expressively I was playing, and learned wrong notes.
If you use high quality recording equipment, you can hear what the listener hears coming out of the banjo. As you’re playing, you’re being enveloped in the sound of the instrument, and you may think you’re sound is richer than it really is.
When I first heard myself recorded on the guitar, I had not realized that I was rushing in many passages of the piece. Rarely, does the banjo player recording him or herself slow down without knowing it during a recording. Usually the stress of the recording causes the banjo player to rush the tempo to hold the performance together.
I have never heard a banjo player be TOO expressive in his or her playing, by over-utilizing piano/forte, crescendo/decrescendo, rubato, or color changes. When you record yourself, you will probably realize you aren’t as dynamic as you think you are, and begin to really go for it, in terms of expressiveness.
The second, creating a record of your best banjo playing and then revisiting it months later, can really demonstrate your evolution on the instrument.
Whether you demand and/or trust you will get better and better on the banjo, by recording yourself, you will see where your playing is heading. I do suggest you allow for surprises as you set performance goals. Be flexible enough to adjust your goals, so that wonderful unplanned things in your playing can happen.
The third is recording yourself fearlessly. What does this mean?
RECORDING YOURSELF FEARLESSLY THROUGH THE WHOLE SESSION MEANS, THAT IF YOU HAVE LEARNED TO PLAY THE BANJO TRUSTING YOURSELF TO EXPRESS WHAT YOU WANT AND TO PLAY WITH ACCURACY, THAT WHEN YOU RECORD YOU DON’T STOP PLAYING WITH THIS TRUST.
A few years ago I sat in on a pianist recording herself to create a recording to sell. I gave her continuous feedback as she recorded herself.
I ASKED HER NOT TO PLAY CAREFULLY AT ALL. I ASKED HER TO REMEMBER TO TRUST HER HANDS TO PLAY ACCURATELY. I ASKED HER TO BE TOO EXPRESSIVE. I ASKED HER TO PLAY THE MUSIC AS A GIFT TO HERSELF AND ME. I ASKED HER TO REMEMBER THE ONLY PURPOSE OF PLAYING THE PIANO IS TO SHOW HOW BEAUTIFUL THE MUSIC IS.
We did the above from the very beginning of the recording session and throughout the session. This meant that from the very moment she began recording, she inhibited recording fearfully and safely.
I believe the object of any recording, one only for yourself or to be distributed, is to offer the recording as a gift to the listener. I really want the banjo player to truly minimize feeling “it could have been better”, after the recording is made.
Usually, when the performer listens to his or her recording months later, the banjo player realizes it was not as bad as he or she thought. What if the banjo player likes what was recorded right away? This means the performer will probably REALLY like what he or she hears months later.
There are two ways to record yourself. The first is to only record for the purpose of making corrections to your playing, and the second is to create a recording to distribute.
In either case it would be a great gift to yourself to have an Alexander Technique teacher sit in on a session or two. Why?
BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHING MORE LOVING THAN TO HAVE A SUPPORTIVE ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE TEACHER SIT IN ON A RECORDING SESSION TO HELP YOU BE GOOD TO YOURSELF THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE SESSION.
One other point, it is actually cheaper to pay an Alexander Technique teacher for his or her time, in addition to the cost of making the recording to sell. When the pianist I helped make the cd was finished recording, she said it was the best recording, easiest recording, and the cheapest recording she had ever made, because it took half the usual time it takes her to make a recording she’d accept.
I want to finish on a concept central to the Alexander Technique.
IF YOU CAN LEARN TO RECORD YOURSELF FEARLESSLY, IMAGINE HOW FEARLESSLY YOU’LL PLAY THE BANJO WHEN YOU’RE MAKING A CD. PLAYING FEARLESSLY WITH GREAT TRUST, TECHNIQUE, AND POSTURE, MEANS IF YOU TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF FIRST, WHAT COMES OUT THE BANJO WILL BE INCREDIBLE, GUARANTEED!