AtrafanaSchool
  • Home
  • Join
  • Total Training
  • Beginners
  • STORE
  • Flamenco Practice Loops Library
  • Skype Lessons
  • Flamenco Guitar Articles
    • The Alien Technique - Tremolo
    • What Guitar is Made for - Arpeggio
    • Do You Really Want to Become a Good Flamenco Player?
    • One Thumb is Worth 4 Fingers
    • What to Practise and for How Long
    • Classical VS Flamenco
    • hammer-on and pull-off
    • The Thumb: Flesh or Nail or Both?
    • Flamenco Knowledge or How to Learn Palos
    • The Metronome
    • ​Are you Talented?
    • Listen to yourself in the 3rd person
    • Learning Flamenco Forms/Palos: Where to Start
    • How to Compose your Own Flamenco Music
    • Do You Need a Flamenco Guitar to Play Flamenco?
    • Deepen Your Flamenco Knowledge or How to Learn Palos 2
    • How much time do you need to become a good player?
    • Picado Speed Studies
    • Fingering: Makes of Breaks a Player! (tabs)
    • I suck - flamenco guitar
    • Flamenco Guitar Nails
    • Is i - a Picado a Viable Alternative to i - m Picado?
    • Why Do People Take Flamenco Guitar Lessons?
    • Playing with the Right Hand
    • atrafanaSchool Studio Set Up or How to Record Yourself
    • atrafanaSchool Studio Set Up - PART 2
    • Same Falseta on a Negra and a Blanca (tabs)
    • Picado Thumb Placement
    • Nails: How to Shape Them
    • Using the Brain in Relieving Tension in the Hands - Routines
    • Reflexive Picado Speed (tabs)
    • What is Technique?
  • Techniques
    • Flamenco Guitar Techniques: Picado
    • Flamenco Guitar Techniques : Tremolo
    • Flamenco Guitar Techniques : Alzapua
    • Flamenco Guitar Techniques : Arpeggio
    • Flamenco Guitar Techniques : Three - Finger Picado
    • Flamenco Guitar Techniques: Pulgar
  • Repertoire
  • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Punta del Faro (Buleria)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Reflejo de Luna (Granaina)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - GitanosTrianeros (Solea)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - El Tempul (Buleria)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Barrio La Viña (Alegria)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Mi Inspiracion (Alegria)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Punta Umbria (Fandango)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Llanto a Cadiz (Tientos)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Gloria al Nino Ricardo (Solea)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Cepa Andaluza (Buleria)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Aires Choqueros (Fandango)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Plaza de San Juan (Alegria)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Recuerdo a Patino (Alegria)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Celosa (Solea por Buleria)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Callejon del Muro (Minera)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Aires de Linares (Taranta)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Generalife Bajo la Luna (Granaina)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Buleria by Paco Pena
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Rumbeando la Milonga by Paco Pena
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Riomar (Fandango)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Granada En Flor
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Doblan Campanas
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Plaza Alta (Solea)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - De Madrugada (Seguiriya)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Fuente y Caudal
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - La Tumbona
  • Flamenco Guitar Strings
  • Teaching
  • Contact
  • FAQ
  • Blog

Mental Practice

12/27/2013

11 Comments

 
Practising an instrument is very much like bodybuilding, isn't it? An exceedingly physical act that involves warmup, stretching, muscles, tendons, stamina, endurance, agility, etc. All those things related to moving your body and getting stronger. The physical aspect of playing the guitar is undeniable, sure… But the mental aspect of it should not be overlooked. Actually, many will argue that practising is predominantly an activity of the mind rather than the body. Neurologists say that learning is the process by which new neural connections occur in the brain and through practise these connections strengthen and thicken, so to speak. Every time you practise, the brain will add a new strand to the existing group of connections pertaining to the piece you are working on and the physical representation of the piece in your brain will thicken and become more permanent. They also say that the brain doesn't know the difference between the "real" and the "imagined" input. In other words, it doesn't matter whether you are playing the piece with your hands or in your mind - your mind will not know the difference and treat either as actual practice. There are several controlled experiments all over the world carried out with music students to prove this point. Students are asked to decipher a piece and then practise it for a certain period of time without touching the instrument. Then their progress is compared to the one displayed by the students who did the same amount of practice on the instrument. The results are quite exciting. Looks like, practising in your mind is equally and at times even more effective than its physical counterpart.

Why did I develop an interest in this? I did not play guitar for an extended period of time. I didn't have time or energy. Life got in the way. But, one thing that I never gave up doing was playing guitar in my mind - pretty much all the time! Then whenever I picked up my instrument just to noodle on it bit to relax I was quite surprised to see that I was still able to play - some pieces even better than when I actually practised them. I didn't know why this was at the time. Just assumed that I was lucky or that I practised really well when I learned them. Now I think it was due to my constant mental practise. In this context, I highly recommend this book titled The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge. Excellent treatise about neuroplasticity - how you can change your physical brain simply by thinking about it.

These days probably 60% of my practice takes place completely in my head. Meaning, once I've deciphered the piece I'm working on, I set aside time to practise it in my imagination, visualizing my hands, fingers while hearing the music in my mind. Make no mistake, mental practice is not easy. It is not just playing the melody haphazardly in your head. You need to make an effort to imagine yourself on the instrument performing the piece feeling every single note, every single position - left hand, right hand alike. You have to go over difficult passages repeatedly, play some parts slowly just like physical practice. It's surprisingly effective! Also, you don't have to worry about straining your fingers, disturbing the neighbours, wearing out the strings, and you can pick the fanciest, the most expensive guitar you wish to play on. Give it a try... 

11 Comments

The importance of warming up before playing

12/26/2013

2 Comments

 
You cannot play at your full capacity without a proper warmup. If you sit down and start playing something complex you will play it poorly. Your fingers will not reach the required positions in time or fret the notes effectively; your picados will stutter and tone suffer. Doing a bad job is the least serious of the problems brought on by playing with cold hands. Your fingers will hurt. And if your push ahead and try to work your way through the pain, it will get worse. Even if you manage to warm up after a while, the pain and the unpleasant feeling from hearing yourself slaughter the piece will stay for the rest of your practice. By the time you are warmed up, you will have wasted precious time trying to play the piece without paying attention to your tone or timing. Therefore you will not benefit from this activity in terms of progress.

There are cables inside your hands that connect the muscles to the bones. These cables are called "tendons." Tendons transmit the contractions of the muscles to the bones. Playing guitar is a predominantly tendon activity, more significantly in the left hand because it involves lots of pushing. Every time you fret a note you are putting some weight on a particular tendon. Tendons slide back and forth inside tendon sheaths. Imagine a metal wire snugly placed within a plastic pipe… Whenever you move your fingers, the tendons will rub on the insides of the sheaths that hold them. So, it is extremely important to get this narrow tendon passage "lubricated" without causing small tears and abrasions due to friction. And how is this done? Through a proper warm up. When your hands are cold, the tendons are dry and they will rub against the sheaths causing tiny tears especially when you perform stretches. If you insist on playing difficult stuff with no proper lubrication you may generate so much damage that the scar tissue on the tendons and the sheaths will prevent you from moving your fingers, it will hurt like hell and you'll end up with the much dreaded "tendonitis." How do I know all this? Because it happened to me. Preparing for an album recording, I practised very complex stuff without proper warmup and then I had to stop playing for 6 months. Once you get tendonitis, you cannot get rid of it completely. It will flare up every time you force your hands or play a long gig, etc.

The only way to lubricate your tendons and prepare them for heavy-duty playing is warmup. When you pick up your guitar for practice, start playing passages that require almost no effort. I always begin by slowly placing my fingers on the frets, hammering a few notes, doing some legatos and slides. Gradually increase the force you put on the fretboard. Do not do any stretches at the beginning. Ease yourself into difficult positions. It takes me about half an hour to start playing pieces properly at half speed. Only at the end of an hour do I manage to use my full technique.

The following video is a brief sample of my left hand warmup routine:

2 Comments

    atrafanaSchool

    Flamenco/classical guitar

    Archives

    May 2015
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Home  -  Join atrafanaSchool  -  STORE  -  e-learning  - Skype Lessons -  Beginners  -  Techniques
Repertoire  -  Youtube Lessons -  Flamenco Guitar Strings  - Teaching  -  Contact  -  FAQ  -  
Blog
  • Home
  • Join
  • Total Training
  • Beginners
  • STORE
  • Flamenco Practice Loops Library
  • Skype Lessons
  • Flamenco Guitar Articles
    • The Alien Technique - Tremolo
    • What Guitar is Made for - Arpeggio
    • Do You Really Want to Become a Good Flamenco Player?
    • One Thumb is Worth 4 Fingers
    • What to Practise and for How Long
    • Classical VS Flamenco
    • hammer-on and pull-off
    • The Thumb: Flesh or Nail or Both?
    • Flamenco Knowledge or How to Learn Palos
    • The Metronome
    • ​Are you Talented?
    • Listen to yourself in the 3rd person
    • Learning Flamenco Forms/Palos: Where to Start
    • How to Compose your Own Flamenco Music
    • Do You Need a Flamenco Guitar to Play Flamenco?
    • Deepen Your Flamenco Knowledge or How to Learn Palos 2
    • How much time do you need to become a good player?
    • Picado Speed Studies
    • Fingering: Makes of Breaks a Player! (tabs)
    • I suck - flamenco guitar
    • Flamenco Guitar Nails
    • Is i - a Picado a Viable Alternative to i - m Picado?
    • Why Do People Take Flamenco Guitar Lessons?
    • Playing with the Right Hand
    • atrafanaSchool Studio Set Up or How to Record Yourself
    • atrafanaSchool Studio Set Up - PART 2
    • Same Falseta on a Negra and a Blanca (tabs)
    • Picado Thumb Placement
    • Nails: How to Shape Them
    • Using the Brain in Relieving Tension in the Hands - Routines
    • Reflexive Picado Speed (tabs)
    • What is Technique?
  • Techniques
    • Flamenco Guitar Techniques: Picado
    • Flamenco Guitar Techniques : Tremolo
    • Flamenco Guitar Techniques : Alzapua
    • Flamenco Guitar Techniques : Arpeggio
    • Flamenco Guitar Techniques : Three - Finger Picado
    • Flamenco Guitar Techniques: Pulgar
  • Repertoire
  • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Punta del Faro (Buleria)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Reflejo de Luna (Granaina)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - GitanosTrianeros (Solea)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - El Tempul (Buleria)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Barrio La Viña (Alegria)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Mi Inspiracion (Alegria)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Punta Umbria (Fandango)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Llanto a Cadiz (Tientos)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Gloria al Nino Ricardo (Solea)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Cepa Andaluza (Buleria)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Aires Choqueros (Fandango)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Plaza de San Juan (Alegria)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Recuerdo a Patino (Alegria)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Celosa (Solea por Buleria)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Callejon del Muro (Minera)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Aires de Linares (Taranta)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Generalife Bajo la Luna (Granaina)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Buleria by Paco Pena
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Rumbeando la Milonga by Paco Pena
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Riomar (Fandango)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Granada En Flor
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Doblan Campanas
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Plaza Alta (Solea)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - De Madrugada (Seguiriya)
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - Fuente y Caudal
    • Youtube Flamenco Guitar Lessons - La Tumbona
  • Flamenco Guitar Strings
  • Teaching
  • Contact
  • FAQ
  • Blog