All right, first of all, flubbing is what I call fingering and tongueing at the same time. Or more specifically, flubbing is when you screw it up. I’m pretty sure you know what i"m talking about. If you don’t listen to a clip I put up on clips and slips called the drunken landlady. I do it often in the A section.
Basically it’s my bain at the moment. As soon as I start doing that, my rythym gets slopping, my fingering gets even worse and you should hear the sound that comes out sometimes. I don’t know if it’s because my tongue is musically challenged, sloppy fingering, or if my forceful grip and finger pressure is to blame. And I can’t just take out the tongues because I like them in there and I don’t want to take them all out. And I also have a habit of holding my fingers farely far away from the notes when I’m not using them. For instance, when I’m not playing a note that involves the E hole, my E finger is usually a good 1/2inch, to 1 inch away from the whistle.
Have any of you had problems with flubbing, or sloppy fingering? And more importantly, do any of you know some good things to practise to get rid of them? And please don’t tell me to slow down I’d greatly appreciate some advice or any other critiques on my playing for that matter.
I’m actually more likely to get sloppy sounds when I don’t tongue…for some reason my tongue and my fingers seem to be well coordinated (I think they’re the only things about me that ARE well coordinated).
I know you said not to tell you to slow down, but that’s the one thing I can think of that may help…to play the problematic passages slowly over and over until you get the tongue and the fingers working in sync, if having the tongue there is important to you.
yeah, all my music teachers I’ve had over the years say the same thing when I’ve complained about wanting to play fast and not being able to get it just right. Just freakin slow it down and practice it like that. No. Slower. Play it stupid slow. When you can play it perfect at stupid slow, then slowly evolve the tempo.
Break the troublesome passages down into the smallest pieces that you can comfortably play without problems, then add one note at a time. Practice this until it is no longer a problem, then add one more note, etc. No substitute for practicing! And yes, you do need to slow it down. At this stage of practicing, you are not trying to make real music, you are educating the muscles of your fingers and tongue. I remember some passages that I thought were impossible, but now I can play with ease, thanks to this break-it-apart practice technique.
The more you try to play a passage up to tempo and make mistakes, the more you are LEARNING those mistakes, and ingraining them. The idea is to play the passage RIGHT, and learn it THAT way, even if it is only a little tiny part of the passage, played very slowly. This is a lesson which can be transferred to many other aspects of life: learn difficult tasks in small, manageable pieces.
Most have covered the small picture, which is to slow down. But you have to believe in it from within.
Bigger view to me is that being obsessed with Irish music and having so much of it available for listening causes one to want to jump into the raging river and swim with the best, waterwings or no.
A wise musical mentor of mine once explained to me that musical maturity is on its own schedule for each person and that the idea of going to a university and getting a musical degree in a fixed amount of time, might be antithetical to that individual process. A music student, (like me) might go ahead and play his senior recital but it didn’t mean he was ready to play the pieces chosen by peer influence and expectation. No, you’re not going to music school but you are trying to reach technical proficiency in this other musical art of Irtrad.
Not only do you have to do the technical things to achieve the control you seek, you have to be convinced from within of the wisdom of doing those things.
There’s no other way unless you are like Mozart or some other such prodigy…Few of us get that.
I made it through music school but can honestly say that I didn’t really “get it” until much later. I laugh at how I was playing in those days, though that can be a painful exercise in self-flagellation
Practice doesn’t make perfect, only perfect practice makes perfect.
Slow it way down MS, you’re out of control when you play, and, as mentioned by someone else, this simply makes you better at making mistakes.
We all get carried away with trying to play too fast sometimes, what separates the improvers from those who get stuck in a rut, is the self discipline to slooooow dooooowwwn and keep practicing.
May I just say how much this thread was needed - by me. I’m working hard on a Scoiltrad lesson right now (Donkey’s Tackle) and struggling with getting it up to reel speed. I keep telling myself “You SHOULD be able to do it fast.” “You SHOULD have it by now.” “You SHOULD be able to play this without mistakes now.” – so, as my boss says, “Stop ‘shoulding’ all over the place and work!” Maybe it will take me a month or more before I’m ready to submit the lesson for assessment, but I’ve been encouraged today to slow it down again and get it right before trying to speed it up. Thanks for all the posts everyone - I’m going to slow down instead of give up!
Susan
Thanks for the input all! I’ve got a fire under my butt at the moment and I’ve been trying to get good. I even took a semester off sports so I’d have time to practise. I’m averaging more than 25 hours a week, on the flute and whistle combined. And yes, I do slow down for practise. I try and play every tune I know each night slowed down with the amazing slow downer and it’s helping. Hopefully, if this practise pays off, I won’t still sound like crap when my two year anniversary comes around next January. Thanks again for the comments.
Hi Murph, I haven’t read all the posts, but IMHO your playing is good overall. I use the word good as a rating. It’s not “poor” or “excellent”, it’s “good”. You have good ornamentation and overall command of the piece. Not too much “tentativeness”. Hurrying the piece (which you are guilty of and know it) comes though loud and clear. I’m a big believer in playing at about 80% of one’s speed maximum. Keep on tonguing. It adds a lot.
This may be way out in left field and I haven’t listened to the clip (sorry), but one thought I had is, are your fingers cold? I’ve noticed that I can’t control my fingers well when my hands are cold, like playing in a cold room, but if I warm them up they get a lot better. Just a thought.
Have you considered the possibility that your flubbing problems could be caused by injuries sustained in the rrrrrrummmmble with ChrisLaughlin? I’ve heard that Chris is a rich kid so I’d recommend a lawsuit. (No, I’m not a lawyer, but I’m sure there are plenty out there who’d be willing to help for a nice fee.) You could make enough to buy LOTS of new whistles.
Sarah
(also guilty of trying to play too fast too soon . . .)
I’d greatly appreciate some advice or any other critiques on my playing for that matter.