Technical Comptence, Striving For Fluency

Playing Technique
#1

Let’s kick of a discussion relating to the low-intermediate level, which is where I happen to be at, as well as many other players. This phase is marked by a level of technical competency, while technical fluency isn’t yet fully achieved. Basically what this means is that your brain is still processing licks and patterns as “tasks” rather than natural musical expressions. There’s a bit of a lack of real fluid musicality, where execution of technically challenging things requires a bit of priming and setup, like a difficult sweep or quick alternate picked run. Chaining things together can be a challenge, and things must be calculated very consciously to execute them properly.

What do you guys think is the key to fixing this and breaking out of the intermediate level? Share any thoughts or questions.

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#2

How about finding a good teacher?

#3

Have you watched the Roy Ziv video that went up yesterday? He says something that, I think, really speaks to that!

Building up “licks”, which are essentially technically prepared runs, and then using or modifying them on the fly to find a melody and play with it. He explains it better than me.

I do two practices a day (both 45 minutes). In the morning, when I’ve got energy but no brains, I do a technique practice. In the evening, when I’m feeling most “creative”, I spend 45 minutes playing along to YouTube backing tracks. I try to find ones that are at a tempo that is a little bit under my tempo limit (e.g. I’m comfortable with runs at 190bpm 16th notes, so I look for ones that are either 180bpm, or 115bpm [16th triplet]) and then play along, trying to, first, make melody from ear, then playing a “solo” for 16 bars, really good for it in trying to build a cool solo. After those 16 bars I fall back to making melody. That way, I’m practicing actually applying my technique in a real context.

#4

That Roy Ziv approach makes a lot of sense - having pre built licks to kind of modify and expand upon on the fly seems like a great way to bridge the gap between technical ability and musicality. I watched the video and found it to be pretty valuable for this topic.

And it sounds like your practice routine is well-structured. How’d you develop a big enough vocabulary of interesting things to improvise with and make your faster phrases more instinctual?

#5

Ok, it was easier to respond with a video, hope that’s alright.

Try to see how many times I recycle the two “licks” I mention in different ways, using them in different contexts and using different notes (but the same patterns). This way, I build a bridge between the “technical” and the “musical”, which is, in itself, a skill that takes practice.

Coupled with the idea of “playing a melody” can really help to take snippets of technical exercises and use them in musical contexts. Over time you’ll just build up a repertoire and start making connections. Just start doing it, and remember, nobody will judge you for playing well or terribly in a practice…practice is for experimenting and making mistakes!

Cheers

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#6

Fantastic video. Thank you. The way you broke that down actually made a lot of sense to me

1 Like
#7

No worries, happy to help :slight_smile: