[30daysv3] Day 9 - more Ice Skater

From: Kristofer Bergstrom <kris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: 30daysV3@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 2009 05:15:36 -0700
Happy Sunday everyone!  Today we do a few more hand coordination
drills and continue learning Ice Skater.  Have fun!

Kris

Q/A, Errata/Suggestions, Thoughts

Q - I have to tell you, reading the dots and playing those in time
isn't so tough, but when it comes to listening and playing back....I
don't think I've ever been so frustrated in my life. It's like I've
completely forgotten what the first stroke was by the time they get to
the last one. Maybe I'm concentrating too much on each individual
stroke or something, but this is easily the hardest part of this
practice for me. I thought the hand coordination drills would help me
to focus less on striking and more on getting the correct hand to move
at the right time, but I am really struggling with the call and
response part of things. -- Matt

A - Let me first say, the call and response is hard!  Don't feel bad
that it's a challenge.  In fact, every time you have a glitch between
what your
brain expects to happen and what your hands actually do, your brain is
improving this skill -- what I call "hand assignments".  If you think
about it, we're asking our brains to do something pretty complex:  1)
Here is a rhythm with multiple tones... 2) Now send all the lower-tone
sounds to the right hand and the other ones to the left... 3) Keep
everything in time... 4) Listen for the next set and try and determine
the tones...  Hang in there - it's good for you!  :)
     Here's another thing that can be helpful...  If you're anything
like me, in your daily life you're often tapping rhythms.  I'm often
playing along to music or hitting my lap as I remember a particular
taiko piece.  Use these five-second moments as an opportunity to
practice hand assignments and *don't let yourself mix hands and
sounds*.  For example, if you're in your car grooving to rock song,
you might instinctively be tapping the steering wheel with your left
hand along with the kick drum, and your lap as the snare.  Use this
moment to be strict about assigning sounds to each hand, and don't let
yourself switch the hand roles.  We fudge this when we're goofing
around and it confuses those connections a bit.  Any time you can
associate a hand with a particular sound, and try and get your brain
to associate that hand with the right bits of the rhythm in your head,
you'll be improving this basic, hand assignment skill.
[30daysv3] Day 9 - more Ice Skater

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