The Score Magazine - Archive April 2016 issue! | Page 30

Smart Practice
by Takar Nabam, Foundation in Music Program Faculty (Guitar) at GMI
The first question that I would like you to ask yourself is why do you need to
practice ? Some of you may say that you've got a gig coming up and you need
to practice for that, while others may say that they need to practice so that
they stay prepared at all times. I believe that sincere and regular practice is
something that needs to be done in order to progress each day. This would
instill a sense of confidence and satisfaction, which would help you play,
sing with consistency and ease. You need not spend several hours on
your daily practice. Smarten up, make a list of things that you'd like
to work on, and allot a specific amount of time to each item on
the list. Always practice with a clock! Do not exceed the time
that you've allotted.
1) Warm up (3-5 mins)
You've probably never seen an athlete go for a sprint without doing
some warm up and gradually increasing their pace. Well, the same
applies to our instrument; we need to warm up our fingers before we
even try to execute anything.
i) Stretch your arms
ii) Curl your fingers to make a fist, roll them(clockwise, anti clockwise)
iii) With your arms stretched try and curl your fingers as if to make
a fist, albeit not completely. Try and stress the joints of each finger as
they approach to make a fist.
iv) Finger pattern exercises : 1234, 4321, 1243, 3421, 1324…there are
many combinations possible. Choose any 4 frets on the neck, but
preferably the higher frets (eg 9-12), and play each string with any of
the above mentioned finger patterns. Keep moving backwards to the
lower frets. You may alternate pick, or play it as legato.
2) Scales and Pitches (5 - 10 mins)
i) Set a drone to any desired pitch
ii) Pick a scale
iii) Practice playing each interval of the scale in 2 octaves, hear it with
respect to the drone.
iv) Play the scales in groups of 4 (1234, 2345, 3456...)
iii) The arpeggios may be all ascending, all descending, ascending and
descending, descending and ascending, etc.
iv) Try this is another position.
4) Time (5 - 10 mins)
The best melodic ideas may lose its sheen, if the timing of the execution
is sloppy. Scales, arpeggios, tunes, etc, should be practiced with a
metronome. For scales and arpeggios, set the metronome at around
20-30bpm; try playing them in different sub divisions :
i) 16th note
ii) 16th note triplet
iii) 32nd note
iv) 32nd note triplet
v) 64th note
The above mentioned sub divisions are the most common ones.
It is also worth mentioning that one should explore other different
styles of music like Brazilian, Afro Cuban, African, New Orleans,
Swing, etc.
5) Triads (5 - 10 mins)
i) Learn a triad and all its inversions over a different set of strings :
EBG, BGD, GDA, DAE
v) Try the same in different positions ii) Learn another triad and connect the two all over the neck. Eg C
going to F, C going to G, C going to Amin, C going to B dim.
3) Arpeggios (5 - 10 mins) iii) Do the same in all different keys.
i) Arpeggiate the scale you've practiced. If the scale is represented as
12345678, then arpeggiate as 1357, 2468, 3572, 4683…and so the reverse of
that. Use sweep picking. 6) Transcribing :
ii) Do ensure that the arpeggios are sounding clear and that the
previous note is not ringing.
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Try learning something by ear. It could be a melody, lick, bass line, form
of the song. Always sing the ideas to internalize them. Transcribing
usually takes a lot of time, and if time permits then it should be done
more often.