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Originally Posted by sync00 What do you guys thinks about this? It seems to me that your posture will be different when watching tv than when playing bass.
If you don't listen to what you are doing, isn't there a good chance of developing muscle memory for bad technique? |
Hi Sync00, (and everybody else!
)
Proper posture is a MUST no matter what or where you're practicing.....
But that's not the point.
The point is that you can practice
MUSCLE MEMORY skills .... or
MOTOR SKILLS for long periods of time. Plus, they don't require "quite" the same amount of "concentration" that it takes to learn
"DATA MEMORY" things.
With
DATA MEMORY... you can only practice for short periods of time before you
"fill up". It's like filling a cup of coffee..... at a certain point, the cup is full....now you can continue to pour coffee, but you won't get any more coffee in the cup..... the only way to get more coffee in the cup is to either drink it... or pour it out...... When learning music, our brains work in much the same fashion....If you practice and exceed your attention span or you "fill up".... then your cup is full.....you can't get any more information in there until you create room for it. So, take the 5 minute break..... then you can continue on effectively. Hey, if you can't retain what you're working on....then you're practicing out of fear and guilt.
REMEMBER,.....when working on DATA MEMORY things.... 15 on.....5 off. Make sense??
Now................
With motor skills ..... let's say you're working on a thumb slapping exercise....
When you're first learning the combinations of thumb, slap and pop etc....... then it's a
"DATA MEMORY" exercise..... THEN..... once you "get the basics" of the exercise together, .... have it mentally rehearsed and have the basics under your fingers,
THEN it's time to turn the DATA MEMORY into MUSCLE MEMORY.
So, you can play the slapping exercise at a
"SLOW" and
"ACCURATE" tempo....... then as you get more and more comfortable with it, .....then you can begin to increase the tempo.
YOU CAN DO THIS KIND OF PRACTICE FOR FAIRLY LONG PERIODS OF TIME AND STILL RETAIN WHAT YOU'RE WORKING ON!!!
As far as the TV goes.....use your common sense
.... I would recommend focusing on what you're doing rather than watching TV while you're practicing...... ALTHOUGH.... I must admit to "practicing" during some Phoenix Suns games from time to time (they're my favorite team! GO SUNS!!) ..... But I keep the sound off, so I can hear what I'm doing.
Remember.....and this is
SUPER IMPORTANT.....
Practice DATA MEMORY things for short periods of time with frequent breaks.... that's the 15 minutes ON....and 5 minutes off stuff!!... so you can retain what you're working on..... after about 15 minutes of cramming new information into your brain....
YOU'RE FULL..... take that 5 minute break and let your brain sort it all out and RECOVER..... Now you can continue on effectively and retain more information.
Make sense??
Play slow!!
