A different kind of practice..

[Redleader]

Hello everyone.. I wanted to ask a quick question about the way I practice my left-right hand technique..

Recently (couple of months or so) I have realized that I was bored with the whole 1-2-3-4-and-variations exercise for my left hand.. And they did not seem to improve my technique a lot.. So I have tried a new approach..

In my current practice schedule, I practice the scales (7 modes, 4-5 different keys each day), and than play two nearly-impossible-to-play songs, twice each.. The songs are YYZ by Rush (incredible string-skipping and nice fills) and The Dance of Eternity by Dream Theater.. They are both coming along really nice (except the bass solo on Dance of Eternity.. There is no way I can exactly play what Myung plays, I just burst some scales instead), and my playing is also improving..

What do you think of this type of exercise? Two points to consider is to choose really difficult songs, really out of your range; and to know that this is in no way a scale exercise.. Scale practice should go on as the boring but necessary chore it is

[Jimmy Bones]

If it works for you, go for it, but understand that what you're building is more muscle memory for those particular songs - it probably isn't helping your sight reading or improvisational skills.

[Rudreax]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Bones

If it works for you, go for it, but understand that what you're building is more muscle memory for those particular songs - it probably isn't helping your sight reading or improvisational skills.

How would the other exercise help with those aspects? The OP isn't talking about any of that. He's only talking about getting his left hand better technique wise.

Now, if you want to improve reading, try transcribing those songs as you learn to play them. Can you read/write standard notation?

[Redleader]

I can read and write in standard notation, but I don't have enough time to transcribe these songs .. And yes, this is just about improving left hand technique, as both songs containtain fast passages, string skipping and changing rhythm.. I agree that this is no way an exercise that could help about improvisation.. Just giving the physcial tools (right-left hand combination, speed, etc.) for improvisation..

[Rudreax]

Talking only about physical practice, be able to play those songs at any speed. You should be able to slow the entire song to a certain tempo, and still play it correctly if it were actually slowed down.