No new material this week as I continue to try to master last week's music. It is a song using many of the latest notes and techniques I've learned in the past three weeks. I'm having a hard time "getting it" because of timing.
As I have mentioned in several previous posts, I have no musical background. None. Zip. Nada. Many of the pieces I am learning are in 4/4 time, which for me, is a semi-easy concept to understand. However, tempo, which can vary widely, is difficult for me to grasp. Each piece may be in 4/4 time, but the tempo of the songs vary.
When to move on to the next note, when to pause, when to speed up a bit, when to slow down??? Some of the notes are combined together to make up one beat of the measure. Others are not. Some notes have to be held slightly longer than others because of the musical notation associated with them. Some have to be speeded up (like a grace note). It is all new and very confusing to me.
A perfect example is my practice. I play the notes, but no music is coming out. It's just a series of notes. When I play with my teacher, I can hear the music because she shows me the pace and the timing of each note played. I need to get to a point that I can do that at home during practice. I love playing the sangen and enjoy practice a lot. But I can't hear the music yet.
I am hoping a better instrument will help a bit with that and have purchased a much higher quality sangen from a friend of my instructor. The friend lives in Japan and the sangen needs to be reskinned. It will not be ready until late August or September. Cost plenty moola but looking forward to a better sound output. My instructor has lent a cautionary note, however, by saying that the better quality the sangen, the easier it is to hear your mistakes. Your mistakes cannot easily be hidden with a better instrument.
No comments:
Post a Comment