Multi-tasking as a learning technique

[YerDugliness]

I just spent a week in Kansas helping a friend with a rebuild project, but nothing in that kept me from taking a couple of guitars with me. My friend's son is an excellent guitarist, a natural musician for whom playing well just seems to come easy, but it's not that way for me.

I did find an activity that emphasized to me how much I have learned, though, and I'd like to share it.

I mention in my posts that playing guitar for me involves very little watching of the left hand. Most of the time I play in the dark, with my eyes closed, visualizing whatever "movie" might just pop into my head at that particular time, relative to that particular song, but on this trip my friend and I got to spend some time alone for a change and he wanted to talk. No surprise that I wanted to play the guitar, which usually is a recipe for disaster, but this time it worked. I did what I encourage others to try, let the hands go to automatic, and paid attention to the conversation. I mean full attention, with eye contact, reciprocal conversation, humor, sarcasm, disagreement, the whole gamut of activity involved in a vigorous conversation. The only thing different was that I was playing all the while, fingerstyle, and listening out of one ear to how it went. Surprisingly, it went incredibly well. My timing was on, I made very few mistakes, I even varied the volume at the places I usually do when I dedicate full attention to playing the piece.

I mention all this to bring up the essential question we all face--how do we know when we have learned a song, learned it well enough that it is automatic, learned it well enough we won't have to reacquaint ourselves with the chord progression the next time we want to play it. I'd suggest that you try this technique--I think that question will be answered by this exercise.

I'm not married, so I don't have a wife to try this with, but having had 3 wives in the past, I might mention that it might not be the best idea to try it out on them. If you are unsuccessful, they will P&M b/c you obviously arent' paying your full attention to them, if you are successful they'll still P&M b/c you obviously aren't paying attention to them or you wouldn't be able to get the song right.

.......sigh.

There's no win-win in that situation, is there?

Find a friend, one good enough that you can disagree with him, call him out of his position, and have a vigorous argument, while you are playing one of your pieces--you'll know if you've learned it or not very quickly.

It worked for me, here's hoping it will work for you.

Dugly

[tot_Ou_tard]

Nice excercise,

uummm, but what's P&M?

[Algonquin]

I'm thinking it might be 'piss and moan'... just a guess.

I may be wrong, I'm often told that. :

[tot_Ou_tard]

I'm thinking it might be 'piss and moan'... just a guess.

I may be wrong, I'm often told that. :

Yeah, that's probably it.

My wife doesn't like it when I continue noodling while I talk to her even when
she's interrupting me two minutes into practise.

She would hate it if I played when we were deeply involved in a converstation.

I love her all the same.

[YerDugliness]

I'm thinking it might be 'piss and moan'... just a guess.

I may be wrong, I'm often told that. :

Correct, oh wise one!!

Dugly

[just strum]

Yeah, that's probably it.

My wife doesn't like it when I continue noodling while I talk to her even when
she's interrupting me two minutes into practise.

She would hate it if I played when we were deeply involved in a converstation.

I love her all the same.

Funny thing is, we still do it

My daughter gets real p'd at me when I play over her talking - she turned 16 today - she can be the wife x10 when she's upset.

[R_of_G]

Sounds like some great practice techniques Dug.

I too have experimented with trying to play while engaging in something else that takes up my primary focus. For me it is to play while I am watching tv. Now I don't mean just having the tv on while I practice in my living room. What I've tried to do is actually focus my concentration on what is happening on the tv, and using my guitar to "score" the program/movie I am watching. The results are wide ranging, but that's the thing with experimentation, if I try something a dozen times and get one result that I like, it was well worth it.

I actually stole the idea from the concept of Bill Frisell's "Soundtracks to the Films of Buster Keaton" album. Frisell wrote new scores for old films for his own enjoyment. I figured this was a good way to do some "interpretation" with my instrument. It's a great way to help develop thematic elements to your playing [ie. "suspense," or "shock" or "romance"]. Some of these elements I have carried over into my non "faux-scoring" play.

Now I have to try Dug's playing-in-the-dark method. It sounds like a great technique to develop "mindless" playing [and I mean mindless in a good way, as in not thinking, just doing.]

Thanks for the input Dug!

[marnold***]

In the Metal Method series of lessons Doug Marks suggests playing while watching T.V. for this very reason. I do it occasionally.

[Guitar Gal]

Sounds like a good practice idea Dudly

Might have to give it a try.

GG

[pes_laul]

the way i learned how to do it was pretending to listen to my grandfathers vietnam stories it helps if you just smile and nod