Hi all! I would like to ask when you are progressing through the bootcamp, do you practice some specific things everyday? Or you simply keep moving on to the next lesson. If it's the former, would there be any exercise that I can refer to? (I am new here so have not checked through all the courses yet)
Thanks and have a nice day!
How to progress through the bootcamp?
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sw1tch73ch
- Posts: 539
- Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2016 1:23 pm
Re: How to progress through the bootcamp?
Hi Michael.
I practice each lesson using all the tools available. First is to play the lesson a few times with the finger numbers on, to get my hands where they need to go. Then with the Letters displayed to reinforce which notes I am playing. Again, just a few times. Then I play the lesson the "rest of the way", that is, until I get to 100%, with neither finger numbers or letters on. These are the group of three notes at the top of the lessons - Note symbol with a 1, Note symbol with an A and Note symbol with neither. Play at a slow tempo to start if you need to. Crazy or Painfully slow when necessary. Work up to speed. The early lessons might not need this depending on your skills.
Consider doing the lesson again without the metronome.
Look at the songs and choose one roughly where you are in the lessons for a change of audio scenery, do something fun.
When the courses unlock, look at them and maybe even completely them before moving along. If you come to a point you think is harder than the lessons, switch back to them.
Log out of the app now and then (I do after every session). That allows the lessons to update and new things to be added - especially the courses and new songs you've purchased. Sometimes the lessons are improved and you will get new versions of them, so look back over previous lessons to see if they need to be downloaded again.
So I play in consistent chunks. I work on lessons. I will likely play a previous lesson or two as a kind of warm up. You should do some stretching or other warm up too, to relax your body before starting. You might look at Playground Sessions YouTube video. Like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oo7mw-I5LeU
You might even look at all the "Tips" videos from Playground Sessions YouTube channel.
Anyway, to continue my learning style, I study the lessons just for a moment, look at the notes and the fingering, the time signature and the key signature. Then knowing which sharps or flats and other notes I need to play, I work on the lesson. I try to complete any given lesson before moving to something else; a course, or a song. But if the lesson frustrates me, I go do something different for a little bit; earlier lessons, courses, of a song I already have learned - I want to reestablish the "I Can Do This" feeling. I try not to dwell on the past, though, and get back to the "current" lesson.
I use most of the tools. Turning off finger numbers, slowing things down, turning on and off the metronome.
Right now I'm having trouble with the Bb Major One Octave scale at full speed. My fingers go onto their own patterns. I want to do it as written in the app because I think, with the scales, they will help unlock in my mind how to move around the keyboard. I can play to 100% at full tempo with my own fingering but that doesn't build the pattern that I will need later (specifically in the two octave and larger scales), so I want to get it right, the right way. So I slow it down again and build my way back to full speed. It's taken a few days and I trip up at full speed. So I slow down again. I can do it right slowly. I just need to keep doing that until I can do it right at full speed. When I finish the Bb Major Scale, I might change things up and do a different thing - like a new song. But working in consistent chunks keeps me focused on what I'm doing now, to get it done.
I practice each lesson using all the tools available. First is to play the lesson a few times with the finger numbers on, to get my hands where they need to go. Then with the Letters displayed to reinforce which notes I am playing. Again, just a few times. Then I play the lesson the "rest of the way", that is, until I get to 100%, with neither finger numbers or letters on. These are the group of three notes at the top of the lessons - Note symbol with a 1, Note symbol with an A and Note symbol with neither. Play at a slow tempo to start if you need to. Crazy or Painfully slow when necessary. Work up to speed. The early lessons might not need this depending on your skills.
Consider doing the lesson again without the metronome.
Look at the songs and choose one roughly where you are in the lessons for a change of audio scenery, do something fun.
When the courses unlock, look at them and maybe even completely them before moving along. If you come to a point you think is harder than the lessons, switch back to them.
Log out of the app now and then (I do after every session). That allows the lessons to update and new things to be added - especially the courses and new songs you've purchased. Sometimes the lessons are improved and you will get new versions of them, so look back over previous lessons to see if they need to be downloaded again.
So I play in consistent chunks. I work on lessons. I will likely play a previous lesson or two as a kind of warm up. You should do some stretching or other warm up too, to relax your body before starting. You might look at Playground Sessions YouTube video. Like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oo7mw-I5LeU
You might even look at all the "Tips" videos from Playground Sessions YouTube channel.
Anyway, to continue my learning style, I study the lessons just for a moment, look at the notes and the fingering, the time signature and the key signature. Then knowing which sharps or flats and other notes I need to play, I work on the lesson. I try to complete any given lesson before moving to something else; a course, or a song. But if the lesson frustrates me, I go do something different for a little bit; earlier lessons, courses, of a song I already have learned - I want to reestablish the "I Can Do This" feeling. I try not to dwell on the past, though, and get back to the "current" lesson.
I use most of the tools. Turning off finger numbers, slowing things down, turning on and off the metronome.
Right now I'm having trouble with the Bb Major One Octave scale at full speed. My fingers go onto their own patterns. I want to do it as written in the app because I think, with the scales, they will help unlock in my mind how to move around the keyboard. I can play to 100% at full tempo with my own fingering but that doesn't build the pattern that I will need later (specifically in the two octave and larger scales), so I want to get it right, the right way. So I slow it down again and build my way back to full speed. It's taken a few days and I trip up at full speed. So I slow down again. I can do it right slowly. I just need to keep doing that until I can do it right at full speed. When I finish the Bb Major Scale, I might change things up and do a different thing - like a new song. But working in consistent chunks keeps me focused on what I'm doing now, to get it done.
== Just keep playing. Just keep playing. Just keep playing, playing, playing! ==
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