Playground Forums

Here's perhaps a dumb or redundant question, but I'd really love to find ... somewhere ... a basic written manual or something that explains Playground for Dummies. I watched the intro videos on YouTube, OK, but I have questions that keep coming up and it would be cool to be able to "search" for them, rather than try to watch endless vids. Thanks...

The closest existing written "PfD" I can think of is the FAQ: https://www.playgroundsessions.com/supp ... -questions

I could try to answer specific questions, having used PGS for about a year.

Thanks for the link, that's useful. I will save my questions as they come up and maybe post a bunch here in case you can help, and tks for the kind offer. One is about the points. And maybe I missed this in the various intro things, but what are they for? Do you get to spend them on songs or are they just a motivating tool. If you get to use them for something, how do you find out about that? Do you think it's useful (and is it possible) to be working on a couple of (rookie) songs at once, rather than doing them one after the other? Thanks!

Another quickie... sooo, in the practice mode, the spacing on the score changes, some measures are stretched out more than others. I have a lot of trouble with this and I wonder if there's a way of keeping the measure spacing on the actual score the same?

Pohutukawa wrote:Thanks for the link, that's useful. I will save my questions as they come up and maybe post a bunch here in case you can help, and tks for the kind offer. One is about the points. And maybe I missed this in the various intro things, but what are they for? Do you get to spend them on songs or are they just a motivating tool. If you get to use them for something, how do you find out about that? Do you think it's useful (and is it possible) to be working on a couple of (rookie) songs at once, rather than doing them one after the other? Thanks!

The points themselves are motivational tools. However, completing five "three star" songs get you 1 songs free credit. Actually, what you need is 15 stars. If you play 8 songs to two stars, you'll also get the free song credit. Working on the songs are worth doing. I tend to work on one song at a time, because it's a lot of work for me. Others do work on more than one song at a time because then they can shift when they get tired or frustrated with one.

Pohutukawa wrote:Another quickie... sooo, in the practice mode, the spacing on the score changes, some measures are stretched out more than others. I have a lot of trouble with this and I wonder if there's a way of keeping the measure spacing on the actual score the same?

That is actually "reality" if you look at normal sheet music. Very often the measures do change size because the number of things that have to be represented in the measure. The hard part is that the tempo bar moves faster across the wide measures. It actually takes the same amount of time to cross the long and short measures. There is a way to make it all the same, but the typical "scoring" software will automagically format the measures to fit the content. The score would have to be manually adjusted so all the measures are the same width as the largest size measure.

The only advice I have is to go by how it sounds, not the visual indication of the tempo. Turn on the metronome during your early practice and let the beats be your guide. Of course they don't always line up with the actual moment you need to press the keys. The practice is to learn the counting for the notes - David has a video that he demonstrates the technique somewhere in the Rookie Bootcamp.

Many thanks for the answers and advice. Awesome!

Pohutukawa wrote:One is about the points. And maybe I missed this in the various intro things, but what are they for?

In addition to the other useful info above: IMHO the points system is deeply flawed, in that it discourages the use of the most effective training aids in the program (e.g. playing selected measures on repeat does not net any points). Neither does it reward practicing score at your own pace without starting the runner (which may be harder to quantify, although the program could trust me to not game it by randomly bashing keys while it's idle). Optimizing points does not do you a lot of good in the current implementation.

I have to say finally seeing someone else saying that the problem they see is , the speed changes with each measure and is not consistent which makes it difficult to "ring" the hole and follow the tempo...YUCK. I dont like my focus has become trying to ring the hole of the note, regardless the tempo

have to agree with what Switch and Pohutukawa said;

Pohutukawa wrote:
Another quickie... sooo, in the practice mode, the spacing on the score changes, some measures are stretched out more than others. I have a lot of trouble with this and I wonder if there's a way of keeping the measure spacing on the actual score the same?

That is actually "reality" if you look at normal sheet music. Very often the measures do change size because the number of things that have to be represented in the measure. The hard part is that the tempo bar moves faster across the wide measures. It actually takes the same amount of time to cross the long and short measures. There is a way to make it all the same, but the typical "scoring" software will automagically format the measures to fit the content. The score would have to be manually adjusted so all the measures are the same width as the largest size measure.

I do see the tempo change via each measure, size of the measure changes sure...but the tempo bar shouldnt speed up, its supposed to be set to metronome, it goes fast, then slows down etc...temp is supposed to be constant. Not a race to match the bar.

Sandhya60 wrote: ↑

Thu May 10, 2018 9:17 pm

I have to say finally seeing someone else saying that the problem they see is , the speed changes with each measure and is not consistent which makes it difficult to "ring" the hole and follow the tempo...YUCK. I dont like my focus has become trying to ring the hole of the note, regardless the tempo

I think it’s a big mistake to try and use the cursor to play the notes. It’s easy to get sucked into watching it move and try and play to it.
I don’t think it should ever be any more than a guide for where you’re up to. The exact note playing should be by ear from the metronome or accompianment, not by eye.
Real world music doesn’t have a moving cursor.