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How can you make your scales faster? |
People always ask me “How do you do your scales so fast?”… or “What do you suggest for speed development?”
Those are good questions with no simple answers.
First I have to say some thing that may not sound too pleasant but it’s a fact.
Some people are simply born with more “Fast Twitch Muscle Fibers” than others and there is little one can do about that. Now, just because you were born with a lot of these “Speedy-Gonzalez” Genes, doesn’t mean that you don’t have to work on accuracy and tone quality. It is known that flamenco players in Spain, practice scales a lot, and there is no getting around putting in the necessary hours of work.
Starting at an early age is also one of several crucial factors as well. When you do a certain activity at a very early age, your brain creates deeper and deeper neural pathways that are associated with that particular activity. When you do the same thing as an adult, your synapses are already more formed and “set in their ways” and it takes a lot more work to achieve results.
BUT! There is hope. Studies have shown that synapses continue to form in our brain if we continue to push ourselves to learn new things. The combination of focus and repetition create new neural pathways and enable us to improve our abilities.
So, you may ask, does all this relate to scale playing? You bet it does!
If you practice your scales with optimal motion alignment in your fingers, learn to feel how your muscles in you arms, hands and fingers are responding to your attack on the string, learn how to feel the necessary degree of relaxation in your fingers, be aware of the release after you’ve played a note and see how quickly you can reload and prepare your finger for the next note, and be happy doing it, then there is a strong chance that you’ll maximize your potential in relation to your ability. All of this, plus coupled with a regular and disciplined regimen of practice should put you in a good position.
Remember, We are all different but if we work right with patience, love and self- acceptance, we will surprise even ourselves. Good luck and look out for the Piccado Package on New Learning Vision coming soon.
Hasta Luego, Adam del Monte.
HI ADAM do you remember me i met you at the FRESNO GUITAR convention couple years ago/ how are you doin playing in any gigs if yes let me know ill plug in my show CLASSICAl flamenco IT GOES FOR 2 HOURS JUST LOG ONTO http://www.3zzz.com.au go to links and youll find us, we have had some fab players.some very RARE 1920s albums of PACO AMAYA NINO POSATAs RICARDO when his in the mood? SABICAS in the early days my FAVORITE JOSE MOTOS ( who like you records on 1 TAKE) and heaps more oh one more the no1 DIEGO EL DEL GASTOR. i have some rare FILM 1940 of him and JOSELERO in JUERGA. keep in touch JOHN