How to play faster on Ballydesmond Polka?
Tara asked, “Your Ballydesmond Polka lesson (Lower Octave) – 3rd quarter, 1st measure, there are 4 8th notes that you play so quickly (and make it look easy). You likely don’t expect beginners to play at this speed since your play-along track is a lot slower, but one day I do want to play it the same speed as you.
I think practice is the only solution here, and my question is, what/how should I practice so I get to the same speed as you?
I am not concerned about how long it takes me, I just want to make sure I’m doing all the right things.
Here are some things I think might work, what do you think:
- Stop and rock D3, A0, D3, D1, 1000 times
- I’ve tried slurring all those notes and I can do it fairly well, but it doesn’t produce the same “fun ” sound as yours (and please confirm you are *not* slurring, correct?)
- Play it slow, 1000 times or until it’s burned into left-hand muscle memory that I start to play it fast Are these good methods? Do you have any other suggestions?”
- What are the hard parts?
- Identify and practice those. This will allow you to speed up the whole tune.
- Practice just the string crossing from D to A string for a bit.
- Practice the hard parts with a metronome.
- If you have never used a metronome before, I suggest you start playing open string notes with it instead of jumping into it tune.
- That’s because it’s actually quite different difficult to play with a metronome.
- It is a skill that needs to be built from the ground up in the same way that you learn to play the instrument.
- Play it slower and faster with a metronome.
- Keep track of your fastest time on the hard parts. These should determine what speed you can play the whole tune.
- Work at your edge. What’s the fastest speed you can play it at without breaking down?
Further learning
How to tap your foot while playing
Will a metronome help my playing?
How can I improve my fast playing?
This micro-lesson is an excerpt from an office hours webinar I gave on December 16, 2020. View the entire live-stream with indexed questions here.
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