That split wood pile is dandy! My husband and I used to split tons of wood at our tiny lake cabin here in Minnesota and it's sure taxing on the body. Recently we moved farther North close to the Canadian border, and we don't have a woodstove anymore or a cabin (boo!). Mike is lucky to have you as a student. You care about being honest with him, and you care about his time - he knows this and I'm sure he appreciates that about you. I'm curious to know more about these speed drills that he has you practicing. I've been dishonest with past musical instructors, too. One of the most common ones for me was telling my instructor that I was comfortable with playing a piece of music when I wasn't. I may have played the piece well enough and accurately, but I was not comfortable playing it and I desperately wanted to move on to something else. Don't ever forget that this is YOUR journey and you get out of it what you put into it. It sucks that the things we don't want to focus on are generally the things we need to focus on the most! Practicing quietly is something that I almost always do too when I'm home with my husband. As soon as he leaves the house, I play as loud as I can and man I let that banjo honk! My dog doesn't seem to mind at least, lol.
There's 5 other stacks of wood that I didn't photograph. Taxing, yes, but it's good exercise. My dogs hightail it to the back of the house as soon as I grab the banjo. Neither want to hear me play, I guess. I'll see if I can get Mike to comment on the speed drills.
I don't have an instructor besides books and some you tube. My speed has improved just by shear repetition of playing songs I have tablature for. I don't play with the picks very much, which is why I found your channel. It has been a bit of an inspiration to me to watch you and see you grow. I mainly play clawhammer style and I had a bit of time figuring it out on my own. Can you share these speed drills that you are talking about or would Mike object to that?
Hey. This is Mike Leatherman, Mark's banjo instructor here at Morgan Hill Music Lessons. One obvious drill is to practice a song one or two times through to a metronome set at a slow speed... say around 60bpm. Then increase the speed 10bpm. Repeat process until it becomes too fast to play cleanly. Now turn the metronome off and try to play the song a few times through "almost too fast". Don't be worried if a few mistakes are made. The point is to stretch the mind and physicality until it is a little uncomfortable. Important! Don't spend too much time playing "almost too fast". Repeat this process daily for a couple weeks and you'll find your speed increasing and accuracy at higher speeds improving. Hope this helps. If you have any further questions feel free to contact me at Mike at Morgan Hill Music Lessons.
