I uploaded a YouTube short to my channel the other day… It’s a bluesy solo over a constant drone of the E string with my thumb. The key is to hold that beat with your thumb; every quarter note needs to be represented. I was pretty happy (and still is) about my playing. The thumb/beat was solid and the solo stayed within the beat.
I listened a little closer
As I was uploading the short, I watched it one more time watching the thumb. What do you know? There were some pauses in my playing that I was sure didn’t exist. I’ve worked for years and years to get that thumb consistent and independent but sometimes one falls back into old patterns..
You gotta record yourself
I make it a habit to record myself quite a bit and this is why. We have plenty of resources so there isn’t an excuse to not record yourself. You can make up excuses like I did to not record like “It’s too much to organize after awhile” “I don’t have the time to listen” ” I don’t like hearing or watching me play” . The list goes on and on but there are more reasons to record than not.
- The tape doesn’t lie: Every note, every dynamic, every nuance is going to be on the recording. you can’t ignore it. You can, however, improve upon it.
- A great way to document progress
- You can’t rely on your memory or impression of your practice session:
- An inflated sense of how well you did can mask the mistakes you did make. Like I said, the tape doesn’t lie.
- Conversely, maybe you had a bad day and your playing sucks and practice was a waste of time. (I’ve had this happen to me). The next day, I’ll listen to the session and I’m like “wow” that was pretty damn good!
- A repository for song ideas to come back to when you’re stumped
The list can go on and on but the reality is that there isn’t an excuse in the world to not record yourself. I have found that recording for YouTube has been a great way to stay consistent. I have to review each video to cut out what I want to post which means many times over I listen. Just like with the short I posted, I find something to improve upon and/or work on more!
Below is the YouTube Short in question: see if you can spot the anomalies in my thumb
