We Begin Where We’ve Deteriorated To
OK it’s not really that bad; I am just having some problems getting my playing up to speed. The holiday season has completed with all committments completed and with only about three relationship-damaging incidents. It really could not have gone any better !
Since my guitar students have all graduated from the level of instruction that they requested, I have had an opportunity to re-explore the Guitar Craft Repertoire on the Ovation guitar. Most of my recent students have requested training on the electric guitar, which has strings that are light in guage (sp?) and close to the fretboard. The Ovation has heavier guage strings that are relatively further away from the fretboard. I cannot believe how slowly I have to play the Guitar Craft Themes ! I have to start out at 58 beats per minute and slowly work up to 80 beats per minute. 80 is my maximum tempo after two weeks of practice… I used to be able to play these pieces of music at 90 bpm and even faster on a good day. Fortunately these pieces are excellent exercises at slow tempo but it is such a dissappointment to have regressed so much since practicing them last… On the lead intro to Caliope (sp?) I can rarely press the strings down with enough pressure to produce any of the notes at all. I hope that I can regain more facility in this repertoire before I have to switch back to electric…
With dissappointment,
I.C.