🎻 The bad practice habit I'm finally addressing more

Hi Reader!

I have this habit I'm trying to break, and I'm curious if this is something you experience too.

With a couple of northern Michigan gigs coming up in mid-September, Bear and I have been revisiting our setlist, working up some new arrangements and revamping old ones.

A lot of the sets are ones we've done before and don't need quite as much polishing or learning as the newer material. And yet, I still find myself wanting to go through the setlist in order. Since I don't usually find myself with an open two hours or even one hour, that means that I regularly get to the first half of the setlist but then find myself rushing to get to ones later in the set that I really should be practicing.

So this week I've been trying to break myself of the habit. I had a couple of half hour gaps between lessons, so I'd spend the time focusing on the tunes that were newer to me. When I have a longer gap to practice with Bear, that's when I can review older sets that just need a little memory refresh.

We can take this to an even more detailed level... how often when you practice do you play the tune straight through in order? And how often do you take a trouble spot of the tune and play it over and over until you've smoothed out the edges?

I'm looking at myself as much as anyone else there. Maybe I need a post it note reminder in my studio to help me take that kind of granular, detailed time more often!

This kind of accountability and strategy swapping is exactly why I love hosting my Irish Fiddle Lilt-Up workshops. You're all signed up and good to go, Reader! I'm excited to connect with you next weekend! Make sure you've filled out the pre-workshop questions here!

Weekly Tune Library Update

Our last slip jig tutorial for the month of August (Dusty Miller) is up now! There is also a hop jig that goes by the same name but is a different tune -- so I may have to add that one sooner than later (you can thank Bear for discovering that one for me)!

I'll be focusing on Fall Irish Fiddle Lilt Up material for the next couple of weeks, so you get a breather from new tune tutorials unless you have requests for me! Remember that as a Tune Library member, you get a $10 discount off of registration for Lilt Up Zoom workshops (pre-filled for you here)!

The trouble spot I'll be tackling this week is on a tune from my first album: Stephanie's Waltz (written by Michigan's own amazing Stephanie Cope). Steph wrote the tune in G, but Bear has enjoyed arranging it in F. It requires a little bit of 3rd position, so I'm drilling my new finger patterns into my brain for F instead of G. Since it's a tune I'm so used to playing a certain way, this has been a good pattern interrupt challenge for me!

We'll be including this set for sure at our house concert at our friends' Maureen + Dale's, and it may make an appearance for our show at Lavender Hill too...

What's your trouble spot you're going to address this week?

Happy playing!

~Hannah