BIOMECHANICS AND BANJOS

By Randy Torno.

As an instructor in Mandolin, Guitar and Banjo, I am asked the same questions over and over. After thirty some years of playing and teaching I have arrived at some conclusions that may explain some of the difficulties and mysteries behind learning a musical instrument. This has led me to develop a new method of instruction using the internet.

Biomechanics and Banjos
Learning to play any instrument is a curious blend of intellectual and mechanical skills. No matter how advanced or lacking your knowledge of music theory may be, if your brain can’t get your fingers to perform the way they are asked to, you will never be able to successfully play the instrument. Certainly, some people are born with more coordination than others over the small twitchy hand muscles that make playing possible. Muscle memory plays a great part in our ability to play an instrument, however if your biomechanics are getting in the way, then you will never be able to progress past a certain point. Muscle memory is gained by repeating a movement so many times that the neurons controlling the muscles are actually firing faster than we can consciously think about them. However if the action we are repeating is biomechanically incorrect, then what the muscles are learning will be self-defeating. As an example, if the position of the fretting hand is incorrect, as we try and increase speed the natural tendency is to increase the amount of pressure that we are applying to the fretting finger. As we increase pressure, we will begin to use more of the thick forearm muscles, which will override the fine twitchy finger muscles, and the player will hit a wall in terms of progress. I have often heard as an instructor “I know every note in this piece, and can play it perfectly, but as soon as I start to speed up I fall apart”. The reason…biomechanics

How we learn.
There is no universal method of teaching that is best for everyone.
Every human being learns in different ways. Each of us responds differently to input and for this reason, very few students are capable of teaching themselves to play simply from books, CD’s, videos etc. Without interactive feedback and correction from a qualified instructor, MOST people are just not able to teach themselves. The frustration factor usually kicks in long before the satisfaction factor and the majority of people give up. This is also the reason that group lessons or lessons from an instructor with a preset curriculum are not very effective. An additional problem in teaching yourself is that with so many skills involved it is very easy to pick up bad habits and each time you play something incorrectly you reinforce them. Any instructor will tell you that it’s much harder to correct a bad habit than to learn it correctly in the first place. My feeling is that to correct a bad habit a student needs to play something properly 7 times for each time he played it incorrectly. Who of us hasn’t stumbled over the same passage again and again? No matter how hard we try we just can’t seem to lick it. The answer usually has something to do with biomechanics. I think there is no substitute for learning from a good instructor who can recognize and respond to each student’s progress.

How long and how often.
How long should I practice and how often should I take a lesson are questions I hear all the time.
It’s not just how long you practice, but it’s also how you practice. I am convinced that practice doesn’t make perfect…. only perfect practice makes perfect. As above, each of us achieves muscle memory in different ways and it is concentration as much as repetition that really makes the difference. I often hear from my adult students about the 12 year old kid that has only been taking lessons for a few months, who can already play circles around most grownups. It’s not just how long they practice it is also the lack of outside interference which allows them to concentrate. Usually, 10 minutes of practice every day will provide better results than an hour of practice once a week. The same applies to frequency of lessons. The key to learning the basics is good biomechanics. For most students, once a week is just about the right amount of time without a bad habit getting burned into the neurons… remember the 7 times rule above. Again, each of us learns at a different pace and a good instructor will recognize how best to guide a student and correct those bad habits before they get too deeply engrained. It is often said that 90% of education is motivation, which in itself is a great reason for learning from an instructor rather than trying to teach yourself.

Instruction and the Internet.
Finding a qualified instructor can be very difficult unless you are in a major metropolitan area, so for this reason I have developed a method of live instruction based on internet video-conferencing, using the principles I have outlined above. My feeling is that all of the prepackaged lessons available have the same shortcoming…lack of interactivity and positive feedback. Here’s how my system works.
I give live in-person lessons over the Internet, using a real time videoconference program. There are many videoconference programs available, but only one that I have found to be effective for musical instruction. The student does not even need to install this program on his computer... he simply types my address into his web browser and we have instant two way video and audio communications. He does need to have a webcam which plugs into a USB port on his computer, and the program works equally well on PC's as well as iMacs. The cameras are easily available from any computer store or can be ordered online and are very simple to install. The student does not need a super fast web connection or computer either. I have had good results over a dial up although as in all things Internet, faster is better.
 To prepare for the lesson, I use tablature that I email to the student beforehand. I also record MP3 examples of how it should sound and guitar rhythm tracks at varying tempos to play along with. Once the Internet connection is made the student and I appear on each others’ computer and the lesson proceeds as if we were in the same room. Just as with my private lessons, I am there to discuss, give examples, encourage, answer questions and generally guide students down the right path. I am able to instill good habits and correct bad ones as I constantly monitor the student’s progress. The students pay for the lessons using a credit card online through Paypal.
 I have students all over North America as well as England and Europe. Most of my students who have previously tried to teach themselves from prepackaged lessons are quick to see the advantages of private instruction over the other methods of instruction.
To find out more about on-line lessons go to my website www.musiclessonsource.com or email me at randy@musiclessonsource.com.