Moving to Next Lesson

[rreg0321]

Does anyone have any suggestions as to when to move on to the next lesson? For example, I am working on the "comping" lesson in Jazz and Blues Made Easy DVD. I have all the rhythms down, and can play both hands together pretty well, but I tend to make mistakes in measure 9-12 on the baseline approaches, because the fingering is different depending on if I am approaching from above or below, and sometime I use the wrong fingering.

Is it recommended to continue working these 4 measure until I can perfect them, or is it best to move on once I have the general concept down pretty well and come back and revisit it periodically?

[thierryn]

Does anyone have any suggestions as to when to move on to the next lesson? For example, I am working on the "comping" lesson in Jazz and Blues Made Easy DVD. I have all the rhythms down, and can play both hands together pretty well, but I tend to make mistakes in measure 9-12 on the baseline approaches, because the fingering is different depending on if I am approaching from above or below, and sometime I use the wrong fingering.

Is it recommended to continue working these 4 measure until I can perfect them, or is it best to move on once I have the general concept down pretty well and come back and revisit it periodically?

Hello rreg0321,

I'm not a teacher and can only speak for myself.
I cannot stay playing the same song as long as it is not perfect. I'll certainly go to the next one. BUT, I'll keep working on the missing part in parallel with the new lesson.
There are three reasons for this :

1) Working on the same peace for months becomes not funny anymore (personal feeling).

2) I experience Willie's lessons as being parts of a global puzzle.
Some techniques I learn from the lessons are often beneficial for previous lessons. So working on techniques on a next lesson sometimes helps you in improving your playing of previous lessons.

3) I personally nearly never understand the whole content of a Willie's lesson. But as you listen to some concepts in different contexts, it really helps to understand theory. OK, this point has nothing to do with the playing itself but it helps me a lot to follow lots of lessons, just because some concepts always come back (like V to I resolution, UST, Dominants motion, to give some examples). I've learned these concepts, not by following one lesson, but peace per peace while following different lessons in different styles.

So I would suggest to follow different lessons, but I'm not sure it's the right way, it's just the way I personally follow.

Any other comments, I'm quite interested in getting other people feedback/advise.

Thierry

[rreg0321]

Thank you, that makes sense. I just wasn't sure if I didn't have the lesson down perfectly, if I would be hampered in subsequent lessons. That's when having a teacher observe comes in handy to let you know if you are ready to move on.

[wmyette]

Hey rreg0321,

I agree with Thierry.

I suggest that you work on a topic to about 80% capacity, then try moving on...BUT, this is very important...DO NOT forget about that topic. So, let's take the comping lesson as an example.

Let's say you worked on that for 1-2 weeks. Like you said, you pretty well have it down...but it is not completely there yet.

OK, move on to something else like maybe a song, another lick or some other improvisation.

While working on the new topic, come back and practice the comping lesson for maybe 10 minutes every day. This way you can get down the remaining 20%.

It is "easy" to get down 80% of a lesson. The last 20% is the most difficult. I'll be discussing this further in this month's newsletter coming out this week.

[rreg0321]

Thank you for the feedback. Can you also recommend on when playing basslines if there are any guidelines on whether the bassline will sound better if played ascending or descending and whether or not to approach the target from above or below?

I had posted this in a separate topic, but I didn't see any replies.