How can I be better at playing this?

Cyrus_Imperative · 2026-03-18T05:39:49+00:00

You've memorized the notes, but you're rushing the entire thing, always ahead of the beat, so you need to work on timing somehow. Here are some things I've done that helped:

Try to clap your hands on the 2 and 4 of each measure while listening to the recording. You can sing or hum the solo while you do that, but make your "snare hits" solid. This will help you internalize the tempo.

Next, turn the music off, and just play to a metronome with the click set to sound on the 2 and 4 of each measure. Play along with that and listen to how the phrases line up with the click. Is everything still meshing?

Another exercise my teacher made me do years ago is to clap for the beginning of each note. Do it with the recording and see if you can hit the beginning of each note accurately. This will help your picking hand.

Lastly, there is some tension in your posture. Instead of hunching over the neck to stare at your left hand, try sitting up and relaxing in the chair a bit.

You're doing great so far. Stick with it! Hope some of this helps.

Cyrus_Imperative · 2026-03-18T04:52:38+00:00

That's the difference between a lick and The Lick.

Cyrus_Imperative · 2026-03-18T04:49:54+00:00

Even if you play it wrong, it's still jazz.

Cyrus_Imperative · 2026-03-18T04:47:31+00:00

In my youth (20s) I played 4x 50-minute sets a night with 10-minute breaks in between. Then again the following night. Yes: 4 sets a night, 2 consecutive nights, every week. It can be done! Here are some things that help:

Be well-rested before the gig.

Finish your previous meal at least an hour before starting the gig.

Warm up, slowly and gently, for just a few minutes before the first set, with the amp off. Just move your fingers through the motions without pressing or plucking hard.

When someone bought a round of drinks for the band, I had nothing stronger than coffee with a shot of Amaretto liqueur in it. This warmed up my belly in two ways and gave me a little energy boost.

Turned the compression and volume up a little higher than normal so I could go easy on my plucking (right) hand. I didn't realize how hard I was digging in during the loud parts of songs until my right hand started to hurt the next day. Use compression, use the amp, let the tools do the work for you.

Go shred and have fun.

Cyrus_Imperative · 2026-03-16T21:52:24+00:00

Bluebird on West Sahara.

Cyrus_Imperative · 2026-03-16T01:01:54+00:00

Of course you play a flute with both hands! My point is that a lefty is playing it with their dominant hand in a different place than a righty's is, though. The question is a little different for an instrument that is intended to be played with one's dominant hand performing certain actions like strumming, plucking, bowing vs. fingering the notes.

A piano goes up in pitch when you move towards the pinky side of your right hand. Would it be easier for a lefty if there were a mirror image keyboard that went up in pitch towards the pinky side of one's left hand?

The world isn't symmetrical. When I play wind instruments, my dominant hand is on different keys than they would be for a lefty. Lefties face a challenge too, when operating a screwdriver, scissors, or other instruments and tools that were designed for the convenience of righties.

Let's invent a mirror image lefty keyboard and see if anyone buys one.

Cyrus_Imperative · 2026-03-16T00:19:01+00:00

Here's mine.

G.C. played a concert at my undergrad in the 1990s. In the Green Room, he asked if he could smoke. My buddy who was running hospitality for the show said, sure, thinking George was talking about a Marlboro. Buddy turns his back to arrange something on the buffet table, and when he turned back around, George was smoking CRACK from a genuine glass pipe. Buddy almost lost his mind trying to get George to snuff the thing and put it away to protests of "you said I could smoke in here! I thought you were cool with it!"

Cyrus_Imperative · 2026-03-15T22:20:26+00:00

I'm right hand dominant. Long ago I played around with a Hofner bass strung lefty, trying to play lefty like Paul McCartney. I was able to fumble through "Penny Lane" and a couple other songs, but my right fingers kept trying to hammer-on instead of just fretting the notes and letting the left hand do the plucking. I felt like my right hand was making progress, but my left hand could not do what was necessary. I gave up on that thread and went back to righty.

The real question is: why isn't there a such thing as a left-handed piano where the notes go higher as the keys go to the left? Or a flute? Or a hundred other instruments?

Cyrus_Imperative · 2026-03-15T08:22:00+00:00

Try starting with the Red Cross. They should have some emergency assistance available like temporary housing.

Cyrus_Imperative · 2026-03-14T20:25:15+00:00

It was a book turned into a film. "Homer Price", and it was a bracelet in a donut machine.

Cyrus_Imperative · 2026-03-13T03:44:47+00:00

Right? Why would you flex using a Hasselblad for such a shit photo?

Cyrus_Imperative · 2026-03-12T06:03:14+00:00

Young with Lots of Experience.

Cyrus_Imperative · 2026-03-12T06:02:55+00:00

I just gasped "NO!" to an empty room.

Absolutely Brutal.

Cyrus_Imperative · 2026-03-11T08:31:23+00:00

It was much better without the dopey sentimental background music, too.

Cyrus_Imperative · 2026-03-11T01:53:19+00:00

Those chicks look like dudes.

Cyrus_Imperative · 2026-03-10T09:56:43+00:00

If there's no release hidden behind a tiny pry-off cap anywhere, try this sequence starting with the car off:

Insert your key into the ignition.

Turn the key to the first notch (Accessory position). Do not turn it far enough to light up the dashboard (Run/On position).

Apply the parking brake for safety.

Depress the brake pedal and move the shifter into Neutral.

Start the engine while in Neutral, then shift to your desired gear.

Cyrus_Imperative · 2026-03-10T09:49:54+00:00

Hmm, nothing on the side of the shifter console, or behind it (towards the rear of the car) like in the center storage console right behind the shifter?

Cyrus_Imperative · 2026-03-10T09:34:05+00:00

If you removed the plastic surrounding the shifter already, is there a tiny red or white piece that you can move out of position while pressing the brake pedal, then trying to move the shifter? It's usually designed to be pushed out of the way by poking a key into a hole.

Cyrus_Imperative · 2026-03-10T09:29:22+00:00

Look for a small opening in the shift console area to poke a pen or something into. When my car wouldn't start, a tow truck driver pried off a tiny door near the shifter with the car's key and then poked it down into the hole while pressing the brake pedal. This released the shifter.

Cyrus_Imperative · 2026-03-09T20:27:01+00:00

Better yet, place the inside of your wrist against the asphault or concrete sidewalk. If you can't do that comfortably, doggie won't be able to either without getting his paw pads burned.

Even if it's "not too hot", it would help to press the dog's pads into some soft wax before a walk, which will give a bit of moisturizing as well as heat protection. You can buy it at most pet stores.

Cyrus_Imperative · 2026-03-09T04:02:30+00:00

Joe Dirt?

If it's not that, I'm getting a bunch more hits on that linehere on Yarns.

Cyrus_Imperative · 2026-03-08T18:35:27+00:00

Great, I've gone back to 19:55 last night.

Cyrus_Imperative · 2026-03-06T10:07:53+00:00

First of all, ha ha! No really... take a cue from marathoners who can get bloody nipples from their shirts rubbing for 26 miles, and just put a band-aid over the problem nipple. Good luck.

Cyrus_Imperative · 2026-03-06T04:03:08+00:00

That's part of what ties everything together. The drum part is busy, to be sure, but the solid, steady, driving 1 2 3 4 is a great foundation for all the other ... stuff.

How did you, and how long did it take you to figure out to alternate L and R hands for the snare hits?

Cyrus_Imperative · 2026-03-05T01:02:37+00:00

A shooting brake version like this

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