Chunking Etude ML018

[carynjoy]

Hello friends!

I’m working on the Chunking Etude ML018 right now and slowly getting up to speed (I’m almost comfortable at 115bpm) but when I play I’ve been struggling to hear the lovely melody line in measures 11-12 ring out. I thought my rhythm was off or maybe I was playing it too straight and needed to add some swing, but when I list to recordings of myself it just feels like the volume of my open C string overpowers the higher melody notes in those chords.

So with that in mind I started wondering if I could change up my strum a bit. I usually up strum with the fleshy part of my index finger but perhaps I need to up strum that section of the song with with my thumb nail instead to make those higher notes a little brighter? I’ve tried this a bit and can definitely hear a difference, but switching up my strumming like this also sets me back a bit in terms of fluidity so now I’m playing slower and would need to work on building up speed again. This is a big change to my strumming style (I pretty much never up strum with my thumb nail) so I figured this was a good time to check in with others…

I don’t mind stepping back in speed if I’m developing better sound, but I guess my question is, for others who’ve worked on that song, did you have a strategy to get those measures to really sing out? Was it a strumming strategy or something else? Am I on the right path here? I’m happy to try anything at this point. 🙂

Thanks!
Caryn

[Andrew]

Hi Caryn, can you post a video playing that phrase using both approaches? I’ll be better able to help if I can see/hear what’s happening in that part of the piece.

[carynjoy]

Thanks Andrew! Here’s a quick video:

[Andrew]

Lemme know what you think and if you agree 🙂

[carynjoy]

Thanks for the fast response Andrew! Sounds totally reasonable that I was misdiagnosing.

I try to practice with a metronome or the Tab Viewer, but I can definitely do that more consistently. And also slow down to a speed where I can keep that section really on time before speeding up.

Perhaps related, I am also not very good at playing and listening at the same time while I’m actively thinking about the chord changes and strumming pattern. Lol. So I’ll also work on consciously listening a bit more as part of my practice routine, and reviewing my recordings (I take a lot of audio recordings but don’t always listen to them…).

Your feedback is very much appreciated!

[Andrew]

My pleasure!

[Author]

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