ambidextrous take 3
The turntablist’s ability like that of any musician rests in their relationship with their body. A musician can be called a small muscle athlete, within whom the alchemy of speed, endurance and motor control underlie a skilled performance.
In the morning when I step behind the decks to beat juggle or scratch, the image of a race car sometimes comes to mind. Funnily enough, I don’t actually drive, but I can appreciate the the level of strength, fine motor skill and endurance required to compete in the Formula One. Some of the most highly conditioned athletes on earth are race car drivers, whose bodies must react with lightening quick reflexes unimpeded by high velocity.
On the wheels of steel, a turntablist drives rhythms. In juggles, layers and cuts, quick but steady motions match tempos and bars at any bpm. Skill is a product of fine motor control at any and all speeds. To achieve the level of mastery found in the hands of Qbert is something which has to be built over time, day by day, through repetition and repetition at both slow and high speeds. At reduced bpms, your hands become conditioned to the right movements the instrument demands. As your ability to sustain the control and exactitude through out the piece grows so can the speed. Sometimes, however, it is advantages to simply play quickly in order to begin conditioning the fingers to move at this speed. You prepare them for day when precision and timing can meet fast speeds, and you can execute passages with a skill beyond which the mind can calculate, but only by what can be sunk into muscle memory.
In the marathon running world building of endurance and speed is called doing fartleks, which means speed play. It has you intersperse intense sprints through out your run, which is mostly kept at an overall moderate aerobic pace. Not a bad way to approach learning a new scratch or routine.
I recall when I started juggling. It took quite a good deal of effort to swing back and forth even 16 bars of 4 beat loops, especially while trying to keep each exchange steady and consistent. When I began, I recall the hand fatigue after scratching a 6 minute piece. I built up endurance and honed my motor skill by practicing scratches both slow and fast. The faster I could scratch also meant the more relaxed and steady my hands were when they returned to slower speeds, and the interplay between fast and slow allowed my endurance to grow as well as kept my interest through daily drills. Today I don’t have to think about spending an hour or two doing either. Speed play is still part of my practice.
One exercise I use juggling is to work from 4 beats to 2 beats each side, reducing it to quickly volleyed 1 beat a side until I can no longer sustain it. I then add beats, returning to 4 beats aside. While it is important to strive for a concentrated even rhythm at high speeds the emphasis here is more on getting the body accustomed to high speed movement. With this as a daily practice one improves very quickly. When returning to a slower juggle or scratching, it is impressive at how relaxed the muscles are at less demanding speeds. Cap your juggling session with an ease up into some languid scratching over rootsy hip hop or dub, you’ll be surprised how loose yet exact your scratches are.
More thoughts on practice, check out musician skill building online http://www.ibreathemusic.com/
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