Juggle Everafter
Beat juggling is all about lightness of being. It rests on maximum control with the least amount of effort. Eye hand coordination founded on focus and feeling is ultimately what it takes to get it “right.” True rhythmic swing only arrives once all we have learned has been incorporated into muscle memory and tensions have left the body, leaving only room for music and movement. Anyone who has juggled at the tables for an extended period can attest to the hypnosis that emerges from such intense concentration. It seems contradictory that thinking hard can lead to no thinking, but during that 15 minute warm-up, if you steady your mind on the present exercise, a threshold is passed where you enter the groove and channel the divine dj in the sky, so to speak.
Beat juggling is a perfect warm-up at the tables. It gets the juices flowing, reveals tensions in the body, playfully telling you where you are at. Its rhythmic repetition also allows you to reach that no mind state so important in musical play relatively quickly. Even when you feel stiff or tired with little motivation to get behind the decks, if you allow it, your mind and thus body state can be altered after a mere 15 minutes of juggling.
Of course it’s all about repetition, repetition, repetition, but all the repetition in the world is not going to help you if you are not aware of what you are doing, if you are not conscious of, for lack of a better word, “bad habits.” Remember whatever you bring to the tables repetition just enforces.
There are a few things in my own practice that I’ve noticed detract from good juggling. Correcting them like everything in turntablism is based on minute adjustments. One of the first hindrances is lazy hands. Hands that are not consistent at repeating accurate cue points. This is where well-placed markers and that wonderful often under utilized human talent of paying attention comes in handy. My cue markers, which radiate out from the record hole, are shaped like arrows with a pointed tip. It marks just how small the cue point actually is. For me I found this worked better than fat strips or circle stickers. Plus, I like the cool optical effect it makes when spinning round. Experiment some to find your own marking style, but once having found what works best for you, be consistent with it.
This all leads in to the second problem which is not a clean enough attack. Clean sound in turntablism has a lot to do with attack and release, a subject that is getting its own blog post soon enough. Suffice to say record throws have to be confident – same as in scratching. Likewise confident cuts are key, but make sure the full note or musical phrase has been carried out. Cutting sounds too quickly is a problem that arises from the fact that at times you hear the full musical phrase in your head before you actually finish playing it. Sing out the phrase or count beats then cut the sound.
With your basic back and forth juggle try to make the hands, left and right, mirror each other. I noticed I had a bad habit in my fader knock with my right hand. My fingers would curl around the fader like in scratching (so you can see where this comes from). It lacked the openhanded grace of my left hand, which hit the fader with a simple tap from the side of my left middle finger. This was somewhat due to tension in my overworked right hand, making it a little stiff and resulting in a tendency for it to curl. After spending a few days conscious and correcting, things have almost equaled out. Still mistakes are not always fully mistakes and sometimes just things which need to be remixed. While curled fingers on simple drum pats is not desirable, when juggling and incorporating quick scratches on either side, then it is necessary.
Like all turntable skills, beat juggling’s evolution is based on mastering different, sometimes very subtle, hand techniques on the fader and record to modify sound and timing. Adding to your repertoire of techniques brings smoothness and versatility to your juggle. Your ability to quickly switch back and forth between them in an effortless manner is what distinguishes you as a master of your craft.
At the end of the day, of course, the whole exercise has to be fun, and sometimes relearning techniques in order to turn them into proper ones can be challenging. So if you hit a wall of frustration over some technique or other, stop banging your head, wipe the tears and walk away for a bit. Kenny Werner in his book on Effortless Mastery suggests after making any mistake drop your hands and start a new. More than not it’s just tension that has to be released. Clear body and head brings us full circle to that lightness of being and ultimately will result in clean juggling, allowing you to be in tune for the rest of your practice and your day.
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