I have a kindle and can work trilling or module 1 while reading,,,,,very handy.
I have the kindle on a music stand and use the other hand to "turn" the page

Personally, I'd be a little wary of this. Agreed it's good for building the muscles, and the exercises themselves can be tedious. Recently, I've noticed I seem to get better results if I remain focussed on what I'm doing in the exercises, and try to spot little mistakes (eg degree of finger pressure, distance fingers are moving away from the board, etc) and correct them.

I agree Cliff, I am wary of it right now haha. I am testing this out slowly(1/8 notes at 60 bpm) and I think I have my ears dialed in to when I fuck up. I got the idea of an article I read on multitasking, that there really is no such thing. What you are doing is essentially a new task that involves trilling and reading. This is now a new skill, so like all other skills,,,I am starting out slow and going to see what becomes of it after 2 months.
Also with the slow speed I can detect if my fingers are moving to far off the fretboard, my pick attack is overextending, etc.

We are all wired up a little bit different, if after 2 months I think that this is compromising my technique.....goodbye reading...haha.

Sounds interesting. Good luck with it! I'd probably steer away from tackling Proust while doing this, though :).

Cliff, what could you possiblyy be reading that is sooooooo important that it warrants taking any part of you away from el practice?

Well, up until four or so years ago, I would read voraciously. Then first computer programmer followed by guitar playing consumed all of my free time. When I was younger I was a wannabe author, which eventually led me into journalism. So on balance, over the span of my life, literature has been more important to me than music. Personally speaking, If I do read now, I make sure it's something that's really worth my time, and I give it as much attention as I can muster.

I usually watch videos on youtube. I've seen just about every documentary on the Illumanati, JFK conspiracy theories, ancient aliens, 9-11 conspiracy, climbing MT Everest, then I thought maybe I'd learn something and I started watching videos on math, science, history, languages. I figure if I watch a 1hr video on the lost city of Atlantis while I'm doing trills, then I have trilled for 1hr.

That's cool. For me, I guess I still can't trill very well, so I really need to keep an eye on it when I'm doing it.

Quote: uderoche wrote in post #7

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climbing MT Everest

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Quote: diegopaudyal wrote in post #9

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Quote: uderoche wrote in post #7

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climbing MT Everest

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Very Cool. Mt. Everest is in Nepal and that is where I am from.

I used to do a lot of trilling when I started lessons here. Just like Ursin said, watching tv or internet videos. I even had guitar that I used in the bathroom every morning.

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For anyone who has any shred of doubt on whether or not Arabic terrorists where responsible for 9/11, I recomend you Google look up some PDF files of "INSPIRE" magazine...It is the AQAP's (Al-Quaeda-of the Arabian Penninsulla) equavalent of PEOPLE magazine, They (very proudly I might add) take 100% credit for the atrocities of that day...And if nothing else, it provides a fascinating glimpse into the psyce,worldview, psychological mindset that motivates people to destroy themselves and countless others in the process. The only reason I know about this english publication of extremism is because I came accross it while taking a class on terrorism during my college time. It is a dark but fascinating read...

Quote: pebberbrown wrote in post #11

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Ursin this is one of the most intriguing videos on 9/11 that I have seen yet. ACE Baker's music is borderline corny and extremely cheesy with a heavy beatles influence, but the dude is actually an expert Video editor and commentator. So much incredible wild shit in this one. It takes about a week to get through all four hours of it (well for me it did)....

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"Personally, I'd be a little wary of this. Agreed it's good for building the muscles, and the exercises themselves can be tedious. Recently, I've noticed I seem to get better results if I remain focussed on what I'm doing in the exercises, and try to spot little mistakes (eg degree of finger pressure, distance fingers are moving away from the board, etc) and correct them."

Cliff I would say this is excellent, If you can develope the discipline of mind to stay 100% present in the moment during the small and simple stuff...You will have a much greater chance of success when it comes time for you to tackle the harder stuff for instance when you begin your battle for doing Sarod picking.

Plus if you are choosing to remain mentally present while trilling...it means that you love what you are doing...And I think that is precisely where the secret to getting to Shawn Lane level lies...you have to really love playing even when all you are playing is the humblest of trill!!

Ha! Thomas Keller (owner of The French Laundry, one of America's best restaurants) said something similar about carrots. If you see a great big pile of carrots you have to peel and slice, and think 'oh crap', you're probably in the wrong business.

(And then there's Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance - definitely worth a read for thoughts along these lines.)

The analogy about the chef doesn't count. He's simply talking about having to put the WORK in. You can't cut carrots and watch TV because you'd slice off your hand.

If you are doing monotonous strength building exercises for hours a day, there is no reason to not work other parts of your brain. Watch a documentary on physics or something. That's why they have TV's at the gym.

Having said that, if you cannot trill very well, then YES you absolutely need to focus 100% of your energy into doing it. Once you can do it fairly well, you can watch TV.