YOUR 2011 Practice Diary

[wvgman]

It sounds like a super sweet day was had by all! I am excited that BlueFugue signed up for Red's Sherpa Class, that Monkfish jumped onto the Master Student Plan, and that drdjdave is on board the Pro Student Plan. Brothers, we are getting ourselves some might fine guitar education here!!! Congratulations to each of you!

I started practicing today with thirds and sixths (as per my Shred Warehouse Sherpa class), and trying to work them into the pentatonic scales in a few 12 bar blues progressions. Worked in the Keys of G, A, and F.

I also worked on some chromatic exercises from Frank Vignola's Modern Method and used some different right hand techniques simultaneously. I reviewed some of my favorites from 50 Shred Licks You Must Know and focused on my speed picking technique a good while. I did a little more work with Natural Minor and Harmonic Minors, just reviewing the scales and drilling a bit.

Finally I played some of my favorite Christmas tunes. I received an invitation to come and play Christmas songs for a public thing by my former employer and I had to turn them down because I had not been practicing my Christmas music this year.

[Bluefugue]

Howdy, Guitar brethren!

This evening was devoted in large part to helping my teenager with math and social studies homework. As for guitar, I spent a lot of time "looking" at pentatonics and listening to Marc Shonbrun's Efficient Guitarist. I think I can learn a LOT from that course if I'm patient and start at the beginning (). As far as axe time, I had to learn two new tunes for the band: Wherever I May Roam (Metallica) and Self Esteem (Offspring), both great tunes! I picked out most of Self Esteem by ear, and already knew some of the Metallica song, but had to go to YouTube for some help on some of it.

My little one is in bed, so that's it for tonight.

Have a great night, y'all. Wvgman, GREAT to have you back at full flame!

[wvgman]

Thanks, BlueFugue. It's good to be burning again even if I only spark a little.

Today, per my Guitar Sherpa Shred Warehouse lesson plan, I did more work playing the 12 bar blues in different keys and using the pentatonic scales, focusing on the 1s,4s, and 5s, while using thirds and sixths as much as possible. It is still coming along. I am finding some new things I like while drilling through a lot of things that still sound alike to me due to my own limited musical imagination. Still learning.

Worked on some chromatics, alone and then with the thirds and sixths. Played a lot of my favorite old Christmas songs. I like stringing together (no pun intended) Silent Night, Away in a Manger, O Holy Night, Joy to the World, and Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee all in the key of C. Then some other Christmas songs in Em.

Preparing the lesson for my students, I drafted some charts introducing them to the E Form, 6th String Root Full Barre Chords and the Am Form 5th String Root Barre Chords. I spent a lot of time working with these and going back in my own mind to when and how I had learned them. I wish I had someone back then who taught guitar the way it is presented today. I was enriched by studying these chords that I rarely even think about conciously. Looking at them today, I can see not just the versatility that minor changes in the fingerings can provide, but also the way CAGED ideas and the layout of the fretboard works. I really wish I could live and feel well enough to vigorously study guitar for 50 more years. It amazes me!

[Monkfish]

Today didnt go as planned but it was all good.
1.5 hours into my regular scales development and the my friend and drum tutor called me up to see if I was into doing our drum lesson for guitar lesson exchange today. Ofcourse I said yes and then realised that I had not touched the drums since our last exchange 2 weeks ago. Ive simply not had the time as I have to pick my moments when I can play them because you know what drums are like, you really gotta hit em and some folks take exception to that at 2 in the morning!!!
Any way we had a good time for 3 hours then he left. I tried to pick up the guitar again but I didnt feel like it so i went for a nap.

An hour later and I was ready for some more. So i figured out WaldorfWorldWide by Good Charlotte and then Cavorting by the Corteeners and finally Howlin' for you by The Black Keys. That only took little over an hour and I didnt learn them as such but it was a good exercise and something that I do several times a week just to keep my ear in.

After that I hit the drums for an hour or so then back to the blues rock night class where I learned the solo to function junction. This led me to study the rest of the function junction lessons from Secret Sauce where I pretty much got the rhythm part in 10 minutes. what i might do is record it at some point and post it up some where round the forum.

[wvgman]

Yikes, it looks like we all forgot to post anything here yesterday. I really didn't do much guitar stuff yesterday.

Today I spent a couple of hours on 12 Bar Blues using the pentatonic scales and mixing in runs usings 3rds and 6ths. It is coming along better but I do get a little bored from time to time in spite of the fact that I can see how drilling on these things makes for much smoother playing and for better understanding. This is part of my Shred Warehouse Sherpa Class. I could probably move faster in it if I so desired, but I am too old to get in a hurry anymore.

I also played some Christmas tunes and old favorites. I even experimented with making a musical Christmas card with an older track I recorded on my Taylor last year (I think).
Here is a link to it; obviously I did not do the artwork, just the background music. I got photos from the web and used Windows Movie Maker to put it all together.

[Monkfish]

It wasnt that I forgot to post yesterday but rather that I had had a few beers and really couldnt remember what id done.

It was wednesday right? I remember now.
I got about an hour of scales in then a friend phoned and we talked for 2 hours, mostly about theory.
Lunch, long nap then an hour or so of bass then 30 mins of drums then out to the pub for some trad jazz.

Today I did only 30 mins of scales and then decided i wanted to be more musical so I fired up the rock blues night class and learned the the week 2 solo. So far I done 2 weeks in four days but I must admit that I have just skimmed over the practice part of these lessons and gone straight for the solos.
Ive watched about an hours worth of guitar phyisiology... interesting stuff.
Tonight I had another 30 mins on the drums followed by a 3 hour study Of EJ's Cliffs of Dover, mmm, dont think I am gonna crack that one any time soon.

Good times.........
Andy

[Bluefugue]

IYeah, I can't quite remember what I did yesterday, aside from spend a lot of time on the commode, thanks to a stomach bug or something I ate. Didn't play much, that's for sure. Tuesday night was band practice, then went to bed in fairly short order. Today, I played a LOT. All the electric went out at work and we got sent home early!

When I got home, I worked on some chords/scales/arpeggios because I have all but abandoned CAGED cracked and latched on to The Efficient Guitarist ... yes, yes, I know I said I was going to force myself to stick with cracked, but life is short and I want to learn and have fun at the same time, and TEG seems like a lot of fun. BTW, I actually warmed up today before playing, with some stretching and chromatics. After that, I was practicing my sherpa assignment, playing to rhythm to Born Under a Bad Sign some more, which is a great groove. I finally figured out how to get to the different areas of the sherpa site

I noticed as I played that the action was quite high on my beloved Rice Custom geetar, so I took a deep breath and actually adjusted the truss rod. I almost crapped myself, as I've never done it before, and heard a lot of creaking, but being short on cash will push me into such cost saving measures. Another first is that, after I adjusted the rod, I adjusted the intonation; that was nowhere near as nerve-wracking. Nothing broke and I now have a sense of satisfaction.

[Monkfish]

Yeah, I can't quite remember what I did yesterday, aside from spend a lot of time on the commode, thanks to a stomach bug or something I ate. Didn't play much, that's for sure. Tuesday night was band practice, then went to bed in fairly short order. Today, I played a LOT. All the electric went out at work and we got sent home early!

When I got home, I worked on some chords/scales/arpeggios because I have all but abandoned CAGED cracked and latched on to The Efficient Guitarist ... yes, yes, I know I said I was going to force myself to stick with cracked, but life is short and I want to learn and have fun at the same time, and TEG seems like a lot of fun. BTW, I actually warmed up today before playing, with some stretching and chromatics. After that, I was practicing my sherpa assignment, playing to rhythm to Born Under a Bad Sign some more, which is a great groove. I finally figured out how to get to the different areas of the sherpa site

I noticed as I played that the action was quite high on my beloved Rice Custom geetar, so I took a deep breath and actually adjusted the truss rod. I almost craped myself, as I've never done it before, and heard a lot of creaking, but being short on cash will push me into such cost saving measures. Another first is that, after I adjusted the rod, I adjusted the intonation; that was nowhere near as nerve-wracking. Nothing broke and I now have a sense of satisfaction.

I made a start on cracked and I must say I thought it was awesome. I got some great ideas out of it.
Ive been dipping into a few courses, and it seems to be working for me.I would find it hard to stick with just one.

As for truss rod adjustment, I never turn the rod more than a 1/4 of a turn at a time then I leave it to settle for 24 hours before seeing if it need any more adjustment

[wvgman]

Had lots to do today, but not all involved my guitar.

I spent time playing the blues in various keys (per my Sherpa Lesson Plan) and playing or figuring out some Christmas tunes. Nothing earth shattering, just having a good time.

[wvgman]

The hour or so I had today was spent again working on the Sherpa approach to 12 Bar Blues with a pentatonic scale focusing on using 3rds and 6ths while targeting the 1s,4s, and 5s. I am trying to keep my 3rds and 6ths from sounding so "country." it's coming along. I also spent time on learning some new Christmas tunes.
I may not be fast, but I am persistent.

[Monkfish]

WV, im listening to your rendition of Greensleeves, I dont know how I missed it before, very well done my friend. I have made a few false starts at finger picking and this has just inspired me to have another go, well maybe

I didnt bother with warm ups or scales today but instead I spent most of the day working on caged cracked. I got up to soloing over two chords and I have to say that I have always struggled to make my maj pentatonic playing interesting and after a day with cracked there is no change there.
I havent thought about playing scale positions in relation to caged chords much, but it does make good sense and I shall persue it some more.

I also had a look at 50 blues rock rhythms and I did the first six or so of thoes.

I also had a gig tonight and I was able to implement alot of the cracked ideas into my playing. The gig was great and all this practice is paying off as my playing felt pretty effortless tonight

[Monkfish]

There seems to be a pattern forming here as it seems that I am forgetting about the modern method practice regimen at the weekend.

Today I did practice the harmonic minor for a short time before returning to cracked for an hour or so. I then spent some time with sweet notes, ending up with a blues jam that got me using alot af the ideas that I have picked up over the last week

I then had a look at finger style blues but didnt get particularly inspired by that (my fault, not Mr Hamburgers) so I cooked dinner, ate and had a nap.

When i woke from my slumber I had a pain in my left hand, so i decided not to play guitar anymore today and instead I had 1.5 on the drums, locking down some grooves in 4/4 and 6/8 and also practicing independance of the limbs and some sticking exercises, and after that I watched some more of physiology. there are some great tips in that course.

Christmas is getting harder to ignor now with just a week to go and I think my practice may suffer as a result.

[wvgman]

Well today I did not practice. I had to prepare some things for Christmas and do some work around my house, so there it is. Tomorrow, I'm hoping for a good guitar day.

[Monkfish]

I havent done much playing today as I still have pain between my middle and ring fingers on both hands and what I have done has been easy going on the stretches.
A few chromatics to start followd by a little study of caged cracked.
I had an hour or so of timing and rhythm practice with a student and then he presented me with a melody supplied to him as a college assignment. He has to find chords and a rhythm to go with the melody. I have spent the last 3 hours entering the melody into midi and finding some chords for it and I have to say that it is the worst, most uninspiring melody that I have heard for a while, its no wonder he was moaning about it.

Oh yea, and between all this I got 30 mins of drumming in.

Not too bad, all things considered

[wvgman]

It is Christmas time and winter is fast closing in on us so there is much to do with out a guitar. My motivation seems lacking lately too just a bit, but I know what is causing that and it will be fine soon.

Andy, I spent a bit of time with chromatics, scales, and rhythm work too. I also worked on my sweep picking. Must just be that kind of day. I laughed when I read that in your post and BTW thanks for the kind words about my Christmas card.

I played more blues to keep up with my Sherpa class and worked on some more Christmas tunes. Seems like that is all I do anymore, but I am still enjoying it. I did not get all the guitar I wanted for today, but it was better.

[Monkfish]

Oh joy, the pain in my hands have subsided.

The usual chromatics to start then the harmonic minor for around an hour.

i really cant remember what I have done today although I have had a guitar in my hands for most of it, I know I played some jazz tunes for a while then had a good look at jazz up your blues. i also went over the solos I learned from the night class I started a few days ago then forgot about

I am biting and bobing alot at the moment but I recon its all good as most of what I am looking at seems to be sticking.

i also got a couple of hours of drumming in and made a few breakthroughs regarding independance

rock on good people

[wvgman]

I experienced a very sudden, sharp pain in my left wrist this morning while doing some things around the house. Ice, ice, ice, bracing, and anit-inflamatory OTC pain meds. It has not hurt like this in a long time. Looks like I may be on the injured list for the rest of the year. I already have some doctor appointments this week, but not for the wrist. I did not want to end the year like this, but stuff happens. We will see.

[gadlaw]

I experienced a very sudden, sharp pain in my left wrist this morning while doing some things around the house. Ice, ice, ice, bracing, and anit-inflamatory OTC pain meds. It has not hurt like this in a long time. Looks like I may be on the injured list for the rest of the year. I already have some doctor appointments this week, but not for the wrist. I did not want to end the year like this, but stuff happens. We will see.

Man, I've been reading you guys with hours and hours of practice time in the bag and then you guys get the wrist curse. Did you feel it coming on at all? Everyone needs to pay attention to these things. I've worn out a couple of wrist braces these last number of months myself since it seems like it's never going to go away completely, a twinge and it's brace time. Play a bit, brace a bit. Keep paying attention to the pain otherwise. Never ignore the pain.

[wvgman]

No forewarning at all this time. I was actually just drying my hand when the sudden, sharp pain hit. And I have not done enough lately to aggrevate any repetitive use problems. It felt like an ice pick running from my wrist (on the pinky side) halfway up my arm. Hmmm, wait, what is this wooden handle sticking out of my arm...oh, nah...just hallucinations from mixing the pain meds.
Just kidding.

[rjbasque]

NOOO!!!

What a terrible way to close out a years practice diary. You've been the guy I keep saying "I should be more like him, and get consistent in my practice"

Just rest up for a while and do what the good Dr. tells you.

[jimiclaptoncarl]

So sorry to hear this wvgman... :(

This thread has almost been active a year! I've gotten inspiration out of your constant posting what you've been practicing and I'm sure others have as well.

Hope you recover quickly and here's hoping to another year of this blog!

[Bluefugue]

Man, sorry to hear you are out of commission, WV! I'm also sorry for not posting lately. I've had a lot of non-guitar related stuff to do recently. I have played here and there, but not really focused practice time. I had to give up my Sherpa, unfortunately. I went into it like a crackhead on a binge, not thinking that I just don't have the dough. I could have run out the 30-day trial period, but did not feel right doing so, so I contacted Nancy and returned to my pro (formerly "Level 2") subscription. Hopefully, if I get a job I applied for, I'll be able to restart with Red. He's an awesome instructor, very patient and encouraging.

As far as my current area of concentration, I'm sticking with TEG, and am going to start with some "50 licks/rhythms" courses. I have focused SO much on theory for so long, and have not really taken the time to apply that knowledge to songs I know, songs I want to create, or just learning new licks and songs specifically to apply the knowledge. I truly think that building repertoire is important for me. I look at music theory like the alphabet, grammar, sentence structure, etc., and licks/songs as examples, kind of like learning to read then write. Bah, maybe that's a bunch of crap and I just want a break from theory and want to learn to play some really cool stuff all over the board! Nothing wrong with that, and I fully believe that I'll still be learning theory, just not directly.

Anyway, I'll try to be more consistent with posting my practice sessions.

Take good care, y'all!!

[Monkfish]

WV, sorry to hear about your painful wrist, I really hope it clears up quickly for you.
Our guitar lives appear to be running in parallel, what with us practicing similar things then the pain from over doing it.
i find it really difficult even during times of pain to leave the guitar alone but considering the amount of practice you put in, your playing will be improving every day, wether you think so or not, so a little down time to rest will not do any harm and I find that it can actually help as the mind is given time to absorb all the information it has had thrown at it.
Heres to a speedy recovery.

Chromatics and harmonic minor to start with, around an hour in all, and then I spent the next 5 hours with fingerboard breakthrough. I got through the first 8 lessons before I ground to a halt. I tell ya, Howard Morgen has got a great way of teaching and he has a superb way of looking at the fingerboard. I gonna be spending alot of time with this fella.
After breakthough I spent 45 mins arranging a version of Cavatina- one of the first tunes I ever learned and hadnt played for 30 odd years, with the melody and harmonys runnig together. This is something I have never been able to do, untill today. Thankyou so much Howard.

After that I managed to get 2 hours drummin in and made some breakthroughs with kick drum independance. Result

[wvgman]

Thanks 4 the well wishes, friends. Doing 1 handed typing and no guitar for a while , but hopefully it will pass soon. Seeing a doctor on unrelated things in the morning, but I will ask about the wrist too. That is the way life is sometimes.

Now it is up to you fellows to post your best practice discoveries each day. I had been watching the #of views and this thread averages about 40 views per day or more, especially since we have had some new contributors. People want to know what you learn and the best way to retain knowledge (like so many other things) is to share it with someone.

[Monkfish]

The number of ppl who have viewed this thread is insane, its gotta be some kind of record WV.

What do I learn?
A brief history of my playing might answer this one.

I started playing guitar, for the wrong reason, at the age of 12.
The new school i had joined at the time requred its new students to play an instrument for the 1st year, so me being me and looking for a way out, noticed that there wasnt a guitar in the music department so i chose the guitar. It didnt take them long to find me one and a top UK flamenco guitarist by the name of Dennis Gore to go with it......Oh how I really wished I had taken advantage of that oppotunity

In short, Dennis got bored with my lack of practice and told me not to come to the lessons and he would sign me off on the hush hush so to speak.
What he did show me before we departed was the minor pentatonic scale, a 12 bar blues and The Beatles Complete song book.

That book stood me in good stead for the next 5 years untill I discovered girls and motorbikes and then the guitar was, along with the Beatles tunes, forgotten.
Throughout the 80 I had been listening to all that hair rock stuff but didnt particularly dig it then one day in the car John Lee Hooker came on the radio, playin Boom Boom and that was it. Out came the old guitar, I went to see Chuck Berry live and I was off, learning all the Blues greats riffs rhythms and to a lesser extent licks. I was about 20 at this point.

I started attending a local jam twice a week. The first time I went, I made a real mess of it but instead of giving up on the jam I learned from my mistakes and rapidly improved. I was now learning Hendrix, Cream etc to take to the jam night where we would jam our own ideas in the style of ****
I took a few mediocre lessons formed a blues band that lasted five years where again we played '50's 60' style, original blues tunes. That all finished when I was 27 and got into running a retail business for 10 years.
During that time I kept my hand in but only just... I was working hard and partying hard as well.
Around 9 years ago I started letting the local rock covers band, Biglix, use my place for rehersals as their long time rhythm guitarist had just left and they were trying to regroup as a three piece. I would jam along with them in the next room as they practiced and then one day they asked me to join them and the rest is history.

Acouple of years later I sold the business, bought some property and started taking lessons and taking on students.

The lessons got me into modes and alot of theory and this really set my playing alight. I also took some graded exams and gained distinctions in grades 3, 4, 5 and 6 but then stalled at grade 7. I must really get round to 7 and 8 soon. Again the grades were all bout Scales, Chords, Rhythm and theory.

So what do i learn? Scales, Chords, Rhythm and theory. I only learn songs if I need them for the band and then I only learn the outline of the songs and I do my own thing with it, unless its got parts in it that you have to play. For example we do Comfortably Numb and I take the first lead break. I play it note for note at the moment as to improvise it would kill it for the audience who all know and love this tune. Over time as I get more comfortable with it I will make it my own, still reconisable but not note for note.
On the other hand we play sweet child o mine and I do all the Slash parts in it. The memerable melodic parts I keep note for note but the fast flurries of the solo I improvise.

As for rhythm parts I learn the general chor progressions but I keep a close eye on the other guitarist and play the oposite of what he does. If he is playing open chords I will play at the other end of the neck and vice versa, I makes for a huge sound.

So thats it, Scales, Chords, Rhythm and theory that allows me to strut my stuff of a weekend in my own style. I have alwasys improvised everything I play even in set pieces

How do I retain knowlege.

I put the Scales, Chords, Rhythm and theory into practice at every available oppotunity, particularly at gigs. There is nothing like trying something live to make it stick.
If I am learning a piece I will learn it in my head first. I recon if you can sing it then you can play it

I told you I would keep it brief

Andy

[gadlaw]

The number of ppl who have viewed this thread is insane, its gotta be some kind of record WV.

What do I learn?
A brief history of my playing might answer this one.

I started playing guitar, for the wrong reason, at the age of 12.
The new school i had joined at the time requred its new students to play an instrument for the 1st year, so me being me and looking for a way out, noticed that there wasnt a guitar in the music department so i chose the guitar. It didnt take them long to find me one and a top UK flamenco guitarist by the name of Dennis Gore to go with it......Oh how I really wished I had taken advantage of that oppotunity

In short, Dennis got bored with my lack of practice and told me not to come to the lessons and he would sign me off on the hush hush so to speak.
What he did show me before we departed was the minor pentatonic scale, a 12 bar blues and The Beatles Complete song book.

That book stood me in good stead for the next 5 years untill I discovered girls and motorbikes and then the guitar was, along with the Beatles tunes, forgotten.
Throughout the 80 I had been listening to all that hair rock stuff but didnt particularly dig it then one day in the car John Lee Hooker came on the radio, playin Boom Boom and that was it. Out came the old guitar, I went to see Chuck Berry live and I was off, learning all the Blues greats riffs rhythms and to a lesser extent licks. I was about 20 at this point.

I started attending a local jam twice a week. The first time I went, I made a real mess of it but instead of giving up on the jam I learned from my mistakes and rapidly improved. I was now learning Hendrix, Cream etc to take to the jam night where we would jam our own ideas in the style of ****
I took a few mediocre lessons formed a blues band that lasted five years where again we played '50's 60' style, original blues tunes. That all finished when I was 27 and got into running a retail business for 10 years.
During that time I kept my hand in but only just... I was working hard and partying hard as well.
Around 9 years ago I started letting the local rock covers band, Biglix, use my place for rehersals as their long time rhythm guitarist had just left and they were trying to regroup as a three piece. I would jam along with them in the next room as they practiced and then one day they asked me to join them and the rest is history.

Acouple of years later I sold the business, bought some property and started taking lessons and taking on students.

The lessons got me into modes and alot of theory and this really set my playing alight. I also took some graded exams and gained distinctions in grades 3, 4, 5 and 6 but then stalled at grade 7. I must really get round to 7 and 8 soon. Again the grades were all bout Scales, Chords, Rhythm and theory.

So what do i learn? Scales, Chords, Rhythm and theory. I only learn songs if I need them for the band and then I only learn the outline of the songs and I do my own thing with it, unless its got parts in it that you have to play. For example we do Comfortably Numb and I take the first lead break. I play it note for note at the moment as to improvise it would kill it for the audience who all know and love this tune. Over time as I get more comfortable with it I will make it my own, still reconisable but not note for note.
On the other hand we play sweet child o mine and I do all the Slash parts in it. The memerable melodic parts I keep note for note but the fast flurries of the solo I improvise.

As for rhythm parts I learn the general chor progressions but I keep a close eye on the other guitarist and play the oposite of what he does. If he is playing open chords I will play at the other end of the neck and vice versa, I makes for a huge sound.

So thats it, Scales, Chords, Rhythm and theory that allows me to strut my stuff of a weekend in my own style. I have alwasys improvised everything I play even in set pieces

How do I retain knowlege.

I put the Scales, Chords, Rhythm and theory into practice at every available oppotunity, particularly at gigs. There is nothing like trying something live to make it stick.
If I am learning a piece I will learn it in my head first. I recon if you can sing it then you can play it

I told you I would keep it brief

Andy

AMazingly cool story.

[wvgman]

Ok, I have a doctor's appointment on January 3, 2012 to see about my wrist.
It has been in great shape today, but of course today I spent a lot of time in doctors' offices and hospital. Like any ailment, it will tend to automatically alleviate itself when faced with the prospect of immediate, effective treatment. I will continue with REST, ICE, BRACES, and meds as needed until I see the doc.

Enjoyed your story, Andy. Everyone take care of your hands. If you don't have it, I highly recommend Bruce Arnold's course in Guitar Physiology to help you avoid future health issues with all your playing apparatus.

[Monkfish]

Today was just a practice nightmare. I was never going to get alot done today as I had my xmas shopping to do and One of my students needed a report for his Duke of Edinburgh award scheme.

I sat down this morning for a 2 hour session when the phone rings.. my good friend wanted to chat for 3 hours.
This left me with no time to go shopping and little time to do the report.
I did the report, the student came and went.
I then cooked and consumed dinner.
This left me with a window of 20 minutes before my next round of students. I thought I would get 20 mins of drumming in..... 1 2 3 4.....bing bong...visitors arrive shortly folled by my fist student of the night. Finished my lessons at midnight.
At last time to play for myself. Ive just spent the last 2 3/4 hours doing a fair number of the 50 rock blues rhythms thanks to mysticguitar posting a Q about one of them.... Jolly good fun they were too.

[wvgman]

The wrist feels pretty good today, but I am not taking any chances until I see the doctor on 1/3/2011. Still giving it a rest.

[Monkfish]

Good to hear your wrist has eased up WV. Hopefully the Doc will give you the all clear

My day was steady. I had 2 hours with 50 blues rock rhythms this morning and that was it.
Tonight we did a gig in our local pub....what a mistake that was. The place was rammed and halfway through the 2nd set it got so bad that the crowd was pushing me against the back wall so I walked off. Ive never done that before!!
The rest of the band continued for another tune and then they followed suit. The friday before xmas is always busy but ive never seen it this bad before. Oh well, at least we got out in one piece and we were still paid

[wvgman]

Christmas Eve: still resting the wrist so no guitar practicing today although I couldn't help myself for just a few minutes.
I picked it up long enough to play through one of the 50 R&B Licks by Robbie Calvo since the video mentioned that it was a minor pentatonic blues scale that used a major third. It is Lick #6 Major Blue. I had to do it since it is so closely related to what I had been doing in the Sherpa Class using harmonized 3rds and 6ths with these scales and the "Piccardy 3rd." This is a sweet lick and I was able to harmoniz the last note and the third simply by playing them together. Simple and sweet!

I couldn't help myself, okl (I know that is a super thin excuse, but I didn't over do it at all) and really I had to see what the lick was like for me in the context of some of the things from the Shred Warehouse. No pain. So it is getting better. Now back to resting.

Hello, my name is Ron and I am a guitar-oholic!

[wvgman]

Are you kidding?
It was a great Christmas Day, but still no guitar practice (I am being good to my wrist even though it has not hurt me at all for the past two days).

[Monkfish]

Ive managed to get a couple of hours noodleing in front of the TV. I figured out that the last chord from the Two and a half Men Theme is a C#69

[wvgman]

Still no practice today, but it has been six days since my sharp wrist pain occured (for no particular reason as Forest Gump would say) and I am thinking of maybe easing into some work tomorrow. I have had no real pain with it now for about three days. I will keep it light, but doing nothing is you get the idea.

Getting old just ain't all the fun I thought it would be.

[Bluefugue]

Glad to hear you are on the mend, WV! Keep resting and I wish you a quick and painless recovery!

For 2012, are we going to keep the same format, with everyone posting their practice diary on the same thread, or should we each start one?

Hope everyone had/has a great Holiday Season!!

[wvgman]

Still resting today. I had some other things that needed to be done and finally decided to just wait a little longer.

BlueFugue, thanks for keeping up the posts. Good question about how we will continue with this type of thread for next year. I have some thoughts, but we will at least start a new Thread and call it something like Your Skill Development Journal for 2012. I would like to see a lot of folks come forward and maybe host it for a week or two. We could all still post what we are doing, but one person would be responsible for just putting the date in the post thread that starts a new day and trying to post for at least a couple of weeks. More to follow on that idea.

[Monkfish]

Well its all gone a bit 'tits up' for me. A raging hangover stopped me from playing yesterday and today I did a few scales, half heartedly and then I just staired at my guitar and wondered if Id lost it. I felt like I was picking up the instrument for the first time.
Oh well, tomorrows another day

[jimiclaptoncarl]

Just how I've felt the past couple days... got sick the day after xmas and have been feeling too weak to do any "real" practice. So I've just been "noodlin."

Wonder if there is a song called "Chicken Soup".. maybe I could "noodle" over that and I'd feel better.

[wvgman]

Well still no practice for me today. I had wanted to try to ease back into it and I think I can, but I think I am just too preoccupied with some other issues and the chronic fatigue that accompanies them. I did do some house work and that was about all I had to give today. Ok, I did watch some of the Sherpa videos too, but I did not pick up the guitar.
Hope Andy, JCC, and the rest of you all recover completely and quickly.

I did give much consideration to the future of this thread in 2012 and this is what I plan to do.

1. I will start a new thread on 1/1/2012 and call it (because someone said they did not like the term practice) Our Skill Development Journal for 2012. This will be a thread where each one of us can go on record saying, "on this date, I practiced ________ (fill in the blank).

2. I will kick off the first two weeks in January and I will solicit a new "Featured Guest Host" for the thread every two weeks.

3. The Guest Host will be responsible for posting each day for a two week period. Their post should be titled only with the calendar date of the post i.e. January 6, 2012and describe what they have actually studied or practiced for the day they are posting. The content of each post can include as much or as little detail as the guest host desires. Charts, diagrams, and tab are always welcome as long as there are no copyright issue. Keep it legal.

4. EVERYONE is encouraged to post every day on whatever they have practiced that day in the thread, but having a guest host will help us be more certain to have something of quality each day and minimize the numerous posts like I have made about being unable to practice due to what ever circumstances.

5. If anyone would like to volunteer for a two week guest host spot, I would love to hear from you. Either message me, post here, or send an e-mail to wvgman@msn.com and I will get back to you. Right now, I think we have enough folks to take us halfway through February 2012. Watch your message boxes here. I may reach out to you there and ask you to help, but don't wait on me to ask, please volunteer for a two week shot at it. Two weeks will pass in a blink! CHECK OUT THE ATTACHMENT AND CHOOSE A PERIOD YOU WOULD LIKE TO HOST! THEN LET ME KNOW AND I WILL SCHEDULE YOU FOR IT.

This ought to be a lot of fun.

[Bluefugue]

Hi, WV! Sorry, I did not see the messages you'd sent until a minute ago. I can take the next time slot, to wit, 2/12/12-2/25/12, if noone else has taken it already. Hope you are feeling better each day!!

As for practice, Tuesday was band rehearsal (about 2 hours of playing altogether), and yesterday there was just noodling as I was not home most of the evening.

[Johnny]

Great idea!

Under subject to whatever obstructions may occur, I can host from February 26 to March 10.

[Hutch82]

I'll take the March 11 slot after Johnny wvg purdy sure I'm not on holiday

H

[jimiclaptoncarl]

I got March 25!

[wvgman]

Still giving the wrist rest, but wow! I am excited to have several of you guys sign up to do a week of hosting the Your 2012 Practice Diary. Currently we have folks ready to take on the task through April 7, 2012! That is all the way through a quarter of the year!!! Awesome!!!


I have a sticky thread in this section that I put up last year for anyone wanting to create such a thread on their own. It may be of some help to the guest hosts and of course you can look at the first several posts or any random posts in this thread and see what we are doing.

I think this is going to be exciting for each of us to put ourselves out there just a bit and share what we are practicing. It does not have to be ground breaking materials and it does not have to be a thesis on any topic, but it will be cool to see what other folks are doing with their guitar time!

The latest version of the sign up sheet. There is still room for more!

[rjbasque]

For the past year I’ve pretty much had zero structured practice time. Only been picking up a guitar once or twice per week, and then only noodling around, or jamming with mp3’s I already know how to play. In fact for the past 3 months I haven’t even picked up a guitar. So today’s “practice” was mostly thinking about a development plan for 2012.

I’m thinking rather than a strictly structured plan, I’ll setup a buffet of development ideas. So some of the ideas are as follows.

1) Lifted from Chris Buono’s Sherpa class (I was a “test” student during the development). Practice linked pentatonic patterns. Start with pattern 1, highest note, and step down to the lowest note. Now move up to pattern 2 lowest note, and step up to the highest note. Reverse and repeat for 3 minutes. Chris recommends 12/8 at 60bpm, and increase speed by 1 or 2bpm every couple of sessions.
2) Also from Chris, “sweep” arpeggio the barred 6 string E chord & 5 string Am chord down 6-3, up 1-4 on the E, down 5-2, up 1-4. Keep all the notes ringing. Do this at the 2,4,5,7,9,10,11,12 frets. Again slow and increase speed each session. This simple exercise is tougher on the left hand than you might think.
3) Work through the exercise portion of Fretboard Epiphanies (this is repeat, but mostly lost ability)
4) Pick a rhythm lesson from Blues Alchemy (possibly Swamp Funk) and learn the full extended performances.
5) Pick 2 songs to learn completely. First is probably to learn lead break at beginning of Aerosmith “Mama Kin”. The other may be Ian Hunter/Great White “Once Bitten”, or 5 man acoustic “Signs”. This is still very open.
6) Finally give myself 15-20 minutes to Jam along with mp3s.

1 & 2 are primarily warm-ups, and I may only work on 1 or 2 of 3-5 each session. This may not seem like much, but after slacking off for almost a year I figure start with realistic short term goals.

I have picked up the guitar and noodled a bit the past couple of days. Just getting the fingers back in shape.

[Monkfish]

wvman, I pm'd ya.

I managed to get an hour of chromatics, harmonic minor, major and natural minor scales in before I lost interest. Spent the rest of the day surfin whilst noodleing scales then a gig tonight.

Not too bad, im getting back into it slowly

[Monkfish]

Here we go, getting into the good habit of puting the date into the title.

Some harmonic minor was practiced today along with minor pentatonics using quater note triplets in an up three back one kinda way. I also spent a while with a C form Dom 7th arp that has been eluding me for quite some time. Im alright going up but coming back down, my fingers just keep wanting to do their own thing. Its not a difficult pattern but its been giving me problems for quite some time now. Ill get there soon I recon

[wvgman]

Hey Andy, Thanks for keeping us going. Good idea to get use to putting the date in the title. Something I do for my own edification is to copy the info I put on the forum for each day and paste it into a Word document for my own personal diary of what I do.

No practice again today. Still resting. Couldn't have done much anyway since the day was consumed with other tasks.

[Monkfish]

I got the date wrong..haha
My entry was for the 30th but entry was made in the small hours of the 31st. Gonna have to watch out for that in the future

[wvgman]

No problem, Andy, I fixed it by going into "edit" and then into "advanced" to make the change. Still it is a good way to designate the days and keep everything somewhat in order by using the date as the title. You still get the gold star for effort and participation! It is all good!