Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise @ 100 bpm

String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m quarter notes @ 90 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with quarter@ 70 bpm

Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 85 bpm
l, m @ 70 bpm


Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes - @ 75 bpm.

Rythm Exercise Played blues block chord progression (All Blues for Jazz Guitar pg. 18) @100 silent


Thoughts:
Reviewed the Glickstein's performance advice. So much information in such few words. This is definitely gonna take some time to get down well. Right now, I need to work on getting at least a 3-tune repertoire which I can play in front of people together (anyone..... a senior citizen center, etc) , while slowly working on samba, etc. (music for the kids :))

Repertoire:

Estrellita
Decided to go back to practicing performance as per p. 180 of The Musician's Way. Noticed that I had totally forgot the correct pre-performance procedure (October 13 post). And yet I had practiced this procedure in October quite frequently and was starting to get better.
--------Center---------Connect---------Count-----------Begin

Pica Pica
Reviewed chord progression. Dwiddled it a little bit. Need to keep at it to restore what I had.

Samba exercises
Track 2 - totally forgot the pattern
Track 3 - reviewed D69/A
Analyzed A diminished

Mistakenly filed wrong part of my nails - harder to play. Live and learn :) Also, the nail on my thumb cracked because I didn't file it regularly. Need to establish a schedule to file every 3 days...

Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise @ 84 bpm

String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m quarter notes @ 84 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with quarter@ 70 bpm

Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) Impossible to do with my short nails....

Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes - @ 75 bpm.

Rythm Exercise Played blues block chord progression (All Blues for Jazz Guitar pg. 18) @100 silent

Repertoire:
Estrellita
Decided to go back to practicing performance as per p. 180 of The Musician's Way. Noticed that I had totally forgot the correct pre-performance procedure (October 13 post). And yet I had practiced this procedure in October quite frequently and was starting to get better.
--------Center---------Connect---------Count-----------Begin

Samba exercises
Track 2 - totally forgot the pattern
Track 3 - reviewed D69/A
Got stuck on analyzing Adiminished

Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise @ 100 bpm

String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m quarter notes @ 95 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with quarter@ 70 bpm

Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 92 bpm
l, m @ 75 bpm

Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes - @ 75 bpm.

Thumb Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 41) @ 75 bpm.

Arpeggio Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 38) Various drills @ 75 bpm (thumb free stroke is harder than thumb rest stroke)

Rythm Exercise Played blues block chord progression (All Blues for Jazz Guitar pg. 18) @100 silent

Repertoire:
Estrellita
Reviewed first part. Re-memorized chord progression in 2nd part - F#9+5 chord is hard to remember

Pica Pica
Played fully through but didn't focus on the meaning, so not so good

Samba exercises
Track 3 exercise (- note degrees of Adim chord)

Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise @ 100 bpm

String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m quarter notes @ 85 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight @ 60 bpm

Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 90 bpm
l, m @ 75 bpm

Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes - @ 75 bpm.

Thumb Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 41) @ 75 bpm.

Arpeggio Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 38) Various drills @ 75 bpm (thumb free stroke is harder than thumb rest stroke)

Rythm Exercise Played blues block chord progression (All Blues for Jazz Guitar pg. 18) @100 silent

Repertoire:
Estrellita
Reviewed first part. Re-memorized chord progression in 2nd part - F#9+5 chord is hard to remember

Samba exercises
Track 3 exercise (- note degrees of D6/9 chord

Way too long of a hiatus, but life (working on an organic farm for 1 month) often gets in the way of things...

Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise @ 100 bpm
Of course, fingers aren't as flexible as they were when I played every day

String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m quarter notes @ 75
S - L - O -W
String Walking exercise with m, l with quarter @ 60 bpm

Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 90 bpm
l, m @ 85 bpm

Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes - @ 75 bpm

Thumb Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 41) @ 80 bpm.

Repertoire:
Estrellita
Reviewed first part. Re-memorized chord progression in 1st part

Samba
Played 1st exercise at 100% of target speed.

Track 3 exercise (just started)

Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise @ 100 bpm

String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight notes @ 75 bpm
Noticed that I have many finor flaws when I play it at 95 bpm. So went down to 75 in order to play precisely.
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight @ 60 bpm

Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 100 bpm
l, m @ 85 bpm

Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes - @ 80 bpm

Thumb Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 41) @ 80 bpm.

Repertoire:
Estrellita
Warm-ups were a bit flaky, but got it down on the 3-4th run.

Pica-Pica
Position switch in measure 15 difficult. Need to play at slower speed.

Samba
Played 1st exercise at 100% of target speed.

Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise @ 100 bpm

String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight notes @ 95 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight @ 60 bpm

Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 100 bpm
l, m @ 85 bpm

Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes - @ 80 bpm

Thumb Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 41) @ 80 bpm.

Repertoire:
Estrellita
Warm-ups were a bit flaky, but got it down on the 3-4th run.

Pica-Pica
Position switch in measure 15 difficult. Need to play at slower speed.

Samba
Played 1st exercise at 100% of target speed.

Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise @ 100 bpm

String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight notes @ 95 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight @ 60 bpm

Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 100 bpm
l, m @ 85 bpm

Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes - @ 85 bpm. (

Thumb Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 41) @ 80 bpm.

Repertoire:
Estrellita
Fingers were cold. Didn't feel the tune at all.

Samba
Played 1st exercise at 90% of target speed.

Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise @ 100 bpm

String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight notes @ 95 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight @ 60 bpm

Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 100 bpm
l, m @ 85 bpm

Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes - @ 85 bpm. (

Thumb Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 41) @ 75 bpm.

Rythm Exercise Played blues block chord progression (All Blues for Jazz Guitar pg. 18) @100 silent

Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise @ 100 bpm

String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight notes @ 95 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight @ 60 bpm

Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 105 bpm
l, m @ 85 bpm

Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes - @ 85 bpm. (

Thumb Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 41) @ 70 bpm.

Rythm Exercise Played blues block chord progression (All Blues for Jazz Guitar pg. 18) @100 silent

Repertoire:
Pica-Pica and Estrellita
Played back-to-back . Felt a bit rusty after not playing for more than a week. Yesterday I played in front of some people and I was very nervous. It was very hard for me to get my mind off of trying to sound good and not make mistakes.

Samba exercises
Played Track 2 from Nelson Faria's Brazilian Guitar Book. Played at 90% of its speed in Transcribe. Very good rhythm practice.

Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise @ 100 bpm

String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight notes @ 95 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight @ 60 bpm

Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 105 bpm
l, m @ 85 bpm

Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes - @ 85 bpm. (

Thumb Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 41) @ 70 bpm.

Arpeggio Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 38) Various drills @ 75 bpm (thumb free stroke is harder than thumb rest stroke)

Rythm Exercise Played blues block chord progression (All Blues for Jazz Guitar pg. 18) @100 silent

Repertoire:
Pica-Pica and Estrellita
Played back-to-back . Every day I'm realizing more and more that this is a test in concentration. As soon as my mind wanders off of the piece, musicianship wanes and I stumble.

Samba exercises
Played Track 2 from Nelson Faria's Brazilian Guitar Book. It is very fast, so I slowed it down to 72% of its speed in Transcribe. Very good rhythm practice. I find that one difficult thing about samba is the confusing point in which the guitar comes in. I was able to isolate this with Transcribe and practice it well.

Thoughts:
I realized that I really want to play samba already - Penderblast Blues is okay, but I really felt like learning more because I thought I had to. I think the solution to new repertoire is just to learn simple samba pieces I like. Don't know, to be honest, whether they exist. Otherwise I'll just be playing chord progressions, which aren't bad, but I can't showcase them to anyone...

Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise @ 100 bpm

String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight notes @ 95 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight @ 60 bpm

Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 105 bpm
l, m @ 85 bpm

Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes - @ 85 bpm. (

Thumb Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 41) @ 70 bpm.

Arpeggio Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 38) Various drills @ 75 bpm (thumb free stroke is harder than thumb rest stroke)

Rythm Exercise Played blues block chord progression (All Blues for Jazz Guitar pg. 18) @100 silent

Repertoire:
Pica-Pica and Estrellita
Played back-to-back . First take was no problem (and I didn't record). Of course, when I recorded I made multiple mistakes that I couldn't get out of my mind as I continued playing.

Take a look at the video.




Penderblast Blues
Started dissecting the chord structure

Thoughts:
Played the repertoire for my aunt today without planning. I consider her an experienced listener (she likes classical music) and therefore I was worried. It was really hard for me to get into the zone of thinking about the artistic qualities of the piece. Mostly, I fretted about not making a mistake. She listened intently and said she enjoyed the pieces. Her major feedback was that for both pieces, my erratic rhythm interferes with the flow of the compositions. Also, she thought that Estrellita was technically challenging.

Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise @ 100 bpm

String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight notes @ 95 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight @ 60 bpm

Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 105 bpm (slower than yesterday, but I can't go any faster)
l, m @ 85 bpm

Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes - @ 80 bpm. (

Thumb Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 41) @ 65 bpm.

Arpeggio Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 38) Various drills @ 75 bpm (thumb free stroke is harder than thumb rest stroke)

Rythm Exercise Played blues block chord progression (All Blues for Jazz Guitar pg. 18) @100 silent

Repertoire:
Pica-Pica and Estrellita
Played back-to-back.

Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise @ 100 bpm

String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight notes @ 95 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight @ 60 bpm
Harder today for some reason.....

Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 105 bpm (slower than yesterday, but I can't go any faster)

Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes - @ 75 bpm. (Also slower than yesterday. When I played at 85 bpm like yesterday, it was hard maintaining 16th-notes only)

Thumb Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 41) @ 65 bpm. Alternated betweeen rest and free strokes. Quite challenging.

Arpeggio Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 38) Various drills @ 85 bpm

Rythm Exercise Played blues block chord progression (All Blues for Jazz Guitar pg. 18) @100 silent

Repertoire:
Pica-Pica and Estrellita
Played back-to-back. Sounds very good. A couple of minor errors. I noticed that I'm beginning to get comfortable with letting go of the technique and imaging and focusing on the story behind the composition. This is when the music comes out. Of course, there's still a dilemma, because it's hard for my brain to both image and focus on the meaning, which means there's a risk of an unexpected error.

Here's a video of take 2.


Penderblast Blues
Twiddled E scale open and 2nd positions

Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise @ 100 bpm

String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight notes @ 95 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight @ 60 bpm
Harder today for some reason.....

Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 110 bpm. This is my maximum for now. I could feel myself barely able to make it. Need to keep at this.

Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes - @ 85 bpm.

Thumb Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 41) @ 65 bpm. Alternated betweeen rest and free strokes. Quite challenging.

Arpeggio Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 38) Various drills @ 85 bpm

Rythm Exercise Played blues block chord progression (All Blues for Jazz Guitar pg. 18) @100 silent

Repertoire:
Pica-Pica and Estrellita
I'm beginning to play the two pieces back-to-back. Still errors present, but now I'm practicing maintaining relaxation despite the errors.

Penderblast Blues
Twiddled E scale open and 2nd positions

Thoughts:
Need to find new easy pieces to add to my repertoire.

Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise @ 100 bpm

String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight notes @ 95 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight @ 75 bpm

Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes - much harder as I go down the page and the difficulty level increases -- @ 75 bpm. Definitely something I need to keep working on.

Same with l, m with sixteenths @ 65 bpm

Thumb Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 41) @ 85 bpm

Arpeggio Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 38) Various drills @ 85 bpm
ythm Exercise
Played blues block chord progression (All Blues for Jazz Guitar pg. 18) @75 silent

Repertoire:
Pica Pica
Played at 75 bpm with the metronome on silent. Quite challenging.

Estrellita
Recorded Private Run-Through. My cellphone alarm went off as I was -playing.... Exercise in sticking to the music during distractions. Interesting, that I made a mistake as soon as the alarm stopped ringing.

Not perfect, but less glitches than yesterday.

Thoughts:
I'm starting to think about the next piece. It will be Penderblast Blues by Tom Penderblast, which I found in Fingerstyle Magazine. It should be noted that my last attempt at a full-fledged blues piece (Rick Foster's version of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot) was way over my head. I learned it, but bombed it at a concert last March.

Thoughts:
On Tuesday evening, I did a Private Run-Through of Pica-Pica for my grandmother. I made a recording, too. Too fast, too fast. I started off at around 90 bpm. I can easily imagine how such a tempo will lead to disaster at this point in a high-pressure performance setting. I did well in terms of imaging and feeling the meaning of the piece, however.

Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise @ 100 bpm

String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight notes @ 95 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight @ 75 bpm

Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes @ 105 bpm
Same with l, m with sixteenths @ 85 bpm

Thumb Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 41) @ 85

Arpeggio Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 38) Various drills @ 85

Repertoire:
Pica Pica
Recorded myself and reviewed recording.

Great exercise in concentration. I noticed that as my mind wandered off from imagining the story that I described decided would go along with this piece, I was more prone to making mistakes.

Upon analysis, speed jumps out. I'm still both starting out too fast and speeding up even more during the piece. Played at 75 bpm with the metronome on. I have a feeling that if I don't get this down, the piece will jump around in rhythm and be inconsistent.

Estrellita
Recorded Private Run-Through. Couple of glitches here and there, but overall good work.

The pieces are shaping up! :)

Thoughts:
Yesterday, I did a private run-through of Pica-Pica for my cousin. I went through the pre-performance actions Glickstein recommends in his book. Yet, I couldn't get my mind off of this being a performance. I'm not sure whether I started off counting too fast or I sped up as soon as I started playing, but I noticed that I was going too fast for my skill level.

Also, I knew that I should concentrate on imaging ahead and embodying the music, yet I was focused too much on not making any mistakes. My nails weren't plucking the string right and the whole performance felt a bit off.

This feedback is extremely important in improving my performance skills. I need to concentrate on two things. I should practice determining the correct tempo before I start and sticking to it. I should try to image ahead and prevent my mind from drifting.

Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise @ 100 bpm

String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight notes @ 95 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight @ 75 bpm

Right-Hand Velocity (Pumping Nylon pg. 63) with i,m sixteenth notes @ 105 bpm
Same with l, m with sixteenths @ 85 bpm

Repertoire:
Pica Pica
Didn't record but played private run-through. In addition to tempo issue described above, also noticed a problem with breathing. My breaths are short and sporadic - I think I need to make a conscious effort to make them deep and regular.

Estrellita
Learned until the end. Also recorded Private Run-Through. Analyzed once. Good for the most part.

Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise @ 100 bpm

String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight notes @ 95 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight @ 75 bpm

Right-Hand Velocity (Pumping Nylon pg. 63) with i,m sixteenth notes @ 105 bpm
Same with l, m with sixteenths @ 85 bpm

Repertoire:
Pica Pica
Recorded Private Run-Through. Analyzed. Felt myself drifting off of the essence (meaning) of the composition, but really felt energized when I felt like I was expressing this meaning.
Played again once more without recording in performance mode. A couple of glitches, but overall good performance.

Estrellita
Learned up to first ending of Part C. Didn't do Private Run-Through, but sounds good nonetheless.

Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise @ 100 bpm

String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight notes @ 95 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with sixteenth notes @ 65 bpm

Right-Hand Velocity (Pumping Nylon pg. 63) with i,m sixteenth notes @ 105 bpm
Same with l, m with sixteenths @ 85 bpm

Repertoire:
Pica Pica
I played the piece and waited for a story about the meaning to come to me. I think I was really affected by a Japanese movie that I watched today called Crying Out Love in the Center of the
World. Simply, it is about a guy whose soulmate died of leukemia while they were in high school. The guy is about to get engaged to another girl, and the memory of his sweetheart comes back and it's too much to bear. I took away the idea of the impermanence of life from this movie and how we shouldn't take things for granted.

So what does this have to do with Pica Pica? Well, Pica Pica is obviously about a relationship between a man and a woman. In the first part, the lovers are getting to find out more about each other and with time, they like each other more and more. It's as if the sentence said by the man in the line of the 1st two measures is completed in measure 3 and 4 by the woman. And so on.

Part B represents a time of extreme thrills - the apex their relationship. I imagine them in a park on a sunny day dancing, or establishing a deep connection through some activity (maybe hiking, maybe travelling). The driving rhythm of this part represents the momentum with which these activities take place and end.

Part C takes place after they part. One of them dies, or they break up. The look back on the time when they were just getting to know each other with fondness and nostalgia.

So to me, Pica Pica stands for the impermanence of relationships, and how we might as well treasure them, but try not to get too attached.

I think an elaborate story like this is bound to stay in my memory, even when I'm nervous up on the stage. :)

Recorded private-through of the whole piece. Sounds pretty good. Position switch between part A and B is hard to do blind. Also, it's hard to image ahead while keeping track of the story that I created.

Estrellita
Practice-run of 1st part sounded good. Did practice-run of part B. Pretty good, should record and analyze again tomorrow.

Reviewed section C up to measure 4.

Warm-up/Technique:
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight notes @ 90 bpm
String Walking exercise with l quarter notes @ 85 bpm

Right-Hand Velocity (Pumping Nylon pg. 63) with i,m sixteenth notes @ 105 bpm
Same with l, m with sixteenths @ 80 bpm

Repertoire:
Estrellita
Analyzed recording made yesterday. Worked on 1st eight measures. Identified problems in measure 1 (finger stretching problem) and dynamics problem in measure 3 (playing the high A too forcefully). Re-recorded as private run-through - which means the 1st 20 seconds of the recording is silence as I go through the center - connect - count - play steps. It sounded good.

By the way, going through all these steps, you can't help but think what an amazing amount of information the brain is processing.

Need to analyze the second part tomorrow.

Memorized section C up to measure 4.

Pica Pica
Tried to establish what the piece means to me, but no ideas yet.....Strange, heh!?

Thoughts:
I browsed the compilation I downloaded from the Classical Guitar Forum to find easier material with which I could practice performing. An etude by Carulli caught my eye, but I think I would get bored with it. I'll try to stick to the two pieces above for now. At least they're exciting for me.

I'm changing up the order of the sections because what I read yesterday shall guide my practice session today.

Thoughts:
New insights from Glickstein....

There is a specific method to practicing for performance.
Before going into the first phrase, I need to practice the following:
1. Center
Lower gaze and exhale. Assume good posture.
2. Connect
Continue to breathe smoothly. Connect with the first piece music - hear the music, feel your fingers on the guitar playing it, conjure up the meaning of the piece. Also feel the mood and the tempo.

This step is SUPER IMPORTANT! It is this connection with the piece that allows for art to be made.
3. Count
4. Begin
As you begin, be aware of any potential problems and strive to focus on the music.

Also, a note about mistakes. Mistakes during practice should be dealt with promptly. On the other hand, mistakes during a performance should be ignored. Rhythm is king. So, if I'm practicing to perform alone, I need to practice maintaining a positive attitude when errors confront me.

Warm-up/Technique:
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight notes @ 90 bpm
String Walking exercise with l quarter notes @ 85 bpm

Right-Hand Velocity (Pumping Nylon pg. 63) with i,m sixteenth notes @ 105 bpm
Same with l, m with sixteenths @ 80 bpm

Repertoire:
Estrellita
Recorded private run-through in which I tried the approach described above. Started to analyze. Many problems present - feel unprepared to judge it now.

Pica Pica
--on hold--

Warm-up/Technique:
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight notes @ 90 bpm
String Walking exercise with l quarter notes @ 85 bpm

Right-Hand Velocity (Pumping Nylon pg. 63) with i,m sixteenth notes @ 105 bpm
Same with l, m with sixteenths @ 80 bpm

Repertoire:
Estrellita
Prepared before starting the piece as per Glickstein's advice in The Musican's Way (pg. 180).
- Center - Connect - Count - Begin

In order to connect, I had to read up about the origin of Estrellia. Turns out there are original lyrics (in Spanish), which made establishing the meaning of the song for me much simpler.

Played up to Part II.

Pica Pica
Wanted to do the same procedure, but don't know what meaning Pica-Pica has for me. Need to think about this and establish tomorrow.

Thoughts:
According to Glickstein, expert performers are able to put worries about technique aside during the performance. They concentrate on the meaning, the art of the piece. This in turn of course is a big part of connecting with an audience. This was such an obvious, but long-sought revelation for me.

Glickstein warns against choosing unattainble music. That's something that's definitely been plaguing my musical path. I choose something too hard, and so I'm not even able to get a chance to refine my performance skills. Even Pica-Pica, I realized, may be too hard. After all, I've been working on it on and off since May. I may need to find easier pieces with which I can really practice performing.

"To ensure that you have ample capacity to manage your openrs, choose music that you can perform well even when you're jittery. Then complete many practice performances to discover the ways that you're affected at the start."
The Musician's Way, p. 182

Warm-up/Technique:
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight notes @ 85 bpm
String Walking exercise with l quarter notes @ 85 bpm

Right-Hand Velocity (Pumping Nylon pg. 63) with i,m sixteenth notes @ 100 bpm
Same with l, m with sixteenths @ 80 bpm

Repertoire:
Pica Pica
Played @ 70 bpm w metronome while imaging the next measure.

Estrellita
Memorized Part II up to measure 8. Played @ target tempo (it is very slow, so no problems) while imaging the next measure.

Thoughts:
Losing concentration because I felt tired, so decided to stop. Very hard to image ahead in this state.

Warm-up/Technique:
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight notes @ 80 bpm (cut my fingernails so it was harder to get the strings)
String Walking exercise with l quarter notes @ 85 bpm

Right-Hand Velocity (Pumping Nylon pg. 63) with i,m sixteenth notes @ 100 bpm
Same with l, m with sixteenths @ 80 bpm

Repertoire:
Pica Pica
Played @ 70 bpm w metronome while imaging the next measure.

Estrellita
Memorized Part II up to measure 8. Played @ target tempo (it is very slow, so no problems) while imaging the next measure.

Thoughts:
According to The Musician's Way, a composition graduates to developing status once you can play it at a preliminary tempo. I realized that one of the errors plaguing my approach in the past has been that I've prematurely graduated my pieces to the developing status zone before they're ripe for this. With Pica Pica, too, I need to be able to play it expressively, error-free, and calmly enough to be able to image ahead at a preliminary tempo of 70 before I start increasing the pace.

Warm-up/Technique:
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight notes @ 85 bpm
String Walking exercise with l quarter notes @ 85 bpm

Right-Hand Velocity (Pumping Nylon pg. 63) with i,m sixteenth notes @ 105 bpm
Same with l, m with sixteenths @ 80 bpm

Repertoire:
Pica Pica
Recorded with silent metronome @ 80 bpm. Listening back, it became obvious that I didn't practice imaging ahead at slow tempos enough. When I played it with the mic on at this tempo, I could feel the beginnings of the anxiety that I feel during performances. That lack of confidence through which you just wish that you'll hit the right notes. Therefore, I need to just focus on practicing this piece at slower tempos, imagining ahead and really feeling it.

Estrellita
Memorized Part II Measures 1-4.

Warm-up/Technique:
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight notes @ 85 bpm
String Walking exercise with l quarter notes @ 85 bpm

Right-Hand Velocity (Pumping Nylon pg. 63) with i,m sixteenth notes @ 105 bpm
Same with l, m with sixteenths @ 80 bpm

Repertoire:
Pica Pica Measure
Played @ 85 bpm, but realized that I wasn't imagining a measure ahead while playing
Played @ 70 and imaged a measure ahead

Need to test how consistent rhythm is w/o metronome. To do for tomorrow.

Estrellita

Played Part I. Sounds good, no glitches.
Forgot Part II measures 1 and 2, so had to relearn them.

Warm-up/Technique:
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight notes @ 80 bpm

Right-Hand Velocity (Pumping Nylon pg. 63) with i,m sixteenth notes @ 105 bpm
Same with l, m with qurater notes @ 100 bpm

Finger Independence #2 (pg. 15) with quarter notes @ 100 bpm
Finger Independence #4 with quarter notes @ 100 bpm

Repertoire:
Pica Pica Measure
Mentally reviewed chord changes in 1st and 2nd sections of Pica Pica
Played whole tune @ 70, but with metronome& without
For tomorrow: need to review Musician's Way book to see what I need to work on in the piece, besides speed.

Estrellita
Reviewed chord changes of 1st section

Chord changes in measure 13-16 zip by too quickly.
Played the right hand fingerings with open strings.

Memorized Part II Measures 1 and 2.

Warm-up/Technique:
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight notes @ 75 bpm

Right-Hand Velocity (Pumping Nylon pg. 63) with i,m sixteenth notes @ 105 bpm
Same with l, m with qurater notes @ 100 bpm

Finger Independence #2 (pg. 15) with quarter notes @ 100 bpm
Finger Independence #4 with quarter notes @ 100 bpm

Repertoire:
Pica Pica Measure 14 @ 70
Also, mentally reviewed chord changes in 1st and 2nd sections of Pica Pica
Played whole tune @ 70
For tomorrow: need to review Musician's Way book to see what I need to work on in the piece, besides speed.

Estrellita
Reviewed chord changes of 1st section
First section. Noticed couple of problems. Recorded. Analyzed.


Problems to solve: Big position switch in measure 10 - getting better with practice
Glitch in position switch in measure 2 - I think it's due to performance anxiety
Glitch in chord changes in measure 14 - right-hand finger independence problem

I realized that I don't have a recording of the song I wrote for Makiko's birthday.


In this video you get to see the horrendous ceiling (or is it a floor?) that the previous tenants made. Also, you get to see that I'm struggling a bit to retrieve the lyrics from my brain. Regarding the playing, reviewing the video, I was surprised how close to the bridge I was playing. I think that was partly responsible for the excessively bright and somewhat impersonal tone (maybe...?).

Inauguration

Warm-up/Technique:
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m quarter notes @ 70 bpm

Right-Hand Velocity (Pumping Nylon pg. 63) with i,m eight notes @ 105 bpm
Same with l, m with qurater notes @ 100 bpm

Finger Independence #2 (pg. 15) with quarter notes @ 100 bpm
Finger Independence #4 with quarter notes @ 100 bpm

Repertoire:
Pica Pica Measure 14 @ 70
Also, mentally reviewed chord changes in 1st section of Pica Pica

Estrellita
Reviewed chord changes of 1st section
First section up to measure 13
Then learned up to measure 16

Problems to solve: Big position switch in measure 10 - I make a mistake sometimes when I don't look