Interval Review:
Reviewed intervals and as per yesterday's post, 6 new cards.
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position.
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) i, m at 108 bpm. Near bridge at 95 bpm.
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 85 bpm free
Rest stroke very difficult even @ 85 (big improvement from yesterday)
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 92 bpm
Scale Rhythmic Variation
Played etude @ 84 bpm with i, m.
Percussive Exercise
Played Nothin on You rhythm @ 84
Repertoire:
Just the Way You Are (Bruno Mars cover)
Practiced @ 89.
Samba Caribe
Played @ 65 through. Part A measures 12-13 @ 70 bpm
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Played beginning to part A w/o metronome.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Interval Review:
Reviewed intervals. I decided to add all the remaining cards at the same time, because I spend too much time each session figuring out which cards need to be added. So, I added about 30 cards to round out the high strings. From now on, I'll just add 5 or so cards a day, and that should do the trick within a week. I think I've been on this project for a bit longer than planned.
Sight Reading:
Level 3 4/4 @ 75 bpm.
I recently bought a very interesting book called simply The Rhythm Book, by Steve Savage. It is great for nondrummers - it starts from scratch and analyzes modern drumming in pop music.
In the beginning, it has some simple practice exercises. Somewhere in there, it suggests that it's a good idea to keep a mental track of the count. It was hard keeping the count while doing the latter exercise.
Delcamp Volume II pg. 61
@ 55
Fretboard Review:
79 correct, 2 incorrect (97%) @ in 2 minutes.
Increase to 7 frets tomorrow
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position.
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) wow! I didn't play for two days and I can only play at 108 bpm. Noticed that it is harder to nail the string closer to the bridge. Can only play at 95 bpm.
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 85 bpm free
Rest stroke very difficult even @ 78.
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 88 bpm
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 110 bpm rest & free.
l, m @95 bpm rest & free
i, l @ 91 bpm
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes 95 bpm.
l, m @ 83 bpm
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - @ 93 with i, m.
@ 75 bpm l, m rest stroke
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 100 bpm i, m
@ 77 bpm l, m
Played etude @ 70 bpm with i, m.
Percussive Exercise
Played Nothin on You rhythm @ 84
Repertoire:
Just the Way You Are (Bruno Mars cover)
Practiced @ 85. I want to get up to speed ASAP so I can find a singer.
Pica-Pica
Tried to make video, but too many mistakes, too nervous. Don't really know how I'll play in front of 50 classical guitarists tomorrow, but I'll just have to manage.
Estrellita
Same as Pica-Pica.
Samba Caribe
Played @ 65 once through. Sounds good!
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Played beginning to part A w/o metronome.
Reviewed intervals. I decided to add all the remaining cards at the same time, because I spend too much time each session figuring out which cards need to be added. So, I added about 30 cards to round out the high strings. From now on, I'll just add 5 or so cards a day, and that should do the trick within a week. I think I've been on this project for a bit longer than planned.
Sight Reading:
Level 3 4/4 @ 75 bpm.
I recently bought a very interesting book called simply The Rhythm Book, by Steve Savage. It is great for nondrummers - it starts from scratch and analyzes modern drumming in pop music.
In the beginning, it has some simple practice exercises. Somewhere in there, it suggests that it's a good idea to keep a mental track of the count. It was hard keeping the count while doing the latter exercise.
Delcamp Volume II pg. 61
@ 55
Fretboard Review:
79 correct, 2 incorrect (97%) @ in 2 minutes.
Increase to 7 frets tomorrow
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position.
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) wow! I didn't play for two days and I can only play at 108 bpm. Noticed that it is harder to nail the string closer to the bridge. Can only play at 95 bpm.
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 85 bpm free
Rest stroke very difficult even @ 78.
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 88 bpm
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 110 bpm rest & free.
l, m @95 bpm rest & free
i, l @ 91 bpm
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes 95 bpm.
l, m @ 83 bpm
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - @ 93 with i, m.
@ 75 bpm l, m rest stroke
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 100 bpm i, m
@ 77 bpm l, m
Played etude @ 70 bpm with i, m.
Percussive Exercise
Played Nothin on You rhythm @ 84
Repertoire:
Just the Way You Are (Bruno Mars cover)
Practiced @ 85. I want to get up to speed ASAP so I can find a singer.
Pica-Pica
Tried to make video, but too many mistakes, too nervous. Don't really know how I'll play in front of 50 classical guitarists tomorrow, but I'll just have to manage.
Estrellita
Same as Pica-Pica.
Samba Caribe
Played @ 65 once through. Sounds good!
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Played beginning to part A w/o metronome.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Interval Review:
Reviewed intervals. Need to start adding remaining ones.
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position. Fingers definitely lost some flexibility while I was away in Mexico. Good reminder to just keep at it :)
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) back down to 105 (instead of top 113)
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 85 bpm free (down from 91)
Rest stroke @ 80. Tried filing nails a bit, but it made it even worse
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 88 bpm
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 110 bpm rest & free.
l, m @92 bpm rest & free (down from 97 bpm)
i, l @ 88 bpm
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes 95 bpm.
l, m @ 83 bpm
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - @ 80 with i, m.
@ 75 bpm l, m rest stroke
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 97 bpm i, m
@ 75 bpm l, m
Played etude @ 70 bpm with i, m.
Percussive Exercise
Played Nothin on You rhythm @ 80
Repertoire:
Just the Way You Are (Bruno Mars cover)
Practiced @ 71 bpm.
Pica-Pica
Played once through.
Estrellita
Played once through.
Samba Caribe
Part A measures 13-14 played once through.
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Played beginning to part A @ 70 bpm up to part C.
Reviewed intervals. Need to start adding remaining ones.
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position. Fingers definitely lost some flexibility while I was away in Mexico. Good reminder to just keep at it :)
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) back down to 105 (instead of top 113)
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 85 bpm free (down from 91)
Rest stroke @ 80. Tried filing nails a bit, but it made it even worse
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 88 bpm
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 110 bpm rest & free.
l, m @92 bpm rest & free (down from 97 bpm)
i, l @ 88 bpm
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes 95 bpm.
l, m @ 83 bpm
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - @ 80 with i, m.
@ 75 bpm l, m rest stroke
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 97 bpm i, m
@ 75 bpm l, m
Played etude @ 70 bpm with i, m.
Percussive Exercise
Played Nothin on You rhythm @ 80
Repertoire:
Just the Way You Are (Bruno Mars cover)
Practiced @ 71 bpm.
Pica-Pica
Played once through.
Estrellita
Played once through.
Samba Caribe
Part A measures 13-14 played once through.
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Played beginning to part A @ 70 bpm up to part C.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Thoughts:
Just came back from a trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. A break from playing music everyday was definitely a good thing. It allowed me to look more objectively at my playing. Additionally, I got tons of new insights from The Book of Rhymes, by Adam Bradley, which I read on the plane. I'll have to go through it again, as it's a pretty deep read.
Interval Review:
Just decided to review intervals today, since the cards piled up to 100. Reviewed half of the due cards.
Just came back from a trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. A break from playing music everyday was definitely a good thing. It allowed me to look more objectively at my playing. Additionally, I got tons of new insights from The Book of Rhymes, by Adam Bradley, which I read on the plane. I'll have to go through it again, as it's a pretty deep read.
Interval Review:
Just decided to review intervals today, since the cards piled up to 100. Reviewed half of the due cards.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Interval Review:
Reviewed yesterday’s intervals - hadn't done reviews in a couple of days, so it took a while. As I was playing an octave interval, I spontaneously started to pay Sonnie Rollins' St. Thomas. I couldn't stop. There's a jump here that's hard but sounds really cool. I'll try to get it up to tempo. I actually played the whole melody while fooling around, but too camera-shy still.
Sight Reading:
Level 3 4/4 @ 75 bpm. Instead of increasing the tempo, I decided to challenge myself and look ahead further than before.
This has given me unique insight. I'm kind of starting to get a feel for the stages of getting good at sight-reading. First off, there are two main components - the notes and the rhythm. Very often, it's the rhythm that messes people up (although the notes do, too. Studying key signatures helps with note identification, etc). Though reading ahead is integral to sight-reading, before getting comfortable with reading ahead, one must be comfortable playing the measure in question. After this stage, there's more opportunity to look ahead.
Just now, I think I actually experienced what happens when I read the rhythms ahead. My brain processes these rhythms and kind of remembers them, so that when I actually get to the next measure, it becomes easier to play. TRULY AMAZING!
Reading Studies For Guitar pg. 8-9 @ 65 bpm - a real struggle. I've forgotten these key signatures (Eb and Ab major), and turns out this really makes a difference.
Andante Opus 95 by Matteo Carcassi (pg. 58 of Delcamp Volume II)
Rhythm is all out of wack on this recording. On the other hand, I like how I look from the side. The breath @ 0:39 highlights my shallow breathing in other parts of the tune - I'm too busy trying to look ahead and keep up.
Fretboard Review:
87 correct, 1 incorrect (98%) @ in 2 minutes.
I will increase the frets being tested to the 7th tomorrow.
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position.
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) wow! I didn't play for two days and I can only play at 100 bpm (not 113)
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 85 bpm free (down from 91)
Rest stroke very difficult even @ 75. Tried filing nails a bit, but it made it even worse
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 88 bpm
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 110 bpm rest & free.
l, m @97 bpm rest & free (slower than the 97 bpm I've been playing)
i, l @ 88 bpm
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes 95 bpm.
l, m @ 83 bpm
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - @ 80 with i, m.
@ 75 bpm l, m rest stroke
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 97 bpm i, m
@ 75 bpm l, m
Played etude @ 70 bpm with i, m.
Percussive Exercise
Played Nothin on You rhythm @ 90. Realized that there’s still something off. Decreased tempo to 70 and practiced slowly.
Repertoire:
Just the Way You Are (Bruno Mars cover)
Practiced @ 71 bpm.
Pica-Pica
Played freely with muffled metronome @ 40 bpm (downbeat only) and recorded with Zoom H-2. Analazed - so many problems with this piece, it seems overwhelming.
Converted into a Transcribe file and notated the measures. Incidentally Transcribe has a master volume button that makes the music really loud. In this case it was useful because the muffled metronome was barely audible as is. After notating the measures and beats, I slowed down the recording, turned the volume up and then started notating where the metronome downbeat fell. Measure 6 is the first measure in which the metronome clicks about 1/5th of the beat into the measure. By measure 14, my playing is half a beat ahead of the the metronome.
I don't know how to address this problem, but I'll try reading Klickstein, and also asking for advice on the Classical Guitar forum. Perhaps this is a lesson-in-disguise : maybe there's some kind of rhythm fundamental that I've been neglecting.
Estrellita
Recorded. Realized after all these months that I need to play the low F# in measure 3 of Part C with the pinky in order to be able to cleanly play the min. 3 double stops in the next measure. Rhythm isn't so consistent here either.
Samba Caribe
Part A measure 13-14 @ 64 bpm. Recorded. The recording sounds great!
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Played beginning to part A @ 70 bpm up to part C.
Triad Study:
Added G# minor in 1st inversion.
Reviewed yesterday’s intervals - hadn't done reviews in a couple of days, so it took a while. As I was playing an octave interval, I spontaneously started to pay Sonnie Rollins' St. Thomas. I couldn't stop. There's a jump here that's hard but sounds really cool. I'll try to get it up to tempo. I actually played the whole melody while fooling around, but too camera-shy still.
Sight Reading:
Level 3 4/4 @ 75 bpm. Instead of increasing the tempo, I decided to challenge myself and look ahead further than before.
This has given me unique insight. I'm kind of starting to get a feel for the stages of getting good at sight-reading. First off, there are two main components - the notes and the rhythm. Very often, it's the rhythm that messes people up (although the notes do, too. Studying key signatures helps with note identification, etc). Though reading ahead is integral to sight-reading, before getting comfortable with reading ahead, one must be comfortable playing the measure in question. After this stage, there's more opportunity to look ahead.
Just now, I think I actually experienced what happens when I read the rhythms ahead. My brain processes these rhythms and kind of remembers them, so that when I actually get to the next measure, it becomes easier to play. TRULY AMAZING!
Reading Studies For Guitar pg. 8-9 @ 65 bpm - a real struggle. I've forgotten these key signatures (Eb and Ab major), and turns out this really makes a difference.
Andante Opus 95 by Matteo Carcassi (pg. 58 of Delcamp Volume II)
Rhythm is all out of wack on this recording. On the other hand, I like how I look from the side. The breath @ 0:39 highlights my shallow breathing in other parts of the tune - I'm too busy trying to look ahead and keep up.
Fretboard Review:
87 correct, 1 incorrect (98%) @ in 2 minutes.
I will increase the frets being tested to the 7th tomorrow.
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position.
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) wow! I didn't play for two days and I can only play at 100 bpm (not 113)
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 85 bpm free (down from 91)
Rest stroke very difficult even @ 75. Tried filing nails a bit, but it made it even worse
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 88 bpm
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 110 bpm rest & free.
l, m @97 bpm rest & free (slower than the 97 bpm I've been playing)
i, l @ 88 bpm
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes 95 bpm.
l, m @ 83 bpm
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - @ 80 with i, m.
@ 75 bpm l, m rest stroke
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 97 bpm i, m
@ 75 bpm l, m
Played etude @ 70 bpm with i, m.
Percussive Exercise
Played Nothin on You rhythm @ 90. Realized that there’s still something off. Decreased tempo to 70 and practiced slowly.
Repertoire:
Just the Way You Are (Bruno Mars cover)
Practiced @ 71 bpm.
Pica-Pica
Played freely with muffled metronome @ 40 bpm (downbeat only) and recorded with Zoom H-2. Analazed - so many problems with this piece, it seems overwhelming.
Converted into a Transcribe file and notated the measures. Incidentally Transcribe has a master volume button that makes the music really loud. In this case it was useful because the muffled metronome was barely audible as is. After notating the measures and beats, I slowed down the recording, turned the volume up and then started notating where the metronome downbeat fell. Measure 6 is the first measure in which the metronome clicks about 1/5th of the beat into the measure. By measure 14, my playing is half a beat ahead of the the metronome.
I don't know how to address this problem, but I'll try reading Klickstein, and also asking for advice on the Classical Guitar forum. Perhaps this is a lesson-in-disguise : maybe there's some kind of rhythm fundamental that I've been neglecting.
Estrellita
Recorded. Realized after all these months that I need to play the low F# in measure 3 of Part C with the pinky in order to be able to cleanly play the min. 3 double stops in the next measure. Rhythm isn't so consistent here either.
Samba Caribe
Part A measure 13-14 @ 64 bpm. Recorded. The recording sounds great!
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Played beginning to part A @ 70 bpm up to part C.
Triad Study:
Added G# minor in 1st inversion.
Spoke to my folks yesterday, and upon hearing my grand schemes for music, they adamantly tried to convince me that I'm wasting my time and that I don't have my talent. I see where they're coming from, as my return on investment in music has not panned out in terms of playing results. Yet one of the reasons that this has happened is that I've often become discouraged and given up on the practice routine that I was on. The conversation with them really ruffled me up.
Fundamentally, this blog is based on the idea that with enough effort and the right methods, anyone, including me can learn to be an exceptional guitar player. I must remember this and not give up.
Fundamentally, this blog is based on the idea that with enough effort and the right methods, anyone, including me can learn to be an exceptional guitar player. I must remember this and not give up.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Interval Review:
Reviewed yesterday’s intervals (40 cards)
Sight Reading:
4/4 time, level 3 @ 75.
Also, 3/4, level @ 75
Fretboard Review:
76 correct, 4 incorrect (95%) @ in 2 minutes.
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position.
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 113 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 91 bpm.
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 88 bpm
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 110 bpm rest & free.
l, m @97 bpm rest & free (slower than the 97 bpm I've been playing)
i, l @ 88 bpm
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes 95 bpm.
l, m @ 83 bpm
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - @ 80 with i, m.
@ 75 bpm l, m rest stroke
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 97 bpm i, m
@ 75 bpm l, m
Played etude @ 70 bpm with i, m.
Speed Burst pg. 69 Exercise 1 G & H @ 75 bpm i, m
Percussive Exercise
Played Nothin on You rhythm @ 90. Realized that there’s still something off. Decreased tempo to 70 and practiced slowly.
Repertoire:
Just the Way You Are (Bruno Mars cover)
Practiced @ 71 bpm, making sure that I’m only hitting the notes I need in the bar chord in the first measure. This is especially hard to do when switching from the Bb major chord back to the F chord.
Pica-Pica
Played with metronome on silent at 90 bpm, but it was hard to concentrate for some reason. Definitely didn’t get into the groove of the tune.
Estrellita
Samba Caribe
Part A measure 13-14 @ 60 bpm. Sounds solid.
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Played beginning to part A @ 70 bpm up to part C. Did well, but the speed is killing me. It’s so slow, I feel the spirit of the tune is gone. I was really tempted to play at full speed, and I did. It went fine, but I had to look at the fretboard at times (for the double-stop parts, the wrist position is a bit different, and I’m not so used to them; also for the artificial harmonics, the left hand fingers are supposed to be right over the frets, as opposed to a little to the left when playing normally). I reminded myself that I should get this part down perfectly at a slow tempo before playing at concert speed.
Triad Study:
Added G# minor in 1st inversion.
Reviewed yesterday’s intervals (40 cards)
Sight Reading:
4/4 time, level 3 @ 75.
Also, 3/4, level @ 75
Fretboard Review:
76 correct, 4 incorrect (95%) @ in 2 minutes.
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position.
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 113 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 91 bpm.
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 88 bpm
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 110 bpm rest & free.
l, m @97 bpm rest & free (slower than the 97 bpm I've been playing)
i, l @ 88 bpm
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes 95 bpm.
l, m @ 83 bpm
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - @ 80 with i, m.
@ 75 bpm l, m rest stroke
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 97 bpm i, m
@ 75 bpm l, m
Played etude @ 70 bpm with i, m.
Speed Burst pg. 69 Exercise 1 G & H @ 75 bpm i, m
Percussive Exercise
Played Nothin on You rhythm @ 90. Realized that there’s still something off. Decreased tempo to 70 and practiced slowly.
Repertoire:
Just the Way You Are (Bruno Mars cover)
Practiced @ 71 bpm, making sure that I’m only hitting the notes I need in the bar chord in the first measure. This is especially hard to do when switching from the Bb major chord back to the F chord.
Pica-Pica
Played with metronome on silent at 90 bpm, but it was hard to concentrate for some reason. Definitely didn’t get into the groove of the tune.
Estrellita
Samba Caribe
Part A measure 13-14 @ 60 bpm. Sounds solid.
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Played beginning to part A @ 70 bpm up to part C. Did well, but the speed is killing me. It’s so slow, I feel the spirit of the tune is gone. I was really tempted to play at full speed, and I did. It went fine, but I had to look at the fretboard at times (for the double-stop parts, the wrist position is a bit different, and I’m not so used to them; also for the artificial harmonics, the left hand fingers are supposed to be right over the frets, as opposed to a little to the left when playing normally). I reminded myself that I should get this part down perfectly at a slow tempo before playing at concert speed.
Triad Study:
Added G# minor in 1st inversion.
Only picked up the guitar to review intervals today, and it was really late, so didn’t actually play. Yet I felt very rejuvenated from not having to go through the typical practice routine (yesterday’s was a typical example).
I stumbled upon this great article by Joshua Foer about memory techniques written from a participatory journalism viewpoint. I’ve encountered many of the principles behind effective memory techniques discussed before, but one thing that I found powerful and inspiring was the discussion of the plateau. As an example from the article, most people maintain the same typing speed after learning initially, even though they theoretically could be perpetually improving.
It’s often believed that there’s a limit to what one can do, but according to some fancy scientists referenced in this article, the only thing holding us back are beliefs of our limit at that particular point.
The strategies that top achievers employ to get to the top are:
- focus on technique
- stay goal-oriented
- get immediate feedback after performance
The timing of me reading this article couldn’t have been better, because I’ve been thinking these past couple of days that maybe I simply can’t play certain pieces at the speed they were intended to be played (and other such . This has brought back the confidence to keep pushing myself.
I hadn’t talked about my quest to improve relative pitch. Relative pitch is useful for transcribing tunes, as well as for playing with other folks (ultimate fun!). So I downloaded a pre-made Anki deck with a couple of chord progressions, and started to add my own as well. Some progressions that have been kicking my ass are
i-IVMaj7-iv
I-IV Can you believe this?
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Interval Review:
Reviewed yesterday's intervals (40 cards)
Sight Reading:
Also, 3/4, level @ 75
Fretboard Review:
76 correct, 4 incorrect (95%) @ in 2 minutes.
To be honest, I don't know whether I should just move on or keep at the same number of frets in order to improve my score.
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position.
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 113 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 91 bpm. Filed nails, so rest stroke was harder. Hmm, maybe I should file the nails less often.
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 88 bpm
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 109 bpm rest & free.
l, m @94 bpm rest & free (slower than the 97 bpm I've been playing)
i, l @ 88 bpm
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes 95 bpm.
l, m @ 83 bpm
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - @ 80 with i, m.
@ 75 bpm l, m rest stroke
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 97 bpm i, m
@ 75 bpm l, m
Played etude @ 70 bpm with i, m.
Speed Burst pg. 69 Exercise 1 G & H @ 75 bpm with i, m
Percussive Exercise
Played Nothin on You rhythm @ 90. Realized that there's still something off. Decreased tempo to 70 and practiced slowly.
Repertoire:
Just the Way You Are (Bruno Mars cover)
Practiced @ 71 bpm, making sure that I'm only hitting the notes I need in the bar chord in the first measure. This is especially hard to do when switching from the Bb major chord back to the F chord.
Pica-Pica
Played with metronome on silent at 90 bpm, but it was hard to concentrate for some reason. Definitely didn't get into the groove of the tune.
Estrellita
Wow, my facial expressions suggest I'm really struggling with this piece. I wonder if it detracts from the listening experience.
Samba Caribe
Part A measure 13-14 @ 60 bpm. Sounds solid.
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Played beginning to part A @ 70 bpm up to part C. Did well, but the speed is killing me. It's so slow, I feel the spirit of the tune is gone. I was really tempted to play at full speed, and I did. It went fine, but I had to look at the fretboard at times (for the double-stop parts, the wrist position is a bit different, and I'm not so used to them; also for the artificial harmonics, the left hand fingers are supposed to be right over the frets, as opposed to a little to the left when playing normally). I reminded myself that I should get this part down perfectly at a slow tempo before playing at concert speed.
Triad Study:
In order to sight-read properly, I must be able to sight-read chords. In order to do that, I need to be familiar with whether a given triad is in the root, 1st or 2nd inversion. Then, based on that information, which the brain should theoretically process in a tens or hundreds of milliseconds, I should play the correct triad based on my knowledge of the shapes of the root/1st inv/2nd inversion triads.
Reviewed yesterday's intervals (40 cards)
Sight Reading:
So one important aspect of sigh-reading is getting the correct rhythm down. i found a program that generates rhythms based on the time signature and the level of difficult that you choose.
4/4 time, level 3 @ 75.Also, 3/4, level @ 75
Fretboard Review:
76 correct, 4 incorrect (95%) @ in 2 minutes.
To be honest, I don't know whether I should just move on or keep at the same number of frets in order to improve my score.
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position.
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 113 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 91 bpm. Filed nails, so rest stroke was harder. Hmm, maybe I should file the nails less often.
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 88 bpm
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 109 bpm rest & free.
l, m @94 bpm rest & free (slower than the 97 bpm I've been playing)
i, l @ 88 bpm
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes 95 bpm.
l, m @ 83 bpm
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - @ 80 with i, m.
@ 75 bpm l, m rest stroke
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 97 bpm i, m
@ 75 bpm l, m
Played etude @ 70 bpm with i, m.
Speed Burst pg. 69 Exercise 1 G & H @ 75 bpm with i, m
Percussive Exercise
Played Nothin on You rhythm @ 90. Realized that there's still something off. Decreased tempo to 70 and practiced slowly.
Repertoire:
Just the Way You Are (Bruno Mars cover)
Practiced @ 71 bpm, making sure that I'm only hitting the notes I need in the bar chord in the first measure. This is especially hard to do when switching from the Bb major chord back to the F chord.
Pica-Pica
Played with metronome on silent at 90 bpm, but it was hard to concentrate for some reason. Definitely didn't get into the groove of the tune.
Estrellita
Wow, my facial expressions suggest I'm really struggling with this piece. I wonder if it detracts from the listening experience.
Samba Caribe
Part A measure 13-14 @ 60 bpm. Sounds solid.
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Played beginning to part A @ 70 bpm up to part C. Did well, but the speed is killing me. It's so slow, I feel the spirit of the tune is gone. I was really tempted to play at full speed, and I did. It went fine, but I had to look at the fretboard at times (for the double-stop parts, the wrist position is a bit different, and I'm not so used to them; also for the artificial harmonics, the left hand fingers are supposed to be right over the frets, as opposed to a little to the left when playing normally). I reminded myself that I should get this part down perfectly at a slow tempo before playing at concert speed.
Triad Study:
In order to sight-read properly, I must be able to sight-read chords. In order to do that, I need to be familiar with whether a given triad is in the root, 1st or 2nd inversion. Then, based on that information, which the brain should theoretically process in a tens or hundreds of milliseconds, I should play the correct triad based on my knowledge of the shapes of the root/1st inv/2nd inversion triads.
Currently, I am at the first step of this process. I'm teaching myself to recognize the triads. Created triad deck in Anki in E Major in which I so far have E major, F# minor and G# minor in the first inversion. I will keep adding to this deck on a regular basis.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Interval Review:
Wow, the intervals are really kicking my ass. It probably took me around 30 minutes to go through all the reviews, and I got many of them wrong. Definitely need to keep pounding away at them. For sure, I need to review them again today to solidify my memory.
Sight Reading:
4/4 time, level 3 @ 75. I noticed that I tend to mess up in the places where there are long pauses. For some reason, I remembered the importance that many musicians place on the silence between the notes as defining the music (good example - Miles Davis).
Also, 3/4, level @ 75
Started sight-reading book Reading Studies for Guitar, by William Leavitt, from scratch. Pg. 6-7 @ 65 bpm.
Also, sight-read a piece from Delcamp Vol. 2 page 59. It was atrocious.
Fretboard Review:
Reviewed up to 6 frets. Decided to track progress:
76 correct, 6 incorrect (92%) @ in 2 minutes.
Really felt the pressure mount.
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position.
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 113 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 88 bpm. Filed nails, so rest stroke was harder. Hmm, maybe I should file the nails less often.
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 85 bpm
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 109 bpm rest & free.
l, m @97 bpm rest & free
i, l @ 88 bpm
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes 95 bpm.
l, m @ 83 bpm
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - @ 78 with i, m. L, m rest stroke was not good - nails too short. This is surprising, because I didn't think that I had filed them excessively. Measured. The white part is 1 mm.
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 97 bpm i, m
@ 80 bpm l, m - free fine, but rest once again difficult because of the nails
Played etude @ 70 bpm with i, m.
Speed Burst pg. 69 Exercise 1 @80 bpm with l, m
@109 with i, m
Rest and free
G & H @ 75 bpm i,m
Percussive Exercise
Played Nothin on You rhythm @ 90. Right arm started to hurt after playing for 5 minutes or so. Too much tension?
Repertoire:
Just the Way You Are (Bruno Mars cover)
Practiced @ 90 bpm. Also listened to recording to define my own meaning for the piece. Reminisced about a special time with a certain girl (not that kind of time).
Also, a bit of arranging in my head. During the intro, the singer should sing fifths in "oohs" or "aahs".
Like this:
Pica-Pica
As per Klickstein's suggestion in a blog post, I put the metronome on the downbeat only muffled it a bit so it wouldn't be so loud, and recorded myself playing. My metronome goes down only to 40, so I was essentially playing at 120 (really fast for me, but doable).
Part A was pretty good. Part B, not so well.
Also, dynamics in many parts were not right. I should record in the same way again tomorrow and analyze.
Estrellita
About halfway through part A, I realized that my mind was drifting off thinking about errands. So, while playing, I referred to the essence of the piece, which is love. I decided to think about my dear friend, Yachi, who I love. Even though this piece, should in my mind be romantic, I thought of Yachi thinking about and dreaming of love.
Though there were a couple of glitches in the playing, I was very happy with the piece because I wasn't worrying about the technical aspects. Rather I was making music.
This may big implications for how I perform music. Maybe I need some concrete event in my life to be the theme of the piece I'm playing in order to convey its essence for me.
Samba Caribe
Part A measure 13-14 @ 58 bpm. Sounds solid.
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Played beginning to part A @ 70 bpm up to part C.
Triad Study:
Created triad deck in Anki and put in E major and F#minor triads in 1st inversion. Quite challenging.
Wow, the intervals are really kicking my ass. It probably took me around 30 minutes to go through all the reviews, and I got many of them wrong. Definitely need to keep pounding away at them. For sure, I need to review them again today to solidify my memory.
Sight Reading:
4/4 time, level 3 @ 75. I noticed that I tend to mess up in the places where there are long pauses. For some reason, I remembered the importance that many musicians place on the silence between the notes as defining the music (good example - Miles Davis).
Also, 3/4, level @ 75
Started sight-reading book Reading Studies for Guitar, by William Leavitt, from scratch. Pg. 6-7 @ 65 bpm.
Also, sight-read a piece from Delcamp Vol. 2 page 59. It was atrocious.
Fretboard Review:
Reviewed up to 6 frets. Decided to track progress:
76 correct, 6 incorrect (92%) @ in 2 minutes.
Really felt the pressure mount.
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position.
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 113 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 88 bpm. Filed nails, so rest stroke was harder. Hmm, maybe I should file the nails less often.
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 85 bpm
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 109 bpm rest & free.
l, m @97 bpm rest & free
i, l @ 88 bpm
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes 95 bpm.
l, m @ 83 bpm
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - @ 78 with i, m. L, m rest stroke was not good - nails too short. This is surprising, because I didn't think that I had filed them excessively. Measured. The white part is 1 mm.
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 97 bpm i, m
@ 80 bpm l, m - free fine, but rest once again difficult because of the nails
Played etude @ 70 bpm with i, m.
Speed Burst pg. 69 Exercise 1 @80 bpm with l, m
@109 with i, m
Rest and free
G & H @ 75 bpm i,m
Percussive Exercise
Played Nothin on You rhythm @ 90. Right arm started to hurt after playing for 5 minutes or so. Too much tension?
Repertoire:
Just the Way You Are (Bruno Mars cover)
Practiced @ 90 bpm. Also listened to recording to define my own meaning for the piece. Reminisced about a special time with a certain girl (not that kind of time).
Also, a bit of arranging in my head. During the intro, the singer should sing fifths in "oohs" or "aahs".
Like this:
Pica-Pica
As per Klickstein's suggestion in a blog post, I put the metronome on the downbeat only muffled it a bit so it wouldn't be so loud, and recorded myself playing. My metronome goes down only to 40, so I was essentially playing at 120 (really fast for me, but doable).
Part A was pretty good. Part B, not so well.
Also, dynamics in many parts were not right. I should record in the same way again tomorrow and analyze.
Estrellita
About halfway through part A, I realized that my mind was drifting off thinking about errands. So, while playing, I referred to the essence of the piece, which is love. I decided to think about my dear friend, Yachi, who I love. Even though this piece, should in my mind be romantic, I thought of Yachi thinking about and dreaming of love.
Though there were a couple of glitches in the playing, I was very happy with the piece because I wasn't worrying about the technical aspects. Rather I was making music.
This may big implications for how I perform music. Maybe I need some concrete event in my life to be the theme of the piece I'm playing in order to convey its essence for me.
Samba Caribe
Part A measure 13-14 @ 58 bpm. Sounds solid.
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Played beginning to part A @ 70 bpm up to part C.
Triad Study:
Created triad deck in Anki and put in E major and F#minor triads in 1st inversion. Quite challenging.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Note Review:
I often forget how the low E and F note looks on the staff, so I found this program to help me out.
Interval Review:
A lot of reviews. Problems with Augmented 4th intervals on various strings. Didn't additional cards.
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position.
Percussive Exercise
Played Nothin on You rhythm @ 84. Still quite challenging.
Repertoire:
Just the Way You Are (Bruno Mars cover)
Practiced @ 80 bpm, but the modified barre position isn't ingrained yet, so I just practiced the chord switches making sure to hit only the notes I need on the barre. Seems like a small thing, but this is what mastery is about.
Estrellita
Deliberately made a mistake on the position jump in measures 9-10, and then played it correctly. You'd think there'd be no difference in deliberate mistakes and accidental mistakes. But there is! It acquires such a jazzy feel when it's deliberate. The Bad Plus, in their version of Smells Like Teen Spirit, use this technique to great effect.
Come to think of it, these deliberate mistakes are a sign of mastery, because they show the player's lack of fear in terms of manipulating the instrument.
Samba Caribe
Part A measure 13-14 @ 54. Sounds good.
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Reviewed part A @ 64 bpm. Ready to increase tempo.
I often forget how the low E and F note looks on the staff, so I found this program to help me out.
Interval Review:
A lot of reviews. Problems with Augmented 4th intervals on various strings. Didn't additional cards.
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position.
Percussive Exercise
Played Nothin on You rhythm @ 84. Still quite challenging.
Repertoire:
Just the Way You Are (Bruno Mars cover)
Practiced @ 80 bpm, but the modified barre position isn't ingrained yet, so I just practiced the chord switches making sure to hit only the notes I need on the barre. Seems like a small thing, but this is what mastery is about.
Estrellita
Deliberately made a mistake on the position jump in measures 9-10, and then played it correctly. You'd think there'd be no difference in deliberate mistakes and accidental mistakes. But there is! It acquires such a jazzy feel when it's deliberate. The Bad Plus, in their version of Smells Like Teen Spirit, use this technique to great effect.
Come to think of it, these deliberate mistakes are a sign of mastery, because they show the player's lack of fear in terms of manipulating the instrument.
Samba Caribe
Part A measure 13-14 @ 54. Sounds good.
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Reviewed part A @ 64 bpm. Ready to increase tempo.
Checking out Gerald Klickstein's The Musician's Way blog, I stumbled upon an article about rhythmic precision. He talks about the common misuse of the metronome which makes playing music dull. His advice:
1. Vocalize and move with the rhythm
2. Toy with timing
3. Vary emphasis
4. Focus on the downbeat
For this last one, he suggests putting a metronome in the background on the downbeat only while you play a piece. Record your playing and then judge your rhythmic accuracy. I'll try this tomorrow.
Additionally, leafing through The Musician's Way, I realized that I neeed to perform some memory maintenance strategies (p. 91) for my pieces - so that I image ahead while playing (otherwise I will start to rely on muscle memory).
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Thoughts:
I didn't properly introduce the new gadget I started using yesterday. It's a Zoom H2 portable recorder that records wonderfully and allows one to hear the recording with ease immediately. It would seem like a small thing, but the thing is that recordings reveal the truth behind a performance. I've been playing way too long with way too little analysis of the quality of my playing.
Sight Reading:
4/4 time, level 3 @ 75
Fretboard Review:
Reviewed up to 6 frets. Decided to track progress:
63 correct, 3 incorrect (95%) @ in 2 minutes.
A little bit worse than yesterday.
Interval Review:
Big review of added cards. Added remaining ascending D to G string ascending, and then added all the G string to D string descending. I felt like I was on the home stretch of this interval review, so I decided to open up the whole list to check for any missing intervals. Indeed there were quite a lot, and it took me some time to find them and enter them in Anki.
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position.
Finally! Middle finger reached the 3rd fret!
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 113 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 88 bpm.
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 85 bpm
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 109 bpm rest & free.
l, m @95 bpm rest & free
i, l @ 83 bpm
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes 95 bpm.
l, m @ 83 bpm
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - recorded @ 78 with i, m and l, m. Solid.
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 97 bpm i, m
@ 80 bpm l, m - descending rest stroke was hard, so I decreased from yesterday's 89 bpm
Played etude @ 70 bpm with i, m
Speed Burst pg. 69 Exercise 1 @ 70 bpm with l, m
@109 with i, m
Rest and free
A - F
G @ 75 bpm i,m
Percussive Exercise
Played Nothin on You rhythm @ 84
Repertoire:
Just the Way You Are (Bruno Mars cover)
Practiced @ 80 bpm and recorded.
Noticed something interesting that Scott Tennant talked about - it is important to be selective when doing the barre because you can save considerable energy by only sounding the notes that need to be sounded (pg. 23 of Pumping Nylon) . Directly applicable to this piece: when I hit the first F chord on the 8th fret, I only need to hit the root, the Bb on the B string (which I hit with my 3rd finger), and the C on the high E string. That means my barre index finger only needs to hit 2 notes - the F on the A string and the C on the high E string. So, I can bar the 8th fret so that the middle part of my finger is arched and is relaxed.
Pica-Pica
Yesterday's post didn't provide any suggestions for what to work on, which isn't very productive.
Played to metronome on silent @ 85 bpm.
Estrellita
Deliberately made a mistake on the position jump in measures 9-10. Wow, that does the trick. Deliberately hitting C instead of C# will get my wrist used to the position of both, and mistakes should be avoided.
Samba Caribe
Part A measure 13-14 @ 59 bpm.
The movement of the RH wrist is integral here, I must not forget that. That movement is still not natural. Dropped to 54 bpm to practice the movement.
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Played beginning to part A @ 64 bpm and recorded.
I didn't properly introduce the new gadget I started using yesterday. It's a Zoom H2 portable recorder that records wonderfully and allows one to hear the recording with ease immediately. It would seem like a small thing, but the thing is that recordings reveal the truth behind a performance. I've been playing way too long with way too little analysis of the quality of my playing.
Sight Reading:
4/4 time, level 3 @ 75
Fretboard Review:
Reviewed up to 6 frets. Decided to track progress:
63 correct, 3 incorrect (95%) @ in 2 minutes.
A little bit worse than yesterday.
Interval Review:
Big review of added cards. Added remaining ascending D to G string ascending, and then added all the G string to D string descending. I felt like I was on the home stretch of this interval review, so I decided to open up the whole list to check for any missing intervals. Indeed there were quite a lot, and it took me some time to find them and enter them in Anki.
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position.
Finally! Middle finger reached the 3rd fret!
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 113 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 88 bpm.
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 85 bpm
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 109 bpm rest & free.
l, m @95 bpm rest & free
i, l @ 83 bpm
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes 95 bpm.
l, m @ 83 bpm
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - recorded @ 78 with i, m and l, m. Solid.
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 97 bpm i, m
@ 80 bpm l, m - descending rest stroke was hard, so I decreased from yesterday's 89 bpm
Played etude @ 70 bpm with i, m
Speed Burst pg. 69 Exercise 1 @ 70 bpm with l, m
@109 with i, m
Rest and free
A - F
G @ 75 bpm i,m
Percussive Exercise
Played Nothin on You rhythm @ 84
Repertoire:
Just the Way You Are (Bruno Mars cover)
Practiced @ 80 bpm and recorded.
Noticed something interesting that Scott Tennant talked about - it is important to be selective when doing the barre because you can save considerable energy by only sounding the notes that need to be sounded (pg. 23 of Pumping Nylon) . Directly applicable to this piece: when I hit the first F chord on the 8th fret, I only need to hit the root, the Bb on the B string (which I hit with my 3rd finger), and the C on the high E string. That means my barre index finger only needs to hit 2 notes - the F on the A string and the C on the high E string. So, I can bar the 8th fret so that the middle part of my finger is arched and is relaxed.
Pica-Pica
Yesterday's post didn't provide any suggestions for what to work on, which isn't very productive.
Played to metronome on silent @ 85 bpm.
Estrellita
Deliberately made a mistake on the position jump in measures 9-10. Wow, that does the trick. Deliberately hitting C instead of C# will get my wrist used to the position of both, and mistakes should be avoided.
Samba Caribe
Part A measure 13-14 @ 59 bpm.
The movement of the RH wrist is integral here, I must not forget that. That movement is still not natural. Dropped to 54 bpm to practice the movement.
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Played beginning to part A @ 64 bpm and recorded.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Sight Reading:
Continued with 2/4 time signature, level 3, @ 75 bpm.
3/8 time, level 2 @ 75
4/4 time, level 3 @ 75 (not so easy either)
Definitely great practice, especially for looking ahead.
While I was doing the sight-reading exercises with the program, I remembered that last time I was in Japan, I played a taiko drum game in an arcade. I think the reason I remembered that is because that drumming was to music, and it was fun! Seems like this game doesn't exist for PC, but maybe I can find an emulator. Or maybe, I should just find a taiko group to drum with.
Fretboard Review:
Reviewed up to 6 frets. Decided to track progress:
87 correct, 2 incorrect (97%) @in 2 minutes.
Compare with tomorrow's.
Interval Review:
Big review of added cards. Added: couple of D - G ascending up to perfect 5th.
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position.
They're stretching a bit more. I can almost get to the 3rd fret with my index finger.
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 113 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 85 bpm.
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 85 bpm
Recorded using my new Zoom H-2 recorder. Ah, there's nothing to hide behind with recordin.
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 109 bpm rest & free.
l, m @95 bpm rest & free
i, l @ 79 bpm
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes 95 bpm.
l, m @ 83 bpm
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - recorded @ 78 with i, m and l, m. Not perfect, so won't go faster.
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 94 bpm i, m
@ 89 bpm l, m
Played etude @ 80 bpm. Checked out recording. Plenty of mistakes - I'm just practicing playing mistakes like this.
Played @ 75. During the position switch, the A string sounds out if it not muted deliberately. Simultaneously, the RH wrist must shift in order to get an appropriate angle for the nails on the high E. This requires practicing at slower tempos. Took it down to 67 bpm. Played clean here
Speed Burst pg. 69 Exercise 1 @ 75 bpm with l, m
@109 with i, m
Rest and free
A - G.
Percussive Exercise
Played Nothin on You rhythm @ 85 bpm. Sounding better. Realized that I have a problem with economy of movement in the muted parts that sound like scratches. Instead of playing them with just the index fingers, I simulate a pick and play them with the whole wrist. The problem is that I need to hit a bass note with my thumb right after, and it makes it difficult to nail it after changing my whole wrist position. Played @ 80 bpm.
Repertoire:
Just the Way You Are (Bruno Mars cover)
Practiced @ 75 bpm and recorded. Sounds great.
Pica-Pica & Estrellita
Ah, how much one can find out from a recording. Played Pica-Pica @ 85 bpm with metronome on silent. Lots of small errors that add up to a lackluster performance (applicable to both pieces)
Samba Caribe
Part A measure 13-14 @ 59 bpm.
Played and recorded complete piece @ 59 bpm
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Focused on playing part A without mistakes - very difficult to do. Could only do twice in a row (aimed for 3 times). Started to get a bit burned out. Tomorrow, definitely aim for 3.
Continued with 2/4 time signature, level 3, @ 75 bpm.
3/8 time, level 2 @ 75
4/4 time, level 3 @ 75 (not so easy either)
Definitely great practice, especially for looking ahead.
While I was doing the sight-reading exercises with the program, I remembered that last time I was in Japan, I played a taiko drum game in an arcade. I think the reason I remembered that is because that drumming was to music, and it was fun! Seems like this game doesn't exist for PC, but maybe I can find an emulator. Or maybe, I should just find a taiko group to drum with.
Fretboard Review:
Reviewed up to 6 frets. Decided to track progress:
87 correct, 2 incorrect (97%) @in 2 minutes.
Compare with tomorrow's.
Interval Review:
Big review of added cards. Added: couple of D - G ascending up to perfect 5th.
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position.
They're stretching a bit more. I can almost get to the 3rd fret with my index finger.
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 113 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 85 bpm.
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 85 bpm
Recorded using my new Zoom H-2 recorder. Ah, there's nothing to hide behind with recordin.
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 109 bpm rest & free.
l, m @95 bpm rest & free
i, l @ 79 bpm
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes 95 bpm.
l, m @ 83 bpm
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - recorded @ 78 with i, m and l, m. Not perfect, so won't go faster.
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 94 bpm i, m
@ 89 bpm l, m
Played etude @ 80 bpm. Checked out recording. Plenty of mistakes - I'm just practicing playing mistakes like this.
Played @ 75. During the position switch, the A string sounds out if it not muted deliberately. Simultaneously, the RH wrist must shift in order to get an appropriate angle for the nails on the high E. This requires practicing at slower tempos. Took it down to 67 bpm. Played clean here
Speed Burst pg. 69 Exercise 1 @ 75 bpm with l, m
@109 with i, m
Rest and free
A - G.
Percussive Exercise
Played Nothin on You rhythm @ 85 bpm. Sounding better. Realized that I have a problem with economy of movement in the muted parts that sound like scratches. Instead of playing them with just the index fingers, I simulate a pick and play them with the whole wrist. The problem is that I need to hit a bass note with my thumb right after, and it makes it difficult to nail it after changing my whole wrist position. Played @ 80 bpm.
Repertoire:
Just the Way You Are (Bruno Mars cover)
Practiced @ 75 bpm and recorded. Sounds great.
Pica-Pica & Estrellita
Ah, how much one can find out from a recording. Played Pica-Pica @ 85 bpm with metronome on silent. Lots of small errors that add up to a lackluster performance (applicable to both pieces)
Samba Caribe
Part A measure 13-14 @ 59 bpm.
Played and recorded complete piece @ 59 bpm
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Focused on playing part A without mistakes - very difficult to do. Could only do twice in a row (aimed for 3 times). Started to get a bit burned out. Tomorrow, definitely aim for 3.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Sight Reading:
Continued with 2/4 time signature, level 3, @ 75 bpm.
Also, 3/8 time, level 2 @ 75 and level 3 (quite challenging)
Fretboard Review:
Reviewed up to 6 frets.
Interval Review:
Big review of added cards. Added: couple of D - G ascending string cards
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position.
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 110 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 80 bpm
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 85 bpm
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 109 bpm rest & free.
l, m @95 bpm rest & free
i, l @ 76 bpm
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes 95 bpm.
l, m @ 83 bpm
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - m, l went from 86 bpm yesterday to 78 bpm today
@ 93 i, m - free and rest
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 94 bpm i, m
@ 86 bpm l, m
Played etude
Speed Burst pg. 69 Exercise 1.A @ 71 bpm
Rest and free
A - G. Increase tempo a bit tomorrow
Percussive Exercise
Played Nothin on You rhythm @ 85 bpm. Sounding better.
Repertoire:
Pica-Pica
Manageable tempo for this piece - 85 bpm. Next gig, I will bring the metronome up and put it on silent to cue me.
Estrellita
Nailed the position jump
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Worked on refining the parts that I've transcribed already (@ 77 bpm)
Just the Way You Are (Bruno Mars cover)
I pretty much got the arrangement down for guitar and voice for this tune.
Practiced @ 75 bpm. Target speed is around 105 bpm.
Once I can play at target speed, I'll search for a singer to play this piece with.
Samba Caribe
Bart A measure 12-13 arpeggio - played @ 60. Still hard. Tried increasing to 60, but couldn't pay without mistakes.
Part B measures 14-15 - couldn't play clearly above 55 bpm.
Continued with 2/4 time signature, level 3, @ 75 bpm.
Also, 3/8 time, level 2 @ 75 and level 3 (quite challenging)
Fretboard Review:
Reviewed up to 6 frets.
Interval Review:
Big review of added cards. Added: couple of D - G ascending string cards
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position.
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 110 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 80 bpm
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 85 bpm
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 109 bpm rest & free.
l, m @95 bpm rest & free
i, l @ 76 bpm
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes 95 bpm.
l, m @ 83 bpm
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - m, l went from 86 bpm yesterday to 78 bpm today
@ 93 i, m - free and rest
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 94 bpm i, m
@ 86 bpm l, m
Played etude
Speed Burst pg. 69 Exercise 1.A @ 71 bpm
Rest and free
A - G. Increase tempo a bit tomorrow
Percussive Exercise
Played Nothin on You rhythm @ 85 bpm. Sounding better.
Repertoire:
Pica-Pica
Manageable tempo for this piece - 85 bpm. Next gig, I will bring the metronome up and put it on silent to cue me.
Estrellita
Nailed the position jump
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Worked on refining the parts that I've transcribed already (@ 77 bpm)
Just the Way You Are (Bruno Mars cover)
I pretty much got the arrangement down for guitar and voice for this tune.
Practiced @ 75 bpm. Target speed is around 105 bpm.
Once I can play at target speed, I'll search for a singer to play this piece with.
Samba Caribe
Bart A measure 12-13 arpeggio - played @ 60. Still hard. Tried increasing to 60, but couldn't pay without mistakes.
Part B measures 14-15 - couldn't play clearly above 55 bpm.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Thoughts:
Played at an open mic yesterday at Flying Cat coffee shop. I was quite nervous. Started off with Pica-Pica too fast. Consequently, I realized this and then messed up a couple of the arpeggio parts. The open mic MC's, a guy and a girl heavy on circus sideshows even began dancing to Pica-Pica, which I appreciated tremendously. Just about when I was appreciating it, I messed up the rhythm.
I recovered in Estrellita and played it with feeling. Here too, though, I found something to be nervous about - namely nailing the large position jump. I messed it up the first time, but then convinced myself that I would nail it, and I did!
I must say that given what I thought was a mediocre performance, my mind began playing tricks on me. Given how long I've been practicing these pieces, I really about the errors, as opposed to considering them merely as valuable information. So I blew the significance of the performance out of proportion.
Went back to Klickstein and re-read Evaluating Your Progress on page 202.
Performance Evaluation Tool:
1. Note three aspects of the performance that went well
a. In Estrellita, I was able to convey the spirit of the tune and I could feel the audience absorbing it
b. I played mostly without looking at the guitar
c. I didn't show my frustration with errors, just kept on chugging along (in most of the errors, I didn't lose the rhythm either, save for the one described above)
d. I ended Estrellita in a dramatic fashion
2. Note three or more things that you'd like to improve before your next performance
a. Starting Pica-Pica at a comfortable tempo
b. Not worrying about the position change in Estrellita
c. Conveying more of the feeling of Pica-Pica, as opposed to focusing on the technical parts of the song
3. Determine the reasons for your successes
a. I playe Estrellita in an expressive manner, so the brain is used to those thought patterns
b. I mostly practice without looking at the guitar
c. Sight-reading / error practice
4. Action plans to achieve improvements
a. Practice playing Pica-Pica at manageable tempos. Determine what that tempo is.
b. Practice the position change in Estrellita daily. Develop confidence in it, and then forget about it.
c. Practice conveying Pica-Pica's feel.
d. Practice maintaining rhythm in a piece despite errors
Some other insight gleaned from Klickstein's book:
- one must shun error analysis while playing and focus on playing music
- one must remember that listeners ignore errors
- showmanship comes from being who you are (p. 179)
Played at an open mic yesterday at Flying Cat coffee shop. I was quite nervous. Started off with Pica-Pica too fast. Consequently, I realized this and then messed up a couple of the arpeggio parts. The open mic MC's, a guy and a girl heavy on circus sideshows even began dancing to Pica-Pica, which I appreciated tremendously. Just about when I was appreciating it, I messed up the rhythm.
I recovered in Estrellita and played it with feeling. Here too, though, I found something to be nervous about - namely nailing the large position jump. I messed it up the first time, but then convinced myself that I would nail it, and I did!
I must say that given what I thought was a mediocre performance, my mind began playing tricks on me. Given how long I've been practicing these pieces, I really about the errors, as opposed to considering them merely as valuable information. So I blew the significance of the performance out of proportion.
Went back to Klickstein and re-read Evaluating Your Progress on page 202.
Performance Evaluation Tool:
1. Note three aspects of the performance that went well
a. In Estrellita, I was able to convey the spirit of the tune and I could feel the audience absorbing it
b. I played mostly without looking at the guitar
c. I didn't show my frustration with errors, just kept on chugging along (in most of the errors, I didn't lose the rhythm either, save for the one described above)
d. I ended Estrellita in a dramatic fashion
2. Note three or more things that you'd like to improve before your next performance
a. Starting Pica-Pica at a comfortable tempo
b. Not worrying about the position change in Estrellita
c. Conveying more of the feeling of Pica-Pica, as opposed to focusing on the technical parts of the song
3. Determine the reasons for your successes
a. I playe Estrellita in an expressive manner, so the brain is used to those thought patterns
b. I mostly practice without looking at the guitar
c. Sight-reading / error practice
4. Action plans to achieve improvements
a. Practice playing Pica-Pica at manageable tempos. Determine what that tempo is.
b. Practice the position change in Estrellita daily. Develop confidence in it, and then forget about it.
c. Practice conveying Pica-Pica's feel.
d. Practice maintaining rhythm in a piece despite errors
Some other insight gleaned from Klickstein's book:
- one must shun error analysis while playing and focus on playing music
- one must remember that listeners ignore errors
- showmanship comes from being who you are (p. 179)
Friday, February 11, 2011
Sight Reading:
Continued with 2/4 time signature, level 3, at but had to decrease tempo to 75 bpm. Really powerful stuff here, as I can feel being challenged by the program to look ahead a couple of beats. Noticed that I can do it well at this tempo only if I count out loud.
Fretboard Review:
Found cool guitar fretboard trainer. Decrease in response rate has already begun, with just 3 or 4 days of consistent practice about 5 minutes a day. Right, I've turned all the notes up to fret 6 on.
Interval Review:
Plenty of mistakes in the cards I added yesterday. I noticed when I picking out Bruno Mars' Just the Way You Are I was referring to the intervals automatically in my head. This in turn helped me better understand the music. This was precisely the idea of studying these intervals. It's paying off. Booyakusha!
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position. Fingers can stretch only 1 fret (from 1st to 2nd, etc) in the first position. Keep stretchin.
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 110 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 75 bpm (5 bpm slower than yesterday) - I filed my nails, and the nail on the ring figure, though protrudes ~4mm wasn't hooking the string
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 83 bpm (same descending)
Progress everyday.
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 109 bpm rest & free.
l, m @93 bpm rest & free
i, l @ 73 bpm
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes 92 bpm.
l, m @ 80 bpm
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - m, l went from 86 bpm yesterday to 75 bpm today
@ 90 i, m - free and rest
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 94 bpm
Played etude
Speed Burst pg. 69 Exercise 1.A @ 71 bpm
Rest and free
A. all
B. a - i
Percussive Exercise
Played Nothin on You rhythm @ 85 bpm. It's hard to get it clean!
Repertoire:
Estrellita & Pica-Pica
Played these tunes in the morning and enjoyed them.
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Practiced shift from brighter to mellow tone while going from Parts A to B.
I realized overall that many parts are not clean yet, and I should not go on to Transcribing further until I get this down well - so played from the beginning slowly (@ 77 bpm)
Samba Caribe
Bart A measure 12-13 arpeggio - played @ 55. Still hard. Tried increasing to 60, but couldn't pay without mistakes.
Part B measures 14-15 - Played at 68 bpm
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Fretboard Review:
Found cool guitar fretboard trainer. Decrease in response rate has already begun, with just 3 or 4 days of consistent practice about 5 minutes a day. Right, I've turned all the notes up to fret 6 on.
Interval Review:
Plenty of mistakes in the cards I added yesterday.
Sight Reading:
Found a cool app for sight-reading rhythms.
http://www.practicesightreading.com/create.php
Practiced 2/4 time signature, level 3, at 80 bpm. Pretty challenging.
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position. Fingers can stretch only 1 fret (from 1st to 2nd, etc) in the first position. Keep stretchin.
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 110 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 80 bpm
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 80 bpm (same descending)
Progress everyday.
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 109 bpm rest & free.
This feels like my speed limit now
l, m @93 bpm rest & free
i, l @ 71 bpm
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes 89 bpm.
l, m @ 80 bpm. 5 bpm slower than yesterday, but I played on all the strings (I suspect yesterday it sounded good only on the higher strings) it was solid
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - m, l went from 86 bpm yesterday to 73 bpm today (focused on rest stroke - proper angle for the middle and ring finger is tricky)
@ 90 i, m - free and rest
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 94 bpm
Played etude from yesterday
Speed Burst pg. 69 Exercise 1.A @ 71 bpm
A. i - a
a - i
B. a - i
Percussive Exercise
Played Nothin on You rhythm @ 85 bpm
Repertoire:
Estrellita & Pica-Pica
Played these tunes in the morning and enjoyed them.
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
I have thought about this before, but like many other projects abandoned it. Playing this piece this morning, however, I noticed that Part A sounds bright and should be played closer to the bridge, while the part that follows it needs a mellower sound and should be player over the soundhole. My coordination for shifting the wrist is lacking.
Went onwards in part D, but got stuck on chord in measure D6. Continue tomorrow.
Samba Caribe
Bart A measure 12-13 arpeggio - played @ 55. Gettin better.
Part B measures 14-15 - Played at 65 bpm
Found cool guitar fretboard trainer. Decrease in response rate has already begun, with just 3 or 4 days of consistent practice about 5 minutes a day. Right, I've turned all the notes up to fret 6 on.
Interval Review:
Plenty of mistakes in the cards I added yesterday.
Sight Reading:
Found a cool app for sight-reading rhythms.
http://www.practicesightreading.com/create.php
Practiced 2/4 time signature, level 3, at 80 bpm. Pretty challenging.
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position. Fingers can stretch only 1 fret (from 1st to 2nd, etc) in the first position. Keep stretchin.
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 110 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 80 bpm
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 80 bpm (same descending)
Progress everyday.
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 109 bpm rest & free.
This feels like my speed limit now
l, m @93 bpm rest & free
i, l @ 71 bpm
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes 89 bpm.
l, m @ 80 bpm. 5 bpm slower than yesterday, but I played on all the strings (I suspect yesterday it sounded good only on the higher strings) it was solid
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - m, l went from 86 bpm yesterday to 73 bpm today (focused on rest stroke - proper angle for the middle and ring finger is tricky)
@ 90 i, m - free and rest
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 94 bpm
Played etude from yesterday
Speed Burst pg. 69 Exercise 1.A @ 71 bpm
A. i - a
a - i
B. a - i
Percussive Exercise
Played Nothin on You rhythm @ 85 bpm
Repertoire:
Estrellita & Pica-Pica
Played these tunes in the morning and enjoyed them.
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
I have thought about this before, but like many other projects abandoned it. Playing this piece this morning, however, I noticed that Part A sounds bright and should be played closer to the bridge, while the part that follows it needs a mellower sound and should be player over the soundhole. My coordination for shifting the wrist is lacking.
Went onwards in part D, but got stuck on chord in measure D6. Continue tomorrow.
Samba Caribe
Bart A measure 12-13 arpeggio - played @ 55. Gettin better.
Part B measures 14-15 - Played at 65 bpm
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Interval Review:
As evidenced by quicker response time to cards compared to yesterday, brain's gradually incorporating these new intervals. I just added some missing B-A string descending cards (per and augmented 4th)
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position. Fingers can stretch only 1 fet in the first position. Keep stretchin.
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 108 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 74 bpm
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 75 bpm (same descending)
Getting better ! :)
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 109 bpm rest & free.
l, m @90 bpm rest & free (only 2 bpm faster than yesterday, but this is a marathon....)
i, l @ 68 bpm
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes 93 bpm. Something seems off - it doesn't sound perfect.... I noticed that the pinky's still rising quite high.
l, m @ 85 bpm. This went solid.
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - steady @ 86 l, m. Both rest and free (free stroke is harder)
@ 90 i, m - free and rest
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 92 bpm
Made up a little etude that takes these rhythmic variations and incorporates string jumping as well as position shifts. The combination makes it difficult. Definitely highlights a gap in my playing
Speed Burst pg. 69 Exercise 1.A @ 68bpm
i - a
a - i
Percussive Exercise
Played Nothin on You rhythm @ 85 bpm
Repertoire:
Estrellita & Pica-Pica
I got the sense that I play better when I'm able to move around. Conversely, when I'm in front the computer, I tend to look at myself being recorded, and then get self-conscious. My brain diverts its attention to that, and I then tend to make mistakes. So, I made a video where I just put the camera on, but then played as if I was playing more myself, enjoying the music and trying to convey the emotion.
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Played at around 90% of target speed and transcribed the next measure of Part C. This the first real piece I've played which utilizes the 13th position - and how beautiful it is. The contrast from the low bass notes to this melody high up top is heavenly.
Samba Caribe
Bart A measure 12-13 arpeggio - played @ 50
Part B measures 14-15 - Played at 65 bpm. Just within the span of a couple of days, the fingers have gotten used to this unusual A chord fingers, and I am now able to increase the speed gradually. Bam!
In this video, I played at 65 bpm, and so of course I messed up the chord in measure 13 of Part A.
As evidenced by quicker response time to cards compared to yesterday, brain's gradually incorporating these new intervals. I just added some missing B-A string descending cards (per and augmented 4th)
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position. Fingers can stretch only 1 fet in the first position. Keep stretchin.
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 108 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 74 bpm
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 75 bpm (same descending)
Getting better ! :)
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 109 bpm rest & free.
l, m @90 bpm rest & free (only 2 bpm faster than yesterday, but this is a marathon....)
i, l @ 68 bpm
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes 93 bpm. Something seems off - it doesn't sound perfect.... I noticed that the pinky's still rising quite high.
l, m @ 85 bpm. This went solid.
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - steady @ 86 l, m. Both rest and free (free stroke is harder)
@ 90 i, m - free and rest
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 92 bpm
Made up a little etude that takes these rhythmic variations and incorporates string jumping as well as position shifts. The combination makes it difficult. Definitely highlights a gap in my playing
Speed Burst pg. 69 Exercise 1.A @ 68bpm
i - a
a - i
Percussive Exercise
Played Nothin on You rhythm @ 85 bpm
Repertoire:
Estrellita & Pica-Pica
I got the sense that I play better when I'm able to move around. Conversely, when I'm in front the computer, I tend to look at myself being recorded, and then get self-conscious. My brain diverts its attention to that, and I then tend to make mistakes. So, I made a video where I just put the camera on, but then played as if I was playing more myself, enjoying the music and trying to convey the emotion.
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Played at around 90% of target speed and transcribed the next measure of Part C. This the first real piece I've played which utilizes the 13th position - and how beautiful it is. The contrast from the low bass notes to this melody high up top is heavenly.
Samba Caribe
Bart A measure 12-13 arpeggio - played @ 50
Part B measures 14-15 - Played at 65 bpm. Just within the span of a couple of days, the fingers have gotten used to this unusual A chord fingers, and I am now able to increase the speed gradually. Bam!
In this video, I played at 65 bpm, and so of course I messed up the chord in measure 13 of Part A.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Interval Review:
There were 37 cards to review. It took a long time and I started to become overwhelmed, but nobody said it's gonna be easy! These A string - B string intervals are the thing that I'm least familiar with. This will take some time for my brain to incorporate.
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 105 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 70 bpm
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 68 bpm (same descending)
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 107 bpm rest & free.
l, m @88 bpm rest & free
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes 93 bpm
l, m @ 80 bpm.
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - steady @ 86 bpm both i,m and l, m
@ 89 i, m only
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 88 bpm
Speed Burst pg. 69 Exercise 1.A @ 70 bpm
Played quarter notes at @ 65 bpm in order to prepare for this exercise. Much better than yesterday.
Percussive Exercise
Played Nothin on You rhythm @ 81 bpm
Thoughts:
Went to the Portland Guitar Society meeting yesterday for the first time. So many guitar enthusiasts! And most wanted to play. I came just as the meeting had started and put my name up on the open mike. I was number 23 or so. So I sat through all the performances, and some of them were stellar. I got myself really worked up, to the point that I was kind of hoping that I they'd run out of time for me. Which they did. I felt a bit overwhelmed by the music, because I inevitably started comparing my abilities to those of the players I saw. And it wasn't too positive in my favor.
But today, playing Estrellia, I decided to just enjoy the piece, and thereby reminded myself that this is how music should be played. I just have to play pieces that are accessible to me and have fun doing it. Magnificent chops do not guarantee musicianship.
Repertoire:
Estrellita
Just enjoyed playing the piece and really let is shine. Of course the mic wasn't on...
Pica-Pica
Same pleasant vibe as Estrellita. Just concentrated on conveying the story of the piece.
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Hmm, going through the last part before the melody, contrary to what I wrote yesterday, seems like the rhythm just keeps repeating itself. Maybe I'm not listening closely enough. Time should show.
In any case, I can play this part at 80% of target speed.
Samba Caribe
Bart A measure 12-13 arpeggio - did yesterday's wrist shifting with open strings @ 65 bpm. Getting better. I must not rush this for the sake of just trying to play this piece at full speed. Truthfully, it's a long way off from that, but with persistent effort, it'll get there.
Part B measures 14-15 - also getting better.
There were 37 cards to review. It took a long time and I started to become overwhelmed, but nobody said it's gonna be easy! These A string - B string intervals are the thing that I'm least familiar with. This will take some time for my brain to incorporate.
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 105 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 70 bpm
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 68 bpm (same descending)
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 107 bpm rest & free.
l, m @88 bpm rest & free
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes 93 bpm
l, m @ 80 bpm.
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - steady @ 86 bpm both i,m and l, m
@ 89 i, m only
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 88 bpm
Speed Burst pg. 69 Exercise 1.A @ 70 bpm
Played quarter notes at @ 65 bpm in order to prepare for this exercise. Much better than yesterday.
Percussive Exercise
Played Nothin on You rhythm @ 81 bpm
Thoughts:
Went to the Portland Guitar Society meeting yesterday for the first time. So many guitar enthusiasts! And most wanted to play. I came just as the meeting had started and put my name up on the open mike. I was number 23 or so. So I sat through all the performances, and some of them were stellar. I got myself really worked up, to the point that I was kind of hoping that I they'd run out of time for me. Which they did. I felt a bit overwhelmed by the music, because I inevitably started comparing my abilities to those of the players I saw. And it wasn't too positive in my favor.
But today, playing Estrellia, I decided to just enjoy the piece, and thereby reminded myself that this is how music should be played. I just have to play pieces that are accessible to me and have fun doing it. Magnificent chops do not guarantee musicianship.
Repertoire:
Estrellita
Just enjoyed playing the piece and really let is shine. Of course the mic wasn't on...
Pica-Pica
Same pleasant vibe as Estrellita. Just concentrated on conveying the story of the piece.
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Hmm, going through the last part before the melody, contrary to what I wrote yesterday, seems like the rhythm just keeps repeating itself. Maybe I'm not listening closely enough. Time should show.
In any case, I can play this part at 80% of target speed.
Samba Caribe
Bart A measure 12-13 arpeggio - did yesterday's wrist shifting with open strings @ 65 bpm. Getting better. I must not rush this for the sake of just trying to play this piece at full speed. Truthfully, it's a long way off from that, but with persistent effort, it'll get there.
Part B measures 14-15 - also getting better.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Interval Review:
Reviewed intervals from yesterday. Added B string - A string descending intervals.
How will I study the triads once I get to them? Should I study the intervals first? Should I study them in one position based on a scale?
First, I'll need to study how the 1st and 2nd inversion triads look on a staff so that I'm able to identify them immediately. Simultaneously, I can go by Jody Fischer's Beginning Jazz Guitar book to study first all of the root triads, then all of the 1st inversion triads, then all of the 2nd inversion triads. After I get that down, I can start studying all of the triad possibilities in one position for every scale.
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 103 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 65 bpm. Decreased from 65 because I really wanted to nail the notes perfectly
Made up a little lick - I would never (up to now) play this while improvising because I avoid position changes and descending lines - but those things add color to the music.
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 68 bpm (same descending)
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 107 bpm rest & free.
l, m @85 bpm rest & free
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes -
at yesterday's speed of 89 bpm, the pinky went up too high, lowered to 88
l, m @ 76 bpm.
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - steady @ 86 bpm
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 85 bpm
Speed Burst pg. 69 Exercise 1.A @ 70 bpm
This first exercise involves playing with i and a only. As it turns out, this coordination is completely lacking. So I had to just play i - a quarter notes at 65 bpm in order to prepare for this exercise.
Percussive Exercise
Played Nothin on You rhythm @ 81 bpm
Repertoire:
Estrellita & Pica-Pica
Decided to record video with my digital camera. The thing is more imposing than the built-in webcam on my laptop and I got camera shy. That messed up my psyche. When I played Estrellita, I was thinking of how I shouldn't mess up the position jump in measure 9 and how if I do, what does that say about my abilities as a guitarist, since I've been playing this tune for 5 months already......
On Pica-Pica, I didn't feel like my fingers were nimble enough
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Wow, this part's blowing me away. Didn't go on from yesterday's, because I noticed new things in there. It's hard man, and BP's rhythms are as complex as Monk's.
I was hoping that it would stay like this until the pretty part, but he keeps switching it up for the remaining 9 measures until the melody. I started to feel a bit overwhelmed, but I'm gonna just take it slowly. No point in learning the next crazy rhythms he has, because my brain won't remember them right now. As it is, I probably should review this in 2 hours to make sure that I haven't forgot it.
Samba Caribe
Bart A measure 12-13 arpeggio to chord - still making mistakes. Played with metronome at 65 bpm, but did so on autopilot (Klickstein warns against this - he said something along the lines of every exercise must have meaning, it must not be mundane)
Analyzed it a bit more. Played the same rhythms on open strings. The problem is that the free stroke run on the High E and B strings then changes to an arpeggio on the A - B strings. The wrist must shift down in order to get the arpeggio clean. It seems that this is the motion that I haven't been getting.
Part B measures 14-15 is also not as easy as I thought. The problem here is easier to identify. The chord in measure 15 must be nailed from a position jump 5 frets away. But the placement of the fingers is quite unusual, and the muscles simply aren't used to the stretching. So I need to just practice the change slowly, making sure that the fingers are already in place in their correct position before I hit the chord.
Reviewed intervals from yesterday. Added B string - A string descending intervals.
How will I study the triads once I get to them? Should I study the intervals first? Should I study them in one position based on a scale?
First, I'll need to study how the 1st and 2nd inversion triads look on a staff so that I'm able to identify them immediately. Simultaneously, I can go by Jody Fischer's Beginning Jazz Guitar book to study first all of the root triads, then all of the 1st inversion triads, then all of the 2nd inversion triads. After I get that down, I can start studying all of the triad possibilities in one position for every scale.
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 103 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 65 bpm. Decreased from 65 because I really wanted to nail the notes perfectly
Made up a little lick - I would never (up to now) play this while improvising because I avoid position changes and descending lines - but those things add color to the music.
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 68 bpm (same descending)
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 107 bpm rest & free.
l, m @85 bpm rest & free
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes -
at yesterday's speed of 89 bpm, the pinky went up too high, lowered to 88
l, m @ 76 bpm.
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - steady @ 86 bpm
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 85 bpm
Speed Burst pg. 69 Exercise 1.A @ 70 bpm
This first exercise involves playing with i and a only. As it turns out, this coordination is completely lacking. So I had to just play i - a quarter notes at 65 bpm in order to prepare for this exercise.
Percussive Exercise
Played Nothin on You rhythm @ 81 bpm
Repertoire:
Estrellita & Pica-Pica
Decided to record video with my digital camera. The thing is more imposing than the built-in webcam on my laptop and I got camera shy. That messed up my psyche. When I played Estrellita, I was thinking of how I shouldn't mess up the position jump in measure 9 and how if I do, what does that say about my abilities as a guitarist, since I've been playing this tune for 5 months already......
On Pica-Pica, I didn't feel like my fingers were nimble enough
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Wow, this part's blowing me away. Didn't go on from yesterday's, because I noticed new things in there. It's hard man, and BP's rhythms are as complex as Monk's.
I was hoping that it would stay like this until the pretty part, but he keeps switching it up for the remaining 9 measures until the melody. I started to feel a bit overwhelmed, but I'm gonna just take it slowly. No point in learning the next crazy rhythms he has, because my brain won't remember them right now. As it is, I probably should review this in 2 hours to make sure that I haven't forgot it.
Samba Caribe
Bart A measure 12-13 arpeggio to chord - still making mistakes. Played with metronome at 65 bpm, but did so on autopilot (Klickstein warns against this - he said something along the lines of every exercise must have meaning, it must not be mundane)
Analyzed it a bit more. Played the same rhythms on open strings. The problem is that the free stroke run on the High E and B strings then changes to an arpeggio on the A - B strings. The wrist must shift down in order to get the arpeggio clean. It seems that this is the motion that I haven't been getting.
Part B measures 14-15 is also not as easy as I thought. The problem here is easier to identify. The chord in measure 15 must be nailed from a position jump 5 frets away. But the placement of the fingers is quite unusual, and the muscles simply aren't used to the stretching. So I need to just practice the change slowly, making sure that the fingers are already in place in their correct position before I hit the chord.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Interval Review:
Reviewed intervals from yesterday. A string - B string intervals are totally foreign to me, so I failed the reviews of those cards from yesterday.
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 100 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 65 bpm. Decreased from 75 because I really wanted to nail the notes perfectly
Made up a little lick - I would never (up to now) play this while improvising because I avoid position changes and descending lines - but those things add color to the music.
Here's a vid:
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 65 bpm (same descending)
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 107 bpm rest & free.
l, m @85 bpm rest & free
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes -
at yesterday's speed of 89 bpm, the pinky went up too high, lowered to 86
l, m @ 76 bpm.
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - @ 90 bpm - rhythm wasn't perfect, so took it down to 85 bpm and tried my best to make my beat coincide with metronome (you know it's right when you can't hear the metronome beat)
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 85 bpm
Speed Burst pg. 69 Exercise 1.A @ 70 bpm
Repertoire:
Estrellita
Check it out.
Got myself worked up and quite nervous, so made a couple of errors. Was able to recover in Part C, but still made a mistake. Good lessons in performing:
Pica Pica
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Went onwards - Baden Powell's (BP) busting out crazy, subtle, barely audible rhythms here with artificial harmonics. I'm bound to forget this by tomorrow
Samba Caribe
Bart A measure 12-13 arpeggio to chord - still hard. Messed it up in recording.
Part B measures 12-15 lost confidence - looked at fingerboard
Reviewed intervals from yesterday. A string - B string intervals are totally foreign to me, so I failed the reviews of those cards from yesterday.
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - 1st position
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 100 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 65 bpm. Decreased from 75 because I really wanted to nail the notes perfectly
Made up a little lick - I would never (up to now) play this while improvising because I avoid position changes and descending lines - but those things add color to the music.
Here's a vid:
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 65 bpm (same descending)
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 107 bpm rest & free.
l, m @85 bpm rest & free
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes -
at yesterday's speed of 89 bpm, the pinky went up too high, lowered to 86
l, m @ 76 bpm.
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - @ 90 bpm - rhythm wasn't perfect, so took it down to 85 bpm and tried my best to make my beat coincide with metronome (you know it's right when you can't hear the metronome beat)
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 85 bpm
Speed Burst pg. 69 Exercise 1.A @ 70 bpm
Repertoire:
Estrellita
Check it out.
Got myself worked up and quite nervous, so made a couple of errors. Was able to recover in Part C, but still made a mistake. Good lessons in performing:
Pica Pica
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Went onwards - Baden Powell's (BP) busting out crazy, subtle, barely audible rhythms here with artificial harmonics. I'm bound to forget this by tomorrow
Samba Caribe
Bart A measure 12-13 arpeggio to chord - still hard. Messed it up in recording.
Part B measures 12-15 lost confidence - looked at fingerboard
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Interval Review:
Reviewed intervals and added too many new cards ! :)
A string - B string ascending and G string to A string descending.
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - switched to 1st position, I've been languishing at 5th position for way too long
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 100 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 75 bpm
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 65 bpm (same descending)
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 105 bpm rest & free.
l, m @80 bpm rest & free
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes -
89 bpm
l, m @ 73 bpm.
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - @ 90 bpm
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 90 bpm
Speed Burst pg. 69 Exercise 1.A @ 70 bpm
Repertoire:
Pica Pica
Played @ 85 bpm, but double-timed the second repetition of Part B. That relaxed me and the melody flowed.
Also, noticed that it's difficult to nail chord in the 1st ending of Part A (ater measures 16). Practiced this slowly.
Estrellita
I rocked it sitting down and being relaxed. A couple of errors here and there but able to carry the piece.
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Reviewed yesterday's and ventured into the African-themed jam section of Part D that precedes the sweet, sweet, MELLIFLUOUS (bam!) melody
Samba Caribe
Bart A measure 12-13 arpeggio to chord - getting better @ 63
Part B measures 12-13 chord jump - noticeably better. Played @ 65.
Part B measures 14 - 15 chord jump is difficult - fingers and brain aren't used to it yet
Reviewed intervals and added too many new cards ! :)
A string - B string ascending and G string to A string descending.
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - switched to 1st position, I've been languishing at 5th position for way too long
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 100 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 75 bpm
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 65 bpm (same descending)
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 105 bpm rest & free.
l, m @80 bpm rest & free
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes -
89 bpm
l, m @ 73 bpm.
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - @ 90 bpm
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 90 bpm
Speed Burst pg. 69 Exercise 1.A @ 70 bpm
Repertoire:
Pica Pica
Played @ 85 bpm, but double-timed the second repetition of Part B. That relaxed me and the melody flowed.
Also, noticed that it's difficult to nail chord in the 1st ending of Part A (ater measures 16). Practiced this slowly.
Estrellita
I rocked it sitting down and being relaxed. A couple of errors here and there but able to carry the piece.
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Reviewed yesterday's and ventured into the African-themed jam section of Part D that precedes the sweet, sweet, MELLIFLUOUS (bam!) melody
Samba Caribe
Bart A measure 12-13 arpeggio to chord - getting better @ 63
Part B measures 12-13 chord jump - noticeably better. Played @ 65.
Part B measures 14 - 15 chord jump is difficult - fingers and brain aren't used to it yet
Friday, February 4, 2011
Interval Review:
Reviewed intervals and added 5th string - 3rd string intervals.
Sight-Reading:
Decided that I may get overwhelmed if I start memorizing both the triad structures and the intervals (they're somewhat in different categories, because I'm studying ALL the intervals now
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - switched to 1st position, I've been languishing at 5th position for way too long
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 100 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 75 bpm
I filed my nails. Didn't seem like I overdid it, but it's harder to play, especially rest stroke
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 50 bpm
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 105 bpm rest & free.
l, m @ 75 bpm rest & free
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes -
85 bpm
l, m @ 70 bpm.
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - Crossing the strings is actually much harder than it seems. Had to take it down to 90 bpm and practice those parts exclusively
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 78 bpm
Repertoire:
Pica Pica
Played @ 85 bpm, but double-timed the second repetition of Part B. That relaxed me and the melody flowed.
Also, noticed that it's difficult to nail chord in the 1st ending of Part A (ater measures 16). Practiced this slowly.
Estrellita
Still not confident enough about the position jump in measures 9-10. I suppose I just need to keep hacking away.
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Recorded myself and compared to original recording. As I thought, there were nuances that I had missed, etc. Too complex to get into all the details, suffice it to say that there are a lot of nuances there. Didn't go on to next section, because felt like I'd overload my brain with new info.
Here's the vid:
Samba Caribe
I started to practice the jump Part B measures 12-13 chord jump after I woke up in the morning. Naturally, this is where the insightful stuff comes. I realized that the pinky stays in the same position in both chords and that I've been ignoring this opportunity for economy of movement.
Bart A measure 12-13 arpeggio to chord - still difficult at 60. Referred to Gerald Klickstein's section about problem-solving. Some ideas I tried out:
1. Playing the section backwards
2. Modifying the rate of change
This allowed me to see that there's a left and right hand problem. In LH, the pinky needs to be stretched in order to gain the most economy of movement, but pinky-stretching in the first position is quite difficult.
Reviewed intervals and added 5th string - 3rd string intervals.
Sight-Reading:
Decided that I may get overwhelmed if I start memorizing both the triad structures and the intervals (they're somewhat in different categories, because I'm studying ALL the intervals now
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise - switched to 1st position, I've been languishing at 5th position for way too long
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 100 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 75 bpm
I filed my nails. Didn't seem like I overdid it, but it's harder to play, especially rest stroke
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 50 bpm
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 105 bpm rest & free.
l, m @ 75 bpm rest & free
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes -
85 bpm
l, m @ 70 bpm.
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - Crossing the strings is actually much harder than it seems. Had to take it down to 90 bpm and practice those parts exclusively
Scale Rhythmic Variation p. 68 @ 78 bpm
Repertoire:
Pica Pica
Played @ 85 bpm, but double-timed the second repetition of Part B. That relaxed me and the melody flowed.
Also, noticed that it's difficult to nail chord in the 1st ending of Part A (ater measures 16). Practiced this slowly.
Estrellita
Still not confident enough about the position jump in measures 9-10. I suppose I just need to keep hacking away.
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Recorded myself and compared to original recording. As I thought, there were nuances that I had missed, etc. Too complex to get into all the details, suffice it to say that there are a lot of nuances there. Didn't go on to next section, because felt like I'd overload my brain with new info.
Here's the vid:
Samba Caribe
I started to practice the jump Part B measures 12-13 chord jump after I woke up in the morning. Naturally, this is where the insightful stuff comes. I realized that the pinky stays in the same position in both chords and that I've been ignoring this opportunity for economy of movement.
Bart A measure 12-13 arpeggio to chord - still difficult at 60. Referred to Gerald Klickstein's section about problem-solving. Some ideas I tried out:
1. Playing the section backwards
2. Modifying the rate of change
This allowed me to see that there's a left and right hand problem. In LH, the pinky needs to be stretched in order to gain the most economy of movement, but pinky-stretching in the first position is quite difficult.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Thoughts:
So one of the reasons I decided to focus on leaning the intervals between strings through Anki (the spaced-repetition software) was that it is the first step to understanding chords. I want to understand chords because a lot of complex chords that sound pretty are used in samba/bossa (and actually in all styles, nowadays), and also because I want to sight-read on guitar.
The sight-reading goal is a running theme in this whole endeavor. I don't want to be the player messing up my body position because I need to look at the guitar neck while playing. The guitar is a real instrument! It matters how you hold the guitar. Not for aesthetic reasons, but because it influences your body, and thereby your sound.
Real instruments can be used to sight-read music. And there's plenty of it out there, so why not capitalize on that. Some jazz cats weren't into sight-reading music. But I bet just as many could do it and earned a living like that. Rock and punk and all that came around and made it uncool to sight-read. "Just be spontaneous." The outcome of that has been a very monotonous guitar sound - some of it is great, but there's a lot missing.
Usually, the guitar books ask you to memorize chord structures all at once. For example, they'll give you a Maj7 chord and just ask you to remember all of the scale degrees.
Sure, that's fine for the most common chords (even I managed to memorize the basic 4-note chords like this). But it doesn't work (for me, at least) for the more complex chords as well as for the inversions. After years of uncertainty on this subject, I came back to it and it was clear that the reason all of these chords get jumbled up in my brain is because, fundamentally, I''m unfamiliar with the underlying intervals among the notes in the chords.
Now that I'm been pounding away at these intervals, I need to tie it in back to the chords. So I need to first sight-read common intervals all over the neck. After I get that down, I need to start sightreading simple chords. Let's see how my brain takes that challenge.
Interval Review:
Reviewed intervals that have piled up.
Sight-Reading:
Reviewed lower notes (drop D, low E, F) on the staff using Notes in Flash program on the web.
Re-started Leavitt's sight-reading book from the beginning.
So, I thought about a gameplan for learning chord sightreading. First, I need to familiarize myself with all of the intervals. Then, I need to familiarize myself with the shapes of all of the regular triads (including inversions). That serves as the base for chords. But, how would I play chords that are more complex and have accidentals, etc? (The stuff that makes music pretty)
To answer this, I thought about how a piano player sight-reads (well, first I tried to just find the answer on the classical guitar forum, but to no avail). I think that they become familiar with the shapes of common chords and don't go through the process determining which notes are actually in the chord. Then, if they encounter a chord with something strange, they just manually go through the mental process of adding that note to the triad that they automatically know. I'm assuming that with one or two extra notes, this mental exercise doesn't take up too much time.
Now, getting back to playing a simple triad, how would one know that they should be playing a minor chord instead of a major chord? On sheet music, the notes for D major and D minor will look the same.
That, my friends, is where the importance of key signatures comes in. In fact, this particular situation is probably one where key signatures are the most useful. If I'm familiar with the key indicated by the key signatures, then I automatically know that since I see no accidentals, the D triad is a major triad since I see C# and F# in the key signature.
No wonder I have an Anki deck for the key signatures (last review - 11 months ago..... :). So, besides reviewing the key signatures, I must learn how all the triads look (it's funny, I've done this in the past in Jody Fischer Beginning Jazz Guitar book).
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise @ 100 bpm
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 100 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 75 bpm
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 70 bpm (played the etude, too -- confidence is King!)
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 105 bpm rest & free.
l, m @ 75 bpm rest & free
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes -
85 bpm
l, m @ 70 bpm.
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - @ 100 bpm
Repertoire:
Pica Pica
Played @ 85 bpm, but double-timed the second repetition of Part B. That relaxed me and the melody flowed.
Estrellita
Played once through.
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Getting more smooth. A couple of good runs and I can proceed to transcribe the next section.
Transition between last measure of Part B and 1st measure of Part C is not smooth - there's a position change that I keep messing up. It's wonderful that I get to practice position changes within the context of a fun tune like this, as opposed to just drilling. Obviously, I have to get this down so that I have confidence and am not worrying about nailing it.
I need to record myself playing this part so far, because I have the feeling that I'm missing a lot of the nuances that make Baden Powell unique. I get a feeling that I may just be hacking through the piece. On the other hand, there's not point in imitating all of him......still
Samba Caribe
Part A - jump between measures 12-13 is quite hard. Practiced at 60 bpm.
Bart B measure 7 chord jump - still difficult. Keep at it.
So one of the reasons I decided to focus on leaning the intervals between strings through Anki (the spaced-repetition software) was that it is the first step to understanding chords. I want to understand chords because a lot of complex chords that sound pretty are used in samba/bossa (and actually in all styles, nowadays), and also because I want to sight-read on guitar.
The sight-reading goal is a running theme in this whole endeavor. I don't want to be the player messing up my body position because I need to look at the guitar neck while playing. The guitar is a real instrument! It matters how you hold the guitar. Not for aesthetic reasons, but because it influences your body, and thereby your sound.
Real instruments can be used to sight-read music. And there's plenty of it out there, so why not capitalize on that. Some jazz cats weren't into sight-reading music. But I bet just as many could do it and earned a living like that. Rock and punk and all that came around and made it uncool to sight-read. "Just be spontaneous." The outcome of that has been a very monotonous guitar sound - some of it is great, but there's a lot missing.
Usually, the guitar books ask you to memorize chord structures all at once. For example, they'll give you a Maj7 chord and just ask you to remember all of the scale degrees.
Sure, that's fine for the most common chords (even I managed to memorize the basic 4-note chords like this). But it doesn't work (for me, at least) for the more complex chords as well as for the inversions. After years of uncertainty on this subject, I came back to it and it was clear that the reason all of these chords get jumbled up in my brain is because, fundamentally, I''m unfamiliar with the underlying intervals among the notes in the chords.
Now that I'm been pounding away at these intervals, I need to tie it in back to the chords. So I need to first sight-read common intervals all over the neck. After I get that down, I need to start sightreading simple chords. Let's see how my brain takes that challenge.
Interval Review:
Reviewed intervals that have piled up.
Sight-Reading:
Reviewed lower notes (drop D, low E, F) on the staff using Notes in Flash program on the web.
Re-started Leavitt's sight-reading book from the beginning.
So, I thought about a gameplan for learning chord sightreading. First, I need to familiarize myself with all of the intervals. Then, I need to familiarize myself with the shapes of all of the regular triads (including inversions). That serves as the base for chords. But, how would I play chords that are more complex and have accidentals, etc? (The stuff that makes music pretty)
To answer this, I thought about how a piano player sight-reads (well, first I tried to just find the answer on the classical guitar forum, but to no avail). I think that they become familiar with the shapes of common chords and don't go through the process determining which notes are actually in the chord. Then, if they encounter a chord with something strange, they just manually go through the mental process of adding that note to the triad that they automatically know. I'm assuming that with one or two extra notes, this mental exercise doesn't take up too much time.
Now, getting back to playing a simple triad, how would one know that they should be playing a minor chord instead of a major chord? On sheet music, the notes for D major and D minor will look the same.
That, my friends, is where the importance of key signatures comes in. In fact, this particular situation is probably one where key signatures are the most useful. If I'm familiar with the key indicated by the key signatures, then I automatically know that since I see no accidentals, the D triad is a major triad since I see C# and F# in the key signature.
No wonder I have an Anki deck for the key signatures (last review - 11 months ago..... :). So, besides reviewing the key signatures, I must learn how all the triads look (it's funny, I've done this in the past in Jody Fischer Beginning Jazz Guitar book).
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise @ 100 bpm
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 100 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 75 bpm
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 70 bpm (played the etude, too -- confidence is King!)
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 105 bpm rest & free.
l, m @ 75 bpm rest & free
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes -
85 bpm
l, m @ 70 bpm.
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - @ 100 bpm
Repertoire:
Pica Pica
Played @ 85 bpm, but double-timed the second repetition of Part B. That relaxed me and the melody flowed.
Estrellita
Played once through.
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Getting more smooth. A couple of good runs and I can proceed to transcribe the next section.
Transition between last measure of Part B and 1st measure of Part C is not smooth - there's a position change that I keep messing up. It's wonderful that I get to practice position changes within the context of a fun tune like this, as opposed to just drilling. Obviously, I have to get this down so that I have confidence and am not worrying about nailing it.
I need to record myself playing this part so far, because I have the feeling that I'm missing a lot of the nuances that make Baden Powell unique. I get a feeling that I may just be hacking through the piece. On the other hand, there's not point in imitating all of him......still
Samba Caribe
Part A - jump between measures 12-13 is quite hard. Practiced at 60 bpm.
Bart B measure 7 chord jump - still difficult. Keep at it.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Interval Review:
Yesterday added descending 4th string - 5th string intervals.
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise @ 100 bpm
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 95 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 75 bpm
l finger is numb for some reason - psychological perhaps, I'm feeling a bit at a loss as to how to continue with my overall guitar endeavor
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 74 bpm (used in the little position jump etude I made up
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 105 bpm rest & free.
l, m @ 75 bpm rest & free
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes -
85 bpm
Repertoire:
Pica-Pica
Played measure 13 at 85 bpm.
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Part D first two measures.
Samba Caribe
Part A - jump between measures 12-13 at 60 bpm. Focused on only the right hand - the difficulty is switching the wrist position just slightly from playing a one-line lick on the high E string to playing a chord on the 2nd-5th strings. It's funny, this part's becoming more difficult the more I delve into it. Ah, the subtleties of the guitar.
Bart B measure 7 chord jump - practiced @ 65 bpm.
Yesterday added descending 4th string - 5th string intervals.
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise @ 100 bpm
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 95 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 75 bpm
l finger is numb for some reason - psychological perhaps, I'm feeling a bit at a loss as to how to continue with my overall guitar endeavor
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 74 bpm (used in the little position jump etude I made up
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 105 bpm rest & free.
l, m @ 75 bpm rest & free
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes -
85 bpm
Repertoire:
Pica-Pica
Played measure 13 at 85 bpm.
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Part D first two measures.
Samba Caribe
Part A - jump between measures 12-13 at 60 bpm. Focused on only the right hand - the difficulty is switching the wrist position just slightly from playing a one-line lick on the high E string to playing a chord on the 2nd-5th strings. It's funny, this part's becoming more difficult the more I delve into it. Ah, the subtleties of the guitar.
Bart B measure 7 chord jump - practiced @ 65 bpm.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Interval Review:
Reviewed and added remaining 2nd to 3rd string descending intervals. Tomorrow start adding 5th string intervals (5th to 4th ascending, etc.)
Sight-Reading:
Leavitt's sight-reading book - p. 96
Thoughts:
After practicing the large string jumps, I played the etude I made up at 65 bpm. So far so good. I wrote in the past that I have trouble making lines descending from the 1st string to the 6th. So, I played the etude in that way - and it was really difficult - my brain was freezing up. Good to know, because this is obviously something I need to work on.
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise @ 100 bpm
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 95 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 75 bpm
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 65 bpm (used in the little position jump etude I made up
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 105 bpm rest & free.
l, m @ 75 bpm rest & free
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes -
80 bpm
l, m @ bpm.
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - @ 100 bpm
Thumb Exercise @ 72 bpm
Repertoire:
Pica Pica
Played @ 85.
Estrellita
Focused on Klickstein's pre-performance checklist
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Part D first two measures.
Samba Caribe
Part A - jump between measures 12-13 is quite hard. Practiced at 60 bpm.
Bart B measure 7 chord jump - hard to get it clean. Practiced at 65 bpm.
The problem can be broken down into 2 components:
1. the actual speed with which my wrist changes position
In order to improve this, I can keep my fingers as close as possible to the fretboard as I'm changing the position), and just practice the actual position change
2. change in the position of the thumb on the neck
Reviewed and added remaining 2nd to 3rd string descending intervals. Tomorrow start adding 5th string intervals (5th to 4th ascending, etc.)
Sight-Reading:
Leavitt's sight-reading book - p. 96
Thoughts:
After practicing the large string jumps, I played the etude I made up at 65 bpm. So far so good. I wrote in the past that I have trouble making lines descending from the 1st string to the 6th. So, I played the etude in that way - and it was really difficult - my brain was freezing up. Good to know, because this is obviously something I need to work on.
Warm-up/Technique:
Finger-stretching exercise @ 100 bpm
String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 95 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 75 bpm
String-Jumping 1st string to 5th string, 2nd string to 6th string @ 65 bpm (used in the little position jump etude I made up
Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 105 bpm rest & free.
l, m @ 75 bpm rest & free
Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes -
80 bpm
l, m @ bpm.
Putting it all together p. 67 Exercise - @ 100 bpm
Thumb Exercise @ 72 bpm
Repertoire:
Pica Pica
Played @ 85.
Estrellita
Focused on Klickstein's pre-performance checklist
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Part D first two measures.
Samba Caribe
Part A - jump between measures 12-13 is quite hard. Practiced at 60 bpm.
Bart B measure 7 chord jump - hard to get it clean. Practiced at 65 bpm.
The problem can be broken down into 2 components:
1. the actual speed with which my wrist changes position
In order to improve this, I can keep my fingers as close as possible to the fretboard as I'm changing the position), and just practice the actual position change
2. change in the position of the thumb on the neck
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Interval Review:
Added couple of 2-3rd string descending cards.
Also, reviewed Anki Fretboard deck (haven't done in almost a year) - another thing I need to keep reviewing.
Sight-Reading:
Major sight-reading session of 7th position - played a couple of pages from Leavitt's sight-reading book.
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Yesterday didn't actually finish transcribing C - did today.
Samba Caribe
65 bpm.
Took apart the arpeggio - finally all that time spent on the anki interval flashcards is coming in handy. I can see what the arpgeggio make-up is from this chord.
Added couple of 2-3rd string descending cards.
Also, reviewed Anki Fretboard deck (haven't done in almost a year) - another thing I need to keep reviewing.
Sight-Reading:
Major sight-reading session of 7th position - played a couple of pages from Leavitt's sight-reading book.
Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Yesterday didn't actually finish transcribing C - did today.
Samba Caribe
65 bpm.
Took apart the arpeggio - finally all that time spent on the anki interval flashcards is coming in handy. I can see what the arpgeggio make-up is from this chord.
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