Thoughts:
Lately I've been thinking that despite working through Pumping Nylon's speed exercises, my speed hasn't increased as much as I want it to. Then again, maybe just I'm just rushing.

I was rereading a bit of Pumping Nylon. One of the first things Tennant talks about is the distance between the left-hand fingers and the string when the fingers are off the string. I practiced this years ago, but indeed this may be something that is hindering progress.

I played the synchronization exercise on one string and paid attention to the height at which I keep the fingers. Generally good, but I noticed that the pinky tends to wander to around an inch from the string at times. I noticed that as I increased the speed, I became more nervous and the fingers actually tended to venture further away from the string (achieving exactly the opposite of the intended effect). Need to keep working on this.

Also, mentally reviewed my repertoire while riding the Max. Very useful to refresh ocassionally. Also, goes to show that one can practice music anywhere - it just takes brainpower.

Anki:
Reviewed and added 1st string - 2nd string cards.

Warm-up/Technique:

Finger-stretching exercise @ 100 bpm

String Walking exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 37) with i,m eight @ 90 bpm
String Walking exercise with m, l with eight notes @ 60 bpm


Right-Hand Velocity (pg. 63) with sixteenth notes @ 100 bpm rest & free. Fingers too cold for 105
l, m @ 75 bpm rest & free

Synchronization Exercise (Pumping Nylon pg. 65) with i,m sixteenth notes - @ 95 bpm rest and free (fee is harder). Tried increasing to 98, but too many mistakes

Hard with l, m - decreased to 55 bpm. Still hard

p. 67 Exercise - Putting it all together @ 65 bpm

Thumb Exercise (pg. 41) @ 65 bpm


Repertoire:

Pica Pica
Sped up to 90 bpm on metronome.

Estrellita
Played once through.

Na Gafieira Do Vidigal
Want to get the part that I've learned down perfectly - the sliding double stops are deceptively hard.

In transcribing this piece, it's becoming evident that I learn better when I learn from the music than from the notes. When I learn from the music (by transcribing), I anticipate the music automatically, whereas I think about the musical structure of the next bar when I play a piece I learned from notes....

Samba Caribe
Part B measure 9 - 10. Good vibe.