Time: 1 hour

Material:

• Gymnastics
• Three-octave Maj6 arpeggio from The Guitar Arpeggio Compendium by Scott McGill (using a metronome)
• Wolfhart #5
• Bona #82 and #83 (up one octave)
• Open voiced Major, melodic minor, and harmonic minor triads on string groups 124, 235, and 346 – all in ‘C’.
• Harmonic Gypsy Minor scale, every string every finger exercise (e.s.e.f.)
• Bebop lines from David Baker’s Bebop Volume 1
• “It Don’t Mean a Thing” chord melody arrangement by Howard Morgen
• Modus Novus
• Improvisation over ii-V-I in Ab.

Comments:

Had an interesting observation during the gymnastics and arpeggios parts of my session last night. Working with the metronome at a relatively low tempo (100 bpm) I discovered that I play very much right on top of the beat and have a tendency to shorten the note values. Once I figured out that I was doing this I realized (a) I do it all the time, and (b) it makes my playing and my lines sound rushed.

So what did I do? I relaxed! Lengthened each note a bit to fill the entire beat more and things sounded so much better! The notes flowed together so much nicer, and it allowed me to lay back in the metronome’s pocket more. I’m very glad that I had this observation because now I want to start thinking about playing with the pocket in my improvisation.

Good thing this is a guitar blog and not one drummers and bassists are likely to see much. Otherwise, I’m going to be inundated with “No S*@&!” in my comments.

Practice Journal: Josh (02/19/2010) is a post from: Fretterverse.com: Guitar Blog | guitar news & reviews, amps, effects, guitars, music theory, guitar lessons. If you are reading this on a site that is not Fretterverse.com, it's been ripped. Please come to the real Fretterverse.com.

Time: 1.5 hours

Material:

• Gymnastics
• Three-octave Maj6 arpeggio from The Guitar Arpeggio Compendium by Scott McGill (using a metronome)
• Wolfhart #5
• Bona #82 and #83 (up one octave)
• Open voiced Major, melodic minor, and harmonic minor triads on string groups 124, 235, and 346 – all in ‘C’.
• Harmonic Gypsy Minor scale, every string every finger exercise (e.s.e.f.)
• Bebop lines from David Baker’s Bebop Volume 1
• “It Don’t Mean a Thing” chord melody arrangement by Howard Morgen
• Modus Novus
• Improvisation over ii-V-I in Ab.
• Comping over All the Things You Are

Comments: Today was MUCH better than yesterday’s session. There is definitely something to be said for not only practicing in general, but also practicing in the right order! I think I’m going to stick with this routine order as well; the Modus Novus sight singing is a nice break in the routine, which gives my fingers a quick rest and also breaks up the session nicely.

The ii-V-I is feeling good. Been targeting b9 triads over the V7 a lot lately, and the lines are starting to come together well.

The comping for ATTYA came out by accident. I just started playing the chords and before I knew it I was working out some inner-voice lines and alterations/extensions. I videotaped what I came up with to see if I can get back to it later and flesh it out a bit more.

Overall, I’m very pleased. These are the kind of practice sessions I should have on a regular basis.

Practice Journal: Josh (02/18/2010) is a post from: Fretterverse.com: Guitar Blog | guitar news & reviews, amps, effects, guitars, music theory, guitar lessons. If you are reading this on a site that is not Fretterverse.com, it's been ripped. Please come to the real Fretterverse.com.

Time: 1 hour

Comments: I hate to say it, but I was struggling through my practice session today. First, I practiced out of order, so I immediate went to my arpeggio (three-octave Maj6) instead of warming up with gymnastics first. That immediately tired my hand out and set the stage for a rather lax session.

Here is what I worked on:

• Gymnastics
• Three-octave Maj6 arpeggio from The Guitar Arpeggio Compendium by Scott McGill (using a metronome)
• Wolfhart #5
• Bona #82 and #83 (up one octave)
• Modus Novus
• Open voiced Major, melodic minor, and harmonic minor triads on string groups 124, 235, and 346 – all in ‘C’.
• Bebop lines from David Baker’s Bebop Volume 1

The sight reading and Modus Novus sight singing went very well, which was surprising; those are usually the two I struggle to get through. As you can see, I didn’t even get to Linear Expressions, improvisation, or working on any jazz standards.

I also decided to use Howard Morgen’s Solo Guitar: Insights, Arranging Techniques & Classic Jazz Standards (Jazz Masters Series) as my chord melody reference. But, I didn’t get to start on it today, unfortunately.

Today was, as my martial arts teacher often says, a “Ganbatte” (Keep Going!) day. Often these days, where you’re just not feeling it and it’s a struggle, are the best days because it helps to break down plateaus and certainly prevents complacency.

Tomorrow is another day, and another practice session. I’m confident it will be more productive than today.

Practice Journal: Josh (02/17/2010) is a post from: Fretterverse.com: Guitar Blog | guitar news & reviews, amps, effects, guitars, music theory, guitar lessons. If you are reading this on a site that is not Fretterverse.com, it's been ripped. Please come to the real Fretterverse.com.

Time: 1.5 hours (1 hour morning session, 1/2 hour evening session)

Comments: Continued working on same material; also finalized my new practice regimen (to be posted separately):

• Three-octave Maj6 arpeggios in all 12 keys.
• Hungarian Gypsy Minor scale in all positions, starting on every string with every finger.
• Wolfhart #5, Bona #82, and Bona #83 (up an octave).
• Open voice triads in C – major, harmonic minor, melodic minor. Worked in different string groups all over the neck.
• Improvisation over All the Things You Are.
• Improvisation over ii-V-I in Ab using target outside notes.

My fretting hand was getting tired during the evening session, which is why I kept it to 30 minutes instead of a full hour. I learned a long time ago to stop just before things started to get ugly. I would much rather stop after a good 30 minute session than try to push through and make a lot of mistakes. You learn your mistakes, too!

Practice Journal: Josh (02/14/2010) is a post from: Fretterverse.com: Guitar Blog | guitar news & reviews, amps, effects, guitars, music theory, guitar lessons. If you are reading this on a site that is not Fretterverse.com, it's been ripped. Please come to the real Fretterverse.com.

Time: 1 hour

Comments: Early morning practice session today. Continued working on same material from yesterday:

• Three-octave Maj6 arpeggios in all 12 keys.
• Hungarian Gypsy Minor ideas that Scott McGill.
• Wolfhart #5, Bona #82, and Bona #83 (up an octave).
• Open voice triads in C – major, harmonic minor, melodic minor. Worked in different string groups all over the neck.
• Improvisation over All the Things You Are.

I am just about ready to unveil my official practice routine, as I feel all of the components are finally in place.

Practice Journal: Josh (02/13/2009) is a post from: Fretterverse.com: Guitar Blog | guitar news & reviews, amps, effects, guitars, music theory, guitar lessons. If you are reading this on a site that is not Fretterverse.com, it's been ripped. Please come to the real Fretterverse.com.

Time: 2 hours

Comments: So nice to be practicing tonight. Had a very good session. I was hoping to go for three hours, but my fingers started to hurt a bit and I didn’t want to push it.

Started out with three-octave Maj6 arpeggios in all 12 keys. I really like the sound of this arp; should find a way to integrate it into my improvisation.

Worked through some Hungarian Gypsy Minor ideas that my teacher Scott McGill wrote for me oh so long ago. Played this in different positions and messed with accenting different notes. This scale has always sounded a little “off” to me, so I need to work with it more.

Violin studies from Wolfhart and Bona are great for sight reading. Worked on Wolfhart #5, Bona #82, and Bona #82 (up an octave). As stupid as it sounds, I always have a problem reading the note ‘B’ on the middle staff line. I have no idea why this is, but it very often screws me up. I need to figure out a solution to this.

Open voice triads in C – major, harmonic minor, melodic minor. Worked in different string groups all over the neck. Note to self: move to key of F during next practice session.

Improvisation over All the Things You Are. Nothing special worked on here, just set the track up in Band In A Box and went to town for a while.

Overall I’m very pleased with the session. I still don’t have a formalized practice routine down yet, but I do know before sitting down what I want to work out. Half-way there, I guess.

Practice Journal: Josh (02/12/2010) is a post from: Fretterverse.com: Guitar Blog | guitar news & reviews, amps, effects, guitars, music theory, guitar lessons. If you are reading this on a site that is not Fretterverse.com, it's been ripped. Please come to the real Fretterverse.com.

Time: 1 hour

Comments: Well, I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve been so long in between practice sessions. That’s certainly no way to marshal the benefits of a consistent practice regime. Nonetheless, I was able to get an hour in last night.

I really wanted to work on improvisation last night, so I put on a ii-V-I backing track in Ab and went to town for an hour. Phrasing was obviously something I focused on, but from a harmonic standpoint I also tried to focus on a few things: b3, b9, #11, and E Major and E diminished triads.

I generally have a tendency to focus the b3 over the AbMaj7 chord, and the rest over the Eb7, but I also tried to work these intervals over the other chords as well. You can’t really do much with a b3 on the Bbm7 chord since it’s already a part of the chord, but you get the idea.

Overall, I’m happy with the session. It’s been a while since I was just able to practice by making music, so to speak; most of the time I’m bogged down in sight reading, chord studies, and ear training.

Practice Journal: Josh (02/05/2010) is a post from: Fretterverse.com: Guitar Blog | guitar news & reviews, amps, effects, guitars, music theory, guitar lessons. If you are reading this on a site that is not Fretterverse.com, it's been ripped. Please come to the real Fretterverse.com.

Time: 1 1/2 hours

Comments: Today was not exactly a practice session, per se. My friend Barry is working on a solo CD called “The Anabasis.” He’s asked a bunch of his musician friends – myself included – to contribute performances. My specific task is to record guitar solos for one of his epic songs, “Egypt.”

Today I started recording the solos that I’ve been working on, but since I had not been completely happy with my solos up to this point, I’ve had to do some practicing to get my phrasing the way I wanted it. I have also identified some sloppiness in my alternate picking of ascending fast runs. I’ve never been a good alternate picker (I prefer economy picking) but I don’t want to use that as an excuse to not get better at alternate picking. As a result, I will be adding picking exercises to my new practice routine.

My fretting hand is very tired now, having recorded pretty much straight through the 1 1/2 hour session. I still have more to record before I can finish the song, but I need at least a day of hand rest to recover having also spent last night in my martial arts class punching, grabbing, and being thrown by wrist locks. Good times…

Practice Journal: Josh (01/14/2010) is a post from: Fretterverse.com: Guitar Blog | guitar news & reviews, amps, effects, guitars, music theory, guitar lessons. If you are reading this on a site that is not Fretterverse.com, it's been ripped. Please come to the real Fretterverse.com.